Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2
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Story 2553
Northwest Pacific, 0900 May 15, 1944
Dozens of warships accelerated. Half a dozen aircraft carriers were turning into the wind. Almost full deck load strikes consisting of pilots and aircraft carefully husbanded over the past seventeen months. The Americans had been located and followed by twin engine bombers whose pilots were either exceptional at ducking in and out of clouds or more than competent at running at full throttle 50 feet over the sea for a hundred miles or dead by now. One strike is what the defenders of the Home Islands could get. And then the Americans would be out of range.
Forty five minutes later, over three hundred aircraft were heading east. Twenty five minutes after that, the tail end-charlie, a near rookie in a dive bomber passed over an oil slick that was where the heavy cruiser Asama sank overnight.
Dozens of warships accelerated. Half a dozen aircraft carriers were turning into the wind. Almost full deck load strikes consisting of pilots and aircraft carefully husbanded over the past seventeen months. The Americans had been located and followed by twin engine bombers whose pilots were either exceptional at ducking in and out of clouds or more than competent at running at full throttle 50 feet over the sea for a hundred miles or dead by now. One strike is what the defenders of the Home Islands could get. And then the Americans would be out of range.
Forty five minutes later, over three hundred aircraft were heading east. Twenty five minutes after that, the tail end-charlie, a near rookie in a dive bomber passed over an oil slick that was where the heavy cruiser Asama sank overnight.
Takes me back to playing Silent Service - do a 180 and give them a second salvo from the stern tubes
Story 2554
East of Caen, 1200 May 15, 1944
Both Canadian infantry brigades had arrived over night. Two regiments of heavy infantry tanks had been attached. The landing forces had managed to link up with the paratroopers who held a set of bridges over the Orne and the Caen canal without too much difficulty. Riflemen were still advancing cautiously. A few outposts had been overrun and more than once, machine gun nests needed the combination of an artillery barrage and a section or two of tanks to back up the riflemen before fire ceased. As they approached the crest of a small ridge north of Troarn, two dozen German artillery tubes started to fire while their engineers started to light smoke to obscure their hasty positions from the Allied spotters and fire control officers.
Both Canadian infantry brigades had arrived over night. Two regiments of heavy infantry tanks had been attached. The landing forces had managed to link up with the paratroopers who held a set of bridges over the Orne and the Caen canal without too much difficulty. Riflemen were still advancing cautiously. A few outposts had been overrun and more than once, machine gun nests needed the combination of an artillery barrage and a section or two of tanks to back up the riflemen before fire ceased. As they approached the crest of a small ridge north of Troarn, two dozen German artillery tubes started to fire while their engineers started to light smoke to obscure their hasty positions from the Allied spotters and fire control officers.
Story 2555
Grenoble, France 1700 May 15, 1944
The bombers had left the city's sight an hour ago. Two hundred medium bombers and one hundred and thirty heavy bombers had come out of the sun and through a cloud of chaff. The heavies dropped from 10,000 feet. The mediums dropped from 6,000 feet. Four bombers were seen to have crashed and at least twenty were visibly damaged but the supply line to the 10th Army in Turin was no longer functional. The rail yard was aflame. A dozen trains with over three hundred cars were wrecked. Roads were still open over the Alps, but unless the Swiss could be pressured to allow for munitions to go through their territory, a German field army would only be able to shoot whatever it had in local stockpiles.
The bombers had left the city's sight an hour ago. Two hundred medium bombers and one hundred and thirty heavy bombers had come out of the sun and through a cloud of chaff. The heavies dropped from 10,000 feet. The mediums dropped from 6,000 feet. Four bombers were seen to have crashed and at least twenty were visibly damaged but the supply line to the 10th Army in Turin was no longer functional. The rail yard was aflame. A dozen trains with over three hundred cars were wrecked. Roads were still open over the Alps, but unless the Swiss could be pressured to allow for munitions to go through their territory, a German field army would only be able to shoot whatever it had in local stockpiles.
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Driftless
Donor
The actor Richard Todd was a Captain at the Pegasus bridge OTL. In the movie "The Longest Day", he got to play Major Howard, the commander of the group at the bridge. Art imitating life.
Story 2556
The Aegean Coast of Greece, May 15, 1944
The sun had descended beneath the mountains. Thin slivers of light bouncing off clouds cast the evening in a bright glow even as stars were starting to come out. Offshore, the two small transports anchored. Within minutes, the loaded landing boats began to make their run in. Every barge carried ammunition. Every barge carried fuel. Every barge carried food. Every barge carried morphine and bandages and plasma. Every barge had enough to keep everyone on the beachhead in at least limited supply if the Germans managed to sink one or two of their compatriots.
Off to the south of the little pocket, several hundred shells a minute were landing on a German blocking position.
Off to the west of the little pocket, several hundred Ghurkas were preparing for an infiltration march around a flank guard.
Off to the north, several hundred Merlins and Pratt and Whitneys and Allisons droned on as the rail lines into Greece had been hit yet again.
In the pocket, Greek machine gunners checked their belts once more as the riflemen crawled forward to repair their wire and thicken up minefields. Just north of the pocket dozens of trucks and half a score of tanks were burning. Just to the south of the pocket, two hundred corpses from the previous three German attempts to clear their supply lines illustrated their failure.
The sun had descended beneath the mountains. Thin slivers of light bouncing off clouds cast the evening in a bright glow even as stars were starting to come out. Offshore, the two small transports anchored. Within minutes, the loaded landing boats began to make their run in. Every barge carried ammunition. Every barge carried fuel. Every barge carried food. Every barge carried morphine and bandages and plasma. Every barge had enough to keep everyone on the beachhead in at least limited supply if the Germans managed to sink one or two of their compatriots.
Off to the south of the little pocket, several hundred shells a minute were landing on a German blocking position.
Off to the west of the little pocket, several hundred Ghurkas were preparing for an infiltration march around a flank guard.
Off to the north, several hundred Merlins and Pratt and Whitneys and Allisons droned on as the rail lines into Greece had been hit yet again.
In the pocket, Greek machine gunners checked their belts once more as the riflemen crawled forward to repair their wire and thicken up minefields. Just north of the pocket dozens of trucks and half a score of tanks were burning. Just to the south of the pocket, two hundred corpses from the previous three German attempts to clear their supply lines illustrated their failure.
At one point in the film he also speaks to the actor playing Capt. Richard Todd, which must have been fairly bizarre for him...
You mean like in Sink the Bismarck! where "Captain John Leach" is played by Esmond Knight -- who was on the Prince of Wales during the Battle of the Denmark Strait? He was seriously wounded during the battle, losing an eye and being almost completely blinded in the other.
I suspect in this TL there will be something called the Great North Pacific Turkey Shoot. It's unlikely to be any more favourable to the Japanese then OTL's Battle of the Philippine Sea. And that's just the air battle component. No doubt the USN will be launching counter strikes against the Japanese fleet if they can locate them quickly enough.
An interesting thought is the views of Historians in this world. What they will consider the important battles to be of this ww2 and how massively popular series such as "The World at War" will differ from our series when deciding what needs a single episode devoted to it and what can be covered as part of multiple episodes. The biggest changes I can perceive being in the Pacific & South East Asia and Possibly Greece & North Africa.
Certainly the Battle of the Makassar Strait would be considered one of the key events. The end of the IJNs' ability to seriously contest the Allies in the Pacific War.
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I personally thought the Philippines campaign might get an episode dedicated to it and defiantly Bataan will get some documentaries given what will be its presumably legendary siege status in the annuals of this ww2
Story 2557
Somewhere in the South of France, May 15, 1944
Jacques checked the magazine on his Sten one last time. Everything was set. He checked his belt for spare magazines. The first pouch was almost full except for the one magazine he had inserted into his weapon before his band moved to their ambush site. The second pouch was ready as well. He looked down into the valley. A column of German infantry had been spotted marching through the dusk and into the night. American Thunderbolts had been called in once to strafe the column. Few infantrymen had died, but a dozen horses had to be put down. The maquis scouts had paced the column for the past four hours and for the first time in a year, they were willingly and intentionally trying to kill Germans instead of just their collaborators.
He looked down the slope one last time. He could see an American radio operator a few yards away by the heels of his boots and the bulge of his back pack. He saw very little else. By now, his band of over two hundred men were veterans. They had to have been good to have survived this long. Two thirds of the men were on the long side of the L shaped ambush, and the other third were slightly slanted to hold cover for as long as possible on the short end of ambush. The column's scouts had already passed through the kill zone without suspecting anything. He had a dozen men detailed to make their lives miserable and keep them from counter-attacking an open flank.
One more beat of his heart and he picked up a flare gun. He only had red star shells --- one to initiate, two flares to break off. He had learned his lesson months ago about the dangers of trying to communicate too much with colored flares as it was too easy to load a white flare instead of a red flare. That had been a near run fiasco.
Three more beats of his heart, and three steps deeper into the ambush the company of Volksdeutsch infantry marched. He raised the flare gun and "Ploop" a flare started to arc skyward. Even before it bathed the hillside in bright crimson glow, half a dozen light machine guns and a trio of 2 inch mortars had started to fire. By the time the parachute held the flare aloft, one mortar had dropped the first star shell while dozens of submachine gunners and even more riflemen added to the cacophony of lead that beat down the German column. Within seconds, the Germans were either seeking cover, firing back or dying. Those who had found a miniscule amount of cover were soon being targeted by teams with PIATs, and rifle grenades.
Jacques checked the magazine on his Sten one last time. Everything was set. He checked his belt for spare magazines. The first pouch was almost full except for the one magazine he had inserted into his weapon before his band moved to their ambush site. The second pouch was ready as well. He looked down into the valley. A column of German infantry had been spotted marching through the dusk and into the night. American Thunderbolts had been called in once to strafe the column. Few infantrymen had died, but a dozen horses had to be put down. The maquis scouts had paced the column for the past four hours and for the first time in a year, they were willingly and intentionally trying to kill Germans instead of just their collaborators.
He looked down the slope one last time. He could see an American radio operator a few yards away by the heels of his boots and the bulge of his back pack. He saw very little else. By now, his band of over two hundred men were veterans. They had to have been good to have survived this long. Two thirds of the men were on the long side of the L shaped ambush, and the other third were slightly slanted to hold cover for as long as possible on the short end of ambush. The column's scouts had already passed through the kill zone without suspecting anything. He had a dozen men detailed to make their lives miserable and keep them from counter-attacking an open flank.
One more beat of his heart and he picked up a flare gun. He only had red star shells --- one to initiate, two flares to break off. He had learned his lesson months ago about the dangers of trying to communicate too much with colored flares as it was too easy to load a white flare instead of a red flare. That had been a near run fiasco.
Three more beats of his heart, and three steps deeper into the ambush the company of Volksdeutsch infantry marched. He raised the flare gun and "Ploop" a flare started to arc skyward. Even before it bathed the hillside in bright crimson glow, half a dozen light machine guns and a trio of 2 inch mortars had started to fire. By the time the parachute held the flare aloft, one mortar had dropped the first star shell while dozens of submachine gunners and even more riflemen added to the cacophony of lead that beat down the German column. Within seconds, the Germans were either seeking cover, firing back or dying. Those who had found a miniscule amount of cover were soon being targeted by teams with PIATs, and rifle grenades.
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Story 2558
Somewhere in the Northwest Pacific, May 15, 1944
The carriers turned back into the wind. The morning strike was returning. The pilots had claimed almost a dozen kills including a trio of battleships and at least two carriers. The radio operators aboard the ships could listen to who was not speaking and assume that the losses had to have been significant as well.
An hour later, Taiho turned out of the wind. Fourteen aircraft had landed on her deck. Five would never fly again. Two were from other carriers. With spares and the aircraft held back for the combat air patrol, the pride of the fleet would be lucky to launch two dozen aircraft in the afternoon. The other carrier groups were lucky if they only took two thirds losses from the morning strikes.
Pilots who had been trained during the pre-war time of abundance were shell shocked as they debriefed in the ready room. One Zero pilot, who was claiming his forty fifth and forty sixth kills, said that they were first intercepted almost one hundred miles from their intended target by thirty odd heavy fighters that were fifty miles an hour faster than his aircraft and could eat up damage like it was a light snack. As soon as one wave of fighters made its pass, another group dove out of the sun from 10,000 feet above the escorted bombers and made another pass. The Americans never tried to turn. They just dove, slightly adjusted for lead, and then applied full throttle to get miles above the bombers again before repeating these attacks for eighty miles. His kills were from picking off fighters damaged by rear seat gunners aboard the bombers.
The few few surviving bomber pilots could not even talk about the American fighters. The squadrons were ripped apart repeatedly until bombers flew with perhaps one or two compatriots. When they started to approach the American fleet, anti-aircraft shells stripped compatriots apart at an accuracy that they could not even comprehend. Shells burst just in front of bombers that were starting their dives constantly instead of passing behind them and exploding 1,000 feet too late. Once the heavy guns stopped firing at an incoming attack, the light cannons put up a wall of steel that the Japanese fleet could not even hope to replicate. Half of the kills the light guns scored were after weapons were dropped but the tracers had often done a good enough job to create a wobble on all but the steeliest nerved pilot. One pilot reported that at least two dive bombers never dropped their bombs and crashed -- one into a carrier and another into a battleship. The carrier was bellowing smoke and had to be sinking.
By the time the pilots could finish their debrief, the admiral had a simple decision to make --- he had to cover the crippled battleship Shinano as she returned to Tokyo Bay for reconstruction. The fleet would turn for home and claim a victory in chasing off the Americans while inflicting disproportionate losses. He knew enough to greatly discount his pilots' claims but anything else was suicide without advantage.
The carriers turned back into the wind. The morning strike was returning. The pilots had claimed almost a dozen kills including a trio of battleships and at least two carriers. The radio operators aboard the ships could listen to who was not speaking and assume that the losses had to have been significant as well.
An hour later, Taiho turned out of the wind. Fourteen aircraft had landed on her deck. Five would never fly again. Two were from other carriers. With spares and the aircraft held back for the combat air patrol, the pride of the fleet would be lucky to launch two dozen aircraft in the afternoon. The other carrier groups were lucky if they only took two thirds losses from the morning strikes.
Pilots who had been trained during the pre-war time of abundance were shell shocked as they debriefed in the ready room. One Zero pilot, who was claiming his forty fifth and forty sixth kills, said that they were first intercepted almost one hundred miles from their intended target by thirty odd heavy fighters that were fifty miles an hour faster than his aircraft and could eat up damage like it was a light snack. As soon as one wave of fighters made its pass, another group dove out of the sun from 10,000 feet above the escorted bombers and made another pass. The Americans never tried to turn. They just dove, slightly adjusted for lead, and then applied full throttle to get miles above the bombers again before repeating these attacks for eighty miles. His kills were from picking off fighters damaged by rear seat gunners aboard the bombers.
The few few surviving bomber pilots could not even talk about the American fighters. The squadrons were ripped apart repeatedly until bombers flew with perhaps one or two compatriots. When they started to approach the American fleet, anti-aircraft shells stripped compatriots apart at an accuracy that they could not even comprehend. Shells burst just in front of bombers that were starting their dives constantly instead of passing behind them and exploding 1,000 feet too late. Once the heavy guns stopped firing at an incoming attack, the light cannons put up a wall of steel that the Japanese fleet could not even hope to replicate. Half of the kills the light guns scored were after weapons were dropped but the tracers had often done a good enough job to create a wobble on all but the steeliest nerved pilot. One pilot reported that at least two dive bombers never dropped their bombs and crashed -- one into a carrier and another into a battleship. The carrier was bellowing smoke and had to be sinking.
By the time the pilots could finish their debrief, the admiral had a simple decision to make --- he had to cover the crippled battleship Shinano as she returned to Tokyo Bay for reconstruction. The fleet would turn for home and claim a victory in chasing off the Americans while inflicting disproportionate losses. He knew enough to greatly discount his pilots' claims but anything else was suicide without advantage.
Story 2559
Somewhere in the North Pacific aboard USS North Carolina, mid-afternoon May 15, 1944
"Jaroshek, barrels cleaned out?"
"Aye chief..."
"Good, get inside and get some food. Get back out here in 30 minutes."
Up and down the deck of the battleship, gun crews were starting to relax. They had faced a massive swarm of attackers just before lunchtime. Six dive bombers attempted to drop on his ship. Three bombs were harmless misses by at least several hundred yards. One had popped some seams on the bow after missing by the length of a strong armed catcher's throw while another had managed to hit the forwardmost main gun turret but failed to explode. The work gang that had managed to throw the bomb over the side had earned their medicinal brandy that they would receive tonight. The last bomber never dropped. It attempted to crash dive into the ship after the starboard Bofors batteries turned the aircraft into a flaming wreck. He had seen the look of concentration and then disappointment on the young pilot's face as the battleship started to turn leading to only a glancing blow instead of a crash into the superstructure. Half a dozen men were in sickbay that he knew of as the small fire had started two mounts down from his. Damage control teams had contained it quickly and the anti-aircraft fire did not slacken for another twenty minutes.
As he entered the ship's citadel and before he headed to the mess, he could see a plume of smoke from the Lexington start to fade away. The carrier had taken at least one good hit an hour ago but was now steaming at twenty four knots to resume her position in the task group's inner box. The fleet was turning back to the east as the scouts had a firm fix on the Japanese carriers and the range needed to be closed.
"Jaroshek, barrels cleaned out?"
"Aye chief..."
"Good, get inside and get some food. Get back out here in 30 minutes."
Up and down the deck of the battleship, gun crews were starting to relax. They had faced a massive swarm of attackers just before lunchtime. Six dive bombers attempted to drop on his ship. Three bombs were harmless misses by at least several hundred yards. One had popped some seams on the bow after missing by the length of a strong armed catcher's throw while another had managed to hit the forwardmost main gun turret but failed to explode. The work gang that had managed to throw the bomb over the side had earned their medicinal brandy that they would receive tonight. The last bomber never dropped. It attempted to crash dive into the ship after the starboard Bofors batteries turned the aircraft into a flaming wreck. He had seen the look of concentration and then disappointment on the young pilot's face as the battleship started to turn leading to only a glancing blow instead of a crash into the superstructure. Half a dozen men were in sickbay that he knew of as the small fire had started two mounts down from his. Damage control teams had contained it quickly and the anti-aircraft fire did not slacken for another twenty minutes.
As he entered the ship's citadel and before he headed to the mess, he could see a plume of smoke from the Lexington start to fade away. The carrier had taken at least one good hit an hour ago but was now steaming at twenty four knots to resume her position in the task group's inner box. The fleet was turning back to the east as the scouts had a firm fix on the Japanese carriers and the range needed to be closed.
I would think that a Victory at Sea 13 episode season would have the following episodes (this assumes American financing of the series):
Surface raiders
Sinking the Kriegsmarine surface units 1941-1942
Convoy actions
Pearl Harbor and Wake Island
Holding the Malay Barrier
MED Sea actions excluding the Battle of Corsica
Supplying Bataan
Corsica
Makassar Strait
Overlord/Anvil
Island hopping, amphibious raids and the value of sea power against continental enemies
Home Island Raids
Distant Blockade, mining and Allied Submarine warfare on Japan
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