April 1942 Alternate Indian Ocean
- Thread starter Zheng He
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SsgtC
Banned
So far so good. I'm still working, but heard we may be getting shut down next week. My SO is working as well, but since she's a nurse, unless she actually gets COVID-19, she'll have to continue to work. Hope you and yours are doing well Zheng
The Eastern Fleet is actually operating a small number of SBDs - they started with hand me down Banshees they got from the USAAF in Australia that had their rear tires swapped out and had hooks added (the only really differences between the A-24 and the SBD). They flew from HMS Furious and have since been operating from Christmas Island. They have another small squadron training up on Ceylon right now.
The idea for them starting with hand me downs is from OTL, the first SBDs the RNZAF got were second hand from the USMC.
1900 Hours, 3 January 1943, Ramree Island, Burma – The Japanese were coming in fairly low so the cruiser HMS Frobisher’s Type 281 radar did not pick up the Ki-48s of the 8th Sentai until they were just under 70 miles out. The rest of the task force and the garrison on Ramree Island were alerted but initially there was not a great deal of concern because Japanese night raids were infrequent and small in scale. However, five minutes later when a second blip appeared on Frobisher’s scopes, in this case the Ki-21s of the 98th Sentai, it was clear this was not just another Bed Check Charlie raid. All ships in the area went to action to stations while the captains prepared to get underway.
A message was then flashed to Akyab and within five minutes, the strip alert fighters, four Hurricane IICs from No. 67 Squadron were in the area and climbing altitude. Frobisher also signaled Force A, but unfortunately the task force were now over 100 miles offshore as Somerville’s standard procedure was to take his ships further out to sea during the night to gain maneuvering room against the threat of Japanese submarines. Still, HMS Hermes launched two Martlets she had spotted forward and both fighters sped east as they climbed.
A message was then flashed to Akyab and within five minutes, the strip alert fighters, four Hurricane IICs from No. 67 Squadron were in the area and climbing altitude. Frobisher also signaled Force A, but unfortunately the task force were now over 100 miles offshore as Somerville’s standard procedure was to take his ships further out to sea during the night to gain maneuvering room against the threat of Japanese submarines. Still, HMS Hermes launched two Martlets she had spotted forward and both fighters sped east as they climbed.
True, but in a way, will the FAA operate squadrons of Dauntless (as they saw the success of the aircaft in the Indian Ocean/Norway against Tirpitz) - fake example: Taking off from HMS Eagle, an flight of the 847 NAS (fake squadron) of Dauntless Mk.I (SBD-5) support the American forces at Gela, Sicily
Can a SBD fit on Eagle's lifts? They can't fit on the lifts of the new carriers because they don't have folding wings. That's probably a reason the FAA did not acquire them OTL even though they did evaluate them.
Seriously how drunk were the design teams when they decided smaller lifts were a good idea? Probably has something to do with the treasury and their idiocy of cutting costs by forcing a treaty that further limited carrier sizes as the size of aircraft was rapidly growing... Now I'm thinking of a POD where whoever thought that was a good idea was hit by a bus and the Illustrious class is at least 4,000 tons larger than otl
Hey Zheng, I have followed this excellent timeline from day one and I still find it very interesting. I am a public health/safety professional working in Virginia and am pretty sure I am in opening stages of the illness. Fever - check , headache -check, indigestion - check, shallow cough - check, sore throat - check, fatigue/joint pain - check. This despite taking every precaution imaginable and knowing that this was coming for over two months. Hunker down and stay safe - this is one sneaky little bug. If you can make an update here and there that would certainly raise my spirits....
Best of luck to you E-Man. I hope you just have the usual kind of flu instead. Will you be able to get tested readily? If it's not a difficulty or too personal it would be informative if you wanted to post further. Possibly in Chat.
1915 Hours, 3 January 1943, Ramree Island, Burma – The Japanese Ki-48s arrived just as most of the Allied ships in the anchorage were getting underway. Two days shy of a new moon meant there was very little light and the Japanese pilots aimed for large dark spots on the water, aided to some extent by the anti-aircraft fire that lit up around them as they began their dives. For the most part the Ki-48s dove on the two largest targets, the assault transports MS Sobieski, and SS Duchess of Atholl with each plane dropping eight 100kg bombs. The bombing was not particularly accurate by the sheer volume of bombs dropped meant that some hit home with both transports taking four hits along with splinter damage from several near misses and the light cruiser HMS Ceres was hit twice. The most damage done was when two Ki-48s dove on a collection of barges loaded with supplies for the 14th Indian Division tied up near the shore, wrecking three of them. Overall, the damage could have been worse but the JAAF was once again hurt by its preference for smaller bombs meaning all of the ships hit received a good amount of damage topside, but the damage was easily repairable and none of the ships were in danger of sinking. One Lily was brought down by anti-aircraft fire.
The Ki-21s arrived a few minutes after the Ki-48s departed, flying in tight formation at 5000 feet. The incoming Hurricanes from Akyab were able to spot blue exhaust flames coming from the bombers’ engines and dove on them from head on claiming two in their first pass while disrupting the formation. As the fighters clawed for altitude, the controller on HMS Frobisher waved them off as the bombers were now over the target and taking fire from the ships. Visibility was non-existent and the bombers dropped where the crews thought a ship might be based on incoming anti-aircraft fire. None of the larger ships were hit but two fishing boats employed as local patrol craft were sunk along an OS2U Kingfisher tied up at a makeshift pier near the shore. The fighters did not attempt pursuit and the bombers returned to their bases without additional loss, give glowing reports of crippling hits on at least three major warships.
The last bit of drama to play out involved the two Martlets from HMS Hermes arriving 30 minutes after the action died down. After taking inaccurate fire from the nervous gunners on some of the ships, the pilots were ordered to patrol overhead for an hour in the event the Japanese attempted any follow on attacks. Once things calmed down and with their fuel running low, both Martlets diverted to Akyab instead of trying to fly back the task force in the dark.
The Ki-21s arrived a few minutes after the Ki-48s departed, flying in tight formation at 5000 feet. The incoming Hurricanes from Akyab were able to spot blue exhaust flames coming from the bombers’ engines and dove on them from head on claiming two in their first pass while disrupting the formation. As the fighters clawed for altitude, the controller on HMS Frobisher waved them off as the bombers were now over the target and taking fire from the ships. Visibility was non-existent and the bombers dropped where the crews thought a ship might be based on incoming anti-aircraft fire. None of the larger ships were hit but two fishing boats employed as local patrol craft were sunk along an OS2U Kingfisher tied up at a makeshift pier near the shore. The fighters did not attempt pursuit and the bombers returned to their bases without additional loss, give glowing reports of crippling hits on at least three major warships.
The last bit of drama to play out involved the two Martlets from HMS Hermes arriving 30 minutes after the action died down. After taking inaccurate fire from the nervous gunners on some of the ships, the pilots were ordered to patrol overhead for an hour in the event the Japanese attempted any follow on attacks. Once things calmed down and with their fuel running low, both Martlets diverted to Akyab instead of trying to fly back the task force in the dark.
Yikes, please do take care of yourself and everyone else stay safe too and yes I will keep the updates coming.
Previously, @Zheng He, you shown what would be the future build up of warships by both the Allies and the Kriegsmarine. What are the IJN projected plans for the future? Like:
- What will happen to the Shinano hull? (the 3rd Yamato-class battleship converted to a maintance carrier?)
- What will happen to the Taiyo carrier/Unryu-class carriers?
- What will happen to the Fuso/Ise-class Battleships? (Idea: Fuso-class could be converted into AA battleships, and their main turrets in the middle been added to any island/home land defense)
- What will happen to the Shinano hull? (the 3rd Yamato-class battleship converted to a maintance carrier?)
- What will happen to the Taiyo carrier/Unryu-class carriers?
- What will happen to the Fuso/Ise-class Battleships? (Idea: Fuso-class could be converted into AA battleships, and their main turrets in the middle been added to any island/home land defense)
Zheng,
10 days of pure hell, but I just wanted to tell all that it looks like I’ve turned the corner. Surprisingly respiratory problems were not so bad - the gastrointestinal portion, massive headache, malaise, and persistent fever were relentless however. I finally wound up in ER Wednesday night where they found me to be extremely dehydrated, several bags of fluid brought me back around. I suppose I had a “mild” to “moderate” case of COVID, but I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. My advice to all if you come down with this make sure you have someone checking in on you regularly and that you force yourself to hydrate. Thanks for your thoughts - looks like the old Eman Maru will be ploughing the waves for awhile yet (I know, I’m asking for it).
10 days of pure hell, but I just wanted to tell all that it looks like I’ve turned the corner. Surprisingly respiratory problems were not so bad - the gastrointestinal portion, massive headache, malaise, and persistent fever were relentless however. I finally wound up in ER Wednesday night where they found me to be extremely dehydrated, several bags of fluid brought me back around. I suppose I had a “mild” to “moderate” case of COVID, but I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. My advice to all if you come down with this make sure you have someone checking in on you regularly and that you force yourself to hydrate. Thanks for your thoughts - looks like the old Eman Maru will be ploughing the waves for awhile yet (I know, I’m asking for it).
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