August 13th, 1942
Southwest Pacific Campaign - Battle of the Eastern Solomons
The clash of the aircraft carriers (first round)
02:10 - Nagumo's radars detect what seems to be an enemy reconnaissance plane. But at this moment, the squadron passes under a violent squall and no visual contact is established. It was in fact a PBY from the VP-11, which was trying to confirm the radar detection of the E-24's seaplane. The weather conditions prevented any visual sighting, but the existence of several radar sources is confirmed.
04:20 - Fletcher's task forces reach a position at 162°10'E and 9°20'S and the
Wasp begins to launch its planes. First, six SBD-3s armed with a single 500 pound bomb, charged with illuminating the route of the main formation. They are followed by fifteen other SBD-3s and seven TBF-1s escorted by eight F4F-4s. By the time the 36 planes are moving away, Takagi is 240 nautical miles north of Fletcher at 160°25'E and 4°55'S.
05:15 - It's the
Saratoga's turn to launch: a half-shot, with nine SBD-3s and nine TBF-1 escorted by six F4F-4.
05:30 - As the
Saratoga finishes launching its planes, Fletcher receives a message from PBY n°2 of the E-24, giving the composition of the Japanese "second group": "
Three aircraft carriers, three battleships, many other warships / " The message was abruptly interrupted: the intruder was reported by radar and A6M2s from the
Kaga, launched before dawn, are searching for him.
05:35 - Fletcher asks the
Enterprise to launch six SBD-3s for reconnaissance and to prepare a raid with all available aircraft.
05:45 - Nagumo orders the
Tone and
Chikuma to launch their seaplanes on reconnaissance according to a plan covering the area southeast of Takagi. Although the Vice Admiral still believes that the American forces are much farther south than they were, he knows he is vulnerable once he has been spotted.
06:00 - Fletcher changes his mind and holds off on the
Enterprise raid, as his fleet has not yet been spotted. Under these conditions, it seems reasonable to recover the planes launched against the "first group" to execute a more powerful attack against what appears to be the main Japanese squadron.
06:10 - The radar of the
Mutsu detects the American raid, 50 nautical miles south of Takagi's squadron. "
So early?" exclaims the latter, very surprised. The
Hiyo quickly launches 15 of its 23 A6M2s (four were already in the air). However, the cloud cover is 4/10 over the Japanese ships and the carrier's fighter director has no radar: he depends on messages from the
Mutsu. Thus, the Japanese fighters concentrated on the six SBDs which arrive as scouts.
They shoot down three of them but intercept the main formation too late.
While the Zeros are drawn into a fight with the Wildcats of the escort, most of the Dauntlesses execute a perfect dive on their target. Four 1,000-pound bombs hit the converted liner. The TBFs arrive at this moment and succeed in a "hammer and anvil" attack, similar to the ones that doomed the
Lexington and the
Yorktown in the Coral Sea. The
Hiyo, in flames, maneuvers desperately, but receives two torpedoes and stops.
Meanwhile, the aerial battle ends. Desperate for the fate of their carrier, the Zeros shoot down three more SBDs, three F4F-4s and two TBFs, but lose six of their own (including two victims of the dorsal machine-guns of the bombers). At 06:55, the
Wasp planes have left.
07:25 - While thirteen Zeros are still circling over the fleet, the
Saratoga planes enter the scene. The torpedo bombers attack the
Hiyo, but the SBDs attack the
Mutsu and the
Haguro. The battleship is not hit, but the heavy cruiser loses its Y turret, hit by a 1,000-pound bomb. An SBD and an F4F are shot down by the Zeros, which lose two planes, while the
Mutsu's flak destroys another bomber.
Saratoga planes leave at 07:52, announcing triumphantly: "
Scratch one flat-top!" (the
Hiyo capsizes at 07h41).
07:30 - As Fletcher learns the good news about the raid, he is told that the radar has detected an intruder. This one, a large four-engine Kawanishi E8K1 "Emily" seaplane, is shot down shortly afterwards by the patrol at 15 nautical miles from the fleet, but it had been transmitting a few minutes a radio message. Fletcher immediately fears that he hasbeen spotted and reported. He is right, although he does not know why - in fact, the Emily was equipped with one of the two German FuG-200 Hohentwiel radars that had arrived from Germany by train earlier in the year.*
07:40 - Fletcher orders the
Saratoga and
Enterprise to launch all available attack aircraft against the Japanese "second group" even before receiving the information gathered by the scouts launched at 06:00. The
Enterprise launch 15 Dauntless and 9 Avenger escorted by 8 Wildcats and the
Saratoga sent 12 Dauntless without escort. At 08:10, the
raid is underway, but in separate groups. At this time, Fletcher hopes to recover the
Wasp's planes at 09:00 and the
Saratoga's at 09h40, to launch a second wave at 10:30.
07:45 - Two D4Y1-C Judy scout planes take off from the
Soryu. Nagumo has just been informed of the sighting of the American squadron, 300 nautical miles south of his position, at the same time Takagi's squadron has been attacked. Yamamoto's plan seems to work perfectly! The Combined Fleet goes on the attack.
07:50 - A first wave takes off, with 63 D3A1s (18 from the
Akagi, 18 from the
Kaga, 15 from the
Hiryu, 12 from the
Soryu), escorted by 36 A6M2 (9 for each carrier).
08:45 - The second wave, escorted by 9 A6M2 from the
Kaga, includes 15 D3A1... and no less than 81 B5N2.
09:08 - The
Wasp begins to recover its aircraft.
09:25 - The D4Y1s arrive over Fletcher's ships. Escaping from the covering Wildcats thanks to their speed, they begin to guide the first wave.
09:58 - The
Saratoga's planes return. On the deck and in the hangar of the aircraft carrier, as on the
Wasp, the supply teams hurry to resupply and rearm the aircraft.
Driven by a light south wind, the American raid reaches its objective at 10:15. The first Japanese wave falls on the Americans around 10:30.
.........
The clash of the aircraft carriers (second round)
10:15 - The six SBDs that were scouted out make individual attacks without result and two are shot down. The
Enterprise fighters cover the nine Avengers, but the Dauntless, flying higher, separates from the rest of the formation en route, as they randomly through the cloud layers. The
Saratoga's form a third group.
Alerted by their radars, the Japanese launch 26 A6M2s, adding to the 9 that are already in the air. However, the operators have no direct way to determine the altitude of the echoes they are picking up and do not yet have the necessary training to try to deduce it using the lobes of the radar beams. More than once, echoes that disappear (which happens when an aircraft leaves one lobe and before it enters another) are even considered as false signals. Finally, a cloud cover of 5/10 does not facilitate the task of the fighter direction.
Flying lower, the TBF-1 are seen first and attacked by nine A6M2, then by a formation of twenty others - the Japanese pilots tend to rush en masse to the first identified enemy formations. The eight Wildcat escorts did their best: they destroy four Zeros at the cost of three of their own, and more importantly, prevent most of the Japanese from attacking the Avengers. The latter still have to deal with a dozen fighters; they lose three planes but shoot down two Zeros, one of which is visibly surprised by a TBF's belly gun, a rare luxury on carrier aircraft. However, the leader of the formation, knowing that many other fighters are waiting for him, understands that he will never reach the carriers and launches his aircraft against the battlecruisers. The
Haruna narrowly escapes a torpedo. Another Avenger is shot down by flak and three of them, damaged, return home but have to land at sea near an American destroyer.
The
Saratoga's SBDs arrive just after and are assaulted by nine Zeros as they emerge from the clouds over the Japanese fleet. Four Dauntlesses and one Zero are shot down, and the eight surviving bombers dive on the nearest target, the battlecruiser
Kirishima, which receives a 1,000-pound bomb between its Y and Z turrets, sees its port outer propeller shaft severely damaged by a nearby bomb explosion and must slow to 20 knots. Its flak hits an SBD, which crashes into the water shortly after coming out of its dive.
When the fifteen Dauntlesses of the
Enterprise show up, only nine of the
Kaga's Zeros can attempt to intercept them, but cannot prevent them from swooping on the
Kaga and the
Akagi. This
Akagi receives a bomb just behind her stern elevator and her turbines are badly shaken by a bomb that grazes the hull. The
Kaga is more seriously hit: three 1,000 pound bombs hit her in quick succession, destroying her flight deck and igniting a violent fire. The crew tries to control the flames, but despite all efforts, the fire spreads inexorably.
However, the
Akagi's flight deck is quickly repaired, allowing it to recover its planes. However, the rear elevator was blocked, and the refueling cycle of the planes was strongly slowed down. Four SBDs are shot down by Zeros, some of which dare to dive at the same time as the SBDs, and another is destroyed by flak.
10:18 - At a distance of 80 nautical miles, the
Enterprise's CXAM radar detects the first Japanese wave. Fletcher orders the
Wasp and the
Saratoga to launch their planes immediately, but only the
Wasp's are ready - the carrier launches between 10:24 and 10:31 fifteen SBDs, four TBFs and four F4F-4 escorts. The
Saratoga does not have time to launch more than five TBFs and three SBDs before the hits fall - in fact, the last two SBDs leave the bridge after the Japanese attack has already begun. Fletcher's decision to order the
Saratoga's commander to continue to launch would be hotly debated afterwards. Nevertheless, the analysis of the Naval War College justified the decision in part: the probability of the carrier's survival was in any case reduced given the intensity of the attack, while each additional bomber launched could count.
10:30 - The Japanese formation starts to attack, always guided by the two D4Y1-C at high altitude. A serious problem then arises for the fighter leadership. As the naval historian S.E. Morison would write:
"At 10:23, a fighter section to the northwest shouted a warning over the radio: 36 bombers and a strong escort. It was the
Akagi and
Kaga planes. This was a crucial moment for the fighter commanders, dripping with sweat: if they acted quickly and intelligently, they could destroy the raid before it reached the task force. The two officers did their best, but the radio circuit was so cluttered with "Tally-ho" and useless exchanges between Wildcat pilots that it soon became hopeless to send precise instructions to the interceptors. (...) The radar screen soon became a confusing mix of friendly and unidentified echoes at various altitudes and bearings."
The cover fighters did attack the
Akagi and
Kaga formation, but in small numbers, and most of the Val manage to break through. Thirty dive on the
Saratoga and its screen.
The ex-battlecruiser converted into an aircraft carrier receives seven direct hits and three bombs graze it; it is soon in flames. Three SBDs loaded with bombs explode at the back of the bridge, showering the bridge with shrapnel. Vice Admiral Frank J. Fletcher and Captain DeWitt C. Ramsey are seriously injured. HMS
Renown dodges three bombs, one of which explodes less than ten meters from her port side, shattering her anti-torpedo armor.
However, the Japanese formation pays the price: it loses 19 Val and six Zeros. At least eight bombers are to be blamed on the flak, the fighters taking the others, but after their attack. Six Wildcats are shot down by the Zeros.
The
Hiryu and
Soryu formation split in two to attack the Enterprise and Wasp, 8 nautical miles separating the two ships. The
Enterprise's fighters take a serious toll on the bomber group before it can make its attack, shooting down seven of the twelve Val of the
Soryu, plus three escort Zeros, at the cost of five Wildcats. The last five D3A1 are met by a very violent flak which shoots down three of them, but a bomb hits the carrier, destroying the port forward 5-inch gun and killing its crew.
Less fortunately, the
Wasp's fighters lose sight of the
Hiryu's formation in the clouds and cannot catch it before it attacks. Nine D3A1s hit the carrier and six hit the battleship
Washington, nearly a mile behind. The
Wasp receives two 250 kg bombs, one in the middle, the other, just after, on the rear elevator. A violent fire breaks out and the carrier slows down to 22 knots, but its survival does not seem to be in danger. The
Washington, slightly shaken by two bombs that just missed it, contributes powerfully to the destruction of nine Val during the attack, while three are shot down by the Wildcats that were waiting for them at the exit of their dive. Against the escorting Zeros, the Wildcats lose three planes and shoot down two Japanese fighters.
11:04 - At the departure of the first Japanese wave, the situation is bleak. The
Saratoga, still afloat, is dying, its hull shaken by internal explosions. The
Wasp is burning, but seems salvageable. Only the
Enterprise is operational. But for the next few minutes, a question haunts the American sailors: where are these terrible torpedo bombers? They will soon have the answer, but during the short lull between the two attacks, the heavy cruiser
Shropshire and the destroyer
Phelps approach the dying
Saratoga to rescue its crew. The
Phelps rescues
Fletcher, who is wounded and severely burned, but conscious. The task force commander orders Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, on the
Enterprise, to take over operational command, since his ship still appears to be in one piece.
11:22 - The second wave is detected by the radar of the Enterprise and eight fighters are directed at the approaching aircraft, while the carrier hastily retrieves as many fighters as possible and gets them airborne again as quickly as possible, rearmed and refueled. On the Japanese side, this second wave does not benefit from the same guidance as the first one, because the two D4Y1-C, out of gas, have to leave.
The group coming from
Akagi and
Kaga is again the first to arrive. It is intercepted 25 nautical miles from the task force. The nine escort Zeros have trouble stopping the momentum of the eight Wildcats which are soon reinforced by four others. Seven B5N2s and four Zeros fall victim to the aggressive Wildcats, who lose four of their own. But there are too many bombers, and many pass.
Attracted by the flames of the
Saratoga funeral pyre, whose column of black smoke rises to 5,000 meters above sea level, the Japanese planes throw themselves on the great ship and its screen. The
Saratoga, which is only moving at 6 knots, is soon hit with three torpedoes to port and one to starboard. She capsizes, still burning, and sinks at 11:54.
Rear Admiral Crace's ships and the American destroyers are also fighting against torpedo bombers. The
Renown is targeted by 15 Kate and three isolated Val. Managed by its commander, it avoids all the projectiles except a torpedo, which hits it on the port side, at the level of the B turret, destroying a generator room and a hydraulic room. The ship embarks 1 300 tons of water and the turret is blocked by the shock, but the old warrior keeps her place, still giving 28 knots. The cruisers
Brisbane and
Shropshire even use their main armament against the groups of planes flying low over the water; both avoid several torpedoes. Seven other B5N2s are shot down by flak.
The
Hiryu and
Soryu bombers attack the
Wasp and
Enterprise groups again. Already damaged, the
Wasp receives two torpedoes and a new bomb. It stops, with a 15° starboard list. At 11:48, the evacuation is ordered. The
Enterprise repels all attacks, its fighters helped by the survivors of the
Saratoga. Two bombs and a torpedo pass close by, but none hit the ship. In these two battles, the attackers lose 19 B5N2s, four D3A1s and four A6M2s, in exchange for five Wildcats. One of the Japanese losses can be attributed to flak, particularly from the battleships
North Carolina and
Washington, which reveal their major interest in a capital role.
11:52 - The last Japanese plane leaves.
.........
The clash of the aircraft carriers (third round)
12:00 - Rear Admiral Kinkaid assesses the situation. It is serious, but not without hope. The Allied task force has lost two of its aircraft carriers, as the
Saratoga has just sunk and the
Wasp does not have much time left (it had to be scuttled around 16:30). On the other hand, the only other seriously damaged ship, HMS
Renown, is still more or less in fighting condition. Kinkaid's aircraft carrier, the
Enterprise, lost many planes, but recovered some from the
Wasp and the
Saratoga, and will see the survivors from the first raid (
Enterprise/
Saratoga) against Nagumo's carriers.
12:45 - The
Enterprise air group is back up to 21 F4F-4s, 16 SBD-3s and three TBF-1s in fighting condition, and the results of the second raid (
Wasp/
Saratoga) are anxiously awaited.
12:50 - Without knowing it, the American planes of this second raid approach the Japanese fleet at the same time as the Japanese survivors of the first wave, because these, because the latter, freed from their projectiles, flew faster. All these echoes completely disorient the radar operators of Nagumo.
12:51 - The
Soryu is recovering its planes, as well as some of those of the
Kaga, when an officer with a particularly sharp eye reports "
Twelve or fifteen suspicious planes at 14,000 meters." These are the
Wasp's dive bombers. The fifteen Dauntless dive on their prey before anyone can intervene and place three 1,000-pound bombs on the
Soryu, destroying its flight deck and causing a violent fire in its hangar. One SBD is shot down by flak during the attack, and three more by the Zeros immediately afterwards. The general alarm is given.
Shortly thereafter, the
Haruna reports "
Suspicious aircraft on the port bow" and opens fire. It is the four TBF-1s from the
Wasp, escorted by four F4F-4s. They are heading towards "
a huge aircraft carrier, which seems to be hit but continues its course. " It is the
Kaga, which is only making 8 knots and trailing a huge plume of smoke. The four Avengers launch at less than 500 meters on this easy target and one of their torpedoes hits the target! Then they run low over the waves to escape. Nine Zeros attack them, but are overtaken by the four Wildcats, which have gained altitude while the torpedo bombers were attacking. Each F4F-4 shoots down one Zero before six more come in, destroying two Americans and forcing the others to flee.
Then the
Saratoga planes arrive. The three SBDs head for a carrier but are intercepted by six A6M2s, which shoot down two of them; the third one escapes, damaged (it will reach the American fleet and land on the water near the DD
Phelps, which will take in the the crew). The five TBF-1s of VT-8, seeing the enemy fighters buzzing around their
around their carriers, attack a large ship that is trailing behind the screen. It is the
Kirishima, which opens a precise fire, shooting down a torpedo bomber, but the others launch at 700 meters, before fleeing in low waves. The battlecruiser would probably have succeeded in avoiding the torpedoes, but for the damage sustained earlier in the day. Three wakes are dodged, but the fourth torpedo hits at the level of the front turbine room. The anti-torpedo bosses are partially broken and the speed drops to 16 knots.
14:45 - The agony of the
Kaga has been long, but it is now certain that the ship cannot be saved. Nagumo resigns himself to order to finish her off with a torpedo, which is done around 15:00.
15:15 - The
Enterprise begins to recover the survivors, and its air group increases to 23 F4F-4s, 27 SBD-3s and 7 TBF-1s.
15:30 - The latest attacks have stunned and angered Vice Admiral Nagumo. From the reports of his two attack waves, he had concluded that two of the American carriers were destroyed or near sinking, and that the third was badly damaged. Now he could not imagine that the planes that have just attacked him in such a surprising way come from defunct aircraft carriers. "
The Americans must have another aircraft carrier in the area, which we have not yet spotted! We must find it!" However, Commodore Fuchida, Chief of Aviation of the Kido Butai, disagrees: "
My men are full of courage and skill, Admiral, but their enthusiasm is sometimes excessive, and I am not convinced that they have really destroyed or reduced to impotence the three enemy aircraft carriers we have identified. I know only too well that in the heat of battle everyone naturally tends to exaggerate the results obtained. In my opinion, it is necessary to launch a new attack before worrying about another possible enemy carrier."
But the organization of the raid poses a major problem: given the distance at which the enemy fleet is, the Japanese planes (which it is hardly possible to launch before 16:00) may not have the time to find it before dusk, and it is certain that all of them will get lost on their way back, not being able to land at night, nor even probably to find the fleet!
However, the
Kaga is sunk, the
Soryu is out of action (the fire is not controlled until 16:05 - the ship almost suffered the same fate as the
Kaga) and the loss of aircraft is frightening. After the survivors of the two attack waves, it turns out that the Kido Butai's strike force is seriously reduced. The
Akagi has 21 A6M2s, 17 D3A1s and 19 B5N2s; it can launch and recover its planes, but it can only refuel them slowly, due to the destruction of the destruction of an elevator. The
Hiryu, intact, has 20 A6M2, 22 D3A1 and 21 B5N2.
The two D4Y1-C Judy are lost on the
Soryu. Unwilling to lose for sure all the planes he would send against the enemy, Nagumo decides not to launch another raid during the day. On the other hand, the seaplanes of the
Tone and the
Chikuma, recovered after their unsuccessful reconnaissance missions of the morning, are sent back to the southeast. Nagumo also orders the ships damaged during the day, the
Soryu and
Kirishima, to return to Truk, escorted by the 4th Destroyer Division (DD
Maikaze,
Tanikaze and
Tokitsukaze).
On his side, Yamamoto has the same concerns as Nagumo, as he orders the seaplanes based at Rabaul to participate in the search for another American aircraft carrier. Moreover, in anticipation of a possible surface battle the following night or the next day, he orders Takagi, which is only 30 nautical miles to the southeast, to join forces with
Nagumo. The two fleets are reunited at dusk.
15:45 - Rear Admiral Kinkaid gives an update. His attacks have had good results and he knows that the Japanese have lost a large number of aircraft, but night is falling. A raid at this time would be a waste, although the American ships are equipped with radio beacons and equipment to allow a night landing: the planes (which would take off at 16:30) would arrive during the nautical twilight and would hardly see anything but wakes!
Kinkaid thus orders his formation to turn around and to move away from the axis of attack while regrouping all the ships of the three formations around the
Enterprise. After a brief phone conversation with Vice Admiral Fletcher (transferred to the infirmary of the
North Carolina), he decides to avoid a night engagement with the Japanese fleet and to withdraw to the southeast, to be within range of the planes based at Efate in the morning.
He nevertheless withdraws with the feeling that part of the mission assigned by Nimitz has been fulfilled. Guadalcanal and Tulagi have been spared and the Japanese fleet has been significantly reduced - one light aircraft carrier sunk for sure, two large aircraft carriers out of action (the sinking of the
Kaga is not yet certain). Moreover, the Japanese air groups suffered huge losses in aircraft and especially in crews: 31 pilots of Zero, 37 crews of Kate and 48 crews of Val! The US Navy paid a high price, but to the two sunken aircraft carriers, are added "only" 21 Wildcat pilots, 20 Dauntless and six Avenger crews (the loss of aircraft is however higher).
Among the dead, Major L.F. Henderson (USMC), who had embarked on the
Saratoga with his Dauntless and was the last to take off from the carrier, under the bombs...
Meanwhile, the
Hornet's group arrives at 25 knots. It will be there on the 15th, to ensure the protection of the New Hebrides and New Caledonia.
But the battle of the Eastern Solomons is not over...
Rear Admiral Hiroaki Abe and Vice Admiral Takeo Takagi would like to conclude the battle with a victory the following night. Two battleships, two battlecruisers, four heavy cruisers, one light cruiser and three destroyers, formed into a broad front line preceded by seaplanes, sweep the sea until dawn at 24 knots, but the Allied fleet falls back at 26 knots. The Japanese pursuit is in vain. Nevertheless, the ships of the line of the Imperial Navy will get a contact with the enemy during the night, but it was not the one they were hoping for.
United States Navy CV USS Enterprise, Battle of the Eastern Solomons, August 13th, 1942
