Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation
- Thread starter Wings
- Start date
- Status
4498
March 19th 1942
Paris - While Hitler's armies and their allies are falling on the Soviet Union, it is another news that will nevertheless shake up what is still in good taste, for some, to call the tout-Paris. The cardinal and academician Alfred Baudrillart, 83 years old, has just died. It is an influential personality of the catholic community that has just passed away, and this also leads in a much more profane way to a redistribution of the political cards, because the Laval government has just lost one of its main interlocutors.
Indeed, since the Grand Déménagement, the former senator of Puy-de-Dôme had had numerous meetings with the cardinal. The Chevalier experience as minister of the NEF having not yielded anything, Laval, as a fine political tactician, had continued to meet ostensibly with Baudrillart in order not to Baudrillart in order not to alienate the French Catholic community, which was no longer represented in the NEF government, whose composition could have worried him. The anticlericals of all sides are numerous there, to begin with Doriot, who had almost, a few years earlier, taken Thorez's place! Laval had quite easily put the cardinal on his side. Of course, the latter had reservations about Germany, but as long as he maintained his confidence in the NEF and remained relatively critical of the government in Algiers, that was enough.
.........
Vatican - After a few minutes of sadness and a few moments of prayer, the news of the death of Cardinal Baudrillart plunges the Cardinal Secretary of State Luigi Maglione into the throes of uncertainty: who could succeed the Parisian prelate as the authorized (but unofficial) representative of the Vatican to the head of the New French State? For that, someone reliable and above all discreet is needed. Because for two years, the division in two of France poses to the Holy See delicate problems of balance, the temporal having to weigh on the spiritual.
For the moment, there is an apostolic nuncio in Algiers, Archbishop Valeri, but it is not possible to send another to Paris, to the so-called Matignon regime, at the risk of seeming to recognize the regime set up by the Germans. At the time of what was called the Grand Déménagement, Maglione had feared pressure from the Italians and Germans to align the Holy See with their vision of the "New Europe" now that England had retreated to its island and the government of the French Republic, that Republic which had dared to separate the Church from the State, found itself out on the other side of the Mediterranean. But soon enough, Maglione, an expert in diplomacy (he had represented the Pope at the League of Nations in 1918 before being an apostolic nuncio for six years in Switzerland and for nine years in France) had understood that he had nothing to fear.
The Italians had no sympathy for the NEF, a political entity created out of thin air and which, from their point of view, prevented them from annexing Nice and Savoy. The Germans, as for them, had really manifested only once on this subject near the Holy See, by a letter of their representative, the baron Von Bergen. Still this intervention, if one read the terms of the letter, had been rather weak. Nothing to do with the speech that had shocked the cardinals in 1939, at the funeral of Pius XI: taking advantage of his position as dean of the diplomatic corps to the Holy See (he had been posted to the Vatican since 1915 - on behalf of the Kingdom of Prussia), Von Bergen had enjoined the next conclave to elect "a successor who would help Germany and its allies to build a new world on the ruins of the old one, whose existence, for many reasons, was no longer justified". Unctuous, as it should be, Maglione had remained rather vague in his answer to the old Prussian.
However, while it was more than reasonable not to appoint an apostolic nuncio to the NEF, Maglione was keen to maintain a close link with the political entity that governed the metropolitan territory of the "eldest daughter of the Church". Quite naturally, he had been able to go through Cardinal Baudrillart. From the autumn of 1940, Cardinal Baudrillart had had reassuring conversations with Pierre Laval about the future of Catholics and the episcopate in a country in the hands of former leftists (Déat, ex-socialist, Doriot, ex-communist), who made no secret of their attraction to the not very Catholic regime of the Führer. It was not difficult to convince Baudrillart that, for the greater good of the Church and ad majorem Dei gloriam, it would be appropriate to report to the Secretary of State the contents of his interviews with Laval and other authorities of the NEF that he might have to meet. Thus, for a year and a half, through the "apostolic (if not diplomatic) bag", Baudrillart every week, sent to the Vatican a weekly report of about thirty pages. Nothing surprising for someone who, since the outbreak of the First World War, had filled in a good ten pages of his notebooks every day, recounting all his deeds and gestures.
Some people were surprised by the cordiality of the old cardinal's relations with several big heads of the NEF. Indeed, the former student of Durkheim, Jaurès and Bergson at Normale Sup' had been noticed before the war by his most energetic positions against Nazi Germany, whose regime he described as "renewed barbarism of paganism". At the annexation of Bohemia-Moravia, after Munich, he declared: "Hitler has taken over everything. Woe betide anyone who believed in his word," before affirming: "He is an unusual monster. The English and French are not used to dealing with such scoundrels. It is unfortunate that the outlawry, with its extreme consequence, the bounty on certain criminal heads, no longer exists!" But, like many others, including the late Pius XI and even Pius XII, Baudrillart feared the propagation of Bolshevism in Europe. And the disastrous campaign of France had only fed his fear that the Bolsheviks with a knife between the teeth would settle in the ruins of the beaten country. The Grand Déménagement had left him doubtful: if he respected the will of the legal government to continue the fight against the Nazis, he regretted that it had the consequence of arousing one or the other "two France". He feared civil war, still traumatized by the experience of the Commune, which had forced him, as a young teenager, to flee the capital. Influenced by the opinion of Pie XI on Pierre Laval ("No statesman had produced on me a deeper impression of wisdom and clear-sightedness, but also of sincerity"), he had ended up considering with indulgence the policy of collaboration, the main thing being that Bolshevism be defeated on the land of France, no matter by what means... Seriously ill, almost blind, the cardinal had continued to send his weekly reports to Maglione, even if they were shorter and shorter, but he had abandoned his notebooks. What did he think of the German attack on the USSR, Maglione wondered?
Anyway, it doesn't matter! Now we have to find a new interlocutor to maintain the contact with the NEF. One name, then a second, quickly came to mind.
First of all, Monseigneur Jean de Mayol de Lupé. This one is descended by his mother from a Neapolitan princely family, just like Maglione, born in the neighboring province of Casoria.
The Secretary of State met this atypical character when he was Apostolic Nuncio in France and, above all, a few years ago, he entrusted him with a mission of the utmost importance for Christianity: to convince the former president Joseph Caillaux to marry religiously with Henriette Renouard! Mission that Mayol de Lupé had carried out with ease. Particularly combative, having left the Army only when his age had forbidden him to be part of it, Mayol de Lupé was also a friend of Otto Abetz, the Reich ambassador to France, whom he often solicited. Indeed, after having tried in vain to join the Army as a chaplain or stretcher-bearer in 1939 (at the age of 66!), Monsignor, for a moment tempted to stay out of the events of the spring and summer of 1940, had to leave his refuge in Maine-et-Loire at the request of the Princess of Polignac. It was a question of saving the prince, her husband, who had been sentenced to death in August, after German soldiers had bathed in the lake of the property fell on boxes of ammunition immersed by retreating French soldiers a few weeks earlier. Monseigneur's good relations with Abetz had made it possible to quickly get the prince out of the German jails.
Since then, he had multiplied the interventions with the ambassador, according to the arrests and other troubles from which he had to draw the members of the many large families of which he was close. But having connections is not without its drawbacks and Maglione began to fear that Otto Abetz and his deputy Julius Westrick would ask to be rewarded for their good services...
Why didn't he think of the second name first? The Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, Emmanuel Suhard! A great experience. Certain qualities. He had already dealt with the German occupation authorities and the NEF to try to avoid several executions of hostages. He also tried - without result - to negotiate agreements so that private Catholic schools be financed by the state. He is a more than respectable candidate to discreetly represent the Holy See to the Matignon regime and, like Baudrillart to inform the Secretariat of State about what was happening in occupied France. So why hesitate?
Would Luigi Maglione be assailed by the sin of envy because at the end of the last century, at the Gregorian University, it was the young Suhard who had obtained the Gold Medal, at the expense of Maglione (and of Pacelli, the future Pius XII)? It would not be appropriate to abandon oneself to such baseness...
The Secretary of State sighed and reviewed the six French cardinals present at the Conclave of 1939. Two died, Verdier, in 1940, and Baudrillart, now. Gerlier, in Lyon: he offended many in the NEF by saying that "the rights of the state, even the New State, have limits" and Maglione heard that he was very conciliatory, if not more so, with the networks of smugglers of hunted Jews. Liénart, in Lille: he was sometimes called the Red Cardinal, because of his role as a negotiator during the great strikes of Halluin in 28-29 - when a fight to the death had just begun between Germany and the USSR, he is perhaps not the best candidate.. Tisserant: he is at the Holy See, where he urges the Pope every day to publicly express the bad opinion he has of the Nazi regime. In short, if one has to dismiss de Lupé, it is better to choose a cardinal, and there remains only Suhard...
"To hell with the Gregorian!" grins Luigi Maglione, before signing off quickly. It is said: Cardinal Suhard would be in charge of becoming Laval's privileged interlocutor.
Paris - While Hitler's armies and their allies are falling on the Soviet Union, it is another news that will nevertheless shake up what is still in good taste, for some, to call the tout-Paris. The cardinal and academician Alfred Baudrillart, 83 years old, has just died. It is an influential personality of the catholic community that has just passed away, and this also leads in a much more profane way to a redistribution of the political cards, because the Laval government has just lost one of its main interlocutors.
Indeed, since the Grand Déménagement, the former senator of Puy-de-Dôme had had numerous meetings with the cardinal. The Chevalier experience as minister of the NEF having not yielded anything, Laval, as a fine political tactician, had continued to meet ostensibly with Baudrillart in order not to Baudrillart in order not to alienate the French Catholic community, which was no longer represented in the NEF government, whose composition could have worried him. The anticlericals of all sides are numerous there, to begin with Doriot, who had almost, a few years earlier, taken Thorez's place! Laval had quite easily put the cardinal on his side. Of course, the latter had reservations about Germany, but as long as he maintained his confidence in the NEF and remained relatively critical of the government in Algiers, that was enough.
.........
Vatican - After a few minutes of sadness and a few moments of prayer, the news of the death of Cardinal Baudrillart plunges the Cardinal Secretary of State Luigi Maglione into the throes of uncertainty: who could succeed the Parisian prelate as the authorized (but unofficial) representative of the Vatican to the head of the New French State? For that, someone reliable and above all discreet is needed. Because for two years, the division in two of France poses to the Holy See delicate problems of balance, the temporal having to weigh on the spiritual.
For the moment, there is an apostolic nuncio in Algiers, Archbishop Valeri, but it is not possible to send another to Paris, to the so-called Matignon regime, at the risk of seeming to recognize the regime set up by the Germans. At the time of what was called the Grand Déménagement, Maglione had feared pressure from the Italians and Germans to align the Holy See with their vision of the "New Europe" now that England had retreated to its island and the government of the French Republic, that Republic which had dared to separate the Church from the State, found itself out on the other side of the Mediterranean. But soon enough, Maglione, an expert in diplomacy (he had represented the Pope at the League of Nations in 1918 before being an apostolic nuncio for six years in Switzerland and for nine years in France) had understood that he had nothing to fear.
The Italians had no sympathy for the NEF, a political entity created out of thin air and which, from their point of view, prevented them from annexing Nice and Savoy. The Germans, as for them, had really manifested only once on this subject near the Holy See, by a letter of their representative, the baron Von Bergen. Still this intervention, if one read the terms of the letter, had been rather weak. Nothing to do with the speech that had shocked the cardinals in 1939, at the funeral of Pius XI: taking advantage of his position as dean of the diplomatic corps to the Holy See (he had been posted to the Vatican since 1915 - on behalf of the Kingdom of Prussia), Von Bergen had enjoined the next conclave to elect "a successor who would help Germany and its allies to build a new world on the ruins of the old one, whose existence, for many reasons, was no longer justified". Unctuous, as it should be, Maglione had remained rather vague in his answer to the old Prussian.
However, while it was more than reasonable not to appoint an apostolic nuncio to the NEF, Maglione was keen to maintain a close link with the political entity that governed the metropolitan territory of the "eldest daughter of the Church". Quite naturally, he had been able to go through Cardinal Baudrillart. From the autumn of 1940, Cardinal Baudrillart had had reassuring conversations with Pierre Laval about the future of Catholics and the episcopate in a country in the hands of former leftists (Déat, ex-socialist, Doriot, ex-communist), who made no secret of their attraction to the not very Catholic regime of the Führer. It was not difficult to convince Baudrillart that, for the greater good of the Church and ad majorem Dei gloriam, it would be appropriate to report to the Secretary of State the contents of his interviews with Laval and other authorities of the NEF that he might have to meet. Thus, for a year and a half, through the "apostolic (if not diplomatic) bag", Baudrillart every week, sent to the Vatican a weekly report of about thirty pages. Nothing surprising for someone who, since the outbreak of the First World War, had filled in a good ten pages of his notebooks every day, recounting all his deeds and gestures.
Some people were surprised by the cordiality of the old cardinal's relations with several big heads of the NEF. Indeed, the former student of Durkheim, Jaurès and Bergson at Normale Sup' had been noticed before the war by his most energetic positions against Nazi Germany, whose regime he described as "renewed barbarism of paganism". At the annexation of Bohemia-Moravia, after Munich, he declared: "Hitler has taken over everything. Woe betide anyone who believed in his word," before affirming: "He is an unusual monster. The English and French are not used to dealing with such scoundrels. It is unfortunate that the outlawry, with its extreme consequence, the bounty on certain criminal heads, no longer exists!" But, like many others, including the late Pius XI and even Pius XII, Baudrillart feared the propagation of Bolshevism in Europe. And the disastrous campaign of France had only fed his fear that the Bolsheviks with a knife between the teeth would settle in the ruins of the beaten country. The Grand Déménagement had left him doubtful: if he respected the will of the legal government to continue the fight against the Nazis, he regretted that it had the consequence of arousing one or the other "two France". He feared civil war, still traumatized by the experience of the Commune, which had forced him, as a young teenager, to flee the capital. Influenced by the opinion of Pie XI on Pierre Laval ("No statesman had produced on me a deeper impression of wisdom and clear-sightedness, but also of sincerity"), he had ended up considering with indulgence the policy of collaboration, the main thing being that Bolshevism be defeated on the land of France, no matter by what means... Seriously ill, almost blind, the cardinal had continued to send his weekly reports to Maglione, even if they were shorter and shorter, but he had abandoned his notebooks. What did he think of the German attack on the USSR, Maglione wondered?
Anyway, it doesn't matter! Now we have to find a new interlocutor to maintain the contact with the NEF. One name, then a second, quickly came to mind.
First of all, Monseigneur Jean de Mayol de Lupé. This one is descended by his mother from a Neapolitan princely family, just like Maglione, born in the neighboring province of Casoria.
The Secretary of State met this atypical character when he was Apostolic Nuncio in France and, above all, a few years ago, he entrusted him with a mission of the utmost importance for Christianity: to convince the former president Joseph Caillaux to marry religiously with Henriette Renouard! Mission that Mayol de Lupé had carried out with ease. Particularly combative, having left the Army only when his age had forbidden him to be part of it, Mayol de Lupé was also a friend of Otto Abetz, the Reich ambassador to France, whom he often solicited. Indeed, after having tried in vain to join the Army as a chaplain or stretcher-bearer in 1939 (at the age of 66!), Monsignor, for a moment tempted to stay out of the events of the spring and summer of 1940, had to leave his refuge in Maine-et-Loire at the request of the Princess of Polignac. It was a question of saving the prince, her husband, who had been sentenced to death in August, after German soldiers had bathed in the lake of the property fell on boxes of ammunition immersed by retreating French soldiers a few weeks earlier. Monseigneur's good relations with Abetz had made it possible to quickly get the prince out of the German jails.
Since then, he had multiplied the interventions with the ambassador, according to the arrests and other troubles from which he had to draw the members of the many large families of which he was close. But having connections is not without its drawbacks and Maglione began to fear that Otto Abetz and his deputy Julius Westrick would ask to be rewarded for their good services...
Why didn't he think of the second name first? The Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, Emmanuel Suhard! A great experience. Certain qualities. He had already dealt with the German occupation authorities and the NEF to try to avoid several executions of hostages. He also tried - without result - to negotiate agreements so that private Catholic schools be financed by the state. He is a more than respectable candidate to discreetly represent the Holy See to the Matignon regime and, like Baudrillart to inform the Secretariat of State about what was happening in occupied France. So why hesitate?
Would Luigi Maglione be assailed by the sin of envy because at the end of the last century, at the Gregorian University, it was the young Suhard who had obtained the Gold Medal, at the expense of Maglione (and of Pacelli, the future Pius XII)? It would not be appropriate to abandon oneself to such baseness...
The Secretary of State sighed and reviewed the six French cardinals present at the Conclave of 1939. Two died, Verdier, in 1940, and Baudrillart, now. Gerlier, in Lyon: he offended many in the NEF by saying that "the rights of the state, even the New State, have limits" and Maglione heard that he was very conciliatory, if not more so, with the networks of smugglers of hunted Jews. Liénart, in Lille: he was sometimes called the Red Cardinal, because of his role as a negotiator during the great strikes of Halluin in 28-29 - when a fight to the death had just begun between Germany and the USSR, he is perhaps not the best candidate.. Tisserant: he is at the Holy See, where he urges the Pope every day to publicly express the bad opinion he has of the Nazi regime. In short, if one has to dismiss de Lupé, it is better to choose a cardinal, and there remains only Suhard...
"To hell with the Gregorian!" grins Luigi Maglione, before signing off quickly. It is said: Cardinal Suhard would be in charge of becoming Laval's privileged interlocutor.
4499
May 19th, 1942
Barbarossa - The battle of the borders
Minsk - Shortly after daybreak, General G.K. Zhukov arrives by plane to coordinate with General Boldin a counter-offensive on the Belorussian front. This day will be marked by unprecedented confrontations on all three fronts.
1 - Air operations
The loss rate remains very favorable to the Luftwaffe, with an average of 3.6 Soviet aircraft destroyed for one German plane. But the VVS succeeds in preventing the Luftwaffe from systematically attacking the Soviet rear or airfields far from the front and the depots. The Germans are too busy on the front to attack in depth and bomb the many interesting targets located on the Soviet rear. In general, the combination of more difficult ground battles than expected and a great activity of the VVS forces the Luftwaffe to operate in "tactical mode".
...
2 - The Northern Front and the Baltic
When the day dawns on the battlefield, it is clear to the commander of the Soviet Front, Col.-Gen. F.I. Kuznetsov, that the German troops are breaking through the first defense zone, even though the Soviet infantry surrounded at Taurage and Jubarkas still resists, fixing part of the enemy infantry. Kuznetsov then orders his mechanized forces to attack the flanks of the German breakthrough. In the south, the 8th Army, which tries to stop the XXVIII AK (122. and 123. ID), has to launch the 11th I.D. and the 22nd Mechanized Corps against von Manstein's LVI PzKorps. At the same time, in the north, Maj. N.M. Shestopalov's 12th Armored Army is to attack the XLI PzKorps to the south.
The Soviet counter-offensive is delayed by poor communications and coordination problems. At noon, the PzKorps are in sight of their objectives, the Ariogala crossing on the Dubysa for Manstein and Tytuvenai for Reinhardt.
In the south, the counter-attack led by Sobennikov has to deploy in open terrain and falls under a very heavy anti-tank fire after having been attacked twice by Stuka.
By the end of the day, these units are in tatters and von Manstein had reached Ariogala, although the 3rd Motorized Division suffered heavy losses and had to stop on the right flank of the LVI PzKorps to finish with the remnants of Sobennikov's forces.
In the north, the counter-attack led by Shestopalov is much more successful, especially since the Luftwaffe is too dispersed to be able to effectively rescue the two Panzer Korps at the same time. The Soviet troops take back the railroad bridge and at the end of the day, the Germans are pushed back to 5 km from the Dubysa. The 23rd Mechanized Corps of Col. Ivan D. Chernyakovsky inflicts a real beating on the 6th Panzer Division, which loses half of its Pz.38(t) in three hours at Tytuvenai. But the most staggering losses are suffered by the 1st Panzer Division, attacked by the 24th Mechanized Corps and the 121st Heavy Tank Brigade.
The Soviet tanks break through the heart of the PzDivision and, at 17:50, the German command loses all contact with the HQ of the PzDivision. Shortly after 18:00, General Kirchner is killed with most of his staff when a company of KV-1 suddenly emerges from a forest, demolishing the anti-tank guns without suffering any casualties and easily repels two Panzer III 4 counter-attacks.
At night, the left flank of the German armored breakthrough is in great difficulty. The attempt to seize a crossing point on the Dubysa at Tytuvenai failed and the Soviet armored units advance south, threatening to cut off the XLI PzKorps completely from its bases. On the right, von Manstein's position seems a little better, even if he had to leave some of his motorized infantry behind to clear the remnants of Sobennikov's forces.
On both wings of Army Group North, the situation is also poor. On the right, the XXVIII AK (122. and 123. ID) is still trying to get rid of the fortified Soviet positions, and on the left, the XXVI AK (61., 93., 217. and 291. ID) has to overcome strong resistance on the road to Liepaja. All night long, Leeb, Hoepner and Manstein study the situation. Von Manstein proposes to rotate his troops towards the north in order to hit the counter-attackers from the southwest to the northeast. For this, he asks for a complete support of the Luftwaffe. Hoepner approves this plan and, around midnight, the 8th Panzer Division, the 22nd Panzer Division and the 290th Infantry Division completely change their axis of advance, leaving Ariogala with only covering forces.
.........
At sea, the S-Boats of the 2nd Flotilla are very active along the coast. The S.44 sinks the patrol boat MO-238 while the S.36 sinks the submarine S-3.
...
3 - The Central Front and Belarus
The day of the 19th sees on the central front two major tank battles, which take place at the same time as another one, in Ukraine. The Soviet publications call them "operation Vilnius" and "Pinsk-Baranovici operation". Despite all the efforts of Boldin, still in his advanced headquarters in Bialystok, and Zhukov, in Minsk, these two operations are, at best, poorly coordinated. But these are the most important armored clashes since 1939 in terms of the total number of tanks involved, and the fierceness of the fighting equals that of the most the most intense battles of the French, Greek and Peloponnesian campaigns.
The battle of Vilnius takes place 30 km from this city, between the 1st Armored Army and the XXXIXth Motorized Corps. The VVS engages all available assault aircraft, which suffer heavy losses. But in the morning, the 7th Panzer Division, trying to stop the Soviet tanks, sees its Pz.38(t) massacred by T-34s and KV-1s. In the afternoon, a counter-attack led by the 2nd and 20th Panzer Divisions succeed in stopping the Soviets thanks to the support of several Stuka raids, almost completely destroying the 55th Motorized Division. In the evening, Hoth has to postpone the attack on Vilnius to regroup and reorganize its forces.
Further south, the 3rd Armored Army of Maj. M.G. Khatskilevich resumes its attack against XXXIII Corps, and suffered very heavy losses in the "FlakFront" established the day before.
But this does not mean that Guderian has solved all his problems, because in the early afternoon, his 2nd Panzer Gruppe is violently attacked on its right flank by the 17th Armored Army of Maj. Gen. S.I. Oborin. At the same time, the German armored vanguards encounter the 175th Heavy Tank Brigade, which cover Baranovici. This is how nearly 1,600 tanks collide in an area of barely 45 km by 30 km. Highly engaged on the left wing of Army Group Center, the Luftwaffe is unable to provide such strong support between Pinsk and Baranovici as in front of Vilnius. At dusk, things are going badly for the Germans in several points of the front, where Soviet heavy tanks have broken through the lines, disorganizing the armored columns and destroying command posts.
Leaving his chief of staff Lemelsen in charge of the PzG.2, Col.Gen. Heinz Guderian travels the front in his command car, or sometimes even in a sidecar. He spends the night regrouping his forces and organizing a counter-attack with the 17th and 18th Panzer Divisions from Model. "I told them so!" he growls several times at his officers. Since 1939, "I have told these gentlemen of the OKH and the OKW that they underestimated the Soviet armored forces! And now we are paying for their mistakes." But he has to admit after the war that the quality of the new Soviet tanks, the T-34 and the KV-1, had been for him, as for the other officers of the German armor, a very bad surprise.
...
4 - The Ukrainian Front
While the 1st PzrGrp of Von Kleist progresses towards Dubno, seeking to cut Kirponos' forces in two and to isolate Lutsk from Lvov, the Soviet commander launches his main operation "Lutsk-Brody", on both flanks of the German breakthrough, converging from the north and south towards Berestechko. This counter-offensive, launched the same day as the great battles of Belarus, provokes a great battle of tanks, whose ferocity surprises even the most experienced German officers.
This movement threatens to crush the 1st Panzer Gruppe, whose deployment is far from complete and whose units are scattered over 50 km from the border. The III and XLVIII Motorized Corps are thrown into disarray by the Soviet attack, which initially progresses rapidly on its two axes. Rokossovsky's 14th Armored Army completely surprises the III Corps. Thus, the PzRgt 36 (14th Pz Division) loses 43 Pz-III and 17 Pz-IV in 90 minutes while trying to stop the T-34s and KV-1s, which suffer only negligible losses.
However, the action of the armor is not well coordinated with that of the air force and infantry. At noon, the Luftwaffe begins to hammer the Soviet columns, massacring the motorized troops and provoking a great disorder. The Soviet momentum is slowed down, which allows the anti-tank units, reinforced by the heavy Flak guns, to establish a barrage which eventually stops the Russian tanks. Kondrusev's 6th Armored Army units are disorganized and the German forces are able to isolate small groups of armor, managing to destroy heavy tanks at short range. The 14th Armored Army also has to stop and begins to dig in.
Meanwhile, the XIV Motorized Corps attacks Lvov and the German tanks run into the defensive lines of the 3rd Anti-Tank Brigade and the 209th Artillery Division. The 9th Panzer Division loses more than 50 tanks before nightfall and the German troops are stopped not far from their objective.
...
5 - The Black Sea
From the Memoirs of N.G. Kuznetsov (Moscow Publishing).
"On the third day of the war, the Danube Flotilla raided the Romanian bank of the Prut, taking prisoners belonging to their 1st Marine Infantry Brigade and bringing back vital information."
.........
In the afternoon, a powerful artillery preparation falls on the Romanian troops in the Chilia Veche - Periprava sector. In the north of the delta, Soviet troops loaded on eight river patrol boats land in the sector of the Romanian 15th Marine Battalion. For a lack of anti-tank weapons, the Soviet ships cannot be repelled.
Meanwhile, two other patrol boats and two transports infiltrate a branch of the river and land more troops in the back of the Romanian positions at Chilia Veche. The 15th Battalion has to retreat in a hurry and is partly captured. At Periprava, however, the Battalion, which has several ex-French 47 mm anti-tank guns, manages to disable four patrol boats and prevent any landing. The Soviets cross the river again in the evening.
Barbarossa - The battle of the borders
Minsk - Shortly after daybreak, General G.K. Zhukov arrives by plane to coordinate with General Boldin a counter-offensive on the Belorussian front. This day will be marked by unprecedented confrontations on all three fronts.
1 - Air operations
The loss rate remains very favorable to the Luftwaffe, with an average of 3.6 Soviet aircraft destroyed for one German plane. But the VVS succeeds in preventing the Luftwaffe from systematically attacking the Soviet rear or airfields far from the front and the depots. The Germans are too busy on the front to attack in depth and bomb the many interesting targets located on the Soviet rear. In general, the combination of more difficult ground battles than expected and a great activity of the VVS forces the Luftwaffe to operate in "tactical mode".
...
2 - The Northern Front and the Baltic
When the day dawns on the battlefield, it is clear to the commander of the Soviet Front, Col.-Gen. F.I. Kuznetsov, that the German troops are breaking through the first defense zone, even though the Soviet infantry surrounded at Taurage and Jubarkas still resists, fixing part of the enemy infantry. Kuznetsov then orders his mechanized forces to attack the flanks of the German breakthrough. In the south, the 8th Army, which tries to stop the XXVIII AK (122. and 123. ID), has to launch the 11th I.D. and the 22nd Mechanized Corps against von Manstein's LVI PzKorps. At the same time, in the north, Maj. N.M. Shestopalov's 12th Armored Army is to attack the XLI PzKorps to the south.
The Soviet counter-offensive is delayed by poor communications and coordination problems. At noon, the PzKorps are in sight of their objectives, the Ariogala crossing on the Dubysa for Manstein and Tytuvenai for Reinhardt.
In the south, the counter-attack led by Sobennikov has to deploy in open terrain and falls under a very heavy anti-tank fire after having been attacked twice by Stuka.
By the end of the day, these units are in tatters and von Manstein had reached Ariogala, although the 3rd Motorized Division suffered heavy losses and had to stop on the right flank of the LVI PzKorps to finish with the remnants of Sobennikov's forces.
In the north, the counter-attack led by Shestopalov is much more successful, especially since the Luftwaffe is too dispersed to be able to effectively rescue the two Panzer Korps at the same time. The Soviet troops take back the railroad bridge and at the end of the day, the Germans are pushed back to 5 km from the Dubysa. The 23rd Mechanized Corps of Col. Ivan D. Chernyakovsky inflicts a real beating on the 6th Panzer Division, which loses half of its Pz.38(t) in three hours at Tytuvenai. But the most staggering losses are suffered by the 1st Panzer Division, attacked by the 24th Mechanized Corps and the 121st Heavy Tank Brigade.
The Soviet tanks break through the heart of the PzDivision and, at 17:50, the German command loses all contact with the HQ of the PzDivision. Shortly after 18:00, General Kirchner is killed with most of his staff when a company of KV-1 suddenly emerges from a forest, demolishing the anti-tank guns without suffering any casualties and easily repels two Panzer III 4 counter-attacks.
At night, the left flank of the German armored breakthrough is in great difficulty. The attempt to seize a crossing point on the Dubysa at Tytuvenai failed and the Soviet armored units advance south, threatening to cut off the XLI PzKorps completely from its bases. On the right, von Manstein's position seems a little better, even if he had to leave some of his motorized infantry behind to clear the remnants of Sobennikov's forces.
On both wings of Army Group North, the situation is also poor. On the right, the XXVIII AK (122. and 123. ID) is still trying to get rid of the fortified Soviet positions, and on the left, the XXVI AK (61., 93., 217. and 291. ID) has to overcome strong resistance on the road to Liepaja. All night long, Leeb, Hoepner and Manstein study the situation. Von Manstein proposes to rotate his troops towards the north in order to hit the counter-attackers from the southwest to the northeast. For this, he asks for a complete support of the Luftwaffe. Hoepner approves this plan and, around midnight, the 8th Panzer Division, the 22nd Panzer Division and the 290th Infantry Division completely change their axis of advance, leaving Ariogala with only covering forces.
.........
At sea, the S-Boats of the 2nd Flotilla are very active along the coast. The S.44 sinks the patrol boat MO-238 while the S.36 sinks the submarine S-3.
...
3 - The Central Front and Belarus
The day of the 19th sees on the central front two major tank battles, which take place at the same time as another one, in Ukraine. The Soviet publications call them "operation Vilnius" and "Pinsk-Baranovici operation". Despite all the efforts of Boldin, still in his advanced headquarters in Bialystok, and Zhukov, in Minsk, these two operations are, at best, poorly coordinated. But these are the most important armored clashes since 1939 in terms of the total number of tanks involved, and the fierceness of the fighting equals that of the most the most intense battles of the French, Greek and Peloponnesian campaigns.
The battle of Vilnius takes place 30 km from this city, between the 1st Armored Army and the XXXIXth Motorized Corps. The VVS engages all available assault aircraft, which suffer heavy losses. But in the morning, the 7th Panzer Division, trying to stop the Soviet tanks, sees its Pz.38(t) massacred by T-34s and KV-1s. In the afternoon, a counter-attack led by the 2nd and 20th Panzer Divisions succeed in stopping the Soviets thanks to the support of several Stuka raids, almost completely destroying the 55th Motorized Division. In the evening, Hoth has to postpone the attack on Vilnius to regroup and reorganize its forces.
Further south, the 3rd Armored Army of Maj. M.G. Khatskilevich resumes its attack against XXXIII Corps, and suffered very heavy losses in the "FlakFront" established the day before.
But this does not mean that Guderian has solved all his problems, because in the early afternoon, his 2nd Panzer Gruppe is violently attacked on its right flank by the 17th Armored Army of Maj. Gen. S.I. Oborin. At the same time, the German armored vanguards encounter the 175th Heavy Tank Brigade, which cover Baranovici. This is how nearly 1,600 tanks collide in an area of barely 45 km by 30 km. Highly engaged on the left wing of Army Group Center, the Luftwaffe is unable to provide such strong support between Pinsk and Baranovici as in front of Vilnius. At dusk, things are going badly for the Germans in several points of the front, where Soviet heavy tanks have broken through the lines, disorganizing the armored columns and destroying command posts.
Leaving his chief of staff Lemelsen in charge of the PzG.2, Col.Gen. Heinz Guderian travels the front in his command car, or sometimes even in a sidecar. He spends the night regrouping his forces and organizing a counter-attack with the 17th and 18th Panzer Divisions from Model. "I told them so!" he growls several times at his officers. Since 1939, "I have told these gentlemen of the OKH and the OKW that they underestimated the Soviet armored forces! And now we are paying for their mistakes." But he has to admit after the war that the quality of the new Soviet tanks, the T-34 and the KV-1, had been for him, as for the other officers of the German armor, a very bad surprise.
...
4 - The Ukrainian Front
While the 1st PzrGrp of Von Kleist progresses towards Dubno, seeking to cut Kirponos' forces in two and to isolate Lutsk from Lvov, the Soviet commander launches his main operation "Lutsk-Brody", on both flanks of the German breakthrough, converging from the north and south towards Berestechko. This counter-offensive, launched the same day as the great battles of Belarus, provokes a great battle of tanks, whose ferocity surprises even the most experienced German officers.
This movement threatens to crush the 1st Panzer Gruppe, whose deployment is far from complete and whose units are scattered over 50 km from the border. The III and XLVIII Motorized Corps are thrown into disarray by the Soviet attack, which initially progresses rapidly on its two axes. Rokossovsky's 14th Armored Army completely surprises the III Corps. Thus, the PzRgt 36 (14th Pz Division) loses 43 Pz-III and 17 Pz-IV in 90 minutes while trying to stop the T-34s and KV-1s, which suffer only negligible losses.
However, the action of the armor is not well coordinated with that of the air force and infantry. At noon, the Luftwaffe begins to hammer the Soviet columns, massacring the motorized troops and provoking a great disorder. The Soviet momentum is slowed down, which allows the anti-tank units, reinforced by the heavy Flak guns, to establish a barrage which eventually stops the Russian tanks. Kondrusev's 6th Armored Army units are disorganized and the German forces are able to isolate small groups of armor, managing to destroy heavy tanks at short range. The 14th Armored Army also has to stop and begins to dig in.
Meanwhile, the XIV Motorized Corps attacks Lvov and the German tanks run into the defensive lines of the 3rd Anti-Tank Brigade and the 209th Artillery Division. The 9th Panzer Division loses more than 50 tanks before nightfall and the German troops are stopped not far from their objective.
...
5 - The Black Sea
From the Memoirs of N.G. Kuznetsov (Moscow Publishing).
"On the third day of the war, the Danube Flotilla raided the Romanian bank of the Prut, taking prisoners belonging to their 1st Marine Infantry Brigade and bringing back vital information."
.........
In the afternoon, a powerful artillery preparation falls on the Romanian troops in the Chilia Veche - Periprava sector. In the north of the delta, Soviet troops loaded on eight river patrol boats land in the sector of the Romanian 15th Marine Battalion. For a lack of anti-tank weapons, the Soviet ships cannot be repelled.
Meanwhile, two other patrol boats and two transports infiltrate a branch of the river and land more troops in the back of the Romanian positions at Chilia Veche. The 15th Battalion has to retreat in a hurry and is partly captured. At Periprava, however, the Battalion, which has several ex-French 47 mm anti-tank guns, manages to disable four patrol boats and prevent any landing. The Soviets cross the river again in the evening.
4500
May 19th, 1942
The Battle of Singapore - III
Singapore - The medical services report that, since May 1st, nearly 10,000 men, wounded in action, injured or fallen ill before April 8th, are back in action after a stay in hospital or in a rest camp. The ten days of truce, which were already very already very profitable, will prove to be very useful in the following weeks, by the rate of recovery of the sick and wounded, thanks to the relief they brought to the medical services and to the disappearance, even temporary, of the stress of combat inflicted on the troops. This improvement in the overall health of the Singaporean Army greatly simplifies manpower problems that are threatening to become insoluble.
The Chinese volunteers of the NCVR and SCVR, reorganized as the 1st and 2nd China Brigades, are completely re-equipped "Japanese style", with captured weapons, ammunition and equipment that gives them the firepower they lack.
The training of locally recruited troops continues, at the rate of one thousand men per week. Of this number, 250 are considered fit to serve, depending on the case, in the two Chinese brigades, the two Malayan regiments, the SSVB, the Dalforce or the Hong Kong & Singapore Infantry Regiment (HKSIR). The others serve in various support units. The transport units are now largely composed of Chinese: they own and operate most of the bus and transport companies in Malaysia and Singapore, unless they drive and maintain the vehicles of these companies (obviously all requisitioned for the war effort).
.........
Malaya - At the front, the British are beginning to get a clear picture of the forces facing them.
It is essentially the 56th Division that defends Kluang (on the Sedenak/Ayer Bemban line), the road to Kuala-Lumpur (around Ayer Hitam), and the west coast.
The first two positions, close to each other, are held by the 146th and 148th Infantry Regiments and divisional units: HQ, Reconnaissance Regiments (600 men) and Field Artillery Regiments (36 x 75 mm horse-drawn), Engineer Battalion (900 men), tankette company and 5,000 men of support troops.
The 113th Infantry Regiment is detached on the west coast, with three battalions (3,030 men), four 75 mm guns, six 70 mm howitzers and twelve 37 mm anti-tank guns. It is supported by an improvised unit with survivors from the 5th, 9th, 18th and 27th Divisions, forming a battalion of 550 men and supporting troops.
In the east, "Force 136" and Chinese Communist guerrillas report that the survivors of the Imperial Guard Division have received new reinforcements: 500 men who, judging by their appearance and demeanor, are veterans just out of the hospital.
Other agents report the arrival in Kuala Lumpur of a new type of aircraft. In fact, this is the first unit to be equipped with standard Ki-44-I aircraft. These 21 fighters will replace the Ki-27 and Ki-43 to protect Japan's most sensitive facilities.
Overall, it is clear to Gort and his staff that the "window of vulnerability" of the 25th Japanese Army is slowly closing. It is time to act.
- Force East is well established in defensive positions. The 21st British (Scottish) Division detaches the 1st Malayan Infantry Brigade (1st and 2nd Regiments) to reinforce the Main Force.
- The Main Force is again confronted by Japanese reconnaissance in force and infiltration during the night. These activities further disrupt the preparation of the attack.
Moreover, during the day, air attacks delay the deployment of artillery reinforcements arriving from Singapore.
Nevertheless, at dawn, on the British right flank (north-east), the 64th Infantry Brigade (Lancashire) resumes its attack. But the main thrust is made in the center by the 137th Brigade (Staffordshire), between the railroad and the main road, through rubber plantations. In reserve, the 138th Brigade (Lincoln & Leicester) is ready to reinforce the attack or to move to the flank for cover, if the 76th could fall back on the Japanese center.
Artillery preparation begin while it is still dark, and the combined weight of the 9.2-inch howitzers and 6-inch trench mortars, in addition to the 6-inch howitzers and 60-pounder guns, destroy most of the defensive works. Every time the Japanese 75 mm field guns try to retaliate, they are caught by the 6-inch and 4.5-inch long-range guns. In addition, the 25-pounder guns, 3-inch mortars and Vickers machine guns carry out a "box barrage" to encircle the area where the main attack is to be made. In Europe, the British Army had difficulty adapting to movement warfare, but in the conditions of trench warfare, it shows a flawless professionalism.
The infantry attacks, supported by armor, as the morning fog begins to lift. This early hour was chosen to reduce the effectiveness of the Japanese infantry weapons by preventing the the concentration of fire on clearly visible targets, and to act before the enemy's air power was in full swing. By noon, the Japanese are in full retreat, but the British pursuit is delayed by the skill and fanatical courage of rear-guards, snipers, machine-gun nests and light mortars, while more and more enemy aircraft intervene on the battlefield.
In fact, Yamashita agreed to retreat in order to preserve what was for the moment his only good division. He did not succeed without difficulty, because he had to impose his will on the commanders, who were convinced that their men could triumph over the British soldiers in face-to-face combat and who believed that the massive use of artillery and the use of armor only confirmed the "moral weakness" of the British. Yamashita in fact applied the lessons he had learned from the Germans: do not let the British fight a war of position, fight them on the move, throw them off balance and don't let them regain it. Of course, Yamashita does not admit to his officers where he gets his tactical ideas. He cleverly tells them that it is only the application of the principles of typical Japanese combat sports, such as judo. In fact, he strives to switch to a mobile infantry battle, pulling back his entire force.
- Meanwhile, Force West spends a fairly quiet night, trying to perfect the camouflage of its units, as the attack planned for the day might attract the Japanese air force.
In the morning, the 12th Indian Brigade advances cautiously toward the village of Benut, despite the precise crossfire of the Japanese entrenchments. By the end of the day, the brigade had taken the Japanese positions, but progress is slow, as the men had to move from one flooded shell hole to another to stay under cover. Indeed, the 25 and 155 mm howitzers destroyed the village, but did not do much damage to the enemy entrenchments, as the soft ground reduced the effectiveness of the artillery (while that of the Main Force on firm ground, inflicted significant losses on the retreating Japanese). Tanks cannot advance, as they would get bogged down and fall victim to bombers and anti-tank suicide teams.
To the northeast, upstream from the village, the 44th Indian Brigade crosses the Sungei Benut by boat. The men have only 30 kg of equipment with them, including four days' rations and 200 rounds of ammunition. Behind them come mules carrying the Vickers machine guns, the 3-inch mortars and their ammunition. All day long, the men slide, skid and stumble on muddy tracks, which only get worse under the feet of the soldiers, but by evening, they are well behind the Japanese left flank...
The Battle of Singapore - III
Singapore - The medical services report that, since May 1st, nearly 10,000 men, wounded in action, injured or fallen ill before April 8th, are back in action after a stay in hospital or in a rest camp. The ten days of truce, which were already very already very profitable, will prove to be very useful in the following weeks, by the rate of recovery of the sick and wounded, thanks to the relief they brought to the medical services and to the disappearance, even temporary, of the stress of combat inflicted on the troops. This improvement in the overall health of the Singaporean Army greatly simplifies manpower problems that are threatening to become insoluble.
The Chinese volunteers of the NCVR and SCVR, reorganized as the 1st and 2nd China Brigades, are completely re-equipped "Japanese style", with captured weapons, ammunition and equipment that gives them the firepower they lack.
The training of locally recruited troops continues, at the rate of one thousand men per week. Of this number, 250 are considered fit to serve, depending on the case, in the two Chinese brigades, the two Malayan regiments, the SSVB, the Dalforce or the Hong Kong & Singapore Infantry Regiment (HKSIR). The others serve in various support units. The transport units are now largely composed of Chinese: they own and operate most of the bus and transport companies in Malaysia and Singapore, unless they drive and maintain the vehicles of these companies (obviously all requisitioned for the war effort).
.........
Malaya - At the front, the British are beginning to get a clear picture of the forces facing them.
It is essentially the 56th Division that defends Kluang (on the Sedenak/Ayer Bemban line), the road to Kuala-Lumpur (around Ayer Hitam), and the west coast.
The first two positions, close to each other, are held by the 146th and 148th Infantry Regiments and divisional units: HQ, Reconnaissance Regiments (600 men) and Field Artillery Regiments (36 x 75 mm horse-drawn), Engineer Battalion (900 men), tankette company and 5,000 men of support troops.
The 113th Infantry Regiment is detached on the west coast, with three battalions (3,030 men), four 75 mm guns, six 70 mm howitzers and twelve 37 mm anti-tank guns. It is supported by an improvised unit with survivors from the 5th, 9th, 18th and 27th Divisions, forming a battalion of 550 men and supporting troops.
In the east, "Force 136" and Chinese Communist guerrillas report that the survivors of the Imperial Guard Division have received new reinforcements: 500 men who, judging by their appearance and demeanor, are veterans just out of the hospital.
Other agents report the arrival in Kuala Lumpur of a new type of aircraft. In fact, this is the first unit to be equipped with standard Ki-44-I aircraft. These 21 fighters will replace the Ki-27 and Ki-43 to protect Japan's most sensitive facilities.
Overall, it is clear to Gort and his staff that the "window of vulnerability" of the 25th Japanese Army is slowly closing. It is time to act.
- Force East is well established in defensive positions. The 21st British (Scottish) Division detaches the 1st Malayan Infantry Brigade (1st and 2nd Regiments) to reinforce the Main Force.
- The Main Force is again confronted by Japanese reconnaissance in force and infiltration during the night. These activities further disrupt the preparation of the attack.
Moreover, during the day, air attacks delay the deployment of artillery reinforcements arriving from Singapore.
Nevertheless, at dawn, on the British right flank (north-east), the 64th Infantry Brigade (Lancashire) resumes its attack. But the main thrust is made in the center by the 137th Brigade (Staffordshire), between the railroad and the main road, through rubber plantations. In reserve, the 138th Brigade (Lincoln & Leicester) is ready to reinforce the attack or to move to the flank for cover, if the 76th could fall back on the Japanese center.
Artillery preparation begin while it is still dark, and the combined weight of the 9.2-inch howitzers and 6-inch trench mortars, in addition to the 6-inch howitzers and 60-pounder guns, destroy most of the defensive works. Every time the Japanese 75 mm field guns try to retaliate, they are caught by the 6-inch and 4.5-inch long-range guns. In addition, the 25-pounder guns, 3-inch mortars and Vickers machine guns carry out a "box barrage" to encircle the area where the main attack is to be made. In Europe, the British Army had difficulty adapting to movement warfare, but in the conditions of trench warfare, it shows a flawless professionalism.
The infantry attacks, supported by armor, as the morning fog begins to lift. This early hour was chosen to reduce the effectiveness of the Japanese infantry weapons by preventing the the concentration of fire on clearly visible targets, and to act before the enemy's air power was in full swing. By noon, the Japanese are in full retreat, but the British pursuit is delayed by the skill and fanatical courage of rear-guards, snipers, machine-gun nests and light mortars, while more and more enemy aircraft intervene on the battlefield.
In fact, Yamashita agreed to retreat in order to preserve what was for the moment his only good division. He did not succeed without difficulty, because he had to impose his will on the commanders, who were convinced that their men could triumph over the British soldiers in face-to-face combat and who believed that the massive use of artillery and the use of armor only confirmed the "moral weakness" of the British. Yamashita in fact applied the lessons he had learned from the Germans: do not let the British fight a war of position, fight them on the move, throw them off balance and don't let them regain it. Of course, Yamashita does not admit to his officers where he gets his tactical ideas. He cleverly tells them that it is only the application of the principles of typical Japanese combat sports, such as judo. In fact, he strives to switch to a mobile infantry battle, pulling back his entire force.
- Meanwhile, Force West spends a fairly quiet night, trying to perfect the camouflage of its units, as the attack planned for the day might attract the Japanese air force.
In the morning, the 12th Indian Brigade advances cautiously toward the village of Benut, despite the precise crossfire of the Japanese entrenchments. By the end of the day, the brigade had taken the Japanese positions, but progress is slow, as the men had to move from one flooded shell hole to another to stay under cover. Indeed, the 25 and 155 mm howitzers destroyed the village, but did not do much damage to the enemy entrenchments, as the soft ground reduced the effectiveness of the artillery (while that of the Main Force on firm ground, inflicted significant losses on the retreating Japanese). Tanks cannot advance, as they would get bogged down and fall victim to bombers and anti-tank suicide teams.
To the northeast, upstream from the village, the 44th Indian Brigade crosses the Sungei Benut by boat. The men have only 30 kg of equipment with them, including four days' rations and 200 rounds of ammunition. Behind them come mules carrying the Vickers machine guns, the 3-inch mortars and their ammunition. All day long, the men slide, skid and stumble on muddy tracks, which only get worse under the feet of the soldiers, but by evening, they are well behind the Japanese left flank...
4501
May 19th, 1942
Coral Sea - Since dawn, the Lexington and the Yorktown have been heading south. Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher considers sending two cruisers during the night to "finish off the cripples at Tulagi", but after giving the order at 0215 hours, he changed his mind. Fortunately enough, because the cruisers would have been within range of Takagi's planes the next morning if they had been at Tulagi.
At daybreak, Fletcher orders his destroyers to refuel at the two aircraft carriers. The day passes without any other incident than the detection by the Yorktown's radar of a Japanese four-engine "Emily" seaplane, promptly dispatched by the patrol Wildcat at 11:35 "Everyone was delighted after the Tulagi attack, especially since the chatter on board had further inflated the hits claimed by the boys on the Yorktown. Most of the men were convinced that we were going back to Noumea, or even Brisbane, and get a few days' leave after this amazing victory.
But I was convinced - with the help of my experience - that the command was of a different opinion." (Yvon Lagadec, op. cit.)
At 15:35, an SBD from the Yorktown spots Rear Admiral Noyes' group and drops a message on the Wasp's deck with a message indicating a rendezvous point for the following morning.
.........
The loss of the reconnaissance seaplane is never reported to Vice Admiral Takagi, whose four aircraft carriers spend their day sailing along the east coast of the Solomon Islands to San Cristobal. During this time, the seaplane carrier Chitose is busy establishing a seaplane base at Deboyne Island, to control the area between New Guinea and Australia. At the end of the day, the base is operational, but it is spotted by a reconnaissance plane based in Port Moresby.
.........
Things started to move around 8:00, when Takagi's squadron passes San Cristobal. The radar of the Shokaku detects an unidentified aircraft, which three A6M2 intercept and
and destroy at 18:14. The victim is the French PBY-5 n°3 of the E-24 squadron, based in Nouméa.
But before being shot down, the Catalina had time to send a short message indicating that it was attacked by carrier-based aircraft. The Shokaku managed to jam the end of the transmission, but this last call is heard by another PBY-5, an American of VP- 71, patrolling 90 nautical miles to the west. This one reported to Nouméa that it had intercepted a distress call from his French comrade and that he was heading towards the patrol sector assigned to the E-24, in a sky which starts to be overcast. At 18:47, after having indicated his position, he transmits to Nouméa: "Spotted at least 12 enemy vessels, including an aircraft carrier!"
"Specify!" asks Nouméa. "Sorry, I have three fighters on my ass and I prefer to stay in the clouds!"
From Nouméa, Vice-Admiral Muselier transmits at 20:15 to Fletcher: "Enemy force including at least one aircraft carrier passed San Cristobal at 19:00." Shortly afterwards, he orders the submarines Bévéziers and Sidi-Ferruch to patrol the area between Guadalcanal and Rennell.
An important new clue about Japanese intentions is provided by five USAAF B-17s based at Cloncurry. After refueling in Port Moresby, they took off again at 13:10 for a reconnaissance "sweep" between Rabaul and the Solomons. At 16:40, one of them discovered the Goto force (around Junyo) south of Bougainville. At 17:25, it is the invasion force of Port Moresby which is spotted. These discoveries are duly reported by the four-engine aircraft, but the messages arrive in Port Moresby in the confusion created by the second Japanese air raid of the day, because the twin-engine bombers of the Japanese Navy flying at high altitude are difficult to intercept for the P-39s based there. The messages from the B-17s are not relayed to Brisbane and Fletcher until the middle of the night. In any case, they do not mention the presence of an aircraft carrier.
At the same time, Admiral Crace's squadron is heading at 15 knots towards the Jomard Passage. At 18:35, these ships are spotted by a large four-engine seaplane, which follows them until nightfall, remaining cautiously out of range of the flak. At 19:35, Crace decides to turn back during part of the night to avoid being in a predictable position at daybreak.
Muselier's message finds Fletcher meeting with his staff officers. The force detected by the Nouméa-based PBYs is far too far east to be the invasion force in Port Moresby. However, from discussions with Crace and other British and Australian officers, Fletcher knows that the Japanese seem to like to divide their forces, as they did in the battle of the South China Sea. He then assumes - correctly - that the ships detected near San Cristobal are probably part of a support group for the main force. He presumes that the latter is heading towards Port Moresby through the Louisiades.
20:40 - Fletcher decides to head northwest, in order to be in a good position to support Crace and intercept the Japanese "support group" (in fact, Takagi's aircraft carriers). At that moment, the Task Force is south of Rennell Island, at 159°45' east and 15°05' south. Fletcher detaches the DD Hammann and sent him to the rendezvous withNoyes, to inform the commander of the Wasp group of his intentions for thenext day. The destroyer accomplishes its mission shortly before midnight and Noyes, informed by projector, changes course. But as a result, the Wasp will pass the next day at 25 or 30 nautical miles from the two other carriers, behind them and a little to the north. The Hammann returns towards the bulk of the TG-17, which it will join at 06:30 the following morning. During the night, Fletcher also decides to send the tanker Neosho south, escorted by the DD Sims, in order not to expose the precious "fat lady".
.........
On his side, Takagi learns at 22:10 about the detection of Crace's ships by a seaplane based at Rabaul. The message he received mentions: "Two or three battleships, five heavy cruisers and five light cruisers". This must be the main Allied force! Takagi blames the fact that no carriers were spotted to bad luck or to the fact that the American carriers that attacked the Tulagi occupation force and had to move west afterwards had not yet reached the battleships at the time they were detected. If Takagi had been informed that a reconnaissance seaplane sent south of Rennell had disappeared he probably would have reasoned differently.
Coral Sea - Since dawn, the Lexington and the Yorktown have been heading south. Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher considers sending two cruisers during the night to "finish off the cripples at Tulagi", but after giving the order at 0215 hours, he changed his mind. Fortunately enough, because the cruisers would have been within range of Takagi's planes the next morning if they had been at Tulagi.
At daybreak, Fletcher orders his destroyers to refuel at the two aircraft carriers. The day passes without any other incident than the detection by the Yorktown's radar of a Japanese four-engine "Emily" seaplane, promptly dispatched by the patrol Wildcat at 11:35 "Everyone was delighted after the Tulagi attack, especially since the chatter on board had further inflated the hits claimed by the boys on the Yorktown. Most of the men were convinced that we were going back to Noumea, or even Brisbane, and get a few days' leave after this amazing victory.
But I was convinced - with the help of my experience - that the command was of a different opinion." (Yvon Lagadec, op. cit.)
At 15:35, an SBD from the Yorktown spots Rear Admiral Noyes' group and drops a message on the Wasp's deck with a message indicating a rendezvous point for the following morning.
.........
The loss of the reconnaissance seaplane is never reported to Vice Admiral Takagi, whose four aircraft carriers spend their day sailing along the east coast of the Solomon Islands to San Cristobal. During this time, the seaplane carrier Chitose is busy establishing a seaplane base at Deboyne Island, to control the area between New Guinea and Australia. At the end of the day, the base is operational, but it is spotted by a reconnaissance plane based in Port Moresby.
.........
Things started to move around 8:00, when Takagi's squadron passes San Cristobal. The radar of the Shokaku detects an unidentified aircraft, which three A6M2 intercept and
and destroy at 18:14. The victim is the French PBY-5 n°3 of the E-24 squadron, based in Nouméa.
But before being shot down, the Catalina had time to send a short message indicating that it was attacked by carrier-based aircraft. The Shokaku managed to jam the end of the transmission, but this last call is heard by another PBY-5, an American of VP- 71, patrolling 90 nautical miles to the west. This one reported to Nouméa that it had intercepted a distress call from his French comrade and that he was heading towards the patrol sector assigned to the E-24, in a sky which starts to be overcast. At 18:47, after having indicated his position, he transmits to Nouméa: "Spotted at least 12 enemy vessels, including an aircraft carrier!"
"Specify!" asks Nouméa. "Sorry, I have three fighters on my ass and I prefer to stay in the clouds!"
From Nouméa, Vice-Admiral Muselier transmits at 20:15 to Fletcher: "Enemy force including at least one aircraft carrier passed San Cristobal at 19:00." Shortly afterwards, he orders the submarines Bévéziers and Sidi-Ferruch to patrol the area between Guadalcanal and Rennell.
An important new clue about Japanese intentions is provided by five USAAF B-17s based at Cloncurry. After refueling in Port Moresby, they took off again at 13:10 for a reconnaissance "sweep" between Rabaul and the Solomons. At 16:40, one of them discovered the Goto force (around Junyo) south of Bougainville. At 17:25, it is the invasion force of Port Moresby which is spotted. These discoveries are duly reported by the four-engine aircraft, but the messages arrive in Port Moresby in the confusion created by the second Japanese air raid of the day, because the twin-engine bombers of the Japanese Navy flying at high altitude are difficult to intercept for the P-39s based there. The messages from the B-17s are not relayed to Brisbane and Fletcher until the middle of the night. In any case, they do not mention the presence of an aircraft carrier.
At the same time, Admiral Crace's squadron is heading at 15 knots towards the Jomard Passage. At 18:35, these ships are spotted by a large four-engine seaplane, which follows them until nightfall, remaining cautiously out of range of the flak. At 19:35, Crace decides to turn back during part of the night to avoid being in a predictable position at daybreak.
Muselier's message finds Fletcher meeting with his staff officers. The force detected by the Nouméa-based PBYs is far too far east to be the invasion force in Port Moresby. However, from discussions with Crace and other British and Australian officers, Fletcher knows that the Japanese seem to like to divide their forces, as they did in the battle of the South China Sea. He then assumes - correctly - that the ships detected near San Cristobal are probably part of a support group for the main force. He presumes that the latter is heading towards Port Moresby through the Louisiades.
20:40 - Fletcher decides to head northwest, in order to be in a good position to support Crace and intercept the Japanese "support group" (in fact, Takagi's aircraft carriers). At that moment, the Task Force is south of Rennell Island, at 159°45' east and 15°05' south. Fletcher detaches the DD Hammann and sent him to the rendezvous withNoyes, to inform the commander of the Wasp group of his intentions for thenext day. The destroyer accomplishes its mission shortly before midnight and Noyes, informed by projector, changes course. But as a result, the Wasp will pass the next day at 25 or 30 nautical miles from the two other carriers, behind them and a little to the north. The Hammann returns towards the bulk of the TG-17, which it will join at 06:30 the following morning. During the night, Fletcher also decides to send the tanker Neosho south, escorted by the DD Sims, in order not to expose the precious "fat lady".
.........
On his side, Takagi learns at 22:10 about the detection of Crace's ships by a seaplane based at Rabaul. The message he received mentions: "Two or three battleships, five heavy cruisers and five light cruisers". This must be the main Allied force! Takagi blames the fact that no carriers were spotted to bad luck or to the fact that the American carriers that attacked the Tulagi occupation force and had to move west afterwards had not yet reached the battleships at the time they were detected. If Takagi had been informed that a reconnaissance seaplane sent south of Rennell had disappeared he probably would have reasoned differently.
4502
May 19th, 1942
Rabaul - Departure of the invasion force that is to seize the small village of Buna (operation RI). Under the command of Rear Admiral Mitsuharu Matsuyama, this force includes the seaplane carrier Kunikawa Maru (6 F1M2), the destroyers Asanagi, Mochizuki, Mutsuki, Oite, Yayoi and Yunagi and the CH-32 submarine hunter. They escort the fast troop transport Ayatosan Maru and the cargo ships Kinryu Maru and Ryoyo Maru. The importance of the escort is justified by the absence of cruisers to provide fire support, all of them being mobilized for Operation MO.
Rabaul - Departure of the invasion force that is to seize the small village of Buna (operation RI). Under the command of Rear Admiral Mitsuharu Matsuyama, this force includes the seaplane carrier Kunikawa Maru (6 F1M2), the destroyers Asanagi, Mochizuki, Mutsuki, Oite, Yayoi and Yunagi and the CH-32 submarine hunter. They escort the fast troop transport Ayatosan Maru and the cargo ships Kinryu Maru and Ryoyo Maru. The importance of the escort is justified by the absence of cruisers to provide fire support, all of them being mobilized for Operation MO.
4503 - Raid on Colombo
May 19th, 1942
Colombo (Ceylon), 23:37 - A loud explosion shakes the port. A small civilian tanker rented by the Royal Navy, the British Loyalty, has just exploded and will blaze furiously for part of the night. Shortly afterwards, the old battleship Royal Sovereign is hit by a torpedo under the A turret. Damage is limited, but several weeks of repairs are required.
The culprit i a Japanese Type A mini-submarine. The submarines I-16, I-18 and I-20 , accompanied by the I-9 and I-30, left Kuching ten days earlier and transported to the port of Colombo three of these two-seaters. The one of the I-18 could not start its engine and was lost. That of the I-16 disappeared for an unknown reason. That of theI-20 was able to fire its two torpedoes, perhaps targeting the battleship Nelson, anchored not far from the tanker. But shortly afterwards, its two crewmen died of asphyxiation from the toxic gases coming from their battery, probably damaged by the shock wave of the torpedo that hit the tanker. The drifting submarine was washed ashore by the tide, not far from the port.
However, this first part of Operation D, designed as a diversion for operation MO organized in the Coral Sea, could not convince the allied command that the main axis of the Japanese effort was in the Indian Ocean.
This does not prevent the five Japanese submarines from reaching their rendezvous point with the AMC Hokoku Maru and Aikoku Maru, which will refuel them before leaving for Japan. On its side, the 8th Submarine Squadron will head for the East African coast.
Colombo (Ceylon), 23:37 - A loud explosion shakes the port. A small civilian tanker rented by the Royal Navy, the British Loyalty, has just exploded and will blaze furiously for part of the night. Shortly afterwards, the old battleship Royal Sovereign is hit by a torpedo under the A turret. Damage is limited, but several weeks of repairs are required.
The culprit i a Japanese Type A mini-submarine. The submarines I-16, I-18 and I-20 , accompanied by the I-9 and I-30, left Kuching ten days earlier and transported to the port of Colombo three of these two-seaters. The one of the I-18 could not start its engine and was lost. That of the I-16 disappeared for an unknown reason. That of theI-20 was able to fire its two torpedoes, perhaps targeting the battleship Nelson, anchored not far from the tanker. But shortly afterwards, its two crewmen died of asphyxiation from the toxic gases coming from their battery, probably damaged by the shock wave of the torpedo that hit the tanker. The drifting submarine was washed ashore by the tide, not far from the port.
However, this first part of Operation D, designed as a diversion for operation MO organized in the Coral Sea, could not convince the allied command that the main axis of the Japanese effort was in the Indian Ocean.
This does not prevent the five Japanese submarines from reaching their rendezvous point with the AMC Hokoku Maru and Aikoku Maru, which will refuel them before leaving for Japan. On its side, the 8th Submarine Squadron will head for the East African coast.
4504
May 19th, 1942
Washington, D.C. - On this warm spring day, the White House brings together key government and military leaders to address a topical issue.
President Roosevelt explains at the outset: "Gentlemen, the subject of today is sensitive and complicated, military, strategic and diplomatic. I am counting on your sincerity and creativity, and of course on your discretion. Henry, your turn.
- Thank you, Mr. President," resumes Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. "We will discuss command organization in the Pacific, specifically in the Southwest Pacific. As you all know, last month's Allied Conference agreed to establish two theaters of operation, the one in South East Asia, under Wavell, and the Pacific, under Nimitz. But the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which must follow official directives, found that our British allies had an extensive understanding of their area of responsibility: they would like to include the Dutch Indies and especially Australia, including its eastern coast to the Solomons.
Fortunately, there is no debate about the Philippines, which is attached to the Pacific theater. To complicate the matter, the Australian government has asked that the possibility of a Southwest Pacific theater of operations, covering Australia, New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies... To our great surprise, the British seem to support this hypothesis, without our understanding whether it is a diversion for them or a change of objective.
- Mr. Secretary of State, Mr. President, if I may..." Admiral Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations of the US Navy, is the first to intervene to make it clear that the Pacific is and remains his turf. "We must remain firm in our demands: we must not fragment the command in the region, on the contrary, we must centralize it! With the Pacific Ocean Areas (POA) with Nimitz, we are ensuring the unity of command of the Allied forces in the Pacific, which will facilitate the definition and implementation of coherent and effective operations. We have resolved the issue of the vastness of the area by dividing it into three commands: North Pacific Area Command, Central Pacific Area command, and the South Pacific Area command (SOPAC), all three of which answer to Nimitz. It is obvious that Admiral Ghormley's SOPAC extends to the Australian coast. We need to have this organization validated at the inter-allied level.
- Since we have accepted the principle of the Southeast Asian theater of operations, we must agree on the distribution of roles," says General George Marshall, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. "Certainly, the question of the boundary between this theater and the Pacific theater must be resolved. Since the political decision in April, everyone has realized that Wavell could not effectively command from India to the Solomon Islands: Let us take advantage of this obvious fact to push back as far west as possible the border between the two theaters.
- Be careful", warns Secretary of State Cordell Hull, "not to go from one extreme to the other. Remember that Australians are primarily concerned about the Japanese threat to their territory. Their government wants a leader and a capability that has only one mission: to protect Australia. Entrusting responsibility for the area to Nimitz, who would necessarily have other objectives in mind, might worry them.
- The situation is not that simple," protests Admiral King, "and the Australian government knows it perfectly well. The Japanese thrust into the Solomons and the New Hebrides is a direct threat, because it aims at cutting the road between the United States and Australia: with little to look forward to on the western side, Australia would be isolated and forced to surrender even without an invasion. The defense of Australia was therefore as much the business of Nimitz and Ghormley as it is of Wavell, today. Tomorrow, if we wish to counter-attack in the Solomons, our operations will have to be organized from Fiji, from Nouméa but also from Australia: unifying the command of these areas would make our efforts much more effective."
Roosevelt speaks again: "I think we are in agreement on the substance. We need to continue to propose, with reasons, that the Pacific Theater of Operations include the eastern coast of Australia to give the maximum chance of success to future operations. But if our allies do not agree, for whatever reasons, we cannot allow Wavell's command to extend over all of Australia, nor can we allow the uncertainty to continue, because that would be the worst thing. What about the Australian idea of a Southwest Pacific theater of operations? Who could command it?"
- McArthur would have been an ideal choice", Stimson replies. "He was already in command of the Philippine Army and the US Army Forces in the Far East. But he's been stuck on Corregidor since the beginning of the month, and he announced to the world his decision to fight to the bitter end. I don't know what he was hoping to achieve by presenting us with a fait accompli, but we have no way of sending him any help or reinforcements. We could order him to evacuate, but... um... The man is stubborn and he is prone disobey: his prestige, in the Philippines, in Australia, but also at home, exceeds his military role and a public disagreement would have a very negative impact on the morale of the American citizens and allied countries. After all, his prolonged resistance blocked a Japanese army in place, hinders the enemy fleet's use of Manila Bay and Manila Harbor...and if its final defeat seems inevitable, I trust the press of this country to galvanize the energies of its readers."
Stimson is visibly uncomfortable, but everyone involved knows that the White House considers the general to be one of the most dangerous potential political rivals to Roosevelt, and no one wants to challenge the presidency's handling of his case. After a moment, the Secretary of War resumes: "The candidacies of the other two main American generals present in the region can hardly be considered: Wainwright is stuck in Mindanao where he has begun to organize an anti-Japanese guerrilla war, he must fulfill the end of this mission, but he will not be available before several weeks or months, by which time it will be too late. Lieutenant General George Brett is in command of our U.S. Army Forces in Australia [USAFIA], but he seems to be disliked by his Australian counterparts, so Canberra would probably oppose his appointment. So we need to consider other options."
General Henry Arnold, Chief of Staff of the US Army Air Force, has his candidates: "There are Lesley J. McNair or Joseph T. McNarney. Both of them now have senior responsibilities within the US Army*: giving them an operational command would be a strong sign of the importance given to this theater of operations. I remind you that McNarney's name was already considered a few months ago to command the American forces in the Pacific.
- These are excellent candidates," Marshall agrees, who immediately adds, "However, they are very valuable today in their positions." He, too, had his own candidate: "Why not nominate General Walter Krueger, who demonstrated during last year's Louisiana maneuvers that he was one of our generals who best mastered the modern concept of motorized warfare?"
- Krueger is a good general, but perhaps a little old and not famous enough to be well accepted by the Australians," says Hull.
- So why not McNarney," suggests Stimson, who is anxious to get it over with.
- Gentlemen, the President asked us to be sincere, so I must insist," resumes Admiral King. "If you wish, let us propose General McNarney for a possible Pacific theater, but let's try to simplify our future operations by including this command within the Nimitz POA. If necessary, let's merge it with the SOPAC! For political support from the Australians, we could offer them a deputy position.
- You're right, Ernest," concludes Roosevelt. "We will first defend the extension of the Nimitz area, the creation of an independent theater of operations must be only a fallback scenario.
- Very well", agrees Harry Hopkins, the president's special advisor, "But how do we get our allies to ratify this choice?
- That is a matter for the Combined Joint Staff," replies King, clearly satisfied with the arbitration. "I will put it on the agenda for the next meeting, the day after tomorrow.
* McNair is commander in chief of the U.S. Army's land forces, responsible for training and preparation of units prior to their deployment overseas. McNarney is one of Arnold's deputies.
Washington, D.C. - On this warm spring day, the White House brings together key government and military leaders to address a topical issue.
President Roosevelt explains at the outset: "Gentlemen, the subject of today is sensitive and complicated, military, strategic and diplomatic. I am counting on your sincerity and creativity, and of course on your discretion. Henry, your turn.
- Thank you, Mr. President," resumes Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. "We will discuss command organization in the Pacific, specifically in the Southwest Pacific. As you all know, last month's Allied Conference agreed to establish two theaters of operation, the one in South East Asia, under Wavell, and the Pacific, under Nimitz. But the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which must follow official directives, found that our British allies had an extensive understanding of their area of responsibility: they would like to include the Dutch Indies and especially Australia, including its eastern coast to the Solomons.
Fortunately, there is no debate about the Philippines, which is attached to the Pacific theater. To complicate the matter, the Australian government has asked that the possibility of a Southwest Pacific theater of operations, covering Australia, New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies... To our great surprise, the British seem to support this hypothesis, without our understanding whether it is a diversion for them or a change of objective.
- Mr. Secretary of State, Mr. President, if I may..." Admiral Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations of the US Navy, is the first to intervene to make it clear that the Pacific is and remains his turf. "We must remain firm in our demands: we must not fragment the command in the region, on the contrary, we must centralize it! With the Pacific Ocean Areas (POA) with Nimitz, we are ensuring the unity of command of the Allied forces in the Pacific, which will facilitate the definition and implementation of coherent and effective operations. We have resolved the issue of the vastness of the area by dividing it into three commands: North Pacific Area Command, Central Pacific Area command, and the South Pacific Area command (SOPAC), all three of which answer to Nimitz. It is obvious that Admiral Ghormley's SOPAC extends to the Australian coast. We need to have this organization validated at the inter-allied level.
- Since we have accepted the principle of the Southeast Asian theater of operations, we must agree on the distribution of roles," says General George Marshall, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. "Certainly, the question of the boundary between this theater and the Pacific theater must be resolved. Since the political decision in April, everyone has realized that Wavell could not effectively command from India to the Solomon Islands: Let us take advantage of this obvious fact to push back as far west as possible the border between the two theaters.
- Be careful", warns Secretary of State Cordell Hull, "not to go from one extreme to the other. Remember that Australians are primarily concerned about the Japanese threat to their territory. Their government wants a leader and a capability that has only one mission: to protect Australia. Entrusting responsibility for the area to Nimitz, who would necessarily have other objectives in mind, might worry them.
- The situation is not that simple," protests Admiral King, "and the Australian government knows it perfectly well. The Japanese thrust into the Solomons and the New Hebrides is a direct threat, because it aims at cutting the road between the United States and Australia: with little to look forward to on the western side, Australia would be isolated and forced to surrender even without an invasion. The defense of Australia was therefore as much the business of Nimitz and Ghormley as it is of Wavell, today. Tomorrow, if we wish to counter-attack in the Solomons, our operations will have to be organized from Fiji, from Nouméa but also from Australia: unifying the command of these areas would make our efforts much more effective."
Roosevelt speaks again: "I think we are in agreement on the substance. We need to continue to propose, with reasons, that the Pacific Theater of Operations include the eastern coast of Australia to give the maximum chance of success to future operations. But if our allies do not agree, for whatever reasons, we cannot allow Wavell's command to extend over all of Australia, nor can we allow the uncertainty to continue, because that would be the worst thing. What about the Australian idea of a Southwest Pacific theater of operations? Who could command it?"
- McArthur would have been an ideal choice", Stimson replies. "He was already in command of the Philippine Army and the US Army Forces in the Far East. But he's been stuck on Corregidor since the beginning of the month, and he announced to the world his decision to fight to the bitter end. I don't know what he was hoping to achieve by presenting us with a fait accompli, but we have no way of sending him any help or reinforcements. We could order him to evacuate, but... um... The man is stubborn and he is prone disobey: his prestige, in the Philippines, in Australia, but also at home, exceeds his military role and a public disagreement would have a very negative impact on the morale of the American citizens and allied countries. After all, his prolonged resistance blocked a Japanese army in place, hinders the enemy fleet's use of Manila Bay and Manila Harbor...and if its final defeat seems inevitable, I trust the press of this country to galvanize the energies of its readers."
Stimson is visibly uncomfortable, but everyone involved knows that the White House considers the general to be one of the most dangerous potential political rivals to Roosevelt, and no one wants to challenge the presidency's handling of his case. After a moment, the Secretary of War resumes: "The candidacies of the other two main American generals present in the region can hardly be considered: Wainwright is stuck in Mindanao where he has begun to organize an anti-Japanese guerrilla war, he must fulfill the end of this mission, but he will not be available before several weeks or months, by which time it will be too late. Lieutenant General George Brett is in command of our U.S. Army Forces in Australia [USAFIA], but he seems to be disliked by his Australian counterparts, so Canberra would probably oppose his appointment. So we need to consider other options."
General Henry Arnold, Chief of Staff of the US Army Air Force, has his candidates: "There are Lesley J. McNair or Joseph T. McNarney. Both of them now have senior responsibilities within the US Army*: giving them an operational command would be a strong sign of the importance given to this theater of operations. I remind you that McNarney's name was already considered a few months ago to command the American forces in the Pacific.
- These are excellent candidates," Marshall agrees, who immediately adds, "However, they are very valuable today in their positions." He, too, had his own candidate: "Why not nominate General Walter Krueger, who demonstrated during last year's Louisiana maneuvers that he was one of our generals who best mastered the modern concept of motorized warfare?"
- Krueger is a good general, but perhaps a little old and not famous enough to be well accepted by the Australians," says Hull.
- So why not McNarney," suggests Stimson, who is anxious to get it over with.
- Gentlemen, the President asked us to be sincere, so I must insist," resumes Admiral King. "If you wish, let us propose General McNarney for a possible Pacific theater, but let's try to simplify our future operations by including this command within the Nimitz POA. If necessary, let's merge it with the SOPAC! For political support from the Australians, we could offer them a deputy position.
- You're right, Ernest," concludes Roosevelt. "We will first defend the extension of the Nimitz area, the creation of an independent theater of operations must be only a fallback scenario.
- Very well", agrees Harry Hopkins, the president's special advisor, "But how do we get our allies to ratify this choice?
- That is a matter for the Combined Joint Staff," replies King, clearly satisfied with the arbitration. "I will put it on the agenda for the next meeting, the day after tomorrow.
* McNair is commander in chief of the U.S. Army's land forces, responsible for training and preparation of units prior to their deployment overseas. McNarney is one of Arnold's deputies.
4505
May 19th, 1942
Central Mediterranean - Sicily is again the target of major air raids: it is Hammer IV. This time, 437 combat missions target mainly airfields. Nine Allied aircraft are shot down (including four by the flak) against four Italian fighters, but a dozen Italian aircraft of all types are destroyed on the ground, while runways and buildings are severely hit.
Central Mediterranean - Sicily is again the target of major air raids: it is Hammer IV. This time, 437 combat missions target mainly airfields. Nine Allied aircraft are shot down (including four by the flak) against four Italian fighters, but a dozen Italian aircraft of all types are destroyed on the ground, while runways and buildings are severely hit.
4506
May 19th, 1942
Alger - After an extended meeting with De Gaulle, the Chief of the General Staff of National Defense, General Noguès, leaves for Washington. He is to take part in a meeting of the Combined Joint Staff, devoted essentially to the conduct of operations in the Mediterranean.
General Eisenhower, the new head of the American Expeditionary Force in North Africa, also makes the trip for what is to be a working meeting between military personnel before the presentation of a project to the governments - but the importance of this meeting is multiplied by the outbreak of hostilities between Germany and the USSR. However, it is not considered desirable - not yet - to involve the Soviets.
Alger - After an extended meeting with De Gaulle, the Chief of the General Staff of National Defense, General Noguès, leaves for Washington. He is to take part in a meeting of the Combined Joint Staff, devoted essentially to the conduct of operations in the Mediterranean.
General Eisenhower, the new head of the American Expeditionary Force in North Africa, also makes the trip for what is to be a working meeting between military personnel before the presentation of a project to the governments - but the importance of this meeting is multiplied by the outbreak of hostilities between Germany and the USSR. However, it is not considered desirable - not yet - to involve the Soviets.
4510
May 20th, 1942
Leningrad - Andrei Zhdanov is put in charge of the political supervision of the North-Western military sector (Leningrad and the Baltic region). For the last two days he has redoubled his activity to make people forget his false start on the 17th. He mobilizes the population to strengthen the city's defenses, evacuates by rail a million and a half precious objects accumulated in the former imperial city, and requisitions the personnel of theaters to make camouflage nets.
Minsk - The government and the Central Committee of the Byelorussian Soviet Republic leave their capital, too close to the front, for Mohilev (they move again a few weeks later to Moscow). However, the first secretary, Panteleimon Ponomarenko, continues to oversee the defense of Belarus.
Kiev - Like Ponomarenko in Belarus, Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the CP in Ukraine, closely controls the defense of his territory. Cedant arma togae, the weapons must give way to the toga: insofar as the tunic of the People's Commissar can be compared to a toga, the Party remains, even in times of war, the first authority of the Soviet Union.
Leningrad - Andrei Zhdanov is put in charge of the political supervision of the North-Western military sector (Leningrad and the Baltic region). For the last two days he has redoubled his activity to make people forget his false start on the 17th. He mobilizes the population to strengthen the city's defenses, evacuates by rail a million and a half precious objects accumulated in the former imperial city, and requisitions the personnel of theaters to make camouflage nets.
Minsk - The government and the Central Committee of the Byelorussian Soviet Republic leave their capital, too close to the front, for Mohilev (they move again a few weeks later to Moscow). However, the first secretary, Panteleimon Ponomarenko, continues to oversee the defense of Belarus.
Kiev - Like Ponomarenko in Belarus, Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the CP in Ukraine, closely controls the defense of his territory. Cedant arma togae, the weapons must give way to the toga: insofar as the tunic of the People's Commissar can be compared to a toga, the Party remains, even in times of war, the first authority of the Soviet Union.
4511
May 20th, 1942
Moscow - In the night, STAVKA evaluates the results of the previous day's counteroffensive. It gradually appears that, if it was able to inflict significant losses to the enemy, it failed to stop it
At noon, the Soviet radio ("Radio-Moskva") broadcasts a remarkable message from Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, an unscrupulous dictator transformed by the German aggression into a herald of the freedom of the peoples of the world.
"Comrades! Citizens, brothers and sisters! Fighters of our Army and Navy! It is I who speak to you today, my friends!
Since the morning of May 17th, Hitler's Germany has been carrying out a perfidious military aggression againstour Motherland. All our military forces are putting up heroic resistance and inflicting unprecedented losses on the treacherous aggressors. However, it is true that the battle is taking place on the soil of our Motherland. We can explain it because the war started with conditions favorable to the German troops and unfavorable to the Soviet troops. Germany was already fully mobilized for this war. Germany has launched more than 170 divisions against our borders. Fascist Germany perfidiously and by surprise violated the non-aggression pact signed in 1939 with the USSR.
People may ask: how could it be that the Soviet government agreed to sign a non-aggression pact with such treacherous individuals and monsters as Hitler and Ribbentrop? Wasn't this a mistake on the part of the Soviet government?
Certainly not!
A non-aggression pact is a peace pact between two states. Could the Soviet government have rejected such a pact? I think that no peace-loving state can reject a peace agreement with a neighboring power, even if that power is ruled by monsters and cannibals like Hitler and Ribbentrop.
What have we gained by signing this non-aggression pact with Germany? We have peace for our country for two and a half years and we gained time to prepare our armed forces to repel an attack in case Hitler should run the risk of invading our country. The time we have gained is a victory for us and a defeat for fascist Germany.
What does this war mean for all of us? First of all, it is necessary that our people, the Soviet people, to realize the seriousness of the threat and to abandon their peacetime habits. The enemy is cruel and ruthless. His aim is to occupy our lands, cultivated with our sweat, and to seize our wheat and oil, obtained with our labor. Its aim is to restore the power of the tsarist feudalists and destroy the cultures and national identities of Russians, Ukrainians, Belorussians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Uzbeks, Tatars, Moldovans, Armenians, Azeris and other free peoples of the Soviet Union, to make them slaves of the German barons. What is at stake is the life or death of the Soviet state, the life or death of the people of the USSR, and the freedom or slavery of the peoples of the Soviet Union.
There will be no room for whiners and cowards, alarmists and deserters. All of us must stand up to fight our patriotic war with enthusiasm, dedication and discipline. The Red Army and Navy and all citizens must defend every inch of the Soviet soil, fight to the last drop of blood for our cities and villages and show courage, initiative and discipline. We must organize everything to help the Red Army. We must make our country the most powerful of all fortresses.
Is this war just another war? No, it is not. The war against fascist Germany must not be seen as an ordinary war. It is much more than a war between two armies. It is the great war of all Soviet peoples against German fascist aggression. The aim of this war is not only to eliminate the danger which threatens our country, but also to help all the peoples of Europe in their fight against Fascism.
We are not alone in this struggle. We have true allies, the peoples of Europe and America, including the German people enslaved by Hitler and his henchmen. Our struggle will join that of all the peoples of Europe and America. It will be the united front of the peoples, standing up for freedom against slavery. This is how the Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, made a historic speech promising aid to the Soviet Union. There were also historic statements from the governments of the United States and France Combattante. The hearts of the peoples of the Soviet Union are full of gratitude for this support. We will fight side by side until victory. Comrades! Our forces are invincible. Rise up to fight the enemy, to defend the Motherland, to defeat Fascism and Barbarism.
All our strength - to support our heroic Red Army, our glorious Red Navy.
All the strength of the people - for the destruction of the enemy!
Vpered, na pobedu! Forward, to victory!"
Moscow - In the night, STAVKA evaluates the results of the previous day's counteroffensive. It gradually appears that, if it was able to inflict significant losses to the enemy, it failed to stop it
At noon, the Soviet radio ("Radio-Moskva") broadcasts a remarkable message from Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, an unscrupulous dictator transformed by the German aggression into a herald of the freedom of the peoples of the world.
"Comrades! Citizens, brothers and sisters! Fighters of our Army and Navy! It is I who speak to you today, my friends!
Since the morning of May 17th, Hitler's Germany has been carrying out a perfidious military aggression againstour Motherland. All our military forces are putting up heroic resistance and inflicting unprecedented losses on the treacherous aggressors. However, it is true that the battle is taking place on the soil of our Motherland. We can explain it because the war started with conditions favorable to the German troops and unfavorable to the Soviet troops. Germany was already fully mobilized for this war. Germany has launched more than 170 divisions against our borders. Fascist Germany perfidiously and by surprise violated the non-aggression pact signed in 1939 with the USSR.
People may ask: how could it be that the Soviet government agreed to sign a non-aggression pact with such treacherous individuals and monsters as Hitler and Ribbentrop? Wasn't this a mistake on the part of the Soviet government?
Certainly not!
A non-aggression pact is a peace pact between two states. Could the Soviet government have rejected such a pact? I think that no peace-loving state can reject a peace agreement with a neighboring power, even if that power is ruled by monsters and cannibals like Hitler and Ribbentrop.
What have we gained by signing this non-aggression pact with Germany? We have peace for our country for two and a half years and we gained time to prepare our armed forces to repel an attack in case Hitler should run the risk of invading our country. The time we have gained is a victory for us and a defeat for fascist Germany.
What does this war mean for all of us? First of all, it is necessary that our people, the Soviet people, to realize the seriousness of the threat and to abandon their peacetime habits. The enemy is cruel and ruthless. His aim is to occupy our lands, cultivated with our sweat, and to seize our wheat and oil, obtained with our labor. Its aim is to restore the power of the tsarist feudalists and destroy the cultures and national identities of Russians, Ukrainians, Belorussians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Uzbeks, Tatars, Moldovans, Armenians, Azeris and other free peoples of the Soviet Union, to make them slaves of the German barons. What is at stake is the life or death of the Soviet state, the life or death of the people of the USSR, and the freedom or slavery of the peoples of the Soviet Union.
There will be no room for whiners and cowards, alarmists and deserters. All of us must stand up to fight our patriotic war with enthusiasm, dedication and discipline. The Red Army and Navy and all citizens must defend every inch of the Soviet soil, fight to the last drop of blood for our cities and villages and show courage, initiative and discipline. We must organize everything to help the Red Army. We must make our country the most powerful of all fortresses.
Is this war just another war? No, it is not. The war against fascist Germany must not be seen as an ordinary war. It is much more than a war between two armies. It is the great war of all Soviet peoples against German fascist aggression. The aim of this war is not only to eliminate the danger which threatens our country, but also to help all the peoples of Europe in their fight against Fascism.
We are not alone in this struggle. We have true allies, the peoples of Europe and America, including the German people enslaved by Hitler and his henchmen. Our struggle will join that of all the peoples of Europe and America. It will be the united front of the peoples, standing up for freedom against slavery. This is how the Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, made a historic speech promising aid to the Soviet Union. There were also historic statements from the governments of the United States and France Combattante. The hearts of the peoples of the Soviet Union are full of gratitude for this support. We will fight side by side until victory. Comrades! Our forces are invincible. Rise up to fight the enemy, to defend the Motherland, to defeat Fascism and Barbarism.
All our strength - to support our heroic Red Army, our glorious Red Navy.
All the strength of the people - for the destruction of the enemy!
Vpered, na pobedu! Forward, to victory!"
4512 - Naval Battle of Constantza
May 20th, 1942
Barbarossa - The battle of the borders
1 - Air operations
It is obvious that the Soviet command structure has already regained a certain stability, especially for the VVS, whose surviving units are intelligently dispersed on backup grounds.
However, it is equally clear that the Luftwaffe remains a very effective tactical weapon. Its cooperation with ground troops often gives ground unit commanders the necessary margin to face victoriously Soviet forces superior in number and sometimes in equipment. But the very high pace of air operations imposed on the Luftwaffe (some Stuka units have to carry out three or four missions per day during the first four days of the battle), adds to the density of the Soviet light flak and to the attacks by marauding fighters, begin to inflict significant wear and tear on the German air forces.
...
2 - The Northern Front and the Baltic
Preceded by waves of bombers, the forces of von Manstein hit Shestopalov's Armored Army hard. During the night, the German troops moved forward heavy flak guns, which seem to be the only weapons able to stop the Soviet heavy tanks. The air attacks confuse the Soviets and the motorized units attached to the 12th Armored Army suffer heavy losses. Von Manstein's maneuver breaks the 24th Mechanized Corps, relieving the 1. PzDivision and forcing the Soviet forces to retreat hastily towards Siaulai.
But to do so, von Manstein had to expose his right flank. If Chernyakovsky's 23rd Mechanized Corps had been ordered to attack from Tytuvenai to the northwest, the entire German maneuver could have been threatened. However, these orders are to reach Chernyakovsky only in the afternoon, and by that time, the fate of the 24th Mechanized Corps had been settled. The attack on Chernyakovsky is met with strong aerial opposition and by very heavy anti-tank fire (coming mainly from Panzerjaegers), which stop it after 3 km.
The failure is also caused by the lack of infantry and artillery, and these shortcomings can be attributed to the poor command of F.I. Kuznetsov. The latter learned before dawn that some German troops had conquered a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dubysa, at Ariogala (it is thanks to Brandenburgers commandos supported by reconnaissance units of the 8. PzDivision). He then hesitates to engage the 27th Berzarin Army, which had come from Pskov since the 18th. He chooses to deploy this Army as cover on the eastern bank of the Dubysa River and wasted the 159th Independent Armored Brigade in futile counterattacks at Ariogala.
In Kuznetsov's defense, it should be noted that the Front Commander was deprived of his most powerful second echelon force, the 1st Armored Army of Maj. P.N. Akhlyustin. Indeed, as the situation is rapidly deteriorating at the junction of the North-Western and Belarusian Fronts, the Stavka puts this large unit under the command of Boldin in charge of breaking the momentum of the German 3.PanzerGruppe, which is rushing towards Vilnius.
After this third day of fighting, the situation has stabilized. The Soviet forces retreat in confusion towards the north, even if the defenders of Taurage and Jurbarkas are still fighting a battle that has become clearly hopeless. The Ariogala bridgehead is firmly established. And facing the right flank of the Germans, Sobennikov's 8th Army is threatened with encirclement. However, the Soviet forces are far from being destroyed. The 2nd and 11th Armies, supported by what remains of the 12th Armored Army, hold the Curonian Spit and are firmly anchored on their right by the base and the town of Liepaja. The Soviets also hold Tytuvenai and its railroad bridge.
Late at night, Sobennikov obtains the agreement of the Stavka to withdraw along the Neris in order to get closer to what remained of the 1st Armored Army and the right wing of the Belarusian Front.
.........
During the night, the 3rd S-Boat Flotilla attacks a Soviet convoy at the exit of the Gulf of Riga. Their torpedoes sink the minesweeper T-208 and the submarine S-10 and seriously damage the destroyer Storojevoy, which manages to return to Riga with its bow amputated. On the other hand, in the Irben Strait, after passing Cape Kolka, the S.68 is destroyed after hitting a Soviet mine.
...
3 - The Central Front and Belarus
At dawn, the Luftwaffe shifts its support from north to south of the Central Front. The dive bombers attack the Soviet forces, who try to launch a general attack to cut the 2.PanzerGruppe in two. The Sonder KampfGruppe organized by Guderian attacks in the wake of the Stuka and regain the advantage over the 17th Armored Army, whose losses since the beginning of the battle now amount to more than 700 tanks. By late afternoon, the crisis had been overcome.
But, on the whole of the Central Front, both sides remain in a difficult position.
On the German side, von Bock's offensive is stopped in front of Vilnius and Baranovici. Bialystok is seriously threatened, but any hope of creating a large-scale encirclement in Minsk is lost. Most of the Panzer Divisions have lost a large number of tanks, some of them have only 30 or 35 tanks left in fighting condition. More serious: many tank crews have been lost, and these losses will be more difficult to compensate than the losses in material, because a large part of the lost tanks will be repaired on the battlefield by specialized maintenance teams.
On the Soviet side, Boldin and Zhukov also have many reasons to worry. The Soviets only just hold the city of Grodno, ravaged by the fires started by German air raids and artillery bombardments. The 10th Army is almost encircled in the Bialystok salient. The pincer movement towards Minsk is blocked for the time being, but almost all reserves, including part of those of the North-Western Front, have been spent on it. The seriousness and even the gravity of the situation is recognized in Moscow and Zhukov is allowed to allow Boldin to join him in Minsk.
However, in front of the great resistance of the Brest fortress, Stalin refuses to allow Golubev to withdraw his 10th Army from the Bialystok salient.
...
4 - The Ukrainian Front
Von Kleist tries to capitalize on his defensive successes of the previous day and orders the 1. PzrGruppe to actively pursue the retreating Soviet forces.
This pursuit is successful against the 6th Armored Army, with the help of numerous air attacks. At dusk, this powerful unit islargely destroyed and only its remnants can retreat to Brody.
On the other hand, in the north, the attempt of III Motorized Corps to destroy Rokossovsky's 14th Armored Army and to push it back towards Lutsk turns out badly. The German tanks and the infantry which supports them run up against a wall of fire, and soon the 14. PzDivision has only 31 tanks left in working order. The 44. ID also suffers heavy losses. The forces of Rokossovsky are however attacked by the Luftwaffe, but they are entrenched and much less vulnerable than units on the move. Moreover, the VVS succeed in showing themselves in force and the triangle Rovno-Lutsk-Lvov is the scene of many air battles.
At the end of the day, Dubno is still out of sight and Lvov is far from being taken. On the other side, Soviet armored units are largely worn out and cannot regain the initiative.
It is time for both opponents to commit their reserves. Von Rundstedt assigns the 1. PanzerGruppe the 13. and 16. PzDivisions. Kirponos, on the other hand, is very busy with his second echelon. Maj. A.A. Vlassov's 13th Armored Army and Gen. I.S. Konev's 19th Army, reinforced by the 174th Heavy Tank Brigade, rush to a Doubno-Brody line to stop any new German offensive.
...
5 - The Black Sea
Excerpts from The Black Sea Fleet in Combat.
"Our Western allies had attacked Ploesti several times at night before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, to reduce the already difficult supply of fuel to Nazi Germany. They were not going to delay to start again by day (a big operation would take place in August 1942). But it was the Navy Air Force that took the initiative for daytime operations against the refineries.
The first daytime raid, on May 20th, suffered a lot against the local anti-aircraft defenses. Despite brave attacks like the one by Captain Polidyne, the first Hero of the Soviet Union Fleet, who chose to stay in his mortally wounded bomber to ensure the destruction of the heart of the largest refinery, we were forced to switch to night attacks. The accuracy of the bombing was ensured by the lights linked to the oil production, which could not be concealed.
The Soviet air attacks on Ploesti were of real strategic importance. It is not surprising that on June 4th, Hitler sent a note to Brauchitsch stating that it was necessary, above all, to seize the Soviet Black Sea coast and Crimea, while the coal mines of the Ukraine could wait. The note went so far as to say that a single successful Soviet air strike on this vital source of oil could change the course of the war in unpredictable ways."
Note from CMH - This message from Hitler has been confirmed by ULTRA. We may add that the dictator probably feared that attacks by Western forces could be based on the Soviet grounds, especially those in the Sevastopol area.
Later, Soviet participation in the war was also to save the lives of our men, because badly damaged planes could try to reach Odessa, which was much closer than our own Aegean emergency grounds.
Reaching Odessa also avoided going back through the best defended part of the Romanian airspace. The only major problem was the unwillingness of the local Soviet command to let the damaged bombers return home, once repaired.
(See Relations with Soviet allies, 1942-43, vol. 1, Colonel D. Glantz, 1978).
(...)
"On 20 May, a Soviet naval group led by the cruiser Voroshilov, accompanied byfour destroyers and several other ships, attacked the port facilities of Constantza. The idea was to send a few ships as bait to draw out the Romanian navy's ships, before sinking them with the Voroshilov."
01:30 - The squadron is spotted 60 nautical miles from its objective by the Romanian submarine NMS Delfinul, which is patrolling the area and immediately raises the alarm.
02:00 - The Voroshilov detaches two destroyer-leaders (the Moskva and the Kharkov) for a reconnaissance raid towards the port of Constantza. It keeps with it the Soobrazitelnyi and Smyshlonnyi. More than 100 miles offshore, the battleship Parijskaya Kommouna and a large escort are waiting, ready to exploit a success of the vanguard.
04:00 - The Moskva and the Kharkov appear off Constantza. Shortly afterwards, they open fire with their 130 mm guns, 13 miles away. In ten minutes, they fire - without much accuracy - 350 shells on the Palas train station and the port, setting fire to some warehouses, wagons and oil tanks - losses that are always difficult to replace. The Elisabeta battery (4 x 120 mm), positioned in Agigea, immediately opens fire on the two Soviet ships.
04:15 - The destroyers NMS Regina Maria and NMS Marasti, which were at anchor at Cape Tuzla (south of Constantza), set sail following the alert issued by the Delfinul. They take a parallel route to that of the Soviets and open fire at a distance of 12 miles, at the limit of the range of their 120 mm guns. A lucky shot knocks down the main mast of the Moskva, while the Kharkov is hit - superficially - by coastal artillery. The Soviet destroyers do not even realize that enemy ships are firing at them: the latter blend into the relief of the coast, while they themselves are clearly visible in the rising sun.
04:22 - The Tirpitz coastal battery opens fire with its 280 mm*, at more than 16 miles, well guided by an infrared detector and two FuMO 214 radars.
After three salvos, the Kharkov and the Moskva, framed by huge sheaves, beat a hasty retreat.
04:23 - As the two destroyer-leaders retreat at 30 knots, their ammunition bunkers almost empty, they lose their paravanes. The Kharkov is chased by the launches Viforul and Vijelia, but manages to escape. The captain of the Moskva, surrounded by more and more precise shots, decides to emit a smoke screen and to turn abruptly on board... to throw himself directly into a Romanian minefield. A deafening explosion breaks the ship in two, which sinks in a few moments with most of its crew (the survivors are saved by the Romanians). The other destroyers, thinking of a submarine attack, start to launch depth charges.
04:25 - A group of 40 aircraft of the Soviet Navy appears over the battlefield. While the Marasti shoots down an aircraft, the Regina Maria narrowly escapes two bombs. Some projectiles hit the destroyer, but bounce off (as land targets were aimed at, the rockets were too long). Some of the planes attack the port installations, without much success. In total, nine planes are lost.
The Romanian destroyers, thinking that they could sink the damaged Kharkov and knowing that they were covered by the German battery, launch themselves at high speed to pursue the Soviet.
Unfortunately for them, they give only 3 knots more than their opponent.
04:48 - The Voroshilov, warned by radio, spots the two enemy destroyers and starts to track them with its main rangefinder. Seeing themselves suddenly at a disadvantage, the Romanians turn back as quickly as they came, surrounded by the shells of the Russian cruiser, but soon the Regina Maria takes water and slows down. It seems that the explosion of the bombs that missed it weakened her old hull and that some shrapnel had penetrated the engine room. The speed of the destroyer falls to 10 knots.
04:55 to 05:13 - The Voroshilov pounds the destroyer, which its captain finally decides to abandon. The crew is recovered by the Viforul and Vijelia.
05:15 - The paravane of the Soobrazitelnyi explodes another mine, whose shards inflict minor damage to the Voroshilov. The commander of the Soviet squadron decides to withdraw. The destroyers Besposhchadnyi and Bodryi immediately set sail from Sevastopol to reinforce the anti-aircraft cover of the damaged cruiser.
"In the end, the result was a draw (one destroyer lost on each side). But both commands were very unhappy with these results. Romania had lost one of her best ships on the third day of the conflict. As for the Black Sea Fleet, it had not caused notable damage and had even forgotten its own doctrine, which stated that a cruiser should lead the attack, in order to avoid the temptation to engage in waters likely to be mined."
* It may seem strange to find a German battery there. In fact, as early as 1940, a German military mission had noted the weaknesses of the Romanian coastal defense. It had been decided to reinforce it by sending six 280 mm guns from disarmed battleships of the First World War. Three were mounted under casemate (Tirpitz battery, south of Constantza) and three on rails (Bruno Lange battery, north of the city). The Tirpitz battery, served by 600 German artillerymen, was protected by numerous anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, machine gun nests, barbed wire belts and a minefield.
Barbarossa - The battle of the borders
1 - Air operations
It is obvious that the Soviet command structure has already regained a certain stability, especially for the VVS, whose surviving units are intelligently dispersed on backup grounds.
However, it is equally clear that the Luftwaffe remains a very effective tactical weapon. Its cooperation with ground troops often gives ground unit commanders the necessary margin to face victoriously Soviet forces superior in number and sometimes in equipment. But the very high pace of air operations imposed on the Luftwaffe (some Stuka units have to carry out three or four missions per day during the first four days of the battle), adds to the density of the Soviet light flak and to the attacks by marauding fighters, begin to inflict significant wear and tear on the German air forces.
...
2 - The Northern Front and the Baltic
Preceded by waves of bombers, the forces of von Manstein hit Shestopalov's Armored Army hard. During the night, the German troops moved forward heavy flak guns, which seem to be the only weapons able to stop the Soviet heavy tanks. The air attacks confuse the Soviets and the motorized units attached to the 12th Armored Army suffer heavy losses. Von Manstein's maneuver breaks the 24th Mechanized Corps, relieving the 1. PzDivision and forcing the Soviet forces to retreat hastily towards Siaulai.
But to do so, von Manstein had to expose his right flank. If Chernyakovsky's 23rd Mechanized Corps had been ordered to attack from Tytuvenai to the northwest, the entire German maneuver could have been threatened. However, these orders are to reach Chernyakovsky only in the afternoon, and by that time, the fate of the 24th Mechanized Corps had been settled. The attack on Chernyakovsky is met with strong aerial opposition and by very heavy anti-tank fire (coming mainly from Panzerjaegers), which stop it after 3 km.
The failure is also caused by the lack of infantry and artillery, and these shortcomings can be attributed to the poor command of F.I. Kuznetsov. The latter learned before dawn that some German troops had conquered a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dubysa, at Ariogala (it is thanks to Brandenburgers commandos supported by reconnaissance units of the 8. PzDivision). He then hesitates to engage the 27th Berzarin Army, which had come from Pskov since the 18th. He chooses to deploy this Army as cover on the eastern bank of the Dubysa River and wasted the 159th Independent Armored Brigade in futile counterattacks at Ariogala.
In Kuznetsov's defense, it should be noted that the Front Commander was deprived of his most powerful second echelon force, the 1st Armored Army of Maj. P.N. Akhlyustin. Indeed, as the situation is rapidly deteriorating at the junction of the North-Western and Belarusian Fronts, the Stavka puts this large unit under the command of Boldin in charge of breaking the momentum of the German 3.PanzerGruppe, which is rushing towards Vilnius.
After this third day of fighting, the situation has stabilized. The Soviet forces retreat in confusion towards the north, even if the defenders of Taurage and Jurbarkas are still fighting a battle that has become clearly hopeless. The Ariogala bridgehead is firmly established. And facing the right flank of the Germans, Sobennikov's 8th Army is threatened with encirclement. However, the Soviet forces are far from being destroyed. The 2nd and 11th Armies, supported by what remains of the 12th Armored Army, hold the Curonian Spit and are firmly anchored on their right by the base and the town of Liepaja. The Soviets also hold Tytuvenai and its railroad bridge.
Late at night, Sobennikov obtains the agreement of the Stavka to withdraw along the Neris in order to get closer to what remained of the 1st Armored Army and the right wing of the Belarusian Front.
.........
During the night, the 3rd S-Boat Flotilla attacks a Soviet convoy at the exit of the Gulf of Riga. Their torpedoes sink the minesweeper T-208 and the submarine S-10 and seriously damage the destroyer Storojevoy, which manages to return to Riga with its bow amputated. On the other hand, in the Irben Strait, after passing Cape Kolka, the S.68 is destroyed after hitting a Soviet mine.
...
3 - The Central Front and Belarus
At dawn, the Luftwaffe shifts its support from north to south of the Central Front. The dive bombers attack the Soviet forces, who try to launch a general attack to cut the 2.PanzerGruppe in two. The Sonder KampfGruppe organized by Guderian attacks in the wake of the Stuka and regain the advantage over the 17th Armored Army, whose losses since the beginning of the battle now amount to more than 700 tanks. By late afternoon, the crisis had been overcome.
But, on the whole of the Central Front, both sides remain in a difficult position.
On the German side, von Bock's offensive is stopped in front of Vilnius and Baranovici. Bialystok is seriously threatened, but any hope of creating a large-scale encirclement in Minsk is lost. Most of the Panzer Divisions have lost a large number of tanks, some of them have only 30 or 35 tanks left in fighting condition. More serious: many tank crews have been lost, and these losses will be more difficult to compensate than the losses in material, because a large part of the lost tanks will be repaired on the battlefield by specialized maintenance teams.
On the Soviet side, Boldin and Zhukov also have many reasons to worry. The Soviets only just hold the city of Grodno, ravaged by the fires started by German air raids and artillery bombardments. The 10th Army is almost encircled in the Bialystok salient. The pincer movement towards Minsk is blocked for the time being, but almost all reserves, including part of those of the North-Western Front, have been spent on it. The seriousness and even the gravity of the situation is recognized in Moscow and Zhukov is allowed to allow Boldin to join him in Minsk.
However, in front of the great resistance of the Brest fortress, Stalin refuses to allow Golubev to withdraw his 10th Army from the Bialystok salient.
...
4 - The Ukrainian Front
Von Kleist tries to capitalize on his defensive successes of the previous day and orders the 1. PzrGruppe to actively pursue the retreating Soviet forces.
This pursuit is successful against the 6th Armored Army, with the help of numerous air attacks. At dusk, this powerful unit islargely destroyed and only its remnants can retreat to Brody.
On the other hand, in the north, the attempt of III Motorized Corps to destroy Rokossovsky's 14th Armored Army and to push it back towards Lutsk turns out badly. The German tanks and the infantry which supports them run up against a wall of fire, and soon the 14. PzDivision has only 31 tanks left in working order. The 44. ID also suffers heavy losses. The forces of Rokossovsky are however attacked by the Luftwaffe, but they are entrenched and much less vulnerable than units on the move. Moreover, the VVS succeed in showing themselves in force and the triangle Rovno-Lutsk-Lvov is the scene of many air battles.
At the end of the day, Dubno is still out of sight and Lvov is far from being taken. On the other side, Soviet armored units are largely worn out and cannot regain the initiative.
It is time for both opponents to commit their reserves. Von Rundstedt assigns the 1. PanzerGruppe the 13. and 16. PzDivisions. Kirponos, on the other hand, is very busy with his second echelon. Maj. A.A. Vlassov's 13th Armored Army and Gen. I.S. Konev's 19th Army, reinforced by the 174th Heavy Tank Brigade, rush to a Doubno-Brody line to stop any new German offensive.
...
5 - The Black Sea
Excerpts from The Black Sea Fleet in Combat.
"Our Western allies had attacked Ploesti several times at night before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, to reduce the already difficult supply of fuel to Nazi Germany. They were not going to delay to start again by day (a big operation would take place in August 1942). But it was the Navy Air Force that took the initiative for daytime operations against the refineries.
The first daytime raid, on May 20th, suffered a lot against the local anti-aircraft defenses. Despite brave attacks like the one by Captain Polidyne, the first Hero of the Soviet Union Fleet, who chose to stay in his mortally wounded bomber to ensure the destruction of the heart of the largest refinery, we were forced to switch to night attacks. The accuracy of the bombing was ensured by the lights linked to the oil production, which could not be concealed.
The Soviet air attacks on Ploesti were of real strategic importance. It is not surprising that on June 4th, Hitler sent a note to Brauchitsch stating that it was necessary, above all, to seize the Soviet Black Sea coast and Crimea, while the coal mines of the Ukraine could wait. The note went so far as to say that a single successful Soviet air strike on this vital source of oil could change the course of the war in unpredictable ways."
Note from CMH - This message from Hitler has been confirmed by ULTRA. We may add that the dictator probably feared that attacks by Western forces could be based on the Soviet grounds, especially those in the Sevastopol area.
Later, Soviet participation in the war was also to save the lives of our men, because badly damaged planes could try to reach Odessa, which was much closer than our own Aegean emergency grounds.
Reaching Odessa also avoided going back through the best defended part of the Romanian airspace. The only major problem was the unwillingness of the local Soviet command to let the damaged bombers return home, once repaired.
(See Relations with Soviet allies, 1942-43, vol. 1, Colonel D. Glantz, 1978).
(...)
"On 20 May, a Soviet naval group led by the cruiser Voroshilov, accompanied byfour destroyers and several other ships, attacked the port facilities of Constantza. The idea was to send a few ships as bait to draw out the Romanian navy's ships, before sinking them with the Voroshilov."
01:30 - The squadron is spotted 60 nautical miles from its objective by the Romanian submarine NMS Delfinul, which is patrolling the area and immediately raises the alarm.
02:00 - The Voroshilov detaches two destroyer-leaders (the Moskva and the Kharkov) for a reconnaissance raid towards the port of Constantza. It keeps with it the Soobrazitelnyi and Smyshlonnyi. More than 100 miles offshore, the battleship Parijskaya Kommouna and a large escort are waiting, ready to exploit a success of the vanguard.
04:00 - The Moskva and the Kharkov appear off Constantza. Shortly afterwards, they open fire with their 130 mm guns, 13 miles away. In ten minutes, they fire - without much accuracy - 350 shells on the Palas train station and the port, setting fire to some warehouses, wagons and oil tanks - losses that are always difficult to replace. The Elisabeta battery (4 x 120 mm), positioned in Agigea, immediately opens fire on the two Soviet ships.
04:15 - The destroyers NMS Regina Maria and NMS Marasti, which were at anchor at Cape Tuzla (south of Constantza), set sail following the alert issued by the Delfinul. They take a parallel route to that of the Soviets and open fire at a distance of 12 miles, at the limit of the range of their 120 mm guns. A lucky shot knocks down the main mast of the Moskva, while the Kharkov is hit - superficially - by coastal artillery. The Soviet destroyers do not even realize that enemy ships are firing at them: the latter blend into the relief of the coast, while they themselves are clearly visible in the rising sun.
04:22 - The Tirpitz coastal battery opens fire with its 280 mm*, at more than 16 miles, well guided by an infrared detector and two FuMO 214 radars.
After three salvos, the Kharkov and the Moskva, framed by huge sheaves, beat a hasty retreat.
04:23 - As the two destroyer-leaders retreat at 30 knots, their ammunition bunkers almost empty, they lose their paravanes. The Kharkov is chased by the launches Viforul and Vijelia, but manages to escape. The captain of the Moskva, surrounded by more and more precise shots, decides to emit a smoke screen and to turn abruptly on board... to throw himself directly into a Romanian minefield. A deafening explosion breaks the ship in two, which sinks in a few moments with most of its crew (the survivors are saved by the Romanians). The other destroyers, thinking of a submarine attack, start to launch depth charges.
04:25 - A group of 40 aircraft of the Soviet Navy appears over the battlefield. While the Marasti shoots down an aircraft, the Regina Maria narrowly escapes two bombs. Some projectiles hit the destroyer, but bounce off (as land targets were aimed at, the rockets were too long). Some of the planes attack the port installations, without much success. In total, nine planes are lost.
The Romanian destroyers, thinking that they could sink the damaged Kharkov and knowing that they were covered by the German battery, launch themselves at high speed to pursue the Soviet.
Unfortunately for them, they give only 3 knots more than their opponent.
04:48 - The Voroshilov, warned by radio, spots the two enemy destroyers and starts to track them with its main rangefinder. Seeing themselves suddenly at a disadvantage, the Romanians turn back as quickly as they came, surrounded by the shells of the Russian cruiser, but soon the Regina Maria takes water and slows down. It seems that the explosion of the bombs that missed it weakened her old hull and that some shrapnel had penetrated the engine room. The speed of the destroyer falls to 10 knots.
04:55 to 05:13 - The Voroshilov pounds the destroyer, which its captain finally decides to abandon. The crew is recovered by the Viforul and Vijelia.
05:15 - The paravane of the Soobrazitelnyi explodes another mine, whose shards inflict minor damage to the Voroshilov. The commander of the Soviet squadron decides to withdraw. The destroyers Besposhchadnyi and Bodryi immediately set sail from Sevastopol to reinforce the anti-aircraft cover of the damaged cruiser.
"In the end, the result was a draw (one destroyer lost on each side). But both commands were very unhappy with these results. Romania had lost one of her best ships on the third day of the conflict. As for the Black Sea Fleet, it had not caused notable damage and had even forgotten its own doctrine, which stated that a cruiser should lead the attack, in order to avoid the temptation to engage in waters likely to be mined."
* It may seem strange to find a German battery there. In fact, as early as 1940, a German military mission had noted the weaknesses of the Romanian coastal defense. It had been decided to reinforce it by sending six 280 mm guns from disarmed battleships of the First World War. Three were mounted under casemate (Tirpitz battery, south of Constantza) and three on rails (Bruno Lange battery, north of the city). The Tirpitz battery, served by 600 German artillerymen, was protected by numerous anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, machine gun nests, barbed wire belts and a minefield.
Last edited:
4513 - Battle of the Coral Sea (1/2)
May 20th, 1942
Pearl Harbor, 03:10 on May 19th (00:10 on May 20th in the Coral Sea) - The offices of CinCPac receive a message transmitted "in extreme urgency" by Admiral King's staff in Washington, where it is 08:10 on the 19th.
Because of the code used, the message is not deciphered until 0400 and delivered to Admiral Nimitz until 04:15. As soon as he wakes up, Nimitz discovers that "According to a highly reliable source, the Japanese forces operating in the South Pacific can be estimated at three or four fleet carriers. Two other aircraft carriers of the Combined Fleet
are still in Kure for maintenance and training. The Japanese fleet does not plan to launch a large-scale operation before July, other than the one currently underway in the South Pacific (...)". Nimitz and his staff are wondering who might be a "highly authoritative source of intelligence," but they are acting quickly.
Coral Sea, 02:25 May 20th (Pearl Harbor, 05:25 May 19th) - Rear Admiral Fletcher is awakened by an urgent message from CinCPac, the contents of which are clear and ominous: "Enemy forces operating in the South Pacific estimated at three or four aircraft carriers. At least two presumed radar equipped ships. Consider performance of enemy radars equal to our own. Act accordingly."
Pearl Harbor, 05:30 May 19th - Nimitz meets with Vice Admiral William "Bill" Halsey (who, awakened early, is in a foul mood). The Enterprise and the Hornet, returned
days earlier from their escort mission to Midway, must make their way to the South Pacific as quickly as possible, as Nimitz sees this as a golden opportunity to crush a large part of the Japanese fleet.
As early as 06:15, the military police jeeps start to criss-cross Honolulu to collect all the sailors on leave. And at 12:30, Task Force 16 weighs anchor towards the South Pacific.
It has to sail at a steady speed of 20 knots - at this rate, the destroyers would arrive with almost empty bunkers, but the urgency of the situation leaves little choice.
.........
Coral Sea, 02:40 May 20th - Staff Conference. "Japanese tactics tactics seem to imply that they form two carrier groups, one of which directly supports the invasion force, while the other remains as cover," Fletcher notes. "It was even this approach that fooled Phillips in December, as he based some of his decisions on the idea that he was facing only one carrier group. Thus, the group seen by the Catalinas from Nouméa south of the Solomons is most likely the covering force, but one or even two carriers are probably with the force that is about to attack Port Moresby."
Captain Elliott Buckmaster, commanding officer of the Yorktown, concludes, "There is therefore a strong possibility that we will have to deal with two or three enemy carriers during the day, but Admiral Crace will be left with one or two carriers on his back, without a fighter to defend himself!"
For a few tense minutes, Fletcher and his team consider whether to break radio silence to warn Crace that he appears to be in a bad spot. Finally, Fletcher decides to send him a short message warning him that he is in danger of being attacked by the planes from one or two aircraft carriers operating southeast of New Britain.
03:20 - Fletcher orders everyone, including himself, to take a rest. However, Oscar Pederson, head of the Yorktown's air group, prepares for the dispatch of very extensive reconnaissance flights at dawn.
03:32 - Crace receives Fletcher's message as he is heading southeast. It is for him confirmation of his fears. However, he refuses to stray too far, in order to be in a good position the following night to intercept the Japanese fleet, once it has crossed the Jomard Passage. He then decides to head northwest again at 04:25.
04:30 - Even before sunrise, Vice-Admiral Takagi launches reconnaissance. He is at this moment at 159°30' E. and 11°15' S. The seaplanes of the cruisers are going to observe the area west and south-west of the Solomons, as far as Rossel Island, where he assumes that the American aircraft carriers which attacked Tulagi would be and must be in the process of joining the "battleships" reported the day before.
05:25 - Fletcher and Fitch launch their reconnaissance missions in turn. The main task-group is located at 157°30' E. and 12°10' S. when 18 SBDs take off.
05:50 - A message from Truk reports to Takagi that a radio intercept (the one from Fletcher to Crace) shows enemy ships may be south of his position, but Takagi continues to believe that U.S. aircraft carriers are between his force and the Louisiades.
05:55 - Brisbane reports the attack of Colombo and Trincomalee by Japanese mini-submarines, but this feint comes too late to make any difference to the upcoming battle.
06:00 - Coming from Cloncurry, 27 B-17s arrive in Port Moresby to attack the Japanese forces. Four others have already been sent on reconnaissance.
07:50 - One of the B-17 scouts spots the ships of Goto (around Junyo). The plane is detected by the radar of Junyo, but the patrol is unable to shoot down the four-engine aircraft, which fights for ten minutes in the middle of the clouds with no less than six A6M2s and manages to transmit that it had seen "ten large ships, including a large aircraft carrier." This message is relayed to Fletcher.
Everything is in place for a day of fighting, to the west, where Crace faces Goto, but also east of the Coral Sea, between the two carrier wings. There, it will be the first real battle "over the horizon", the first one where the two adversaries will fight with their aircraft on carriers without the big guns firing a single shell.
US Navy Douglas TBD Devastator of USS Lexington, Battle of the Coral Sea
In the East - The Americans learn in pain
08:35 - The American admiral is convinced that his predictions of the night are confirmed, because he has just learned that a plane from the Lexington has spotted "two aircraft carriers and at least four heavy cruisers." He immediately orders a raid.
08:37 - The Shokaku's radar detects the Lexington's SBD, but the patrol fighters are sent at the wrong altitude and cannot intercept it.
08:44 - Japanese fighters shoot down an SBD from the Yorktown.
08:40 - The Yorktown begins launching 9 Devastators, 24 Dauntless and 8 Wildcats and the Lexington 12 Devastators, 22 Dauntless and 9 Wildcats - in all 21 torpedo bombers, 46 dive bombers and 17 fighters.
08:45 - Takagi learns that in the southwest, his reconnaissance aircraft still did not find anything. This is a turning point for him: he understands that the American aircraft carriers were to the south and not southwest. Reacting strongly, he orders the Hiei and the Kirishima to launch their seaplanes to reconnoiter the south and asks Hara and Yamaguchi to launch a raid as soon as the seaplanes had moved away.
09:15 - The Yorktown's planes take off, followed at 09:25 by the Lexington's. The Wasp launches a little later 9 TBD, 24 SBD and 9 F4F-3, which move away at 09:45.
Meanwhile, the seaplanes of the Japanese battlecruisers fly south, from where the American reconnaissance planes came from. At 09:40, they are followed by 28 B5N2, 33
D3A1 and 18 A6M2 of the 5th Aircraft Carrier Division (Hara) and 30 B5N2, 31 D3A1 and 18 A6M2 of the 2nd Division (Yamaguchi), which begin taking off at 0850.
By the time the planes are launched, the fleets are about 90 nautical miles apart, Takagi heading west and Fletcher heading northwest, in order to place themselves between the two Japanese naval air forces. The weather is generally good, but cloud banks reduce visibility in places.
09:50 - The Hiei's seaplane n°2 sighted the two aircraft carriers of Fletcher. It will play hide-and-seek with
with the American fighters between the cumulus clouds during twenty minutes, while
while directing the bombers that followed him.
10:25 - The Yorktown's planes are the first on their target and find Hara's aircraft carriers. The radar of the Shokaku more or less reports the arrival of a large number of aircraft, but it is mainly the warnings given by the ships on the screen that are useful to the defenders. Lt-Cdr Joe Taylor (VT-5) leads the attack on the Shokaku, his TBDs
covered by the Wildcat and followed by the SBDs. But the results are far below the expected ones. The escort is overwhelmed by the Zeros, which shoot down four F4F-3s, and the Devastators launch their torpedoes from too far away to be effective, which does not prevent them from losing five of theirs. The Dauntless are more accurate and the Shokaku is hit twice: a bomb in the bow, which damages the flight deck and starts a fire, and another in the stern, which worsens the condition of the deck.
10:44 - The Lexington's planes, which had wandered for a few minutes in the clouds, arrive scattered over the squadron. Before they can reorganize, they are attacked by the Zeros and lose 3 Wildcats and 5 SBDs. More fortunate, the torpedo bombers pass unnoticed and attack the Zuikaku. However, once again, the torpedoes are launched from too far away, 2 000 meters on average, and their slowness makes them easy to avoid: "We were able to turn and get away from them without difficulty," recalls a Japanese officer. It is still the Dauntless that have the least bad results, with two bombs falling very close to the Zuikaku, while the fighters destroy four Devastators.
10:59 - The Wasp planes arrive at this time in clear sky. Called for help by defenders of the 5th Division, the fighters of the Hiryu and Soryu cannot prevent the dive bombers from passing. The Zuikaku receives two direct hits, one on the island and the other on the rear, disabling its flight deck. The Shokaku takes a third shot, this time on the front elevator, while the torpedo attack is again a complete failure. This time, the Japanese fighters take three F4F-3, six SBD and four TBDs.
In all, the Japanese lost only half a dozen fighters in exchange for thirty attackers. On the affected ships, the fires are quickly controlled, even if the fire on the Shokaku is to continue burning until mid-afternoon. At no time is there any fear of losing either of the two aircraft carriers. But the Shokaku and Zuikaku are unable to receive or take off planes...
.........
At this moment, the American fleet is also under attack. Fletcher transfers command of air operations to Rear Admiral Fitch, who is more experienced in this area.
"The arrival of the Japanese raid was first reported by the Yorktown's radar, which detected numerous aircraft 55 nautical miles to the northeast. Unfortunately, the commanding officer of the ship was not well trained. He ordered nine Wildcats (including mine) to be launched in addition to the eight already on patrol, but misdirected us. We are running in the void while every second counts! I remain convinced today that an English fighter director would have made a massacre of Japanese. But the best-trained American fighter director at the time was probably on the Ranger, on the other side of the planet... So, no matter how hard I try in my cockpit, the minutes go by and the catastrophe gets closer.
But it must be recognized that the direction of the hunt is not the only one at fault. Rear Admiral Fitch does not have enough fighters and the use of Dauntless to intercept the Kate turned out to be a failure. Worse, when the fighting finally started, the radio discipline of the pilots of the Yorktown evaporated very quickly, they shouted from all sides in the laryngophones and when the second wave arrived, the poor director of the fighters doesn't know where to turn. It was fortunate that at that moment, the Japanese did not see the Wasp, which was following our squadron at about 30 nautical miles." (Yvon Lagadec, op. cit.)
11:05 - The Japanese attack begins. The torpedo bombers carry out a perfect attack against the Lexington, as in training, in two groups following perpendicular trajectories. No torpedo is launched at more than 1,200 meters, most of them at 900 meters. Lagadec:
"I see them approaching quietly, as in training, and it makes me mad. I dive through the flak, yelling at my buddies to cover me - I never knew if anyone heard me. Rushing through the water behind the torpedo-laden Kate's that could not (nor would not) maneuver, I am in ideal conditions - except for the flak, of course. In about thirty seconds, hardly more, I adjust and shoot down two torpedo bombers, like at the fair! And I see others being chopped up by the flak. But that was not enough.
The skipper of the Lexington, Captain Frederick Sherman, also did his best, but the old lady doesn't know how to turn tightly. Moreover, just at that moment, a group of Val falls on her back. One bomb hits the bow, another hits the funnel and two hit the hull, which they deform. Then one torpedo hits the bow and another at the bridge, both to port."
The torpedo bombers attacking the Yorktown are less well organized, and this carrier, designed as such (and not developed on a battlecruiser hull), sails much better than its partner. It avoids all torpedoes. Only one bomb hits it, piercing the flight deck near the islet and exploding on the fourth deck.
The raid by the Japanese 5th Carrier Division lost thirty-nine aircraft, and for the moment, while the Lexington is badly hit, the Yorktown escaped the worst.
11:23 - The planes of the 2nd Division (Hiryu and Soryu) arrive. In the confusion that reigns, most of them attack the Yorktown. It is hit by ten 250 kg bombs in rapid succession: seven of them graze the Yorktown, one hits the deck without exploding, another one hits the rear of the flight deck and the last one explodes at the base of the island, near the bridge, whose occupants are concussed by the shock wave. Worse: the aircraft carrier is the target of a very well organized attack, carried out by nearly thirty B5N2s. It receives three torpedoes, one on the port side, ten meters from the rear elevator, the two others on the starboard side, at the level of the engine room and near the bow, under the 5 inches front corbel. The ship stops, giving band to starboard: 10, then 18 degrees.
Some D3A1s then turn towards the Lexington, which receives another bomb (but this one explodes without perforating the flight deck), and towards the heavy cruisers Minneapolis and Astoria, which narrowly escape the attacks. Lagadec: "It's chaos. There are planes and ships in every direction - I wouldn't be surprised to see a cruiser flying. I am zigzagging in the sky, having lost track of my wingman and recovered one, I don't really know how. We throw ourselves on scavenging Val, who are now bearing down on the Lexington, and each of us shoots one with bitter satisfaction."
This attack wave loses 30 aircraft in all: 17 during the attack and 13 on the way out, under fire of the Wasp's fighters. In total, after this "first round", the Japanese lost 75 aircraft in combat, including 60 pilots and crews, and the Americans 40, including 32 pilots and crews.
11:45 - The situation is serious, but not without hope. The Yorktown is stopped, and Fletcher is to move to the heavy cruiser Astoria at 12:30. The Lexington is tilted 7 degrees to port, three boiler rooms (out of sixteen) are partially flooded, the flight deck is smashed and fires are raging. All the planes - as far as possible at least - had to be recovered by the Wasp... including Lagadec's Wildcat.
"I'm disgusted. My Wildcat is intact and poor Lady Lex, who I was supposed to protect, is dying. And I feel like I'm somewhat responsible for it! Besides, I am sure that the fight is not over. So I do a funny thing, which I still hesitate to admit today. I decide to stay in my plane! I was refueled with gasoline and ammunition, I didn't move. I was offered to come and relax for a few minutes, I refuse. I leave my cockpit for a moment, but I stay on the wing, clinging to the canopy post. A mechanic, a bit of a psychologist, then looks at me and then brings me a sandwich and a thermos of coffee, which I enjoy sitting on the leading edge, taking care not to touch the deck of the Wasp... "
12:22 - The Lexington is resisting. Her engines are still running and the damage control team is working miracles. The ship has been restored by playing with the fuel tanks and all fires are under control. The damage control officer Commander H.R. Healy, even jokes on the phone to Captain Sherman: "We have contained the torpedo damage temporarily, the fires are out and the ship is no longer listing. But if you were to take on more torpedoes, sir, I would suggest that you take them on the starboard side." This cheerfulness is premature.
12:47 - A devastating internal explosion shakes the ship. Gasoline vapors, from a tank ruptured by a torpedo explosion, are ignited by a generator that had not been cut off. Other explosions follow, more and more violent, destroying the damage control station and killing most of its personnel, including Commander Healy. The fire spreads between the flight deck and the main deck. At first, from the outside, nothing seems to change and the ship is making 20 knots and repair crews are trying to restore the flight deck. But around 15:00, new explosions shake the ship, causing damage to the ventilation system, forcing the crew to abandon the engine room. Little by little, the Lexington slows down.
And the battle is far from being over.
.........
11:21 - While the Japanese planes are on their way back and the bridges of the Hiryu and the Soryu are preparing to receive as many as possible, the Kirishima's seaplane n°3 spots the Wasp.
12:53 - Takagi learns the news with consternation. Until this moment, indeed, the Japanese admirals did not think it possible to face more than two American aircraft carriers. But Takagi has to face the facts and ordered Yamaguchi to prepare another raid.
12:51 - Fletcher has to solve similar problems. The men who participated in the morning's attack are convinced that they have left two Japanese aircraft carriers for dead, which leaves only one carrier to fight. Fitch can no longer provide tactical command, as he is no longer in a position to do so on the Lexington. It is up to Noyes. "We have to put it back on. Get rid of the last Japanese aircraft carrier for good!" orders Fletcher.
13:00 - All surviving Japanese aircraft (175 out of 250) are recovered and the most damaged ones are pushed overboard to make room for the others. The Hiryu and the
Soryu are now home to 135 aircraft (69 and 66 respectively).
13:12 - The Wasp has salvaged all it can. Noyes, which has 65 combat-capable aircraft, 12 TBDs, 33 SBDs and 20 F4F-3s, launches a new raid.
13:35 - The 12 TBDs, 21 SBDs and 6 F4F-3s move off to the north, preceded by 6 SBDs as scouts.
14:02 - The Hiryu and Soryu aircraft, launched at 13:29, head south (in all 41 B5B2, 42 D3A1 and 18 A6M2).
14:51 - The weather deteriorates little by little. The cloud cover reaches 6/10 and the wind increased.
In the middle of the clouds, a plane from SV2 (from the Lexington) reports two aircraft carriers heading to the west. They are the Shokaku and Zuikaku which, damaged, try to take shelter.
15:03 - The same plane sees two other aircraft carriers and has to dodge three A6M2. The Wasp raid then splits.
15:13 - All TBD and 11 SBD attack the damaged carriers. Constantly harassed, the SBDs can only put one shot on target, on the Zuikaku. But the Zeros which are still circling over two cripples slaughter the slow Devastators (seven lost out of twelve). Two Wildcat are not enough to protect them, although one of them is Yvon Lagadec's.
"As soon as we are in the air, I feel much better. When I get to the target, I'm in a strange state, more focused than ever before a fight. It's obvious that the poor Devastators are going to suffer, and I decide to help them. They crawl to a few meters from the water, chased by the Zeros. One of them sees us and turns around to climb stupidly towards us, from the front. A rookie, or a guy who loses his mind like it happened to me in the China Sea? I'm not in the mood for finesse, I accept the frontal pass - he disintegrates and I go through a cloud of debris to fall on the back of one of his crew members, who takes his time to light a TBD. He is so busy that he must not even realize that he is passing from life to death. His plane turns into a fireball - come to think of it, I don't think I've seen many Japanese crews jump, especially the Zero pilots, who were really flying a fragile machine.
I, on the other hand, am warned - by the cries of my wingman, who has been trying, I think, to warn me for a few moments, and by shocks in the back, where the Grumman company had the good taste to install an armor plate. The time to try to get out of the way (at the level of the water, not convenient), to feel that my plane is taking other projectiles somewhere, to hear my wingman shouting "I got him, the bastard!" and my engine starts to spit a thick black smoke, streaked with bright yellow, while the fire alarm goes off. Only solution to not perish roasted: I cut everything. Ejecting the canopy, tightening the harness, automatic gestures that do not prevent me from controlling the last few meters of my plane transformed into a glider... And, with the law of gravity at work, I land quickly on the Coral Sea, in an elegant spray of water.
The Japanese fleet passes around me. I quietly extract myself from my cockpit, just in time to see a destroyer arrive and, to my great astonishment, pick me up. I barely had time to get my feet wet. Apparently, the Imperial Navy has more respect for prisoners of war than the Japanese Army, if I am to believe the newspaper accounts of the atrocities committed by the Japanese Army in Malaya.
For I am a prisoner of war. Curiously, I suddenly feel very calm, almost relaxed. Only one thing bothers me: in the Mediterranean, Danny Potter has climbed to 17 wins. Today I reached a total of 18 after an eventful day...But now Danny can easily overtake me, damn it!"
Yvon Lagadec's F4F-3 Wildcat, USS Lexington, Battle of the Coral Sea
15:24 - The other ten Dauntless eventually find an aircraft carrier that appears to be intact and dive on it. It is the Hiryu, which receives two bombs behind the island, while two others just miss it. Here again, the survival of the ship is not endangered, although one of the bombs ignites a fire that takes more than three hours to control. However, the flight deck of the aircraft carrier is severely damaged and all air operations are halted which has serious consequences.
During this time, Lagadec discovers Japanese hospitality:
"The sailors of the destroyer locked me in a tiny cabin, where I was visited by an officer. Very stiff in his beautiful white uniform, with a stolid face, he called out to me in fairly good English. At the moment of answering, a childish idea comes to me. I pretend not to understand and I tell him in French: "I am Lieutenant Yvon Lagadec, French Naval Aviation, number -." An angel passes. Explosion (contained all the same) of discontent: "Speak undest... unsted... undelstandably!" Then I, proudly showing my badges (I have always insisted on not dressing quite like my American comrades and to wear my French insignia) : "Me... French... Lieutenant of the Navy... etc." Response: "Melcenaly!" Me, indignant: "No mercenary! French! Lieutenant... etc."
The officer turns red. I was perhaps his first chance to show his knowledge by interrogating an American!
I was perhaps his first chance to show his knowledge by interrogating an American! He forgot the traditional Japanese calm and left, slamming the door.
A little later, I have a bowl of rice sprinkled with green tea (I wonder for a moment if this drink alone does not justify that we make war to these people), then...I simply fall asleep, nervously exhausted."
15:25 - Japanese planes arrive over a scattered American fleet and zigzag under clouds that obscure and then unmask potential targets. Part of the formation is drawn to the Lexington, in flames but still moving at 10 knots. The poor Lady Lex is attacked by 17 D3A1s and 21 B5N2s, taking three 250 kg bombs and two torpedoes, one on the port side, at the level of the rear elevator, the other on the starboard side, in the engine room. Condemned, the ship sinks at 16:32.
The two destroyers assisting the Lexington are also hit. The Morris takes a 250kg bomb behind the bridge and two of 60 kg; it stops, in flames. For the Hammann, it is worse: two 250 kg bombs and a torpedo. The destroyer's backbone is broken and it breaks in two and sinks.
The Yorktown is going at 5 knots when it receives a 250 kg bomb in the middle and a torpedo to starboard aft. She stops. At 16:45, the waterways become uncontrollable and the ship is evacuated. She sinks at 18:05.
The heavy cruiser New Orleans, which was assisting the Yorktown, receives a 60 kg bomb which destroys a 5-inch/25 AA gun, killing 45 men, and another that demolishes the seaplane hangar, starting a fire that takes 90 minutes to put out.
Japanese Navy D3A1 Val of IJN Shokaku, Battle of the Coral Sea
15:41 - Eight D3A1s and nine B5N2s attack the Wasp. Captain Forrest P. Sherman (not to be confused with Frederick Sherman, commander of the Lexington), avoids the torpedoes with masterful skill, but the carrier receives a 250 kg bomb that pierces the flight deck five meters from the island and explodes on the third deck, while a 50 kg bomb hit the deck ten meters in front of the front elevator and ignites a fire that is quickly brought under control. At 16:10, the ship is once again able to receive and take off planes!
On both sides, the results of the second assault waves are therefore inconclusive.
As the reports made by his pilots were confused, Fletcher, installed on the Astoria, could not be sure of the number of enemy aircraft carriers still operational. The sheer size of the second Japanese wave shows that at least two ships participated. If two carriers were indeed damaged and are in very bad shape, as the SBD crews claim, then the Japanese force has four carriers. The pilots of the second raid swore that they had severely damaged one, perhaps two, carriers, but Fletcher had to consider the possibility that it was only the carriers hit in the morning, and that he was facing two intact Japanese carriers, with only one damaged ship left.
On their side, Takagi and Inoue (in Rabaul) also review the events. Takagi has three out of four carriers out of action and many survivors of the second wave had to land on the water near Soryu, which is down to 22 A6M2s, 21 D3A1s and 19 B5N2s. These 62 planes are very few compared to the 250 of the same morning! For the future, the worst is however that out of 188 lost planes, more than 80 crews are dead or prisoners.
But at this moment, for Inoue, the most important thing is what happens further west, north and south of the Louisiades.
US Navy Aircraft carrier USS Lexington, Battle of the Coral Sea, May 20th, 142
To the west - The Royal Navy holds
During the night, Rear Admiral Crace set a course to the west to intercept any ship attempting to cross the Jomard Passage. At dawn, his ships adopt a diamond-shaped anti-aircraft formation and increase speed to 20 knots.
08:10 - The Chicago spots a small seaplane circling just out of gun range. This craft comes from Deboyne Island. Crace reports that it has been spotted and brought south away from the Japanese planes based on land.
08:40 - Goto is informed of Crace's presence, or rather of "Two battleships, one battle cruiser, five heavy cruisers". He decides to accelerate in order to launch the planes on this formidable enemy fleet.
But, it should be remembered, Goto's squadron was itself spotted at 07:50 by a B-17 coming from Port Moresby, and the USAAF will be the first to strike.
10:45 - 27 B-17s attack the Junyo and its escort. The fighters of the aircraft carrier rush to the scene. They succeed in shooting down three four-engine planes and damage five of them, but lose three Zeros themselves and three others are seriously hit (the B-17 gunners claim ten enemy fighters). The bombing is inaccurate, but the attack impresses Goto, because of the obstinacy of the bombers' crews and their resistance to the attacks of the Zeros (and the Japanese admiral does not know that it is still only one of the first models of B-17!).
11:55 - Crace changes course again, probably believing that he is out of reach of the land-based aircraft.
13:38 - At 135 nautical miles south of Jomard Passage, the Renown's radar detects, 50 miles to the north, an enemy formation heading towards the squadron.
13:58 - Eleven G3M2s at high altitude bomb without result.
14:15 - This time, two groups of seven and nine G4M1s attack with torpedoes.
All ships zigzag violently and open a heavy and precise fire on the attackers, who lose five of their number. None of the torpedoes hit their targets, although the Renown only avoids one by about thirty meters.
14:32 - New high-altitude bombardment: 21 G3M2, without more results than the first one. Crace then heads west, as if he was going to Port Moresby.
14:58 - Informed of Fletcher's losses, Crace fears that his squadron would be the only significant force between the Japanese and Port Moresby. He then decides to head south-east, to continue covering the Jomard Passage.
15:50 - Six twin-engine bombers bomb the destroyer USS Perkins and miss it. The bombs taken by the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia show that they were undoubtedly launced by USAAF B-25s. In fact, these aircraft are part of a group of 21 B-25s from the 3rd BG(L) and the 22 BG(M), which took off from Charters Towers to attack the seaplane base that the Japanese had just set up at Deboyne and got lost.
16:55 - The remaining fifteen B-25s successfully attack the base, destroying seven seaplanes and slightly damaging the Chitose, before returning to Port Moresby to refuel. A few minutes later, 12 P-39 of the 8th PG, based in Port Moresby, follow the B-25. They destroy the five surviving seaplanes and set fire to the aviation fuel tanks on the beach.
At 16:02, Goto himself is attacked a second time by B-17s based in Port Moresby. Eighteen four-engine planes bomb his ships without success, despite the reaction of Junyo's radar-directed fighters. Two B-17s and two Zeros are shot down, four B-17s and two Zeros damaged.
17:05 - Another formation is detected by the Renown's radar: it is 18 D3A1 and 6 B5N2 from the Junyo. Goto was indeed informed of the probable position of Crace by the bombers based at Rabaul. The twin-engines not seeming very effective, he decides to send his single-engine planes to attack. But the Crace squadron is too far away for the B5N2s to carry a torpedo, and they have to make do with a 250 kg bomb.
Very quickly, the Junyo's Val prove to be more efficient than the twin-engined ones. The Chicago is hit by three 250 kg bombs, one between the chimneys, one in the seaplane hangar and the third one on the X turret. Two other bombs exploded to hit the hull, seriously damaging the machines. The other ships avoid the bombs, and five D3A1s are shot down by flak. Ravaged by a fire, the Chicago is hit hard. It has to stop at 18:18. Thanks to Herculean efforts, the repair teams succeed in extinguished the fire at around 19:35 and the cruiser resumes its course at 5 knots at 20:50.
21:00 - Crace is happy to get away with only one damaged ship. He knows that the Japanese base at Deboyne has been neutralized and he can hope to avoid further difficulties today, while continuing to cover the Jomard Passage. He then orders his ships to describe a circuit during the night at 135 nautical miles south-east of Deboyne.
At the same time, Goto is worried. It is true that the USAAF attacks had not left a scratch on his ships, but the Junyo has only 9 A6M2s, 13 D3A1s and 9 B5N2s operational left . It is clear that this is not enough to repel another day of attacks by land-based bombers, nor to destroy the strong enemy squadron patrolling south of the Jomard Passage.
Vice Admiral Inoue then orders the Port Moresby attack force to change course to stay out of range of the shore-based bombers, and asks Takagi to join Goto to reinforce him. It seems, however, that MO's commander-in-chief is already having doubts about the whole operation, as he also orders Goto to turn back.
In the night - The French play their cards
Perhaps Inoue hopes that the night will bring developments that will give him a more accurate idea of the situation. But the night is to bring only blood and more and more confusion, and first of all to the west of the battlefield.
.........
20:10 - Renown's radar detects new assailants.
20:30 - Red and green flares shoot up into the dark sky, as Japanese planes drop lighted buoys. "Under these lights, everything had a strange festive air," recalls a British officer. "But what was being celebrated? Alas, it was probably the Gunpowder Plot, and who was going to play Guy Fawkes?" For the first time in the war, Allied sailors discover the night-time torpedo attack method developed by the Imperial Navy.
20:42 - Twelve G4M1s attack the Chicago, whose slowness makes it a prime target. This one and the DD USS Walke, which is escorting it, open a heavy fire, killing five attackers, but nothing to be done. The Chicago receives four torpedoes in quick succession on its port side and quickly capsizes.
She was soon avenged...
.........
Much further east, Yvon Lagadec follows his destiny...
"According to my watch, the sun has just set when I wake up. Two guards arrive, with an officer. I am taken out of my cell and led on deck. The tropical night is still beautiful. But the scenery is not very romantic: the moon reveals the mass of a large aircraft carrier, which I can easily identify as a "Kaku", the Shokaku or the Zuikaku. Without a word (since I don't understand anything!), I am pushed towards a boat with all my possessions - my flight suit, my helmet, my windbreaker. Got it! I must have intrigued the Japs and I am sent to the big boss! Indeed, after a short trip on a not very agitated sea, I find myself a moment later in a cell quite similar to the previous one, in the bowels of the great aircraft carrier. On a shelf, supreme courtesy: a cup of steaming green tea, served on a white tablecloth with a small napkin bearing the ship's arms... "
.........
16:00 - The previous evening, the French submarines Bévéziers and Sidi-Ferruch were ordered to patrol the area between Guadalcanal and Rennell. Since dawn, they have been sailing on the surface, diving only when they see an aircraft.
16:30 - Many planes pass in the sky, and the two submarines dive. They continue their route underwater, guided by the sound of bombs exploding in the water.
19:45 - The two vessels resurface.
21:11 - The Bévéziers is spotted and forced to dive by the DD Hamakaze and Tanikaze. It escapes without difficulty after three hours of depth charging.
.........
"The Imperial Navy has an answer for everything. I have been enjoying my green tea for less than an hour when two officers appear. One of them is obviously more senior, he only speaks to his subordinate in Japanese, in a tone of voice that seems dry to me (but which is perhaps in reality very friendly!). The other one is young, almost a kid (the same age as me probably...). But he speaks French, with a little lisp, but French! "Lieutenant Doji Hoturi. You claim to be French?" Me, of course: "Lieutenant de vaisseau, etc." Answer: "That's impossible, there is no French aircraft carrier." This is getting more and more amusing. I show my insignia, I remind myself that France and Japan are very much at war and that I am a combat pilot. Lieutenant Doji gets angry, his superior stamps his feet. And then... My nightmare started again. "
.........
21:30 - The Sidi-Ferruch, which managed to penetrate the Japanese screen, spots the characteristic silhouette of an aircraft carrier. A few minutes to acquire the best firing position, then a complete salvo of seven torpedoes before diving without waiting for the results.
21:38 - The Zuikaku is hit by three torpedoes to starboard. Already tested by the American bombs, the large ship has no chance of survival.
.........
"In a few seconds, three huge shocks shake the ship and almost throw us to the ground. None of us wondered what it was all about, it had to be torpedoes, necessarily fired by a submarine. I should be delighted, I am, but I am also terrified, because I have the impression that I have something to do with it, that I am carrying a kind of curse!
A moment later, in the darkness and confusion of a ship struck to death, it is almost too easy to escape my guards (who are obviously not professionals!) and to get away from the lifeboats on a tiny raft that was passing by, along with hundreds of other debris of all sizes..."
.........
22:16 - The Zuikaku sinks. Despite a hunt led by the DD Ariake and Yugure, the Sidi-Ferruch manages to escape. It has just gained a reputation as a "carrier killer", because the Zuikaku is his second victim after the Shoho (sunk in February with the help of the Casabianca).
22:35 - This loss was a fatal blow to Inoue's already fragile confidence. He signals to Takagi to change course to "avoid sailing into an underwater ambush."
Pearl Harbor, 03:10 on May 19th (00:10 on May 20th in the Coral Sea) - The offices of CinCPac receive a message transmitted "in extreme urgency" by Admiral King's staff in Washington, where it is 08:10 on the 19th.
Because of the code used, the message is not deciphered until 0400 and delivered to Admiral Nimitz until 04:15. As soon as he wakes up, Nimitz discovers that "According to a highly reliable source, the Japanese forces operating in the South Pacific can be estimated at three or four fleet carriers. Two other aircraft carriers of the Combined Fleet
are still in Kure for maintenance and training. The Japanese fleet does not plan to launch a large-scale operation before July, other than the one currently underway in the South Pacific (...)". Nimitz and his staff are wondering who might be a "highly authoritative source of intelligence," but they are acting quickly.
Coral Sea, 02:25 May 20th (Pearl Harbor, 05:25 May 19th) - Rear Admiral Fletcher is awakened by an urgent message from CinCPac, the contents of which are clear and ominous: "Enemy forces operating in the South Pacific estimated at three or four aircraft carriers. At least two presumed radar equipped ships. Consider performance of enemy radars equal to our own. Act accordingly."
Pearl Harbor, 05:30 May 19th - Nimitz meets with Vice Admiral William "Bill" Halsey (who, awakened early, is in a foul mood). The Enterprise and the Hornet, returned
days earlier from their escort mission to Midway, must make their way to the South Pacific as quickly as possible, as Nimitz sees this as a golden opportunity to crush a large part of the Japanese fleet.
As early as 06:15, the military police jeeps start to criss-cross Honolulu to collect all the sailors on leave. And at 12:30, Task Force 16 weighs anchor towards the South Pacific.
It has to sail at a steady speed of 20 knots - at this rate, the destroyers would arrive with almost empty bunkers, but the urgency of the situation leaves little choice.
.........
Coral Sea, 02:40 May 20th - Staff Conference. "Japanese tactics tactics seem to imply that they form two carrier groups, one of which directly supports the invasion force, while the other remains as cover," Fletcher notes. "It was even this approach that fooled Phillips in December, as he based some of his decisions on the idea that he was facing only one carrier group. Thus, the group seen by the Catalinas from Nouméa south of the Solomons is most likely the covering force, but one or even two carriers are probably with the force that is about to attack Port Moresby."
Captain Elliott Buckmaster, commanding officer of the Yorktown, concludes, "There is therefore a strong possibility that we will have to deal with two or three enemy carriers during the day, but Admiral Crace will be left with one or two carriers on his back, without a fighter to defend himself!"
For a few tense minutes, Fletcher and his team consider whether to break radio silence to warn Crace that he appears to be in a bad spot. Finally, Fletcher decides to send him a short message warning him that he is in danger of being attacked by the planes from one or two aircraft carriers operating southeast of New Britain.
03:20 - Fletcher orders everyone, including himself, to take a rest. However, Oscar Pederson, head of the Yorktown's air group, prepares for the dispatch of very extensive reconnaissance flights at dawn.
03:32 - Crace receives Fletcher's message as he is heading southeast. It is for him confirmation of his fears. However, he refuses to stray too far, in order to be in a good position the following night to intercept the Japanese fleet, once it has crossed the Jomard Passage. He then decides to head northwest again at 04:25.
04:30 - Even before sunrise, Vice-Admiral Takagi launches reconnaissance. He is at this moment at 159°30' E. and 11°15' S. The seaplanes of the cruisers are going to observe the area west and south-west of the Solomons, as far as Rossel Island, where he assumes that the American aircraft carriers which attacked Tulagi would be and must be in the process of joining the "battleships" reported the day before.
05:25 - Fletcher and Fitch launch their reconnaissance missions in turn. The main task-group is located at 157°30' E. and 12°10' S. when 18 SBDs take off.
05:50 - A message from Truk reports to Takagi that a radio intercept (the one from Fletcher to Crace) shows enemy ships may be south of his position, but Takagi continues to believe that U.S. aircraft carriers are between his force and the Louisiades.
05:55 - Brisbane reports the attack of Colombo and Trincomalee by Japanese mini-submarines, but this feint comes too late to make any difference to the upcoming battle.
06:00 - Coming from Cloncurry, 27 B-17s arrive in Port Moresby to attack the Japanese forces. Four others have already been sent on reconnaissance.
07:50 - One of the B-17 scouts spots the ships of Goto (around Junyo). The plane is detected by the radar of Junyo, but the patrol is unable to shoot down the four-engine aircraft, which fights for ten minutes in the middle of the clouds with no less than six A6M2s and manages to transmit that it had seen "ten large ships, including a large aircraft carrier." This message is relayed to Fletcher.
Everything is in place for a day of fighting, to the west, where Crace faces Goto, but also east of the Coral Sea, between the two carrier wings. There, it will be the first real battle "over the horizon", the first one where the two adversaries will fight with their aircraft on carriers without the big guns firing a single shell.
US Navy Douglas TBD Devastator of USS Lexington, Battle of the Coral Sea
In the East - The Americans learn in pain
08:35 - The American admiral is convinced that his predictions of the night are confirmed, because he has just learned that a plane from the Lexington has spotted "two aircraft carriers and at least four heavy cruisers." He immediately orders a raid.
08:37 - The Shokaku's radar detects the Lexington's SBD, but the patrol fighters are sent at the wrong altitude and cannot intercept it.
08:44 - Japanese fighters shoot down an SBD from the Yorktown.
08:40 - The Yorktown begins launching 9 Devastators, 24 Dauntless and 8 Wildcats and the Lexington 12 Devastators, 22 Dauntless and 9 Wildcats - in all 21 torpedo bombers, 46 dive bombers and 17 fighters.
08:45 - Takagi learns that in the southwest, his reconnaissance aircraft still did not find anything. This is a turning point for him: he understands that the American aircraft carriers were to the south and not southwest. Reacting strongly, he orders the Hiei and the Kirishima to launch their seaplanes to reconnoiter the south and asks Hara and Yamaguchi to launch a raid as soon as the seaplanes had moved away.
09:15 - The Yorktown's planes take off, followed at 09:25 by the Lexington's. The Wasp launches a little later 9 TBD, 24 SBD and 9 F4F-3, which move away at 09:45.
Meanwhile, the seaplanes of the Japanese battlecruisers fly south, from where the American reconnaissance planes came from. At 09:40, they are followed by 28 B5N2, 33
D3A1 and 18 A6M2 of the 5th Aircraft Carrier Division (Hara) and 30 B5N2, 31 D3A1 and 18 A6M2 of the 2nd Division (Yamaguchi), which begin taking off at 0850.
By the time the planes are launched, the fleets are about 90 nautical miles apart, Takagi heading west and Fletcher heading northwest, in order to place themselves between the two Japanese naval air forces. The weather is generally good, but cloud banks reduce visibility in places.
09:50 - The Hiei's seaplane n°2 sighted the two aircraft carriers of Fletcher. It will play hide-and-seek with
with the American fighters between the cumulus clouds during twenty minutes, while
while directing the bombers that followed him.
10:25 - The Yorktown's planes are the first on their target and find Hara's aircraft carriers. The radar of the Shokaku more or less reports the arrival of a large number of aircraft, but it is mainly the warnings given by the ships on the screen that are useful to the defenders. Lt-Cdr Joe Taylor (VT-5) leads the attack on the Shokaku, his TBDs
covered by the Wildcat and followed by the SBDs. But the results are far below the expected ones. The escort is overwhelmed by the Zeros, which shoot down four F4F-3s, and the Devastators launch their torpedoes from too far away to be effective, which does not prevent them from losing five of theirs. The Dauntless are more accurate and the Shokaku is hit twice: a bomb in the bow, which damages the flight deck and starts a fire, and another in the stern, which worsens the condition of the deck.
10:44 - The Lexington's planes, which had wandered for a few minutes in the clouds, arrive scattered over the squadron. Before they can reorganize, they are attacked by the Zeros and lose 3 Wildcats and 5 SBDs. More fortunate, the torpedo bombers pass unnoticed and attack the Zuikaku. However, once again, the torpedoes are launched from too far away, 2 000 meters on average, and their slowness makes them easy to avoid: "We were able to turn and get away from them without difficulty," recalls a Japanese officer. It is still the Dauntless that have the least bad results, with two bombs falling very close to the Zuikaku, while the fighters destroy four Devastators.
10:59 - The Wasp planes arrive at this time in clear sky. Called for help by defenders of the 5th Division, the fighters of the Hiryu and Soryu cannot prevent the dive bombers from passing. The Zuikaku receives two direct hits, one on the island and the other on the rear, disabling its flight deck. The Shokaku takes a third shot, this time on the front elevator, while the torpedo attack is again a complete failure. This time, the Japanese fighters take three F4F-3, six SBD and four TBDs.
In all, the Japanese lost only half a dozen fighters in exchange for thirty attackers. On the affected ships, the fires are quickly controlled, even if the fire on the Shokaku is to continue burning until mid-afternoon. At no time is there any fear of losing either of the two aircraft carriers. But the Shokaku and Zuikaku are unable to receive or take off planes...
.........
At this moment, the American fleet is also under attack. Fletcher transfers command of air operations to Rear Admiral Fitch, who is more experienced in this area.
"The arrival of the Japanese raid was first reported by the Yorktown's radar, which detected numerous aircraft 55 nautical miles to the northeast. Unfortunately, the commanding officer of the ship was not well trained. He ordered nine Wildcats (including mine) to be launched in addition to the eight already on patrol, but misdirected us. We are running in the void while every second counts! I remain convinced today that an English fighter director would have made a massacre of Japanese. But the best-trained American fighter director at the time was probably on the Ranger, on the other side of the planet... So, no matter how hard I try in my cockpit, the minutes go by and the catastrophe gets closer.
But it must be recognized that the direction of the hunt is not the only one at fault. Rear Admiral Fitch does not have enough fighters and the use of Dauntless to intercept the Kate turned out to be a failure. Worse, when the fighting finally started, the radio discipline of the pilots of the Yorktown evaporated very quickly, they shouted from all sides in the laryngophones and when the second wave arrived, the poor director of the fighters doesn't know where to turn. It was fortunate that at that moment, the Japanese did not see the Wasp, which was following our squadron at about 30 nautical miles." (Yvon Lagadec, op. cit.)
11:05 - The Japanese attack begins. The torpedo bombers carry out a perfect attack against the Lexington, as in training, in two groups following perpendicular trajectories. No torpedo is launched at more than 1,200 meters, most of them at 900 meters. Lagadec:
"I see them approaching quietly, as in training, and it makes me mad. I dive through the flak, yelling at my buddies to cover me - I never knew if anyone heard me. Rushing through the water behind the torpedo-laden Kate's that could not (nor would not) maneuver, I am in ideal conditions - except for the flak, of course. In about thirty seconds, hardly more, I adjust and shoot down two torpedo bombers, like at the fair! And I see others being chopped up by the flak. But that was not enough.
The skipper of the Lexington, Captain Frederick Sherman, also did his best, but the old lady doesn't know how to turn tightly. Moreover, just at that moment, a group of Val falls on her back. One bomb hits the bow, another hits the funnel and two hit the hull, which they deform. Then one torpedo hits the bow and another at the bridge, both to port."
The torpedo bombers attacking the Yorktown are less well organized, and this carrier, designed as such (and not developed on a battlecruiser hull), sails much better than its partner. It avoids all torpedoes. Only one bomb hits it, piercing the flight deck near the islet and exploding on the fourth deck.
The raid by the Japanese 5th Carrier Division lost thirty-nine aircraft, and for the moment, while the Lexington is badly hit, the Yorktown escaped the worst.
11:23 - The planes of the 2nd Division (Hiryu and Soryu) arrive. In the confusion that reigns, most of them attack the Yorktown. It is hit by ten 250 kg bombs in rapid succession: seven of them graze the Yorktown, one hits the deck without exploding, another one hits the rear of the flight deck and the last one explodes at the base of the island, near the bridge, whose occupants are concussed by the shock wave. Worse: the aircraft carrier is the target of a very well organized attack, carried out by nearly thirty B5N2s. It receives three torpedoes, one on the port side, ten meters from the rear elevator, the two others on the starboard side, at the level of the engine room and near the bow, under the 5 inches front corbel. The ship stops, giving band to starboard: 10, then 18 degrees.
Some D3A1s then turn towards the Lexington, which receives another bomb (but this one explodes without perforating the flight deck), and towards the heavy cruisers Minneapolis and Astoria, which narrowly escape the attacks. Lagadec: "It's chaos. There are planes and ships in every direction - I wouldn't be surprised to see a cruiser flying. I am zigzagging in the sky, having lost track of my wingman and recovered one, I don't really know how. We throw ourselves on scavenging Val, who are now bearing down on the Lexington, and each of us shoots one with bitter satisfaction."
This attack wave loses 30 aircraft in all: 17 during the attack and 13 on the way out, under fire of the Wasp's fighters. In total, after this "first round", the Japanese lost 75 aircraft in combat, including 60 pilots and crews, and the Americans 40, including 32 pilots and crews.
11:45 - The situation is serious, but not without hope. The Yorktown is stopped, and Fletcher is to move to the heavy cruiser Astoria at 12:30. The Lexington is tilted 7 degrees to port, three boiler rooms (out of sixteen) are partially flooded, the flight deck is smashed and fires are raging. All the planes - as far as possible at least - had to be recovered by the Wasp... including Lagadec's Wildcat.
"I'm disgusted. My Wildcat is intact and poor Lady Lex, who I was supposed to protect, is dying. And I feel like I'm somewhat responsible for it! Besides, I am sure that the fight is not over. So I do a funny thing, which I still hesitate to admit today. I decide to stay in my plane! I was refueled with gasoline and ammunition, I didn't move. I was offered to come and relax for a few minutes, I refuse. I leave my cockpit for a moment, but I stay on the wing, clinging to the canopy post. A mechanic, a bit of a psychologist, then looks at me and then brings me a sandwich and a thermos of coffee, which I enjoy sitting on the leading edge, taking care not to touch the deck of the Wasp... "
12:22 - The Lexington is resisting. Her engines are still running and the damage control team is working miracles. The ship has been restored by playing with the fuel tanks and all fires are under control. The damage control officer Commander H.R. Healy, even jokes on the phone to Captain Sherman: "We have contained the torpedo damage temporarily, the fires are out and the ship is no longer listing. But if you were to take on more torpedoes, sir, I would suggest that you take them on the starboard side." This cheerfulness is premature.
12:47 - A devastating internal explosion shakes the ship. Gasoline vapors, from a tank ruptured by a torpedo explosion, are ignited by a generator that had not been cut off. Other explosions follow, more and more violent, destroying the damage control station and killing most of its personnel, including Commander Healy. The fire spreads between the flight deck and the main deck. At first, from the outside, nothing seems to change and the ship is making 20 knots and repair crews are trying to restore the flight deck. But around 15:00, new explosions shake the ship, causing damage to the ventilation system, forcing the crew to abandon the engine room. Little by little, the Lexington slows down.
And the battle is far from being over.
.........
11:21 - While the Japanese planes are on their way back and the bridges of the Hiryu and the Soryu are preparing to receive as many as possible, the Kirishima's seaplane n°3 spots the Wasp.
12:53 - Takagi learns the news with consternation. Until this moment, indeed, the Japanese admirals did not think it possible to face more than two American aircraft carriers. But Takagi has to face the facts and ordered Yamaguchi to prepare another raid.
12:51 - Fletcher has to solve similar problems. The men who participated in the morning's attack are convinced that they have left two Japanese aircraft carriers for dead, which leaves only one carrier to fight. Fitch can no longer provide tactical command, as he is no longer in a position to do so on the Lexington. It is up to Noyes. "We have to put it back on. Get rid of the last Japanese aircraft carrier for good!" orders Fletcher.
13:00 - All surviving Japanese aircraft (175 out of 250) are recovered and the most damaged ones are pushed overboard to make room for the others. The Hiryu and the
Soryu are now home to 135 aircraft (69 and 66 respectively).
13:12 - The Wasp has salvaged all it can. Noyes, which has 65 combat-capable aircraft, 12 TBDs, 33 SBDs and 20 F4F-3s, launches a new raid.
13:35 - The 12 TBDs, 21 SBDs and 6 F4F-3s move off to the north, preceded by 6 SBDs as scouts.
14:02 - The Hiryu and Soryu aircraft, launched at 13:29, head south (in all 41 B5B2, 42 D3A1 and 18 A6M2).
14:51 - The weather deteriorates little by little. The cloud cover reaches 6/10 and the wind increased.
In the middle of the clouds, a plane from SV2 (from the Lexington) reports two aircraft carriers heading to the west. They are the Shokaku and Zuikaku which, damaged, try to take shelter.
15:03 - The same plane sees two other aircraft carriers and has to dodge three A6M2. The Wasp raid then splits.
15:13 - All TBD and 11 SBD attack the damaged carriers. Constantly harassed, the SBDs can only put one shot on target, on the Zuikaku. But the Zeros which are still circling over two cripples slaughter the slow Devastators (seven lost out of twelve). Two Wildcat are not enough to protect them, although one of them is Yvon Lagadec's.
"As soon as we are in the air, I feel much better. When I get to the target, I'm in a strange state, more focused than ever before a fight. It's obvious that the poor Devastators are going to suffer, and I decide to help them. They crawl to a few meters from the water, chased by the Zeros. One of them sees us and turns around to climb stupidly towards us, from the front. A rookie, or a guy who loses his mind like it happened to me in the China Sea? I'm not in the mood for finesse, I accept the frontal pass - he disintegrates and I go through a cloud of debris to fall on the back of one of his crew members, who takes his time to light a TBD. He is so busy that he must not even realize that he is passing from life to death. His plane turns into a fireball - come to think of it, I don't think I've seen many Japanese crews jump, especially the Zero pilots, who were really flying a fragile machine.
I, on the other hand, am warned - by the cries of my wingman, who has been trying, I think, to warn me for a few moments, and by shocks in the back, where the Grumman company had the good taste to install an armor plate. The time to try to get out of the way (at the level of the water, not convenient), to feel that my plane is taking other projectiles somewhere, to hear my wingman shouting "I got him, the bastard!" and my engine starts to spit a thick black smoke, streaked with bright yellow, while the fire alarm goes off. Only solution to not perish roasted: I cut everything. Ejecting the canopy, tightening the harness, automatic gestures that do not prevent me from controlling the last few meters of my plane transformed into a glider... And, with the law of gravity at work, I land quickly on the Coral Sea, in an elegant spray of water.
The Japanese fleet passes around me. I quietly extract myself from my cockpit, just in time to see a destroyer arrive and, to my great astonishment, pick me up. I barely had time to get my feet wet. Apparently, the Imperial Navy has more respect for prisoners of war than the Japanese Army, if I am to believe the newspaper accounts of the atrocities committed by the Japanese Army in Malaya.
For I am a prisoner of war. Curiously, I suddenly feel very calm, almost relaxed. Only one thing bothers me: in the Mediterranean, Danny Potter has climbed to 17 wins. Today I reached a total of 18 after an eventful day...But now Danny can easily overtake me, damn it!"
Yvon Lagadec's F4F-3 Wildcat, USS Lexington, Battle of the Coral Sea
15:24 - The other ten Dauntless eventually find an aircraft carrier that appears to be intact and dive on it. It is the Hiryu, which receives two bombs behind the island, while two others just miss it. Here again, the survival of the ship is not endangered, although one of the bombs ignites a fire that takes more than three hours to control. However, the flight deck of the aircraft carrier is severely damaged and all air operations are halted which has serious consequences.
During this time, Lagadec discovers Japanese hospitality:
"The sailors of the destroyer locked me in a tiny cabin, where I was visited by an officer. Very stiff in his beautiful white uniform, with a stolid face, he called out to me in fairly good English. At the moment of answering, a childish idea comes to me. I pretend not to understand and I tell him in French: "I am Lieutenant Yvon Lagadec, French Naval Aviation, number -." An angel passes. Explosion (contained all the same) of discontent: "Speak undest... unsted... undelstandably!" Then I, proudly showing my badges (I have always insisted on not dressing quite like my American comrades and to wear my French insignia) : "Me... French... Lieutenant of the Navy... etc." Response: "Melcenaly!" Me, indignant: "No mercenary! French! Lieutenant... etc."
The officer turns red. I was perhaps his first chance to show his knowledge by interrogating an American!
I was perhaps his first chance to show his knowledge by interrogating an American! He forgot the traditional Japanese calm and left, slamming the door.
A little later, I have a bowl of rice sprinkled with green tea (I wonder for a moment if this drink alone does not justify that we make war to these people), then...I simply fall asleep, nervously exhausted."
15:25 - Japanese planes arrive over a scattered American fleet and zigzag under clouds that obscure and then unmask potential targets. Part of the formation is drawn to the Lexington, in flames but still moving at 10 knots. The poor Lady Lex is attacked by 17 D3A1s and 21 B5N2s, taking three 250 kg bombs and two torpedoes, one on the port side, at the level of the rear elevator, the other on the starboard side, in the engine room. Condemned, the ship sinks at 16:32.
The two destroyers assisting the Lexington are also hit. The Morris takes a 250kg bomb behind the bridge and two of 60 kg; it stops, in flames. For the Hammann, it is worse: two 250 kg bombs and a torpedo. The destroyer's backbone is broken and it breaks in two and sinks.
The Yorktown is going at 5 knots when it receives a 250 kg bomb in the middle and a torpedo to starboard aft. She stops. At 16:45, the waterways become uncontrollable and the ship is evacuated. She sinks at 18:05.
The heavy cruiser New Orleans, which was assisting the Yorktown, receives a 60 kg bomb which destroys a 5-inch/25 AA gun, killing 45 men, and another that demolishes the seaplane hangar, starting a fire that takes 90 minutes to put out.
Japanese Navy D3A1 Val of IJN Shokaku, Battle of the Coral Sea
15:41 - Eight D3A1s and nine B5N2s attack the Wasp. Captain Forrest P. Sherman (not to be confused with Frederick Sherman, commander of the Lexington), avoids the torpedoes with masterful skill, but the carrier receives a 250 kg bomb that pierces the flight deck five meters from the island and explodes on the third deck, while a 50 kg bomb hit the deck ten meters in front of the front elevator and ignites a fire that is quickly brought under control. At 16:10, the ship is once again able to receive and take off planes!
On both sides, the results of the second assault waves are therefore inconclusive.
As the reports made by his pilots were confused, Fletcher, installed on the Astoria, could not be sure of the number of enemy aircraft carriers still operational. The sheer size of the second Japanese wave shows that at least two ships participated. If two carriers were indeed damaged and are in very bad shape, as the SBD crews claim, then the Japanese force has four carriers. The pilots of the second raid swore that they had severely damaged one, perhaps two, carriers, but Fletcher had to consider the possibility that it was only the carriers hit in the morning, and that he was facing two intact Japanese carriers, with only one damaged ship left.
On their side, Takagi and Inoue (in Rabaul) also review the events. Takagi has three out of four carriers out of action and many survivors of the second wave had to land on the water near Soryu, which is down to 22 A6M2s, 21 D3A1s and 19 B5N2s. These 62 planes are very few compared to the 250 of the same morning! For the future, the worst is however that out of 188 lost planes, more than 80 crews are dead or prisoners.
But at this moment, for Inoue, the most important thing is what happens further west, north and south of the Louisiades.
US Navy Aircraft carrier USS Lexington, Battle of the Coral Sea, May 20th, 142
To the west - The Royal Navy holds
During the night, Rear Admiral Crace set a course to the west to intercept any ship attempting to cross the Jomard Passage. At dawn, his ships adopt a diamond-shaped anti-aircraft formation and increase speed to 20 knots.
08:10 - The Chicago spots a small seaplane circling just out of gun range. This craft comes from Deboyne Island. Crace reports that it has been spotted and brought south away from the Japanese planes based on land.
08:40 - Goto is informed of Crace's presence, or rather of "Two battleships, one battle cruiser, five heavy cruisers". He decides to accelerate in order to launch the planes on this formidable enemy fleet.
But, it should be remembered, Goto's squadron was itself spotted at 07:50 by a B-17 coming from Port Moresby, and the USAAF will be the first to strike.
10:45 - 27 B-17s attack the Junyo and its escort. The fighters of the aircraft carrier rush to the scene. They succeed in shooting down three four-engine planes and damage five of them, but lose three Zeros themselves and three others are seriously hit (the B-17 gunners claim ten enemy fighters). The bombing is inaccurate, but the attack impresses Goto, because of the obstinacy of the bombers' crews and their resistance to the attacks of the Zeros (and the Japanese admiral does not know that it is still only one of the first models of B-17!).
11:55 - Crace changes course again, probably believing that he is out of reach of the land-based aircraft.
13:38 - At 135 nautical miles south of Jomard Passage, the Renown's radar detects, 50 miles to the north, an enemy formation heading towards the squadron.
13:58 - Eleven G3M2s at high altitude bomb without result.
14:15 - This time, two groups of seven and nine G4M1s attack with torpedoes.
All ships zigzag violently and open a heavy and precise fire on the attackers, who lose five of their number. None of the torpedoes hit their targets, although the Renown only avoids one by about thirty meters.
14:32 - New high-altitude bombardment: 21 G3M2, without more results than the first one. Crace then heads west, as if he was going to Port Moresby.
14:58 - Informed of Fletcher's losses, Crace fears that his squadron would be the only significant force between the Japanese and Port Moresby. He then decides to head south-east, to continue covering the Jomard Passage.
15:50 - Six twin-engine bombers bomb the destroyer USS Perkins and miss it. The bombs taken by the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia show that they were undoubtedly launced by USAAF B-25s. In fact, these aircraft are part of a group of 21 B-25s from the 3rd BG(L) and the 22 BG(M), which took off from Charters Towers to attack the seaplane base that the Japanese had just set up at Deboyne and got lost.
16:55 - The remaining fifteen B-25s successfully attack the base, destroying seven seaplanes and slightly damaging the Chitose, before returning to Port Moresby to refuel. A few minutes later, 12 P-39 of the 8th PG, based in Port Moresby, follow the B-25. They destroy the five surviving seaplanes and set fire to the aviation fuel tanks on the beach.
At 16:02, Goto himself is attacked a second time by B-17s based in Port Moresby. Eighteen four-engine planes bomb his ships without success, despite the reaction of Junyo's radar-directed fighters. Two B-17s and two Zeros are shot down, four B-17s and two Zeros damaged.
17:05 - Another formation is detected by the Renown's radar: it is 18 D3A1 and 6 B5N2 from the Junyo. Goto was indeed informed of the probable position of Crace by the bombers based at Rabaul. The twin-engines not seeming very effective, he decides to send his single-engine planes to attack. But the Crace squadron is too far away for the B5N2s to carry a torpedo, and they have to make do with a 250 kg bomb.
Very quickly, the Junyo's Val prove to be more efficient than the twin-engined ones. The Chicago is hit by three 250 kg bombs, one between the chimneys, one in the seaplane hangar and the third one on the X turret. Two other bombs exploded to hit the hull, seriously damaging the machines. The other ships avoid the bombs, and five D3A1s are shot down by flak. Ravaged by a fire, the Chicago is hit hard. It has to stop at 18:18. Thanks to Herculean efforts, the repair teams succeed in extinguished the fire at around 19:35 and the cruiser resumes its course at 5 knots at 20:50.
21:00 - Crace is happy to get away with only one damaged ship. He knows that the Japanese base at Deboyne has been neutralized and he can hope to avoid further difficulties today, while continuing to cover the Jomard Passage. He then orders his ships to describe a circuit during the night at 135 nautical miles south-east of Deboyne.
At the same time, Goto is worried. It is true that the USAAF attacks had not left a scratch on his ships, but the Junyo has only 9 A6M2s, 13 D3A1s and 9 B5N2s operational left . It is clear that this is not enough to repel another day of attacks by land-based bombers, nor to destroy the strong enemy squadron patrolling south of the Jomard Passage.
Vice Admiral Inoue then orders the Port Moresby attack force to change course to stay out of range of the shore-based bombers, and asks Takagi to join Goto to reinforce him. It seems, however, that MO's commander-in-chief is already having doubts about the whole operation, as he also orders Goto to turn back.
In the night - The French play their cards
Perhaps Inoue hopes that the night will bring developments that will give him a more accurate idea of the situation. But the night is to bring only blood and more and more confusion, and first of all to the west of the battlefield.
.........
20:10 - Renown's radar detects new assailants.
20:30 - Red and green flares shoot up into the dark sky, as Japanese planes drop lighted buoys. "Under these lights, everything had a strange festive air," recalls a British officer. "But what was being celebrated? Alas, it was probably the Gunpowder Plot, and who was going to play Guy Fawkes?" For the first time in the war, Allied sailors discover the night-time torpedo attack method developed by the Imperial Navy.
20:42 - Twelve G4M1s attack the Chicago, whose slowness makes it a prime target. This one and the DD USS Walke, which is escorting it, open a heavy fire, killing five attackers, but nothing to be done. The Chicago receives four torpedoes in quick succession on its port side and quickly capsizes.
She was soon avenged...
.........
Much further east, Yvon Lagadec follows his destiny...
"According to my watch, the sun has just set when I wake up. Two guards arrive, with an officer. I am taken out of my cell and led on deck. The tropical night is still beautiful. But the scenery is not very romantic: the moon reveals the mass of a large aircraft carrier, which I can easily identify as a "Kaku", the Shokaku or the Zuikaku. Without a word (since I don't understand anything!), I am pushed towards a boat with all my possessions - my flight suit, my helmet, my windbreaker. Got it! I must have intrigued the Japs and I am sent to the big boss! Indeed, after a short trip on a not very agitated sea, I find myself a moment later in a cell quite similar to the previous one, in the bowels of the great aircraft carrier. On a shelf, supreme courtesy: a cup of steaming green tea, served on a white tablecloth with a small napkin bearing the ship's arms... "
.........
16:00 - The previous evening, the French submarines Bévéziers and Sidi-Ferruch were ordered to patrol the area between Guadalcanal and Rennell. Since dawn, they have been sailing on the surface, diving only when they see an aircraft.
16:30 - Many planes pass in the sky, and the two submarines dive. They continue their route underwater, guided by the sound of bombs exploding in the water.
19:45 - The two vessels resurface.
21:11 - The Bévéziers is spotted and forced to dive by the DD Hamakaze and Tanikaze. It escapes without difficulty after three hours of depth charging.
.........
"The Imperial Navy has an answer for everything. I have been enjoying my green tea for less than an hour when two officers appear. One of them is obviously more senior, he only speaks to his subordinate in Japanese, in a tone of voice that seems dry to me (but which is perhaps in reality very friendly!). The other one is young, almost a kid (the same age as me probably...). But he speaks French, with a little lisp, but French! "Lieutenant Doji Hoturi. You claim to be French?" Me, of course: "Lieutenant de vaisseau, etc." Answer: "That's impossible, there is no French aircraft carrier." This is getting more and more amusing. I show my insignia, I remind myself that France and Japan are very much at war and that I am a combat pilot. Lieutenant Doji gets angry, his superior stamps his feet. And then... My nightmare started again. "
.........
21:30 - The Sidi-Ferruch, which managed to penetrate the Japanese screen, spots the characteristic silhouette of an aircraft carrier. A few minutes to acquire the best firing position, then a complete salvo of seven torpedoes before diving without waiting for the results.
21:38 - The Zuikaku is hit by three torpedoes to starboard. Already tested by the American bombs, the large ship has no chance of survival.
.........
"In a few seconds, three huge shocks shake the ship and almost throw us to the ground. None of us wondered what it was all about, it had to be torpedoes, necessarily fired by a submarine. I should be delighted, I am, but I am also terrified, because I have the impression that I have something to do with it, that I am carrying a kind of curse!
A moment later, in the darkness and confusion of a ship struck to death, it is almost too easy to escape my guards (who are obviously not professionals!) and to get away from the lifeboats on a tiny raft that was passing by, along with hundreds of other debris of all sizes..."
.........
22:16 - The Zuikaku sinks. Despite a hunt led by the DD Ariake and Yugure, the Sidi-Ferruch manages to escape. It has just gained a reputation as a "carrier killer", because the Zuikaku is his second victim after the Shoho (sunk in February with the help of the Casabianca).
22:35 - This loss was a fatal blow to Inoue's already fragile confidence. He signals to Takagi to change course to "avoid sailing into an underwater ambush."
Last edited:
4514
May 20th, 1942
The Battle of Singapore - III
Singapore - A mixed force of Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and local volunteers complete their training for amphibious operations. They set up camp in South West Johore to await orders, and the boats of "Spooner's Navy" which must embark them: fast pleasure boats, motorized barges, converted (and motorized) local fishing boats, etc.
.........
Malaya
- The Main Force spends another restless night with continuous clashes of sections and squads on the railroad front. Meanwhile, the British heavy artillery shells retreating transports and guns on the road and in areas where enemy concentrations are suspected.
The advance resumes at daybreak and the trouble starts very quickly.
- On the right, along the railroad, the useful front is very limited, because the rails run through the jungle. The advance is made at a snail's pace, as the enemy retreats in good order, not a jumble of exhausted units like in Singapore. He has organized a mobile defense, with staging positions and harassment teams. And the further the infantry advances, the more it leaves behind the artillery that supports it, the more vulnerable its supply line becomes and the more easily the telegraph line along the railroad is cut. The advance quickly degenerate into ambushes and vanguard clashes, where the leading company must wait for the following ones to open a way in the jungle towards the wings and to outflank the Japanese. The lighter equipment of the Japanese then begins to be an advantage. Most of the Japanese weapons are less powerful than the British, but they are much easier to carry, deploy and use, and the lighter ammunition can be transported in larger quantities on human or animal backs. Tanks, limited to the railroad, are almost useless.
- On the left, by road, the advance is also affected by Japanese tactics, but on better terrain and a wider front, the troops progress more easily. The column advancing along the road can take its artillery, armor and logistics with it.
However, the infantry isforced to cover the flanks of the advance, as small groups of Japanese continually attack the British flanks and rear. Moreover, the differences in speed between the two columns, although expected, worry the Malayan Command, as the two advances diverge and lose their coordination.
-Force West, the 12th Indian Infantry Brigade (5/2 Punjab, 4/19 Hyderabad, 1st Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire), which was to defend the area and serve as a reserve, is harassed by small groups of Japanese who went down the river and bypassed the British left flank to infiltrate the Allied rear. These fights cause few losses in men or material, but create a lot of confusion and disorganization. However, the 18-pound batteries reach their camouflaged positions and are ready for action.
From the beginning of the morning, the Japanese positions, almost encircled, are "softened up" with cannon, mortar and machine gun fire. The British batteries fire a mixture of smoke, explosive shells and shrapnel, and the biggest guns pound the center of the Japanese defenses. Heavy mortars and 18-pounders played an important role, as the small diameter of their lethal zone guarantees the Commomnwealth infantry greater safety as they close in on Japanese positions before the assault. After a brief bombardment, the infantry moves in, while the tanks move out onto the road to provide support. The battle is quickly won, but the cleanup takes the rest of the day, as small groups of Japanese, even isolated soldiers, continue to resist and fight to the death. Only about a hundred men escape through the marshes towards the coast, probably to get back to their lines. The crushing of the defense is the result of the allied superiority in numbers and firepower. The Japanese had not been able to dig very deep tunnels because of the proximity of the underground water table; moreover, many of them were second line troops, having neither the experience nor the training of the front line troops. However, they fought with great courage and determination and stopped the equivalent of a division for several days. This fact demonstrates once again the need for specialized material and equipment to effectively deal with the Japanese defense systems.
However, under the cover of the trees of the nearby plantations, material could be brought in to repair the destroyed bridge over the Sungei Benut and add a boat bridge. Better yet, captured British boats and landing craft have arrived in pieces by road and are being reassembled.
Plymouth - The Abdiel, Manxman and the six SGB gunboats destined for Operation Pedestal leave English waters for the Indian Ocean, soon followed by 24 Fairmile "A" boats. They arrive in Trincomalee (Ceylon) on June 6th.
The Battle of Singapore - III
Singapore - A mixed force of Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and local volunteers complete their training for amphibious operations. They set up camp in South West Johore to await orders, and the boats of "Spooner's Navy" which must embark them: fast pleasure boats, motorized barges, converted (and motorized) local fishing boats, etc.
.........
Malaya
- The Main Force spends another restless night with continuous clashes of sections and squads on the railroad front. Meanwhile, the British heavy artillery shells retreating transports and guns on the road and in areas where enemy concentrations are suspected.
The advance resumes at daybreak and the trouble starts very quickly.
- On the right, along the railroad, the useful front is very limited, because the rails run through the jungle. The advance is made at a snail's pace, as the enemy retreats in good order, not a jumble of exhausted units like in Singapore. He has organized a mobile defense, with staging positions and harassment teams. And the further the infantry advances, the more it leaves behind the artillery that supports it, the more vulnerable its supply line becomes and the more easily the telegraph line along the railroad is cut. The advance quickly degenerate into ambushes and vanguard clashes, where the leading company must wait for the following ones to open a way in the jungle towards the wings and to outflank the Japanese. The lighter equipment of the Japanese then begins to be an advantage. Most of the Japanese weapons are less powerful than the British, but they are much easier to carry, deploy and use, and the lighter ammunition can be transported in larger quantities on human or animal backs. Tanks, limited to the railroad, are almost useless.
- On the left, by road, the advance is also affected by Japanese tactics, but on better terrain and a wider front, the troops progress more easily. The column advancing along the road can take its artillery, armor and logistics with it.
However, the infantry isforced to cover the flanks of the advance, as small groups of Japanese continually attack the British flanks and rear. Moreover, the differences in speed between the two columns, although expected, worry the Malayan Command, as the two advances diverge and lose their coordination.
-Force West, the 12th Indian Infantry Brigade (5/2 Punjab, 4/19 Hyderabad, 1st Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire), which was to defend the area and serve as a reserve, is harassed by small groups of Japanese who went down the river and bypassed the British left flank to infiltrate the Allied rear. These fights cause few losses in men or material, but create a lot of confusion and disorganization. However, the 18-pound batteries reach their camouflaged positions and are ready for action.
From the beginning of the morning, the Japanese positions, almost encircled, are "softened up" with cannon, mortar and machine gun fire. The British batteries fire a mixture of smoke, explosive shells and shrapnel, and the biggest guns pound the center of the Japanese defenses. Heavy mortars and 18-pounders played an important role, as the small diameter of their lethal zone guarantees the Commomnwealth infantry greater safety as they close in on Japanese positions before the assault. After a brief bombardment, the infantry moves in, while the tanks move out onto the road to provide support. The battle is quickly won, but the cleanup takes the rest of the day, as small groups of Japanese, even isolated soldiers, continue to resist and fight to the death. Only about a hundred men escape through the marshes towards the coast, probably to get back to their lines. The crushing of the defense is the result of the allied superiority in numbers and firepower. The Japanese had not been able to dig very deep tunnels because of the proximity of the underground water table; moreover, many of them were second line troops, having neither the experience nor the training of the front line troops. However, they fought with great courage and determination and stopped the equivalent of a division for several days. This fact demonstrates once again the need for specialized material and equipment to effectively deal with the Japanese defense systems.
However, under the cover of the trees of the nearby plantations, material could be brought in to repair the destroyed bridge over the Sungei Benut and add a boat bridge. Better yet, captured British boats and landing craft have arrived in pieces by road and are being reassembled.
Plymouth - The Abdiel, Manxman and the six SGB gunboats destined for Operation Pedestal leave English waters for the Indian Ocean, soon followed by 24 Fairmile "A" boats. They arrive in Trincomalee (Ceylon) on June 6th.
4515
May 20th, 1942
New Guinea - A Blenheim on routine reconnaissance of the north coast of Papua reports that it has spotted unidentified vessels off the mouth of the Kumusi River, then is attacked by Zeros, before disappearing. Another aircraft sent to the area sees only thick clouds.
Yokosuka - First flight of the prototype of the new Aichi naval attack aircraft (dive bomber and torpedo bomber). This aircraft, corresponding to the 16-Shi program, is planned to equip a new generation of Japanese aircraft carriers.
New Guinea - A Blenheim on routine reconnaissance of the north coast of Papua reports that it has spotted unidentified vessels off the mouth of the Kumusi River, then is attacked by Zeros, before disappearing. Another aircraft sent to the area sees only thick clouds.
Yokosuka - First flight of the prototype of the new Aichi naval attack aircraft (dive bomber and torpedo bomber). This aircraft, corresponding to the 16-Shi program, is planned to equip a new generation of Japanese aircraft carriers.
- Status