A different Leyte Gulf-Redux

[johnboy]

0936 24 October 1944

It had been an interesting morning for TG 38.3, thought Rear Admiral Sherman. A second wave of approximately sixty attackers had again been driven off. With a larger CAP aloft the second wave had again been very harshly dealt with. Clearly the standard of pilot available to the Japanese had reached a fairly low level. With 23 Hellcats aloft, another 37 kills had been claimed, with the ship's AA fire claiming another 13. It was thought that only about 8-12 enemy planes had survived contact. A very pleasing result, with nothing else on radar and the fleet preparing to recover most of the CAP. So far they had come through two large raids almost completely unscathed, losing only one man killed from the first raid and three Hellcats. Perhaps they could now prepare Halsey's strike.

Suddenly the AA fire that had died out 5 or 6 minutes ago broke out yet again. Breaking clear of the cloud cover were two "Judy" dive bombers. Somehow they seemed to have been missed by the Hellcats and were probably stragglers from the previous raid. As he watched with morbid fascination they released their bombs on the Princeton. A geyser of water flew up near the stern as the carrier maneuvered at speed. It was quickly followed by a fireball from the flight deck area. They had not emerged unscathed after all.

 

[johnboy]

0951 24 October 1944

Clifton Sprague's "Taffy 3" had come through their first test well. As the closest Carrier Group to the Japanese held airfields it seemed logical that any strikes would have been directed at them and so it had proven. With a strong CAP aloft of 24 Wildcats he has been able to direct these to intercept before the Japanese had reached his ships, whilst launching more fighters for direct defense overhead.

They were a disorganised and disparate Jap force that had attacked over the last 50 minutes or so. Mainly older models such as Lilys(a large group of which had turned up right at the end of the raid completely unescorted) and Sallys. Although approximately 130 or more planes had shown up over the last hour, not more than 20-30 had made it through to the carriers, most being downed or driven off well short. He imagined that the Japanese losses were heavy indeed. His own pilots claimed upwards of 65 planes and AA fire had ditched at least another 7-10.

Whilst none of his ships had been directly hit, the CVE White Plains had taken a near miss near the stern that had buckled some plates and slightly bent the screws on the port side, causing her to ship some water and reducing her speed from 19 to 17.5 knots(and that at a level of high vibration), caused by a stick of bombs from one of the Sallys that had broken through the fighter screen. The offending plane had been shot down almost immediately after by AA fire. Two Wildcats had also been lost in combat plus another had to ditch near the carrier due to damage. It seemed a small price to pay.

 

[johnboy]

1018 24 October 1944

It had been a difficult morning and it was not getting any better. It was hard not groan out load. Rear Admiral Sherman let out a curse under his own breath after turning away from his staff. Preparations were finally fully under way for a strike from TG 38.3, ships had been detailed to assist the Princeton, still burning quite fiercely. Captain Buracker had instituted Salvage Control Phase 2 and the crew was fighting the blaze energetically with help from the cruiser Birmingham which had drawn alongside. The Captain was confident but the blast had ignited petrol in the hanger deck and the fire was still burning hot and semi uncontrolled.

The appearance of yet another land based raid was as unexpected as it was unwelcome. CAP was not fully back in place and currently only six Hellcats were aloft. At this rate they would never get a goddammed strike off, he thought to himself. The Task Force would have to launch the Hellcats detailed as escort for the strike and strike the Avengers and Helldivers back below.

Despite inflicting impressive losses on the enemy, in other respects, things were not going according to plan. "No plan survives contact with the enemy you fool", a contradictory voice said in his head. It was an old adage, but quite appropriate in the circumstances.

 

[johnboy]

1026 24 October 1944

Kondo watched the aerial battles overhead as the conflicting planes formed their own deadly dance. This first American strike had finally arrived. A mixed formation of dive and torpedo bombers, heavily escorted. The four plane CAP provided by the 1st Air Fleet and the six A6M's from Amagi had moved off to meet the challenge. He was hopeful the Amagi's fighters, even if outnumbered, would give a good account of themselves. These men, at least, were fully trained pilots.

Clearly they had been overwhelmed as now the last line of a second batch of 6 A6M's and the lonely A7M were now in combat. The test pilot Saburo Sakai had better be as good as rumoured. Jiro Horikoshi from Mitsubishi had certainly pulled enough strings to get both Sakai and the plane on board before Yammamori's command had sailed from the home islands.

He debated what to do with the 15 strike aircraft still on board, assuming the carrier survived this action. Amagi would surely be the Americans number one target. Fly them off in a small strike of his own or fly them to land bases. Keeping them on board now surely equated to certain destruction. As the AA crews crouched behind their mounts, he feared for the fleet as a whole, not just his lonely carrier.

 

[johnboy]

1039 October 24 1944

The American force had drawn off, largely on it's own terms, and it was time to count the cost. The Americans seemed to have missed the second group, meaning the carrier had survived intact.

The fleet was split into two columns within two groups with the Yamato and Musashi following three of the the Myoko Class cruisers on the starboard side of group one. On the post side the Nagato and Shinano followed the two Takao Class heavy cruisers and Ashigara.

Group two consisted of the Haruna following the two Tone Class heavy cruisers on the port side. On the starboard side Kongo followed the two Mogami Class cruisers. Amagi was settled in the middle of both columns within Group 2.

Eight dive bombers had settled into an attack run on Shinano. Four near misses, all around the bow, had resulted in cracked plates and caused minor leakage. A 500lb bomb had hit the roof of number 1 turret but had been easily deflected by the armour. Another bomb had torn away the anchor chain and penetrated the near the bow where the armour was weakest, resulting in the shipping 250 tons of water. It was a minor blow compared to the last. The final hit, delivered by a flight of 3 torpedo bombers had been much more destructive. One torpedo had hit port starboard amidships slightly abaft the bridge and caused a 6.5 degree list to port. The ship had also taken on board 3500 tons of water, to some extent due to inept damage control measures from what Kondo had known was a grossly inexperienced crew that had only spent two months aboard their ship, in some cases less. After counter flooding, the list should be able to be reduced significantly. The last piece of news from Captain Ito is even worse.

The blast from the torpedo has jammed the battleship's "shockproof" main armament director. The fact that the Nagato had also taken a 500lb bomb hit he glossed over. The damage had not been serious.

 

[johnboy]

1048 24 October 1944

Saburo Sakai had made the landing back on deck. In truth, he had secretly had some question marks. Although qualified as a carrier pilot and initially trained to be so, all his subsequent service in the IJN had been land based. The new plane was a delight to fly. It's rate of climb was so superior to the A6M and it was definitely the fastest airplane he had ever flown. Yet it lost nothing in maneuverability vis a vis previous fighters.

They had tried their best. Against great odds, even for the good pilots he knew them to be. One could ask no more of any man he was sure. They had "downed" eight, probably nine enemy planes. Apparently the fleet's AA had shot down another four, although the much vaunted special anti aircraft had proven to be less than spectacular. Or spectacular, but ineffective. He had accounted for at least three, probably four himself. Plus, they had largely broken up the enemy torpedo bombers attack.

At cost, to be sure. Of the four land based picket fighters on station and the 13 launched from the carrier, four had returned including his own craft. One of those was so badly damaged it would never take off again. Yet he had returned. Somehow, whilst so many others had littered the fields of China before and seas of the Pacific over the last 3 years, he always returned. One day it may be his turn. In the meantime, living was a useful skill to have, he thought.

 

[johnboy]

1045 24 October 1944

Rear Admiral Gerald Bogan smiled. TG 38.2 had launched it's second strike at the enemy. They were still calm seas from the point of view of enemy contact. No Japanese planes had been sighted since an early morning "snooper" at about 7am.

His crews had again proven themselves. 16 Hellcats, 10 Helldivers and 12 Avengers had launched in only an hour and a half after the dispatch of the first strike. He wondered how they had gone against the large Jap fleet heading for the San Bernadino Strait.

 

[johnboy]

1056 24 October 1944

General Tominaga read the report of the attack on the Yankee aircraft carriers off Samar with great concern. One aircraft carrier sunk and a cruiser probably sunk. It was something that he could point to when his esteemed colleagues in the Navy asked what he had done in response to their pleas for assistance.

4th Air Army had suffered a grievous blow. Of 164 planes dispatched in the attack only 84 had returned, some of those badly "shot up". With no further reinforcements at all certain what was left of his air strength would have to be conserved for the ground battle that would be fought in the coming months, although he did allocate one squadron of eight aircraft to provide a CAP for navy ships if requested. The Army's honour was intact. From here on in, the navy would have to largely make do itself.

 

[johnboy]

1057 24 October 1944

Rear Admiral Ralph Davison was pleased to have the first strike off. 12 Hellcats, 12 Helldivers and 9 Avengers had been sent after the Southern Force, mainly involving the San Jacinto's and Enterprise's air groups. He could now concentrate on preparing a major strike on the force that had transited the Mindoro Strait. It had been a peaceful morning. Hopefully it would remain so, at least for the US forces, he thought with a grin.

 

[johnboy]

1059 24 October 1944

Commander David McCampbell was feeling a curious mixture of disappointment, exhilaration and relief. The third Jap raid had been broken up and dispersed, most of it well short of the fleet. However, judging from the smoke damage had been done, which was disappointing.

This raid had been much more haphazard than the previous, with groups of planes coming in in "penny packets". It had made the task both easier and more difficult for himself and the other six Hellcats on CAP at the time. Easier because the formations were smaller to attack, but more difficult as they came in at different times and altitudes.

He had shot down another five. Fourteen in one day! Surely it had to be a record. Between them the six Hellcats had shot down 17 of the enemy. For the first time since June he had experienced the fear of bullets tearing into his own machine. Right at the end he had been surprised by a single A5M Claude, of all things, that had appeared from a cloud seemingly almost on top of him. Thanks God for it's puny armament, as he was able to slip away and nurse the fighter back to the carrier. The Japs really were throwing in everything, or so it seemed.

 

[johnboy]

1103 24 October 1944

Sherman's frustrations continued to build. The third air strike had been driven off, amounting to again 55-65 planes. The Hellcat patrol on CAP had shot down 17 and fighters launched over the fleet had claimed another 20 with AA claiming 11 more, so yet again the Nips had taken a heavy blow. However, yet again another isolated plane had achieved a hit.

A single dive bomber, had started a run on the Princeton, no doubt attracted by the flames and smoke still billowing from the carrier. Whether the carrier had actually been the target was a moot point, for the bomb that had been released had struck the destroyer Irwin slightly aft of amidships, detonating her 5 inch magazine and causing an immediate explosion that not only sunk her in less than 10 minutes but also ruptured and buckled plating on the Princeton, which the destroyer was alongside. The carrier had shipped a quantity of water and assumed a two degree extra list that made the job of fighting the still fiercely burning fire on-board even more difficult and hazardous.

 

[johnboy]

1142 24 October 1944

Kondo mulled over the information that he had so far. Shinano had been righted by counter flooding and much of the list corrected. She had reported a top speed of only 25 knots but that was not disastrous as Nagato's top speed was near that anyway. Of far more serious concern was her main armament director, which was still out of commission. He wondered if the American's had spotted Ozawa as yet? Would they take the bait?

The carrier Junyo was preparing to leave the Inland Sea with with ammunition and resupply items for the fleet back in Brunei after the mission had been completed. Hopefully there would be a fleet to resupply. The Amagi was launching the last of her planes in what would be a very small strike. 18 planes. Better that then them getting caught on the carrier in another attack that seemed likely if not certain to come all to soon. He had heard nothing from Nishimura. Surely that was a good sign?

 

[johnboy]

1151 24 October 1944

Saburo Sakai circled lazily whilst the planes formed up. 8 D4Y dive bombers(one had to be left behind after developing engine troubles on deck, 6 B6M's and just 3 A6M's and himself for escort. At least he would get another chance to fly this plane. Anything was better than the "suggestion" that had been put to him in July. For him and his comrades to deliberately crash their planes into an American ship. Was it really coming to that? His beloved wife Hatsuyo would never forgive him. Somehow he just had to keep coming back. One day this all would end, perhaps he would be there to see it. He certainly hoped so.

 

[johnboy]

1159 24 October 1944

Commander Charles Triebel of the USS Snook watched the 6,000 ton Japanese freighter sink. It was turning out to be a "mini happy time" for US submarines, particularly in the South China Sea, where the withdrawal of many Japanese escorts, as well as their limited number of escort carriers in order to support the Leyte operation was resulting in a harvest for US submarines.

On 24th October 1944 alone, 14 Japanese merchant ships would be torpedoed and sunk, as well as an escort. The lightly escorted convoys vital to Japan's war effort were being slaughtered.

 

[johnboy]

1203 24 October 1944

Captain Hiro Yammamori watched anxiously overhead. The Americans had arrived again. This time, with no fighter cover at all beyond one A6M that his mechanics had laboured to assemble and the rear part of the fleet not obscured by sea mist, he realised his command must be a prime target for the Americans, as the only carrier in the group.

And so it was to prove. He noticed a group of 8-10 dive bombers detach themselves and start to plunge on his ship. They seemed completely unaffected by the AA fire until one pulled away trailing smoke. He did not notice it splash into the sea, the ship heaving violently as two bombs bracketed the large carrier. He was still staring at the lone D4Y parked on the deck when he was thrown down by a huge explosion and sheet of flame as a bomb landed right on top of it.

1222 24 October 1944

It had been the last torpedo plane that he spelled the end. Nine torpedo bombers had launched on the carrier and it appeared she may come away unscathed, at least from this attack. It was not to be. The last plane had scored a critical hit.

The torpedo had hit square in the control center under the bridge, at a spot just between No. 1 and No 2 boiler rooms, flooding both as well as the forward generator room. Fire also broke out among the hangar deck, caused by red hot splinters piercing the compartments. The worst of the damage was the shattering of the main steam pipe. Both boiler rooms were flooded, whilst the resulting loss of steam caused pressure to drop to zero. The carrier slowed very rapidly to a near halt.

Three American torpedo planes that had been hanging back awaiting their turn now came in. Whilst one was shot down by AA fire from other ships, the other two could hardly miss such a target. Hit by two bombs and three torpedoes, he knew his command was doomed.

The carriers lone A6M despatched an Avenger before being shot down itself and this left another three Avengers to come in on the carriers port bow. Yet another torpedo ploughed into the helpless vessel. With IJN Amagi seemingly soon to slip beneath the waves, he wondered, should he share her fate?

 

[johnboy]

1209 24 October 1944

Jisaburo Ozawa thought about the dispatched strikes. They should be in attack position. Of the 144 planes available he had dispatched most of them, keeping only a few dive bombers that had recently returned from scouting plus two torpedo bombers that had mechanical issues. He had retained 30 A6M's, in all cases those qualified for deck landing and in most cases the better of the pilots. It would be hard on those sent, many of whom were very "green", but there seemed little other option.

Two strikes had been organised, spaced 20 minutes apart. Hopefully the Americans would be distracted by the the first, lower altitude strike, not realising they were composed almost entirely of fighters, in fact 35 A6M's with only 10 older B5N's. The second strike would consist of 20 A6M's, 27 B6N's, 3 D4Y's and 10 D3A's. Hopefully they could draw some blood.

In the meantime, maybe the Americans would actually notice him. He had been making every effort to assist in this including making copious transmissions that should have been easily picked up. Yet so far, no sign of life or retaliation of any type. It was frustrating enough to be on an ascension day mission as it was. At the moment he felt like he was walking down the street naked and no one was noticing.

 

[johnboy]

1212 24 October 1944

Rear Admiral Sherman was relieved. Yet another raid had been chopped up. After today's proceedings he had had a strong CAP aloft and they had intercepted the enemy force some 55kms from the Task Group. Ten older Kates escorted by a strong force of 30+Zeros. All the Kates had been dealt with and the air group claimed 24 Zeros as well. The few remaining Zeros had turned away. This time he had lost four Hellcats, however, one on landing. It was going as well as anyone could expect from an air combat point of view. The Jap pilots seemed woefully inexperienced and two Zeros had collided with each other before the combat had even started.

It was just as well they had been stopped well short of target. The Princeton continued to burn. He was going to have to make some sort of call in relation to the carrier very soon. However, he was well aware that his own task group as a whole was vulnerable at the moment. He had his own raid partly "spotted up" and they were to far through the process to really go back now.

 

[johnboy]

1235 24 October 1944

It had been tough morning for TF 38.3. Sherman had never before faced before such a series of unrelenting attacks. What he had most feared, an attack resulting in a hit on one of his CV's with "spotted up" planes, had thankfully not occurred but there had been a cost all the same.

The new strike coming in had again been intercepted by CAP, however, closer his time, only 30km out. They approached in two formations, one well below the CAP's current altitude "on the deck". It was a large gaggle of 20-25 "Jill" TB's escorted by 10 or so "Zero's". It had been judged the larger threat and had been an easy intercept, allowing the Hellcats to dive on them. Again, they had been roughly handled with 18 Jills claimed shot down and 6 Zeros. The Jap formation had been quickly broken up and they had dispersed well before the fleet, without loss to the Hellcats.

That had left only four Hellcats to climb and try and intercept the second formation of 10 old Vals and three Judys escorted by 10 Zeros. These had shot down two Vals and three Zeros at a cost of one Hellcat, however, the rest had made it through to the fleet.

Thanks god TG38.3 had four battleships as part of the screen. The volume of AA fire thrown up had been terrific, blotting fully six of the dive bombers from the sky before their attack and three more after. Most of the dive bombers left had attacked the Essex, however, through great ship handling from Captain Duncan, no hits had been obtained. Two, however, had attacked the hapless Princeton, one of these scoring a hit near the torpedo rooms that had quickly produced a massive explosion that had also shredded the upper works of the CL Birmingham alongside. What was left of the Princeton would have to be scuttled after SAR operations were complete. The Birmingham would have to be detached to Ulithi with an escort. Her campaign was over as the damage inflicted would definitely require repair Stateside.

He had transmitted a report to both Marc Mitscher and Halsey. This lot had definitely not come from the Philippines, they had come from out to sea, which could only mean one thing. Jap Carriers were at sea...somewhere. In the meantime, perhaps they could now at last strike back themselves.

 

[johnboy]

1259 24 October 1944

Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura remained impassive as he read the damage report. A small American strike of 10 dive bombers and 9 torpedo planes had attacked the task force. Fuso had taken two bomb hits, one of which had jammed and disabled Y turret. Her communications had fire control had also been impaired. Ise had also taken a bomb hit, but this had struck well forward and had not exploded so the damage, whilst penetrating the deck had not been too serious. The Hyuga had taken a torpedo abreast of Q turret and her captain had flooded the magazines of both P and Q turrets as a precaution, rendering both effectively inoperable. Her speed had dropped to 23 knots but overall the damages was not as serious as it might have been. The destroyer Hatsuharu had intercepted a torpedo also meant for Hyuga. It had a saved the battleship but been a fatal blow for the smaller ship. Once recovery of survivors was complete it would be necessary to press on.

 

[johnboy]

1315 24 October 1944

It has been a torturous process, but they had a strike away, thought Sherman. 25 Helldivers and 16 Avengers were on their way. There escort was only 9 Hellcats, but the fighters squadrons had had some pretty intense action during the morning as well as taking an occasional loss themselves. Latest reports indicated that the enemy no longer had any air cover anyway.

Casualties had been severe. Over 200 men lost of the Princeton, which would now be scuttled and maybe even as many on the Birmingham. Approximately 70 had been lost on the Irwin when she had sunk and the cruiser Reno had suffered no casualties but had lost a 20mm mount from flying debris when the Princeton had exploded. He had detached the destroyer Preston to escort the damaged Birmingham to Leyte, where she would join a convoy back to Ulithi.