Makassar Straits 0917 January 2, 1943
Black-23 and Black-24 weaved back and forth. The two dive bombers had another eight miles on their search leg. Half a dozen pairs of dive bombers had already completed their searches and now they were moving to intercept the Japanese fleet that had been found fifty miles to the east southeast. Radio chatter from the south indicated that over two hundred strikers were forming up to knock out the Japanese main body. A few more minutes and they would join the attacks.
The observer/gunner in Black-24 squinted and willed his vision to pierce the underlying clouds. Something was down there and he told his pilot to take a good look too. As they continued to edge north, the clouds thinned. Thirty seconds later, they were seeing through clouds that were thinner than the fine silk fancies. It was thick enough to claim coverage, thin enough to be translucent.
“One, two, three… no four…. Carriers… get this out….”
The gunner/observer/radio operator focused on only being a radio operator as he slammed the key with critical information.
“4 CV 15 ships 1 S 118 E Speed 22 course 160”
He repeated that four times. The radio operator aboard Black 23 repeated the message as well.
12,000 feet below them and 6 miles away, the carrier Hiryu was getting ready for a deck load strike. Nine Zeroes were lined up first. Three would replace the morning combat air patrol. Six were destined to cover the forward force of two battle cruisers and a coterie of heavy cruisers. That force was attracting attention and needed its defenses thickened. After the fighters were up in the air, a forty plane strike was armed and fueled. They would finish off the American landing party. The other four carriers were still landing their very successful morning strikes. They would be recycling the combat air patrols while the bomber crews had a chance to eat, debrief and then wait for another sighting report before striking again this afternoon.
A look-out screamed: “HELL DIVERS”
No anti-aircraft guns barked as the carrier began to dodge. A Zero was flung off the edge of the deck and the pilot barely recovered in time to stay airborne. Launch operations halted and men scrambled to put chocks back underneath wheels to hold some of the fighters in place for the next three minutes.
Twelve seconds after the first warning was shouted, the first 25 millimeter anti-aircraft gun started to fire. It was being aimed manually and the first few rounds were wildly off. The two dive bombers continued their almost unmolested descent. The pilots grunted against the G-forces and struggled to become one with their bombsights. The large red meatball on the deck of their target was a natural aim point and they focused every inch of their being on it.
At 1,500 feet Black-23 released his bomb. Eight hundred feet behind him, Black-24 was hit. Half a dozen shells punched through the engine. Flames were started. Heat enveloped the cockpit. He still descended even as he knew that he would never be able to land aboard the Saratoga. A few more seconds and Black-24 released his bomb. The streamlined weapon fell but the bomber never pulled up. The observer in back never knew what was happening.
A moment before Black-24 crashed into the deck of Hiryu, Black-23’s general purpose bomb punched through the flight deck feet from the middle group of arrester wires. It exploded next to half a dozen fueled and armed dive bombers. Black-24’s bomb punched through the elevator and exploded in the hanger deck while the dive bomber splattered itself feet from the oddly placed island. Burning fuel spread quickly on the island, killing most of the admiral’s staff and incapacitating almost everyone on the bridge.
Black-23’s gunner was scanning the sky for the riposte he expected. The bomber was at maximum throttle and running for the south one hundred feet above the sea. Five minutes later, the gunner fully breathed for the first time and dashed out another contact report.
