At the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, the B-17s actually did sink a transport and damage two others on the first day. On the second second day they sunk a destroyer that was taking on survivors from a different destroyer. Of course, that was March 3-4, 1943 in OTL. So it's not impossible to do at least a little damage to transports or similarly slow ships from a B-17.
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They also delivered the final blow to the light cruiser YURA after she was damaged by SBDs from Henderson Field.
And during the battle of the Eastern Solomons, as she assisting a damaged transport, the destroyer Mutsuki took a bomb hit that sank the vessel. The culprit was one of several B-17s that dropped on the Japanese ships. (Note, while slowly sinking herself, she scuttled the transport(Kinryu maru) with one of her torpedoes.)
It would seem the Norden bomb sight was never tested against rapidly manoeuvering pickle barrels ...
Could the B-17 pilots have been attacking from a lower altitude by that point in the war? Maybe even attempting skip bombing?
Probably too slow to do skip bombing and flying that low in so large a plane whilst many people are doing their best to get you killed = a good way to die if you make a mistake. The B-17 is safe at high to mid altitude, she's no right being low and dirty or trying anything like skip bombing.
Story 1286
Western Java Sea, 1843 May 1, 1942
Furious turned into the wind and accelerated to full speed. Two destroyers joined her as the rest of the fleet continued outlining a box that was sixty miles long and thirty miles wide. They were on the north edge heading east. Two more Albacores with depth charges slung underneath their wings waited for the wind to pick up. Twenty five miles from the carrier, an Albacore had detected a submarine on the surface. The sentinel had called in the position report and requested reinforcements. The other airborne Albacore was on her way to the position report and these two planes would replace the duty aircraft. A pair of destroyers were on their way as well.
Seven minutes later, Furious turned back to the protection of the rest of the fleet. She would break out again once the Albacores returned from their successful attack. The Japanese submarine I-4 sank. HMS Foxhound rescued eleven prisoners.
The fleet had found the Japanese patrol line.
Furious turned into the wind and accelerated to full speed. Two destroyers joined her as the rest of the fleet continued outlining a box that was sixty miles long and thirty miles wide. They were on the north edge heading east. Two more Albacores with depth charges slung underneath their wings waited for the wind to pick up. Twenty five miles from the carrier, an Albacore had detected a submarine on the surface. The sentinel had called in the position report and requested reinforcements. The other airborne Albacore was on her way to the position report and these two planes would replace the duty aircraft. A pair of destroyers were on their way as well.
Seven minutes later, Furious turned back to the protection of the rest of the fleet. She would break out again once the Albacores returned from their successful attack. The Japanese submarine I-4 sank. HMS Foxhound rescued eleven prisoners.
The fleet had found the Japanese patrol line.
Story 1287
May 2, 1942 Makassar Airfield
The sixteenth bomber took off. The Nells had at least an hour of flying before there was enough daylight to scout but if there was a British battle fleet within 150 miles then everyone had failed at their jobs over the past week. Each bomber had a four degree arc that stretched for over six hundred miles for the longest legs. The scouts that crossed the Java coast would be able to turn for home earlier although they had far better odds of being jumped by an Allied fighter plane.
Even as the scouts droned into the darkness, twenty eight Betty and twenty four more Nell bombers and twenty seven Zero fighters were warming their engines. The target for these aircraft was the airfield on Bali. The last twenty four Betty bombers were still in their revetments as their flight crews slept even as the mechanics labored over the engines and radios. Torpedoes were already assigned to each plane in case the scouts found a worthwhile target.
The sixteenth bomber took off. The Nells had at least an hour of flying before there was enough daylight to scout but if there was a British battle fleet within 150 miles then everyone had failed at their jobs over the past week. Each bomber had a four degree arc that stretched for over six hundred miles for the longest legs. The scouts that crossed the Java coast would be able to turn for home earlier although they had far better odds of being jumped by an Allied fighter plane.
Even as the scouts droned into the darkness, twenty eight Betty and twenty four more Nell bombers and twenty seven Zero fighters were warming their engines. The target for these aircraft was the airfield on Bali. The last twenty four Betty bombers were still in their revetments as their flight crews slept even as the mechanics labored over the engines and radios. Torpedoes were already assigned to each plane in case the scouts found a worthwhile target.
Story 1288
May 2, 1942 south of Belgorod, Russia
The commander of the recently rebuilt infantry division cursed. His men were stuck. More importantly, his artillery and his supply train was stuck. A few American trucks were still able to bull their way through the knee deep mud but most of the logistics column was still horse and ox drawn. And the animals were exhausting themselves fighting the mud. What should have been a two day march since the division detrained had been a week long approach to the front. Luftwaffe fighters had strafed a column earlier in the day which had slowed progression even more but even without opposition, the division was still at least four more days from the position it should have been in and scouted thoroughly by now.
The worst that the NKVD could do was send him back to Siberia, but so far the division had been successful in throwing the fascists back, so they would not do that to him or his men for merely being late.
The commander of the recently rebuilt infantry division cursed. His men were stuck. More importantly, his artillery and his supply train was stuck. A few American trucks were still able to bull their way through the knee deep mud but most of the logistics column was still horse and ox drawn. And the animals were exhausting themselves fighting the mud. What should have been a two day march since the division detrained had been a week long approach to the front. Luftwaffe fighters had strafed a column earlier in the day which had slowed progression even more but even without opposition, the division was still at least four more days from the position it should have been in and scouted thoroughly by now.
The worst that the NKVD could do was send him back to Siberia, but so far the division had been successful in throwing the fascists back, so they would not do that to him or his men for merely being late.
Story 1289
Near Singkawang, Borneo 0640 May 2, 1942
The squadron commander with seventy three kill markings on his newest Hurricane, still mostly Italian but with more than a smattering of German and Japanese claims, looked over his shoulder. The rest of the Hurricanes in 33 Squadron were in formation. He waggled his wings and his section leaders waggled back. It was time. He eased his mount into a sharp turn to the south. Eight minutes later, he led his squadron as well as two other fighter squadrons to the east. Five minutes later, they turned northeast. They would not be striking the airfield out of the sun, but they would no longer be looking directly into the rising sun either. Three thousand feet below and give miles behind, a squadron of American heavy bombers and two squadrons of medium bombers were tightening up their formations. As the strike force crossed the Borneo coast, the flight leader wiggled and waggled for three seconds and then increased the richness of the feed to his throttles and accelerated. The Hurricanes were no longer tied to the bombers and they were free to find their fight.
The South African scanned the sky, nothing yet twenty five miles from the airfield. And then he heard over the radio, the excited voice of one of his Irish pilots, a boy who had managed to get shot down twice while claiming four Japanese bombers.
“Bandits, rising 2 o’clock low”
He shifted his head and his eyes focused on the spotting report, shifting ever so slightly to adjust for O’Donnells position in the squadron formation.
“Red stay high, Green and Blue have at them by section” He called out the well rehearsed battle plan of leaving a section of four cannon armed fighters high and behind to jump on any Japanese ambush while the rest of the squadron broke into their long drilled battle plan. His eyes covered the sky, never being still as the formation of Japanese army fighters were still climbing through the clouds to reach the bombers. Three Hurricanes stayed with him as he went into a dive. His body and brain were no longer thinking, he was just doing as the gunsight moved in unison with his aircraft to wear the Oscar would be in a smidgen of time. The four wing mounted cannons erupted, each sending a dozen shells through the sky. Most missed, but enough exploded in the thin skinned fuselage to start a fire. The pilot had a few seconds that he was able to use to escape.
The other element in his section damaged another Japanese fighter and even as the light machine guns on the remaining four Japanese fighters reached for them, the four Hurricanes dove to rebuild their speed and create space for another pass. Behind Green, the four Hurricanes in Blue were also diving after a successful pass. Over a seven mile front the Hurricanes and Mustangs doze and zoomed and parried and twisted.
Height, numbers and experience soon dominated as the Japanese pilots were forced into Lufberry circles or dove for the deck to run into the jungle. A few planes, mostly from a freshly arrived Hurricane squadron that had not seen combat yet, joined the smoking ruins of Japanese fighters.
The bombers were unmolested by fighters as they entered the range of the few heavy flak guns dug in around the airfield. A Blenheim tipped over and then a Fortress followed. The rest of the planes began to drop strings of incendiaries, 250 pound high explosive bombs and 500 pound delayed fuse bombs on the airfield. The good weather and the medium altitude drop combined with fairly light opposition led to a very accurate drop. Half a dozen light bombers and a trio of fast scouts were destroyed on the ground. The main fuel dump caught fire with flames splashing into the tent city that housed most of the enlisted personnel of the air group stationed at the airfield. The airfield would be closed for at least a day as the damage was first contained and then remediated.
Twenty minutes later as the entire strike package gathered itself over the South China Sea, the squadron leader of the leading Hurricanes listened to the reports of his pilots; one man was missing, three pilots saw a good chute over the jungle so there was a chance that he could be picked up by guerilla forces. The squadron was claiming nine kills including his two. Another mission accomplished, now they just had to land and rest while the mechanics took their planes back from the pilots.
The squadron commander with seventy three kill markings on his newest Hurricane, still mostly Italian but with more than a smattering of German and Japanese claims, looked over his shoulder. The rest of the Hurricanes in 33 Squadron were in formation. He waggled his wings and his section leaders waggled back. It was time. He eased his mount into a sharp turn to the south. Eight minutes later, he led his squadron as well as two other fighter squadrons to the east. Five minutes later, they turned northeast. They would not be striking the airfield out of the sun, but they would no longer be looking directly into the rising sun either. Three thousand feet below and give miles behind, a squadron of American heavy bombers and two squadrons of medium bombers were tightening up their formations. As the strike force crossed the Borneo coast, the flight leader wiggled and waggled for three seconds and then increased the richness of the feed to his throttles and accelerated. The Hurricanes were no longer tied to the bombers and they were free to find their fight.
The South African scanned the sky, nothing yet twenty five miles from the airfield. And then he heard over the radio, the excited voice of one of his Irish pilots, a boy who had managed to get shot down twice while claiming four Japanese bombers.
“Bandits, rising 2 o’clock low”
He shifted his head and his eyes focused on the spotting report, shifting ever so slightly to adjust for O’Donnells position in the squadron formation.
“Red stay high, Green and Blue have at them by section” He called out the well rehearsed battle plan of leaving a section of four cannon armed fighters high and behind to jump on any Japanese ambush while the rest of the squadron broke into their long drilled battle plan. His eyes covered the sky, never being still as the formation of Japanese army fighters were still climbing through the clouds to reach the bombers. Three Hurricanes stayed with him as he went into a dive. His body and brain were no longer thinking, he was just doing as the gunsight moved in unison with his aircraft to wear the Oscar would be in a smidgen of time. The four wing mounted cannons erupted, each sending a dozen shells through the sky. Most missed, but enough exploded in the thin skinned fuselage to start a fire. The pilot had a few seconds that he was able to use to escape.
The other element in his section damaged another Japanese fighter and even as the light machine guns on the remaining four Japanese fighters reached for them, the four Hurricanes dove to rebuild their speed and create space for another pass. Behind Green, the four Hurricanes in Blue were also diving after a successful pass. Over a seven mile front the Hurricanes and Mustangs doze and zoomed and parried and twisted.
Height, numbers and experience soon dominated as the Japanese pilots were forced into Lufberry circles or dove for the deck to run into the jungle. A few planes, mostly from a freshly arrived Hurricane squadron that had not seen combat yet, joined the smoking ruins of Japanese fighters.
The bombers were unmolested by fighters as they entered the range of the few heavy flak guns dug in around the airfield. A Blenheim tipped over and then a Fortress followed. The rest of the planes began to drop strings of incendiaries, 250 pound high explosive bombs and 500 pound delayed fuse bombs on the airfield. The good weather and the medium altitude drop combined with fairly light opposition led to a very accurate drop. Half a dozen light bombers and a trio of fast scouts were destroyed on the ground. The main fuel dump caught fire with flames splashing into the tent city that housed most of the enlisted personnel of the air group stationed at the airfield. The airfield would be closed for at least a day as the damage was first contained and then remediated.
Twenty minutes later as the entire strike package gathered itself over the South China Sea, the squadron leader of the leading Hurricanes listened to the reports of his pilots; one man was missing, three pilots saw a good chute over the jungle so there was a chance that he could be picked up by guerilla forces. The squadron was claiming nine kills including his two. Another mission accomplished, now they just had to land and rest while the mechanics took their planes back from the pilots.
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That seems like a lot, unless the boat sank relatively slowly, giving some people time to abandon ship. Alternatively, if the boat culdn't submerge for any reason, there would be more people topside manning the guns, and thrown into the water when the boat went down. Possible, IMVHO, for there to be that many prisoners, but not probable.
If the boat wasn't too deep, and only partially flooded, some might be able to escape from underwater, although Japan didn't have the Momsen Lung.
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Maybe I'm relying too much on stereotype, but didn't a lot of Japanese sailors prefer drowning to surrendering?
Good job they fixed No 4 catapult.
I've always thought they must have been a bit of a fire risk, with the avgas necessary to keep six aircraft in operation - a great opportunity for the IJN's Damage Exacerbation Branch.
Aren't these two statements a bit contradictory?
In a lot of cases, they did, but not all. Also, of the boat sunk slowly, there could have been many in the water, and only a few picked up.
formion
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1) Without the OTL capitulations in Malaya and the defeat of the Burma Corps, the Indian Army will have easier time in expanding. What are the current plans for training and expanding?
2) The Greek Division mentioned, is it garrisoning Crete or is it sent in North Africa? IOTL escaped men from a brigade group in Thrace, the survivors of Crete, escapees from Aegean Islands and volunteers from the Greek expat communities, formed 2 brigades in Egypt. ITTL I think it is possible to form 2 divisions, especially since more volunteers will escape either from Thrace or the Islands towards Turkey.
3) What is the status of the Australian military build-up? Have they sent more formations than OTL to Lae and New Guinea in general ? What is the status of the militia divisions? There was a mention for observation posts in the Solomons. Is a sea-plane base developed in Tulagi or I m getting confused with other timelines?
4) Since the the Japanese advance is far more slow than OTL, do other Dutch East Indian islands get any garrisons/fortifications ( other than Sumatra, Java, Timor) ? So far we have the reference to the air base in Bali.
2) The Greek Division mentioned, is it garrisoning Crete or is it sent in North Africa? IOTL escaped men from a brigade group in Thrace, the survivors of Crete, escapees from Aegean Islands and volunteers from the Greek expat communities, formed 2 brigades in Egypt. ITTL I think it is possible to form 2 divisions, especially since more volunteers will escape either from Thrace or the Islands towards Turkey.
3) What is the status of the Australian military build-up? Have they sent more formations than OTL to Lae and New Guinea in general ? What is the status of the militia divisions? There was a mention for observation posts in the Solomons. Is a sea-plane base developed in Tulagi or I m getting confused with other timelines?
4) Since the the Japanese advance is far more slow than OTL, do other Dutch East Indian islands get any garrisons/fortifications ( other than Sumatra, Java, Timor) ? So far we have the reference to the air base in Bali.
Great set of questions:
1) The Indian Army will not be mostly allocated to SE Asia going forward. A significant element of the expansion will still be allocated to the European Theater beyond the three Infantry divisions that served in Italy in 1944. There is less jungle fighting so the odds of the very light establishment going forward is fairly low.
2) There is a Greek Divisional slice on Crete and another one in Libya.
3) The Australians have the four 2 AIF Infantry divisions as well as the 1st Armoured Division. 2 Divisions are in Malaya, 1 is in transit from the Mideast to duties closer to home and 1 is in Libya. Militia has moved to Port Moresby.
The biggest unit in the Solomon Islands group is a series of 10-15 man patrols as well as Coast Watchers.
4) Small garrisons (<1 Dutch Militia battalion) on Bali, West Nusa Tengarra and East Nusa Tengarra. No fixed fortifications. Some dirt air strips.
formion
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Thanks a lot Fester for the reply!
I forgot actually one more question if you don't mind.
Regarding Operation Jackal: Is it safe to assume from your descriptions that 1 IJA Infantry Division and 1 armour brigade were destroyed during the operation? Or more formations were surrounded/destroyed ? From the posts it seems that almost all divisions took a beating in various degrees. However, since the destruction of a formation like affect the IJA build-up during the following months, I think it is a fair question if a division had moderate casualties or if it was disintegrated.
Lastly, were is the line now? Have the Australians been stopped before capturing Pattani ?
I forgot actually one more question if you don't mind.
Regarding Operation Jackal: Is it safe to assume from your descriptions that 1 IJA Infantry Division and 1 armour brigade were destroyed during the operation? Or more formations were surrounded/destroyed ? From the posts it seems that almost all divisions took a beating in various degrees. However, since the destruction of a formation like affect the IJA build-up during the following months, I think it is a fair question if a division had moderate casualties or if it was disintegrated.
Lastly, were is the line now? Have the Australians been stopped before capturing Pattani ?
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