Flattops and Flyboys: The Carrier War in the Pacific 1942-44

[Athelstane]

The Doolittle raid OTL was becauce they needed a morale boost. But IITL the morale among the US population have to be higher. They have not lost that many ships to the Japanese and have inflicted heavy casualities among the Japanese, so why the need for it?

The United States has still lost a) a major chunk of its Pacific Fleet, and b) pretty much all its possessions in WestPac (Phillippines, Guam, Wake). As with Calbear's Pacific War Redux timeline, the U.S. situation is not quite as bad as it is in our timeline, but the United States of this timeline does not know that. It's still taken some serious losses. The outcry to get payback for them will still be loud.

There's no reason to think that FDR won't be just as keen to push the Doolittle Raid as a means of getting that payback here, given what we know of him and his mindset at the time.

 

[galveston bay]

The United States has still lost a) a major chunk of its Pacific Fleet, and b) pretty much all its possessions in WestPac (Phillippines, Guam, Wake). As with Calbear's Pacific War Redux timeline, the U.S. situation is not quite as bad as it is in our timeline, but the United States of this timeline does not know that. It's still taken some serious losses. The outcry to get payback for them will still be loud.

There's no reason to think that FDR won't be just as keen to push the Doolittle Raid as a means of getting that payback here, given what we know of him and his mindset at the time.

my reasoning exactly

 

[galveston bay]

The Doolittle Raid (part 2)

On April 17, Task Force 16 and its 18 ships is finally able to refuel from the tankers of Task Force 11, after which a gale rises up and air operations are suspended until first light the next day. Leaving the rest of the fleet behind, the Hornet and the Yorktown, along with both heavy cruisers and both light cruisers dash ahead at 30 knots. That night radar aboard the Yorktown picks two surface contacts, each 24,000 yards distance from the attack force and lights are seen, but radio intercepts pick up no signals from them and within a couple of hours both disappear from radar as the various ships proceed on their separate courses.

Concerned that these contacts are Japanese picket ships, Spruance orders Sherman to deal with them as soon as it is light to avoid any potential sighting.

Just before first light, the Yorktown launches 12 SBDs and 12 Wildcats, with orders to find and destroy any vessel within potential sighting distance. A second strike group is spotted on deck and launched an hour later to expand the search zone and it is launched when it is ready. At 715 Hours, the first Japanese patrol vessel is spotted and strafed heavily, killing most of the crew and silencing the radio. A few minutes later another Japanese patrol vessel is similarly dealt with. Both are shortly after destroyed by bombs from the American dive bombers. The second strike group spots two more Japanese patrol vessels and they too are attacked and silenced.

10 hours later, at 1700 Hours, the attack force has reached the planned launch point 500 miles northeast of Tokyo and the first of the B25 aircraft begin taking off. Within an hour, the last of the 16 bombers has left the scene. The carriers and cruisers then reverse course and begin their high speed dash to rejoin the rest of the fleet. Spruance orders the preplanned signal sent to China as the first of the raiders reach their targets which for the fleet is in the darkness of the early night.

30 Seconds over Tokyo

The Doolittle Raiders achieve complete surprise, flying over Tokyo (10 aircraft) Yokohama (2 aircraft), Nagoya, Kobe and Osaka (1 aircraft each). No Japanese aircraft intercept them (indeed none take off to do so) and flak does not open up until well after the bombers are overhead and flying away. Bombing results are terrible as the bombers are flying at high speed and low altitude in the darkness and bombs are released as a matter of best guess. The best results are at an oil tank farm which is left burning, but the remaining bombs fail to do much significant damage, although several dozen civilians are killed or wounded by the attack (for which they received no warnings). One of the bombers makes a wrong turn and realizing the mistake and Captain York and his crew reach Vladivostok and internment as their fuel runs out. Of the remaining 15 aircraft, 7 crash due to fuel exhaustion resulting in the deaths of 3 aircrew while several aircrew injured including Ted Lawson who will eventually lose his leg from injuries in the crash. The remaining 8 aircraft, including that of Doolittle, successfully reach Zhuzhou were they are refueled and sent further on the Chongging where they are personally greeted by Chaing Kai-shek.

Aftermath
The 8 surviving B25s end up forming the basis of a bomb group of the 14th Air Force, along with 28 aircrew. The remainder are sent home where they will mostly see service fighting the Germans. All are decorated, while now Brigadier General Doolittle (promoted two ranks by Presidential Order) is awarded the Medal of Honor and assigned a major role in the upcoming Operation Torch.

The Japanese react massively to the raid. Operation Sei-Go, a major Japanese Army operation, is launched within a few days of the raid, resulting in heavy Chinese casualties and the fall of Zhuzhou. Unit 731 conducts operations in support of this offensive, which ultimately results in the deaths of tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Chinese (depending on which estimate is accepted postwar). An entire Army Air Division of fighters is assigned duty in Japan permanently as an air defense force. The Japanese Navy, appalled that the Americans have managed to attack Tokyo itself, begins to consider options to force the American carriers to battle and to destroy them.

 

[galveston bay]

authors note: I believe that Spruance would have insisted on a more thorough search plan (avoiding the issue of running into the Japanese ships that spotted the historical raid, forcing it to launch early). Particularly as a more thorough search plan ITTL spotted the Pearl Harbor raid in advance (See "Battle at Dawn"). So the changes here. Doolittle was an aviation pioneer and I feel if the plan had gone as planned, at least some of the aircraft would have reached friendly territory and landed successfully.

The Japanese Army reaction to the OTL raid was horrific and little changed above.

 

[galveston bay]

that is it for the evening... working on more, hopefully some more over the weekend (hurray for the Labor Day Holiday)

 

[mudhead]

Will CV-38 be named Shangri-La? I suppose it depends what FDR says to the press.

 

[galveston bay]

Will CV-38 be named Shangri-La? I suppose it depends what FDR says to the press.

Its a good story so going with it

 

[galveston bay]

these stories will run concurrently

https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...2-43-eisenhower-in-the-pacific-part-2.431343/

 

[galveston bay]

almost done with a complete Allied order of Battle for the Pacific Ocean Area, which is relevant to this thread and the Flattops and Flyboys thread

once done with that, some things will be happening in May-July 1942

 

[zert]

Just caught up on this part of the story. I am still behind on the others. Things are shaping up for a new confrontation. If the US gets an airfield/airfields built up on Guadalcanal, they can not only help to protect the shipping lanes, they might be able to base long range bombers to attack Japanese bases.

Holding Rabaul will secure the Eastern approaches to New Guinea as well as Australia. It also gives the Allies an excellent base to go after Japanese bases in the Marshalls and Carolines. A start to neutralize Truk.

Thanks Galveston Bay for your great stories and juggling so many at a time. I look forward to seeing what happens next.

 

[galveston bay]

Japanese Naval Aviation August 1942
The Hawaiian Island Campaign, with the heavy losses over Oahu and further losses at Midway, was a devastating blow to what had until then been a superb weapon. The two naval battles cost the Japanese 200 naval pilots and 350 aircraft from all causes. Fierce battles over Luzon and the Marshall Islands, along with fighting in the Dutch East Indies and Indian Ocean, plus training and operational losses, cost the Japanese another 400 naval pilots and 600 aircraft. This from a force that started the war with 3,089 aircraft, including 1830 first line aircraft. Thus nearly half of the first line aircraft were lost between December 1941 and June 1942. Pilot losses are also severe, with 350 carrier pilots lost, with the remainder split roughly evenly between land based bombers, land based fighters and float planes, with a few flying boats. These losses are from 3,500 available pilots, including roughly 1,800 carrier qualified pilots. Between January 1942 and July 1942, the Japanese Navy graduates close to 700 pilots from 9 training classes, with another 120 due to graduate by the end of the year. Thus losses have just barely kept up with replacements.

Just as serious are aircraft losses and the limited number of replacements. Only around 300 Val Dive Bombers (including the new A2 version), 300 Kate Torpedo bombers (all of the N2 version), and 600 Zero fighters are available for carrier service, and all are also needed for shore based units too. This includes aircraft added to the force since the start of the war, as well as aircraft lost to combat and operational losses. The land based bombers now consist of 300 Nell bombers (after losses and new production are factored in), and 200 Betty bombers and provide bombers for 13 airgroups assigned to the various Air Flotillas. The remaining aircraft are 2nd line aircraft suitable for basic and advanced training, plus some transport aircraft and a large number (around 500) floatplanes for scouting and observation, but only 120 Mavis flying boats and only 8 of the highly valuable Emily flying boats.


Carrier Aviation
The available carriers and assigned aircraft are organized into three groups.


The fast (ships capable of 30 knots) are the Akagi (81 aircraft), Hiryu (54 aircraft), Shokaku (81 aircraft), Zuikaku (81 aircraft), and they are organized into the 1st Air Fleet, and operate with the 4 Kongo class battleships. After operations over the last 6 months, the 3 larger carriers handle strikes, with the smaller Hiryu carries 36 Zero fighters and 18 of the new Judy Dive bombers (as scout planes). The remaining carriers have Val dive bombers and Kate torpedo bombers still. The 1st Air Fleet has in total 297 aircraft (117 Zero fighters, 81 Kate torpedo / level bombers, 81 Val dive bombers, 18 Judy scout bombers) plus each carrier has 12 spares (only 4 spare Zero fighters on the Hiryu) for a total of 337 aircraft and 350 pilots. Another 20 floatplanes are assigned to the various battleships and cruisers (and 24 pilots). However the 1st Air Fleet has only recently completed its first operation after replacing the losses and repairing the damage from the Hawaiian campaign. The Aleutian campaign was a useful experience for the newly trained aircrews of the Shokaku and Zuikaku, but they are still not the equal of the elite veteran survivors of the Hiryu and Akagi. However, the 1st Air Fleet is ready for action in July 1942 for operations in the South Pacific.

The other carriers are assigned to the 2nd Fleet (the battleship fleet) to provide air cover, or to the 3rd Fleet (Southeast Asia) which is guarding the East Indies and keeping an eye of the Royal Navy pr assigned to training duties These are the slower light carriers suitable for covering landings or supporting the battleships.


Assigned to the 2nd Fleet, which has at its core the brand new superbattleships Yamato and Mushashi, plus the 16 inch gun battleships Nagato and Mutsu, are the light carriers Zuiho and Shoho, each with 12 Zero fighters and 12 Kate torpedo bombers (which are mainly for search and antisubmarine patrol). The battleships and cruisers add another 20 float planes for additional air search capability. This fleet is still working up in the Sea of Japan in August 1942.


The 3rd Fleet, which has at its heart the 2 Fuso class and 2 Ise class battleships, has the light carrier Ryujo assigned. This veteran ship, which was involved in the invasion of the Philippines, then assigned to the 1st Air Fleet for a time, has an elite veteran core of pilots (as do the 2 light carriers assigned to the 2nd Fleet) but only can operate 21 Zero fighters and 12 Kate bombers (for antisubmarine and search missions) but provides valuable air cover. The 3rd Fleet is at Brunei in July 1942 and ready for operations.

The remaining carriers are the Hosho, which is providing carrier qualification training in the Inland Sea and thus available for only the briefest of operations, and normally does not have an assigned air group, and the two newly commissioned Hiyo class conversions. These two ships, the Hiyo and Junyo, are too slow to operate with the 1st Air Fleet, but can each operate 21 Zero fighters, 9 Kate torpedo bombers and 18 Val dive bombers. Both have newly trained and inexperienced air groups, and the two ships have been operating with the 3d Fleet since they were commissioned as aircraft ferries moving Navy strike aircraft and fighters to forward bases in Malaya, Luzon and Java. In late June, they were assigned to the 2nd Fleet and ferried more fighters and strike aircraft to the Marshall Islands (and provided back up to the 1st Air Fleet which spent a fruitless week looking for the American carriers in expectations of another American raid). However the continuous operations were too much for the Hiyo, which sits at Truk waiting for parts to repair its faulty engines. Only the Junyo is available for operations and as of July it is undecided if she will be assigned to the 2nd or 3rd Fleets.


Between all the carriers, there are 534 aircraft (including partially assembled spares) and 575 pilots assigned.

A Zero of this model was found intact in the Aleutians after the battle and soon was being evaluated by the US military

Land based strike forces
Unlike the US Navy and to a larger degree then the Royal Navy, the Japanese pre-war developed a powerful land based strike force of bombers and fighters, and indeed many of these pilots were elite veterans when the war started. Accidents, operational losses, and combat losses have produced serious attrition, and the US Navy all but wiped out three entire bomb groups in raids in the Marshall Islands and the Admiralty Islands between February and June 1942, while Navy bombers committed to the Luzon campaign suffered heavy losses to a further two groups. This forced the Japanese Navy to pull all but a few float planes from the China campaign as they are now needed elsewhere. The replacement pilots are well trained but mostly inexperienced, just like their Allied counterparts in the South Pacific.

The medium attack groups have an authorized strength of 18 Betty or Nell bombers each, while the Fighter groups, as well as the light attack groups have an authorized strength of 27 aircraft. The principal operating forces, similar in some respects to a US Army Air Force numbered Air Force, are the Air Flotillas, of which there are 6 as of July 1942 (21st - 26th Air Flotilla). The 24th Air Flotilla lost nearly all of its aircraft and most of its aircrew in February 1942 at the hands of Spruance's Task Force 16, while 21st Air Flotilla lost over half its aircraft and a quarter of its aircrews in December 1941 over Luzon, and the 26th Air Flotilla suffered disastrous losses in aircraft and its airfield on Manus was reduced to a cratered moonscape by raids by Spruance's carriers and American medium and heavy bombers from Rabaul. The 24th and 21st have since replaced their losses (by drawing on aircraft from the 22nd and 23rd Air Flotillas in Japan), but the land based forces are now stretched thin. The 21st Air Flotilla is in Malaya (48 Betty, 27 Zero), the 25th is in the Dutch East Indies (48 Betty, 27 Zero) and the 22nd and 23rd Air Flotillas are in Japan while their groups work up. This leaves the 24th in the Central Pacific covering the Caroline and Marshall Islands (with 108 Nell, 54 Kate, 54 Val, 96 Zero) and with the strong possibility of further raids, and to block a repeat of the Doolittle Raid, those forces are not moving either. The 26th Air Flotilla, responsible to the Palau Islands, plus the Philippines and now northern New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands, only has airfields able to operate medium bombers in Luzon, Mindanao, and in the Palau islands, with only primitive strips available in New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands. It has, after getting some replacements, around 150 aircraft available (25 Zero, 50 Nell, 25 Kate, 50 Val). Each of the Air Flotillas also has 18-21 Mavis Flying boats, and 50-150 float planes assigned. The first fighter group of Rufe (Zero fighter float planes) is now deployed at the Japanese forward base in Hollandia, arriving in July.

Japanese Navy Rufe fighter at Hollandia August 1942

Thus far, aside from Luzon, the Army has not provided any aircraft except to defend the Homeland and the bulk of its aircraft are in Burma, China, Manchuria or Japan. The aircraft assigned to the Luzon campaign begin leaving in July for China.

A Japanese Emily Flying Boat. Once of the finest aircraft fielded by the IJN, but there were never enough of them. All of them were still in Japan at this point of the war, all 8 of them.

 

[galveston bay]

authors notes:
Based on my best guesses from losses in the story line so far, Japanese pilot training information, and production information and taking into account losses from operational attrition as well as combat. The IJN has managed to keep pace with losses, but only just, and only because for several months its two best fleet carriers were out of action and two more were sunk (reducing the number of needed carrier pilots for a time). The slow pace of Japanese air production is a serious problem as well.

For those unfamiliar with IJN Naval Aviation organization I recommend these links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ...anese_Navy_Air_Service#Daitai,_Chūtai,_Shōtai
http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Combined_Fleet.php

For a superb look at the Imperial Japanese Aviation you cannot go wrong with this magnificent work

https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Sky-Air-South-Pacific/dp/0813338697

There are others, many others, but start with the above

 

[galveston bay]

US Navy forces Battle of Tarawa August 1942
Commander US Forces: Vice Admiral Raymond Spruance

Task Force 16 (R Adm Frederick Sherman)
CV Enterprise (flag for Sherman) w Carrier Air Group 6 (Cmmdr Max Leslie), 36 Wildcat, 35 Dauntless, 15 Avenger
CV Saratoga w CAG 3 (Cmmdr Harry Felt) 28 Wildcat, 35 Dauntless, 13 Avenger
BB North Carolina (flag for Spruance), CLAA Atlanta, CLAA San Diego, CL Honolulu, CL Phoenix (flag CruDiv 10 R Adm Callaghan) DD Balch, Maur, Ellett, Benham

Task Force 17 (R Adm George Murray)
CV Yorktown (flag for Murray) w CAG 6 (Cmmdr Richard Gaines) w 36 Wildcat, 35 Dauntless, 15 Avenger
CV Hornet w CAG 8 (Cmmdr Walter Rodee) w 36 Wildcat, 35 Dauntless, 15 Avenger
BB Washington (flag BatDiv 6 R Adm Lee), CLAA Juneau, CLAA San Juan, CL Helena (flag CruDiv 4 R Adm Norman Scott), CL Brooklyn DD Conyingham, Ralph Talbot, Blue, Monssen, Dewey


Allied Naval Forces: The Trondheimsfjord Raid September 1942

British Home Fleet (with attached US forces)
Commander: Admiral James Somerville RN
Deputy Commander (Carrier Forces) V Adm William Halsey USN
Deputy Commander (batttleships) V Adm Harry Harwood RN
Deputy Commander (US screen) R Adm Kent Hewitt USN


RN Forces
BB King George V, BB Prince of Wales, BB Anson, BB Duke of York, CA Sheffield, Suffolk, Norfolk. Plus 4 light cruisers, 12 destroyers escorting CV Illustrious, Formidable, Indomitable, Victorious
each carrier has 21 Sea Hurricane Mk1C, 15 Swordfish (Albacore on the Victorious) aboard, Swordfish have radar and are carrying either torpedoes, flares or 1 x 1,590 pound armor piercing bomb (converted 14 inch shell). The Indomitable carries 12 Barracuda in addition to the Swordfish.

USN Forces
BB South Dakota, BB Massachusetts, CA Augusta, Tuscaloosa, Minneapolis, Vincennes plus 9 destroyers escorting CV Ranger w Air Group 4 (Dixon) 24 Wildcat, 24 Dauntless, 24 Avenger (armed with 2,000 pound armor piercing bombs) CV Wasp w Air Group 7 w 24 Wildcat, 24 Dauntless, 24 Avenger (equipped as level bombers)

 

[galveston bay]

authors note
Yes there will be a chapter called "Halsey in the Atlantic"

There will be a full explanation of the concentration of force at Norway in September 1942, but it all comes back to the loss of Cunningham, Malta and disaster suffered by PQ 17 and the fact that Halsey is available and in Britain at that time talking about the Hawaiian battles with his counterparts in the Royal Navy

Butterflies in flight from Battle at Dawn and Rising Sun in a Tropical Sea

 

[wemayberry]

Assigned to the 2nd Fleet, which has at its core the brand new superbattleships Yamato and Mushashi, plus the 16 inch gun battleships Nagato and Mutsu, are the light carriers Zuiho and Shoho, each with 12 Zero fighters and 12 Kate torpedo bombers (which are mainly for search and antisubmarine patrol). The battleships and cruisers add another 20 float planes for additional air search capability. This fleet is still working up in the Sea of Japan in August 1942.


The 3rd Fleet, which has at its heart the 2 Fuso class and 2 Ise class battleships, has the light carrier Ryujo assigned. This veteran ship, which was involved in the invasion of the Philippines, then assigned to the 1st Air Fleet for a time, has an elite veteran core of pilots (as do the 2 light carriers assigned to the 2nd Fleet) but only can operate 21 Zero fighters and 12 Kate bombers (for antisubmarine and search missions) but provides valuable air cover. The 3rd Fleet is at Brunei in July 1942 and ready for operations.

The remaining carriers are the Shoho, which is providing carrier qualification training in the Inland Sea and thus available for only the briefest


I think the 2nd Shoho you mention is actually the Hosho?

 

[pjmidd]

RN Forces
BB King George V, BB Prince of Wales, BB Anson, BB Duke of York, CA Sheffield, Suffolk, Norfolk. Plus 4 light cruisers, 12 destroyers escorting CV Illustrious, Formidable, Imdomitable, Victorious
each carrier has 12 Martlet, 15 Swordfish aboard, Swordfish have radar and are carrying either torpedoes, flares or 1 x 1,590 pound armor piercing bomb (converted 14 inch shell)

Why are the armored carriers only equipped with very under strength air groups ? Even without any deck park they should be carrying 36 aircraft each (48 for the Indomitable )

 

[galveston bay]

it is indeed

 

[galveston bay]

Why are the armored carriers only equipped with very under strength air groups ? Even without any deck park they should be carrying 36 aircraft each (48 for the Indomitable )

still working on the British CV airgroups, so expect changes.

 

[galveston bay]

adjustments to the Raid on Trondheim
Further review determined that the most likely fighters would be the Sea Hurricanes, and yes the RN can operate more aircraft than what I initially found for them. The fighters matter as they will be facing ME109F2s of III/JG5. Both Allied fighters are at a disadvantage in quality, pilot quality is about the same (highly trained Navy pilots vs highly trained expert Luftwaffe pilots). On the plus side the Allies will have a numerical advantage

the Indomitable is being given more aircraft too.

 

[state02]

GB, Just a minor nitpick. You have CAG 6 used twice in the last update. Once for the Enterprise and once for the Yorktown.