7795
April 14th, 1943
Port Blair - The small town is awakened around 02:00 by the engines of three seaplanes. These were catapulted from the three Japanese battleships despite the night and soon, they rain down a series of flares on the harbor. In the dim light of these, the observers of the seaplanes see what they expected to find: a cruiser and an aircraft carrier... From 02:20, huge shells of 14 and 16 inches start to fall. The Mutsu, the Hyuga and the Yamashiro, their fire guided by the seaplanes, settle in a few salvos the score of the Tynwald and the Commandant-Teste, before bludgeoning the docks and various targets, with more or less precision: the seaplane base, the airfield... The damage is very important and many civilians are killed.
The massacre stops after about 40 minutes. The three battleships and their escort head east again into the night.
Far from it, Somerville had been warned, but he could only stomp his feet and be annoyed that a more dense aerial coverage of the eastern Indian Ocean had not been put in place, which would have made it possible to spot the Japanese fleet as soon as it left the Straits of Malacca.
In Port Blair, the following day is spent in anxious anticipation... But nothing else falls on the heads of the defenders.
Rangoon - In the late afternoon, while the fighters in charge of the port's air cover are patrolling the eastern part of the region as usual, unexpected echoes appear on the radar screens. They come from where they were not expected, from the southwest! They are 23 Val, 2 Judy and 10 Zero. To attack the large port, the Japanese preferred to rely on the precision of the dive bombers. The planes make a low approach and climb to their attack altitude only just before starting their dive - as expected, targets abound!
"At the time of the attack, it was easier than in training," said the pilot of one of the Val. "There were so many boats that you couldn't miss them, and they weren't moving!"
By the time the aircraft covering the front line were recalled or the combat patrols redirected, it was too late. When the bombers run away, having lost only one aircraft shot down by the flak (plus one, victim of mechanical problems on the return), three large transports, gutted, are sinking and the docks of Rangoon, where several warehouses are blazing happily, are plunged into an indescribable confusion.
Over-optimism or poor coordination with the Navy, the Rangoon Air Defense Command had failed to anticipate the maneuver of the Japanese aircraft carriers further south. When the Spitfires of Sqn 17 flew over the city, the Japanese were only distant points on the horizon, impossible to catch up with.
Of course, a counterattack will try to be organized. But the time to launch reconnaissance in the right direction, to locate the Japanese fleet, lost in the ocean, and to gather bombers likely to reach a naval target, night will fall. And the next day, Kondo's aircraft carriers and their escort will be out of reach.
Indian Ocean - Still far to the west, Somerville cannot help but be enraged especially since a submarine alert forced his fleet to change course several times. Worse still, the destroyers were unable to catch the person responsible (probably the I-34).
Port Blair - The small town is awakened around 02:00 by the engines of three seaplanes. These were catapulted from the three Japanese battleships despite the night and soon, they rain down a series of flares on the harbor. In the dim light of these, the observers of the seaplanes see what they expected to find: a cruiser and an aircraft carrier... From 02:20, huge shells of 14 and 16 inches start to fall. The Mutsu, the Hyuga and the Yamashiro, their fire guided by the seaplanes, settle in a few salvos the score of the Tynwald and the Commandant-Teste, before bludgeoning the docks and various targets, with more or less precision: the seaplane base, the airfield... The damage is very important and many civilians are killed.
The massacre stops after about 40 minutes. The three battleships and their escort head east again into the night.
Far from it, Somerville had been warned, but he could only stomp his feet and be annoyed that a more dense aerial coverage of the eastern Indian Ocean had not been put in place, which would have made it possible to spot the Japanese fleet as soon as it left the Straits of Malacca.
In Port Blair, the following day is spent in anxious anticipation... But nothing else falls on the heads of the defenders.
Rangoon - In the late afternoon, while the fighters in charge of the port's air cover are patrolling the eastern part of the region as usual, unexpected echoes appear on the radar screens. They come from where they were not expected, from the southwest! They are 23 Val, 2 Judy and 10 Zero. To attack the large port, the Japanese preferred to rely on the precision of the dive bombers. The planes make a low approach and climb to their attack altitude only just before starting their dive - as expected, targets abound!
"At the time of the attack, it was easier than in training," said the pilot of one of the Val. "There were so many boats that you couldn't miss them, and they weren't moving!"
By the time the aircraft covering the front line were recalled or the combat patrols redirected, it was too late. When the bombers run away, having lost only one aircraft shot down by the flak (plus one, victim of mechanical problems on the return), three large transports, gutted, are sinking and the docks of Rangoon, where several warehouses are blazing happily, are plunged into an indescribable confusion.
Over-optimism or poor coordination with the Navy, the Rangoon Air Defense Command had failed to anticipate the maneuver of the Japanese aircraft carriers further south. When the Spitfires of Sqn 17 flew over the city, the Japanese were only distant points on the horizon, impossible to catch up with.
Of course, a counterattack will try to be organized. But the time to launch reconnaissance in the right direction, to locate the Japanese fleet, lost in the ocean, and to gather bombers likely to reach a naval target, night will fall. And the next day, Kondo's aircraft carriers and their escort will be out of reach.
Indian Ocean - Still far to the west, Somerville cannot help but be enraged especially since a submarine alert forced his fleet to change course several times. Worse still, the destroyers were unable to catch the person responsible (probably the I-34).