Admiral Halsey
Banned
Thing is are the American's near or is the German carrier just spooking the Japanese?
A New Balance
- Thread starter Jim Smitty
- Start date
Well...a few posts ago the relief fleet was said to be only 12 hours away from Wake. If there are transports or freighters involved then this mean the fleet is more or less within 150nm. Assuming that the fleet has moved closer in this interval, any US carriers should be in range of the Japanese carriers - or will be soon depending on the geometry and combat ranges of US aircraft. The Japanese admiral appears to be making the error that the German carrier is with the US forces. If the Japanese are sighted by the US forces, I expect the located and composition will be forwarded to the Germans who will attack either coordinated with the Americans (unlikely as this would be difficult) or catch the Japanese after a US strike and from a different direction. The Germans would strike after a US strike, as the Japanese will be located by a US airstrike looking for them. The Germans could get lucky at catch the Japanese CAP being refueled and rearmed.
Admiral Halsey
Banned
So Japan is about to get an early Midway. Hell even if the don't sink the carriers and just damage then Japanese DC was so bad them not even trying to repair the ships would've been a better option.
I've really been enjoying the last few updates of this timeline and story, as always. However, I think you made a mistake. In the Wake Island updates is March 5th, 1939 supposed to be March 15th, 1939?
Battle of Wake Part VI
VB-19
Somewhere over the Pacific, Near Wake
March 15 1939, 1023 Local
Lieutenant Matt Wiser was currently flying on the hunt for the Japanese Task Force that was to be supporting another effort to invade Wake Island. The United States had three aircraft carriers supporting the effort to relieve and resupply it with a German flat top making it a fourth. Currently the hunt was on for the Japanese task force with Wiser and VB-19 was flying off the USS Enterprise. The Vindicators of the squadron were all armed with 500 pound armored piecing bombs. Even through the Vindicators could carry a bomb load up to 1,000 pounds, they didn’t know where the Japanese were. So they performed a traded off, a smaller bomb for more fuel which meant more time to look for a target.
So far through the Vindicators of VB-19 had nothing to show for their fish expedition. They were about 30 minutes away from bingo fuel and having to return to the Enterprise. Matt knew they didn’t pay him to bring back ordnance so he was hoping the luck of the squadron would change soon. However, Matt also had to keep a sharp eye out as currently they were using hand signals instead of using the radios to alert the Japanese they were in the area. Because on freak days you could pick a signal from Los Angeles this far out. Not leaving things to chance they were operating radios shut down as they were looking for the Japanese.
Looking at his watch again he noticed they were down to 10 minutes of fishing time for this expedition. Then he noticed something at his 10 o’clock position. It looked like a pair of light cruisers and a couple of destroyers. He then hand signal his squadron leader which took a second to get his attention. After a few quick hand signals the squadron leader fired up the radio net. “All Top Hat Elements, targets at 10 o’clock position. Given them hell boys!”
They knew they found one of the screening elements of the Japanese fleet, but they didn’t have enough time to hunt for said fleet. So they were going to wack this screening element. One by one the Vindicators started their dives on the Japanese. Wiser was lining up for one of the light cruisers. Just as he started his dive the Japanese only started to open up with anti-aircraft fire. They had caught the Japanese by surprised and they were scrambling to get their guns trained that high. The flak through was still fairly thin as they had their guns mostly at zero elevation when they noticed the Americans.
Wiser pushed his Vindicator down and made his way to the target as he felt the gs starting to kick in. He kept his aim on the cruiser as he was starting to take evasive action to hopefully throw off Wiser’s aim. As he was pushing through the Gs through the corner of his eye he noticed that one of the tin cans going up in a major fireball. Unknown to Wiser the bomb hit the torpedoes of the destroyer causing the compressed oxygen to feed the explosive caused by the bomb itself and turn it into something far larger than it should had otherwise been. Yet Wiser kept pushing on till he reached the altitude he had to dropped the bomb. He pulled the level and felt the 500 pound bomb release from his aircraft as he pulled out of his dive.
All around him the sky was being filled with Japanese led. His rear gunner, a 2nd class from Alabama was firing his 30s at the cruiser as Wiser level out aiming for anything that looked soft enough that his 30s could do damage. Yet as Wiser started to climb again his rear gunner cut the fire as they were moving away too fast to keep up fire for that long at the ships. But they were leaving behind one destroyer in pieces and a cruiser on fire along with hits on the other one. At the same time their squadron commander was calling out the position of these Japanese over the radio as there had to be more Japanese around here. Now they just had to find the bastards.
Somewhere over the Pacific, Near Wake
March 15 1939, 1023 Local
Lieutenant Matt Wiser was currently flying on the hunt for the Japanese Task Force that was to be supporting another effort to invade Wake Island. The United States had three aircraft carriers supporting the effort to relieve and resupply it with a German flat top making it a fourth. Currently the hunt was on for the Japanese task force with Wiser and VB-19 was flying off the USS Enterprise. The Vindicators of the squadron were all armed with 500 pound armored piecing bombs. Even through the Vindicators could carry a bomb load up to 1,000 pounds, they didn’t know where the Japanese were. So they performed a traded off, a smaller bomb for more fuel which meant more time to look for a target.
So far through the Vindicators of VB-19 had nothing to show for their fish expedition. They were about 30 minutes away from bingo fuel and having to return to the Enterprise. Matt knew they didn’t pay him to bring back ordnance so he was hoping the luck of the squadron would change soon. However, Matt also had to keep a sharp eye out as currently they were using hand signals instead of using the radios to alert the Japanese they were in the area. Because on freak days you could pick a signal from Los Angeles this far out. Not leaving things to chance they were operating radios shut down as they were looking for the Japanese.
Looking at his watch again he noticed they were down to 10 minutes of fishing time for this expedition. Then he noticed something at his 10 o’clock position. It looked like a pair of light cruisers and a couple of destroyers. He then hand signal his squadron leader which took a second to get his attention. After a few quick hand signals the squadron leader fired up the radio net. “All Top Hat Elements, targets at 10 o’clock position. Given them hell boys!”
They knew they found one of the screening elements of the Japanese fleet, but they didn’t have enough time to hunt for said fleet. So they were going to wack this screening element. One by one the Vindicators started their dives on the Japanese. Wiser was lining up for one of the light cruisers. Just as he started his dive the Japanese only started to open up with anti-aircraft fire. They had caught the Japanese by surprised and they were scrambling to get their guns trained that high. The flak through was still fairly thin as they had their guns mostly at zero elevation when they noticed the Americans.
Wiser pushed his Vindicator down and made his way to the target as he felt the gs starting to kick in. He kept his aim on the cruiser as he was starting to take evasive action to hopefully throw off Wiser’s aim. As he was pushing through the Gs through the corner of his eye he noticed that one of the tin cans going up in a major fireball. Unknown to Wiser the bomb hit the torpedoes of the destroyer causing the compressed oxygen to feed the explosive caused by the bomb itself and turn it into something far larger than it should had otherwise been. Yet Wiser kept pushing on till he reached the altitude he had to dropped the bomb. He pulled the level and felt the 500 pound bomb release from his aircraft as he pulled out of his dive.
All around him the sky was being filled with Japanese led. His rear gunner, a 2nd class from Alabama was firing his 30s at the cruiser as Wiser level out aiming for anything that looked soft enough that his 30s could do damage. Yet as Wiser started to climb again his rear gunner cut the fire as they were moving away too fast to keep up fire for that long at the ships. But they were leaving behind one destroyer in pieces and a cruiser on fire along with hits on the other one. At the same time their squadron commander was calling out the position of these Japanese over the radio as there had to be more Japanese around here. Now they just had to find the bastards.
RamscoopRaider
Donor
The POD ITTL is before Japan had a navy of note, more than enough time for something like damage control doctrine to be completely different than OTL
Battle of Wake Part VII
Wake Island
Near Field Hospital
March 15 1939, 1132 Local
Lt Commander Jeff Flake was taking aim down the sights of the Arisaka rifle he was using as he was prone on the ground. In the hours since the Japanese started their third invasion attempt of Wake things had gotten bad on the island. Jeff had given up even trying to do anything more than stop the bleeding of the wounded as he had no supplies for anything else. He was no defending the wounded in his care to keep them from being butchered by the Japanese as the battle for Wake had become no quarter asked for none given. Currently the Japanese were only about hundred or so yards from his hospital and he and his unit were making a last ditch defense of it.
Something moved in front of Flake and he pulled the trigger on his Arisaka. He cycled the bolt as he kept looking for another bastard to shoot. Once he had cycled the bolt he rolled to the left to keep from being in the same location for a third shot. It was one of the tricks he had learned in his time on this spec of an island in the middle of the vast Pacific. He couldn’t stay in the same spot after firing two shots without bring down a hell of fire on him by the Japanese. Sure enough just after he rolled there was a hell of fire from Japanese rifles coming down on his former hole in the ground.
As he started looking around for another bastard Japanese he heard a soft thud by him. He turned and saw a Japanese hand grenade not more than four feet from himself. Dropping the Arisaka he lunged at the grenade. With the grenade in his hand he threw it back at the Japanese. It blew up in the air only a second after Flake threw it back at the Japanese. It rained down on ground hitting nothing. But it wasn’t over, not by a long shot. Finding another Jap Marine after picking up his rifle he pulled the trigger on his Arisaka rifle only to hear the hammer strike nothing. “Damn it.” That was his last stripper clip and the damn thing was dry.
He pulled the rifle down and took the insanely long bayonet off the rifle and gripped it with his left hand. His right hand when and pulled out the Model 19 pistol he used. He was picking his head up to see where the fire was coming from now he heard the sound of aircraft overhead. He looked up briefly and saw the iron cross of the Germans. “Fucking Krauts! Welcome to the party.” Unknown to Flake the Germans had reformed their battleplans and sent the bulk of their airwing to give the Americans on Wake close air support by attacking the Japanese ships supporting the landing or those bring more troops into the battle.
As the sound of the German aircraft were loud, but the screams from the Japanese were louder. It was one word, “Banzai!” With that over 100 Japanese Marines rose up and changed the 40 or so Americans defending the field hospital. Flake raised his Model 19 and pulled his trigger quickly twice dropping one of the Jap marines. The sole machine gun in his defense unit when from short burst fire to full auto trying to cut down the numbers. During his hand to the left slightly he took aim at another Jap Marine he pulled the trigger again only to see half the head of the Jap Marine simply turn into bloody mess from the impact of the 45 ACP round. Yet the Japanese kept covering the distance, the losses be damned.
Jumping quickly to he feet Jeff took aim again and missed this time. Yet within seconds the Japanese were on top of him. Swinging with his left hand he made the Jap Marine trying to stab him miss and with his right hand brought up his Model 19 and pull the trigger at point break range hitting the man in the neck with blood spraying everywhere. Quickly turning as the dead Jap Marine dropped he pulled the trigger a sixth time he caught a Jap marine in his arm as his pistol locked open as it was out of ammo.
Dropping the pistol Jeff brought up his knife hand again to block another stabbing effort by another Japanese Marine. Only this time it wasn’t as effective and the blade of the bayonet cut a gash into his left forearm. Pushing the pain aside he brought up his right hand and grabbed the rifle and tried to throw the Japanese Marine off balance. It worked and following quickly the American doctor brought up his left hand with own bayonet and pushed it through the guts of the Jap Marine. He pulled it out quickly and when for the kill shot with taking his bayonet to the Jap Marine’s neck.
As he pulled it out and looked around he could see a pile of dead bodies or those who were dying. It was a bloody mess but he couldn’t see any threat near him. He looked around for a moment and picked up his Model 19 and blew on it for a moment to blow the sand out the slide. He shook it to try and get more sand out of it and blew on it again. He than reloaded the weapon and placed it back in its holster. He then tore off part of his sleeve to use it to tend to his wound. As he was doing to it one of his medics under his personal command came running up to him, “Sir I think that was the last of them.”
“No, they will be back.” Jeff said with a coldness in his voice. “Pick up weapons from the dead and issue them out.” As he finished wrapping up his newest wound.
“Aye, aye sir.” The medic said and started running off to pass the orders. Jeff himself picked up another Arisaka rifle and worked the bolt finding only a single round left in it as it popped out. He than searched the dead Jap Marine in front of him and pulled out a fresh stripper clip and loaded it into the rifle. With the rifle locked and loaded he when about finding all the ammo he could for said rifle. It was shaping up to be a long day.
Near Field Hospital
March 15 1939, 1132 Local
Lt Commander Jeff Flake was taking aim down the sights of the Arisaka rifle he was using as he was prone on the ground. In the hours since the Japanese started their third invasion attempt of Wake things had gotten bad on the island. Jeff had given up even trying to do anything more than stop the bleeding of the wounded as he had no supplies for anything else. He was no defending the wounded in his care to keep them from being butchered by the Japanese as the battle for Wake had become no quarter asked for none given. Currently the Japanese were only about hundred or so yards from his hospital and he and his unit were making a last ditch defense of it.
Something moved in front of Flake and he pulled the trigger on his Arisaka. He cycled the bolt as he kept looking for another bastard to shoot. Once he had cycled the bolt he rolled to the left to keep from being in the same location for a third shot. It was one of the tricks he had learned in his time on this spec of an island in the middle of the vast Pacific. He couldn’t stay in the same spot after firing two shots without bring down a hell of fire on him by the Japanese. Sure enough just after he rolled there was a hell of fire from Japanese rifles coming down on his former hole in the ground.
As he started looking around for another bastard Japanese he heard a soft thud by him. He turned and saw a Japanese hand grenade not more than four feet from himself. Dropping the Arisaka he lunged at the grenade. With the grenade in his hand he threw it back at the Japanese. It blew up in the air only a second after Flake threw it back at the Japanese. It rained down on ground hitting nothing. But it wasn’t over, not by a long shot. Finding another Jap Marine after picking up his rifle he pulled the trigger on his Arisaka rifle only to hear the hammer strike nothing. “Damn it.” That was his last stripper clip and the damn thing was dry.
He pulled the rifle down and took the insanely long bayonet off the rifle and gripped it with his left hand. His right hand when and pulled out the Model 19 pistol he used. He was picking his head up to see where the fire was coming from now he heard the sound of aircraft overhead. He looked up briefly and saw the iron cross of the Germans. “Fucking Krauts! Welcome to the party.” Unknown to Flake the Germans had reformed their battleplans and sent the bulk of their airwing to give the Americans on Wake close air support by attacking the Japanese ships supporting the landing or those bring more troops into the battle.
As the sound of the German aircraft were loud, but the screams from the Japanese were louder. It was one word, “Banzai!” With that over 100 Japanese Marines rose up and changed the 40 or so Americans defending the field hospital. Flake raised his Model 19 and pulled his trigger quickly twice dropping one of the Jap marines. The sole machine gun in his defense unit when from short burst fire to full auto trying to cut down the numbers. During his hand to the left slightly he took aim at another Jap Marine he pulled the trigger again only to see half the head of the Jap Marine simply turn into bloody mess from the impact of the 45 ACP round. Yet the Japanese kept covering the distance, the losses be damned.
Jumping quickly to he feet Jeff took aim again and missed this time. Yet within seconds the Japanese were on top of him. Swinging with his left hand he made the Jap Marine trying to stab him miss and with his right hand brought up his Model 19 and pull the trigger at point break range hitting the man in the neck with blood spraying everywhere. Quickly turning as the dead Jap Marine dropped he pulled the trigger a sixth time he caught a Jap marine in his arm as his pistol locked open as it was out of ammo.
Dropping the pistol Jeff brought up his knife hand again to block another stabbing effort by another Japanese Marine. Only this time it wasn’t as effective and the blade of the bayonet cut a gash into his left forearm. Pushing the pain aside he brought up his right hand and grabbed the rifle and tried to throw the Japanese Marine off balance. It worked and following quickly the American doctor brought up his left hand with own bayonet and pushed it through the guts of the Jap Marine. He pulled it out quickly and when for the kill shot with taking his bayonet to the Jap Marine’s neck.
As he pulled it out and looked around he could see a pile of dead bodies or those who were dying. It was a bloody mess but he couldn’t see any threat near him. He looked around for a moment and picked up his Model 19 and blew on it for a moment to blow the sand out the slide. He shook it to try and get more sand out of it and blew on it again. He than reloaded the weapon and placed it back in its holster. He then tore off part of his sleeve to use it to tend to his wound. As he was doing to it one of his medics under his personal command came running up to him, “Sir I think that was the last of them.”
“No, they will be back.” Jeff said with a coldness in his voice. “Pick up weapons from the dead and issue them out.” As he finished wrapping up his newest wound.
“Aye, aye sir.” The medic said and started running off to pass the orders. Jeff himself picked up another Arisaka rifle and worked the bolt finding only a single round left in it as it popped out. He than searched the dead Jap Marine in front of him and pulled out a fresh stripper clip and loaded it into the rifle. With the rifle locked and loaded he when about finding all the ammo he could for said rifle. It was shaping up to be a long day.
More than a few films ITL are going to be made about Wake.Some dam good battle action there Jim. Would look cool on film.
small nitpick...it would be a corpsman, not a medic. Navy enlisted medical personnel are corpsmen not medics and would be quick to correct anyone who made that error. They are, as a group, some of the best and most dedicated people I ever worked with and would do anything for their Marines. Collectively corpsmen have been awarded more medals of honor than any other particular navy rate, slightly over 50% posthumous. (retired CAPT, MC, USN (FMF) speaking.
Love the t/l...just correcting a minor, but important, nit
Love the t/l...just correcting a minor, but important, nit
Battle of Wake Part VIII
USS Enterprise CV-3
Pacific Ocean, Near Wake
March 15 1939, 1354 Local
Vice Admiral Pete Oswald knew it was the same game now, waiting. It was a time honor military tradition, one he didn’t care for but at this point there was nothing more he could do. The last of his bombers for the second strike mission of the day had just launched after being refueled and rearmed in the past few minutes. Besides the few fighters he had on the decks of the carriers to revive the current CAP aircraft his flight decks were empty of aircraft. And with the fact they had found the Jap carriers, even briefly they had good odds of finding the bastards and hurt them. Now he was just waiting for the word on how the strike would go.
Currently he was sitting in the CIC of the Enterprise. There really wasn’t that much to do for Oswald at the moment and he wasn’t going to watch over the bridge staff like a hawk. His position was here where he had the radios and radar sets up to command the battle. Then one of the radar petty officers spoke up, “Large contact, bearing two-seven-nine! Speed 171 knots! Distance 75 miles and closing! Angel’s 19!”
“Sound general quarters!” Oswald bellowed. Within moments the general quarter klaxon on the Enterprise was ringing as the crew started running to their battlestations. Oswald thought for a moment, “Vector the CAP to that target ASAP! Launch the stand by fighters!” At that the radio operators started sending the messages to the CAP fighters and the other carriers of the task force. He could feel the Big E as she was known turned as the ship was turning into the wind to launch the 8 fighters on her decks.
At that the ships started doing what was needed to get ready for battle. Hatches were closed. Crews were running to their battlestations and reliving he person at their post to allow them to go to their battlestations. The last remaining 22 fighters that had been on the carriers were being launched to give the CAP all of the fighters they could do defeat the Japanese assault. As they were waiting the CAP aircraft started to get a visual on the Japanese, “My god. There must be over 250 aircraft heading this way.” Crackled over the radio.
That was bad an Oswald knew it. He only had with the fighters that were launching now 60 aircraft over head. He was going to be outnumbered in the air a little over four to one. Those were never good numbers. He was listening as the CAP aircraft started to dive on the Japs and started to try and thin out the numbers.
He listened to the radio as the pilots were calling out what was happening, but things were happening fast here. His own fighters were starting to fall to the defending Japanese fighters. The distance between the Japanese aerial wing and his own ships was radially sinking. Then he could hear the 5/38s of his ships start to fire as they were starting to fill the air with flak. They were the longest ranged anti-air weapon his ships had. Right now he was wishing he had a few Havana Class CLAA with his task force. However on two of the ten ship order had joined the fleet so far and they were operating with the Atlantic Fleet. It would be a while before the Pacific Fleet got a few of those. As the Japs got closer he could hear the 1.1 inch autocannons join in the fight. But the reports from the Atlantic were already pointing to they needed to replace those. Then the Big-E started a sharp turn to starboard to make the dive and torpedo bombers miss.
It was said it was 95% pure boredom and 5% pure terror. Normally that was the truth. But for the USS Hornet, the terror was still on going after the battle. She had been the focus of the Japanese attack and had taken two torpedo hits and 5 bomb hits and was listing to port as her crew was fighting to save her. The Enterprise took a bomb hit in the attack and the crews were working to repair the damage. The Cabot also took a pair of bomb hits, but the damage in both the case of the Cabot and the Enterprise they were still in the fight from the reports that Oswald had heard. The Hornet through it was a fight to save her from sinking now.
Pacific Ocean, Near Wake
March 15 1939, 1354 Local
Vice Admiral Pete Oswald knew it was the same game now, waiting. It was a time honor military tradition, one he didn’t care for but at this point there was nothing more he could do. The last of his bombers for the second strike mission of the day had just launched after being refueled and rearmed in the past few minutes. Besides the few fighters he had on the decks of the carriers to revive the current CAP aircraft his flight decks were empty of aircraft. And with the fact they had found the Jap carriers, even briefly they had good odds of finding the bastards and hurt them. Now he was just waiting for the word on how the strike would go.
Currently he was sitting in the CIC of the Enterprise. There really wasn’t that much to do for Oswald at the moment and he wasn’t going to watch over the bridge staff like a hawk. His position was here where he had the radios and radar sets up to command the battle. Then one of the radar petty officers spoke up, “Large contact, bearing two-seven-nine! Speed 171 knots! Distance 75 miles and closing! Angel’s 19!”
“Sound general quarters!” Oswald bellowed. Within moments the general quarter klaxon on the Enterprise was ringing as the crew started running to their battlestations. Oswald thought for a moment, “Vector the CAP to that target ASAP! Launch the stand by fighters!” At that the radio operators started sending the messages to the CAP fighters and the other carriers of the task force. He could feel the Big E as she was known turned as the ship was turning into the wind to launch the 8 fighters on her decks.
At that the ships started doing what was needed to get ready for battle. Hatches were closed. Crews were running to their battlestations and reliving he person at their post to allow them to go to their battlestations. The last remaining 22 fighters that had been on the carriers were being launched to give the CAP all of the fighters they could do defeat the Japanese assault. As they were waiting the CAP aircraft started to get a visual on the Japanese, “My god. There must be over 250 aircraft heading this way.” Crackled over the radio.
That was bad an Oswald knew it. He only had with the fighters that were launching now 60 aircraft over head. He was going to be outnumbered in the air a little over four to one. Those were never good numbers. He was listening as the CAP aircraft started to dive on the Japs and started to try and thin out the numbers.
He listened to the radio as the pilots were calling out what was happening, but things were happening fast here. His own fighters were starting to fall to the defending Japanese fighters. The distance between the Japanese aerial wing and his own ships was radially sinking. Then he could hear the 5/38s of his ships start to fire as they were starting to fill the air with flak. They were the longest ranged anti-air weapon his ships had. Right now he was wishing he had a few Havana Class CLAA with his task force. However on two of the ten ship order had joined the fleet so far and they were operating with the Atlantic Fleet. It would be a while before the Pacific Fleet got a few of those. As the Japs got closer he could hear the 1.1 inch autocannons join in the fight. But the reports from the Atlantic were already pointing to they needed to replace those. Then the Big-E started a sharp turn to starboard to make the dive and torpedo bombers miss.
It was said it was 95% pure boredom and 5% pure terror. Normally that was the truth. But for the USS Hornet, the terror was still on going after the battle. She had been the focus of the Japanese attack and had taken two torpedo hits and 5 bomb hits and was listing to port as her crew was fighting to save her. The Enterprise took a bomb hit in the attack and the crews were working to repair the damage. The Cabot also took a pair of bomb hits, but the damage in both the case of the Cabot and the Enterprise they were still in the fight from the reports that Oswald had heard. The Hornet through it was a fight to save her from sinking now.
If the Japanese have sent so many fighters forward, I wonder how many are left for their CAP. Right now it looks like one US carrier is out of the fight, the other two are OK. It appears the German carrier is still "unlocated" by the Japanese, it appears the decision has been made they will provide support to Wake directly, and I assume they will be or have hitting the ships off Wake supporting the landing, and those ships have no CAP just their organic AAA. The question is how badly the Japanese carriers will be hurt by the US force on their way. If they are reduced to only one working deck, the others being sunk or otherwise unable to conduct operations, then they are toast. No second strike on the US and Wake is reinfrced and any Japanese ships that don't run away get sunk - now the German carrier can get in some licks.
Battle of Wake Part IX
VB-19
Somewhere over the Pacific, Near Wake
March 15 1939, 1458 Local
Lieutenant Matt Wiser was taking a swig of water as he was making his way to the Japanese Fleet. It was already proving to being a long day and he knew they would most likely order him and his squadron on another mission as there was going to be enough sunlight for it. He had already been bumped to the operations officer, as the former job holder was either swimming in the Pacific, dead, or being treated to the hospitality of the Japanese. Matt didn’t know which of those answers it was but he was hoping it was not the latter. Every American naval pilot assigned to the Pacific Fleet had been made to watch a video smuggled out of occupied China of the actions of the Japanese there. It was meant to serve as a warning to all of the pilots in the USN Pacific Fleet, well really the whole the Pacific Fleet. Be ready to expect no mercy from the Japanese if caught by them.
The main difference between the earlier fish expedition and now was their Vindicator were now armed with 1,000 bomb pounds instead of the earlier 500 pound ones. The reasons for this was two fold. First was they now had a general idea where the Japs were. As to the second it was fairly clear, double your explosives, double your fun. Further they weren’t sure what carriers the Japs have brought to play with. No one has gotten a good id on them yet, but between VB-19 and VB-11 they had a damn good idea where they would be.
Looking at his watch Wiser knew they should be coming up on the bastards at any moment now. Basic geometry told them that. They had fixes on screening elements they had and the brief sighting of VB-11 gave them the general location of where the Japanese would be. They just had to hunt the bastards down now. Then his radio came to life, “VT-13 just spotted the Japs, come to heading two-six-eight.” His squadron commander called out over his radio. With the Japanese knowing they were there, they were using the radios a lot more freely now.
Wiser eased his Vindicator to the new heading as he and his squadron made the turn. It took only 11 minutes for Wiser and his squadron to get to the Japanese fleet. He could see the Jap fighters all on the deck dealing with the torpedo bombers. Well Wiser thought, but them than me. But he could see the four Zuikaku class aircraft carriers ahead of him along with the escorting destroyers. All the anti-aircraft guns were focused on the torpedo bombers as well, so at the moment they didn’t have anything trying to stop them. His squadron commander called out over the radio, “Make for the nearest carrier and lets given them a little gift from Uncle Sam!”
At that Wiser started making the last adjustments needed to dive on the Jap flat top. Once he was in position he pushed his Vindicator down and started his attack run. He made is aim point the big fucking meatball on the rear part of the deck. He felt the Gs from the dive kick in as he made his way to the deck. He was using his muscle tricks that all dive bomber pilots were taught about to make sure he didn’t black out on his run as that would be damning. That was no small task as he was having to make adjustments to his aim as the Japs were moving. Thankfully they weren’t firing on him yet as they were rushing to get their guns to the needed elevation to fire back.
Just at over 2,000 feet from the deck Matt pulled the bomb release to drop his bomb on this Jap Carrier. As he felt the 1,000 pound bomb drop from his aircraft he pulled into a 5G pull out move. As he did he heard his gunner called out over the intercom system, “Yes you got the bastards!”
“Save for when he are back on the Big-E.” Wiser said through he was grinning.
But the grin was short lived. “Nakajima fighters, 7 o’clock!” His gunner screamed into his intercom system. Wiser ripped his head around and saw the pair of fighters closing in on, eating up the distance to him quickly. He knew from intelligence reports he wouldn’t out run those bastards. So instead he started throwing his plane around in a series of violent jinx as his gunner open fire with his machine guns. It was more to make the Japs miss him than anything else. Then Matt felt his plane shutter as it was hit by 20 mm shells from the two fighters closing in on him. He then felt something wet on the back of his head. He could see through the side of his eye the windows were red now.
His controls were sluggish now but he was still trying to put distance between himself and the Japanese fleet. He firewall the throttle when to war emergency power as he injected a water-methanol mix into his engine. He boosted the horsepower of his engine by about 40% over what it was rated but it also killed the engine lifespan, but Matt was honestly wondering if his plane would fly again as the controls were that sluggish now. He felt the plane shutter again as it was hit again and it made the controls even worse. He started to lower his aircraft to get closer to the water as he knew he couldn’t jump at this height and live. But every second in the air was that much farer away from the Japanese.
Then engine started bellowing black smoke. It was time he thought, he pulled back on the throttle as he started looking for a place to ditch. His plane was hit again by 20 mm shells and he felt a sharp pain on his right ear as a part of shell nick him. Oil started to spray on the windshield so Matt was totally left to fly with his instruments. He was at 500 feet off the deck and slowing. He was also praying to god to allow his aircraft hold on for a little bit longer. He then dropped the stick a little more as he killed the engine. Maybe it died, he wasn’t sure because it didn’t feel right to him. But he was able to ditch into warm waters of the Pacific. Moving quickly as water filled his aircraft he unbuckled himself from the doomed aircraft. He grabbed the go bag that held a life raft and a few other goodies. He threw the canopy on and got out and got out on to the wing of the aircraft. It was at that point he saw what remained of his gunner. It looked like he took a 20 mm shell to the chest with the bloody aftermath. He pulled his dog tags and placed them in his upper pocket. He then stepped off the wing of the aircraft and started to float in the Pacific as he decided he was going to wait till night fall before pulling the core on the life raft.
Unknown to Wiser the attack on the Japanese left two Japanese carriers burning and the other two damaged to some degree.
Somewhere over the Pacific, Near Wake
March 15 1939, 1458 Local
Lieutenant Matt Wiser was taking a swig of water as he was making his way to the Japanese Fleet. It was already proving to being a long day and he knew they would most likely order him and his squadron on another mission as there was going to be enough sunlight for it. He had already been bumped to the operations officer, as the former job holder was either swimming in the Pacific, dead, or being treated to the hospitality of the Japanese. Matt didn’t know which of those answers it was but he was hoping it was not the latter. Every American naval pilot assigned to the Pacific Fleet had been made to watch a video smuggled out of occupied China of the actions of the Japanese there. It was meant to serve as a warning to all of the pilots in the USN Pacific Fleet, well really the whole the Pacific Fleet. Be ready to expect no mercy from the Japanese if caught by them.
The main difference between the earlier fish expedition and now was their Vindicator were now armed with 1,000 bomb pounds instead of the earlier 500 pound ones. The reasons for this was two fold. First was they now had a general idea where the Japs were. As to the second it was fairly clear, double your explosives, double your fun. Further they weren’t sure what carriers the Japs have brought to play with. No one has gotten a good id on them yet, but between VB-19 and VB-11 they had a damn good idea where they would be.
Looking at his watch Wiser knew they should be coming up on the bastards at any moment now. Basic geometry told them that. They had fixes on screening elements they had and the brief sighting of VB-11 gave them the general location of where the Japanese would be. They just had to hunt the bastards down now. Then his radio came to life, “VT-13 just spotted the Japs, come to heading two-six-eight.” His squadron commander called out over his radio. With the Japanese knowing they were there, they were using the radios a lot more freely now.
Wiser eased his Vindicator to the new heading as he and his squadron made the turn. It took only 11 minutes for Wiser and his squadron to get to the Japanese fleet. He could see the Jap fighters all on the deck dealing with the torpedo bombers. Well Wiser thought, but them than me. But he could see the four Zuikaku class aircraft carriers ahead of him along with the escorting destroyers. All the anti-aircraft guns were focused on the torpedo bombers as well, so at the moment they didn’t have anything trying to stop them. His squadron commander called out over the radio, “Make for the nearest carrier and lets given them a little gift from Uncle Sam!”
At that Wiser started making the last adjustments needed to dive on the Jap flat top. Once he was in position he pushed his Vindicator down and started his attack run. He made is aim point the big fucking meatball on the rear part of the deck. He felt the Gs from the dive kick in as he made his way to the deck. He was using his muscle tricks that all dive bomber pilots were taught about to make sure he didn’t black out on his run as that would be damning. That was no small task as he was having to make adjustments to his aim as the Japs were moving. Thankfully they weren’t firing on him yet as they were rushing to get their guns to the needed elevation to fire back.
Just at over 2,000 feet from the deck Matt pulled the bomb release to drop his bomb on this Jap Carrier. As he felt the 1,000 pound bomb drop from his aircraft he pulled into a 5G pull out move. As he did he heard his gunner called out over the intercom system, “Yes you got the bastards!”
“Save for when he are back on the Big-E.” Wiser said through he was grinning.
But the grin was short lived. “Nakajima fighters, 7 o’clock!” His gunner screamed into his intercom system. Wiser ripped his head around and saw the pair of fighters closing in on, eating up the distance to him quickly. He knew from intelligence reports he wouldn’t out run those bastards. So instead he started throwing his plane around in a series of violent jinx as his gunner open fire with his machine guns. It was more to make the Japs miss him than anything else. Then Matt felt his plane shutter as it was hit by 20 mm shells from the two fighters closing in on him. He then felt something wet on the back of his head. He could see through the side of his eye the windows were red now.
His controls were sluggish now but he was still trying to put distance between himself and the Japanese fleet. He firewall the throttle when to war emergency power as he injected a water-methanol mix into his engine. He boosted the horsepower of his engine by about 40% over what it was rated but it also killed the engine lifespan, but Matt was honestly wondering if his plane would fly again as the controls were that sluggish now. He felt the plane shutter again as it was hit again and it made the controls even worse. He started to lower his aircraft to get closer to the water as he knew he couldn’t jump at this height and live. But every second in the air was that much farer away from the Japanese.
Then engine started bellowing black smoke. It was time he thought, he pulled back on the throttle as he started looking for a place to ditch. His plane was hit again by 20 mm shells and he felt a sharp pain on his right ear as a part of shell nick him. Oil started to spray on the windshield so Matt was totally left to fly with his instruments. He was at 500 feet off the deck and slowing. He was also praying to god to allow his aircraft hold on for a little bit longer. He then dropped the stick a little more as he killed the engine. Maybe it died, he wasn’t sure because it didn’t feel right to him. But he was able to ditch into warm waters of the Pacific. Moving quickly as water filled his aircraft he unbuckled himself from the doomed aircraft. He grabbed the go bag that held a life raft and a few other goodies. He threw the canopy on and got out and got out on to the wing of the aircraft. It was at that point he saw what remained of his gunner. It looked like he took a 20 mm shell to the chest with the bloody aftermath. He pulled his dog tags and placed them in his upper pocket. He then stepped off the wing of the aircraft and started to float in the Pacific as he decided he was going to wait till night fall before pulling the core on the life raft.
Unknown to Wiser the attack on the Japanese left two Japanese carriers burning and the other two damaged to some degree.
The two damaged carriers - key is how badly damaged are they. If they can conduct flight ops, then it is two Japanese fleet carriers against two US fleet carriers and a German light carrier. The Germans should have trashed the Japanese supporting force off Wake pretty badly, or will still be doing that, and the Japanese landing force on Wake (if any are left on the island) are isolated remnants. There is a relief force for Wake which should be arriving at any moment. The smart move for the Japanese right now is the "Kenny Rogers" strategy - you got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. Even if they sink both US carriers with no losses to themselves (unlikely) most of their landing force has been trashed so they can't take Wake. On top of that, even if they sink all 3 enemy carriers, by then the air wings on the remaining Japanese carrier(s) are pretty well depleted.
Of course there is a chance for one more strike by the US carriers, whether the Japanese will do it as well who knows. And...pity the poor torpedo squadron(s)
Of course there is a chance for one more strike by the US carriers, whether the Japanese will do it as well who knows. And...pity the poor torpedo squadron(s)