The siege of Christmas Island

I noticed that another member had posted links to one of the first alternate histories I ever wrote on a different forum so I decided to post it here as well . I hope you enjoy it .
 
The siege of Christmas Island . Part 1

In the dark early days of the War against Japan Defeat followed defeat and the fall of Singapore became inevitable . What was needed was a secure base That could be defended .

January 31 . communicate to Winston Churchill from General Percival .

"it is apparent that Singapore shall fall . will hold out as long as possible . consider Sumatra vulnerable . and java unsustainable . suggest preparation for retreat and consolidation . "

Churchill was furious Singapore should never fall . it took 24hours for General Percival to receive his reply .

"All possible non combatants and Air force personnel to be evacuated and placed under command of "Major General Gordon Bennet "
Authorisation for 2 battalions to go with him . all reinforcements will be diverted to his command.
no further discussions with regards to the surrender of Singapore shall be considered , England expects every man to do his duty . "

4 hours prior to this communication a message was sent to Prime Minister Curtin .
I am ordering Major General Bennet to leave Singapore and Fortify Chistmas island. any Heavy weapons or construction units you can send will be appreciated.
Naval depots are being scoured for suitable weapons. all reinforcements including 45 hurricanes are being diverted to Christmas island.
as many Australian units as possible are being diverted as well .

Prime Minister Curtins replied that he was sending a convoy to Christmas island with anything that could be spared.

Major General Bennet received his orders to gather what supplies he could for fortifying an island that was not specified and to meet an escort at the java straights.

It was a busy 4 days as General Bennet gathered what he thought he might need. after several major fights with General Percival over what he could take . the Convoy was ready to leave.
with an escort of a single destroyer. HMAS Vampire a V class destroyer. the 6 small overloaded merchants left Singapore at 2000 hours 1 hour after sunset. At maximum speed the small convoy would only be 100 nm away from Singapore despite running at 10 kts all night when the Sun came up .
It was a very tense night with 1 suspected submarine contact .
By morning a message was received aboard the HMAS Vampire that a further Escort in the form of Admiral Hart's ABDA forces would join .

Admiral Hart was well aware of what was going to his forces if caught unprepared and liked the idea of preserving his forces. Admiral Doorman was ready to withdraw all his forces from the ABDA fleet over this .
to placate him Admiral Hart released Desron 58(4 clemson class destroyers ) and the light cruiser HMAS Perth to escort the garrison convoy. the expected time for the link up was close to sunset.
Fortunately on the evening of the 5th of Febuary the convoy was joined by the former ABDA Cruiser HMAS Perth and DESRON 58 ( USS John D Edwards , USS John D Ford , Uss Alden and Uss Paul Jones.). together they headed south towards Christams Island at a stately 10 kts. occasionally dropping to 8 kts due to breakdowns .
The journey was uneventful and took 4 days . during this time further reinforcements were organised and set sail from both Perth and Ceylon . Large quantities of materials suitable for building hardened coastal defences were dispatched.

It took a full week to unload all of the cargo vessels . as the heavy equipment was unloaded it was immediately used to create defensive works . it was planned to eventually have the entire island protected by 6 coastal batteries of at least 6 inch . however due to time constraints and the forbidding nature of the cliffs surrounding the islands it was decided to fortify Flying Fish Cove and the other possible landing beaches. a life of hardship began for the men and women of the new base. ( included in the convoy were nurses and doctors from Singapore. DesRon 58 and Vampire were oredered to head for Fremantle and the HMAS Perth was sent on a Raider patrol and then to Ceylon . On the 15th of Febuary a radio message from Ceylon arrived . " Singapore has fallen , when can you recieve aircraft . " At this point in time the Runway was not even started (1) let alone the dispersals. the equipment on the island was barely sufficent to construct the barracks and roads let alone the runway . a message to this effect was sent to both Naval headquarters at Trincomalee and Fremantle. included in the dispatch was a request for several mobile cranes to help unload ships at the islands very small jetty , equipment to build a bigger jetty , Antiaircraft guns , Radar , Artillery in addition to the 6 inch cannon . more support staff . and a runway construction battalion .

The reply that came back was scathing of the failure to build a runway first . That night the decision to create coastal defence batteries was proven correct when a japanese submarine surfaced off a small cove on the east side of the island and tried to send a small party of soldiers onto the island. the 2 6 inch guns that were implaced were alerted to the submarine by an Australian Sldier taking a leak into the ocean . the single 3 inch ww1 aa gun was forunately also in range. a mortar fired a flare and The siege began . a series of 3 inch shells pepered the water around the submarine . then by good luck a single 6 inch shell tore into the conning tower of I-4 . the 3.4 kg bursting charge functioned just after the shell passed through the entire Conning tower. Red Hot shrapnel peppered the pressure hull and penetrated it twice. unable to submerge the I-4 headed at 18 kts for Java. left to their own devices the 20 soldiers of the naval infantry headed to shore in their small boats. not 1 soldier made it to land as the experienced Australian soldiers used 2 vickers and 4 brens to annhilate them . The next day the bodies of 4 japanese washed ashore . on 1 of them was a map of the island and the expected positions of their opposition . not long after this intelligence was recieved the first of the daily airraids occured. focusing on the suspected location of the coastal defences 4 Betty bombers came over and dropped 4 type 1 250 kg bombs . Although inaccurate 1 soldier was hit by a lunp of coral and killed.

With the first Japanese landing attempt repulsed and the first of what is seen as likely to be several bombing raids , The Defenders take stock of the supplies on hand . Fortunately on the 17th of Febuary the Colombo Convoy arrived . This convoy brought the first Radar unit to the island . In addition to more obsolete Naval guns , 2 full 3.7 inch batteries were included in addition too 1 40 mm bofors battery. this gave the island 16 3.7 inch AA guns and 18 40 mm bofors guns . included in the shipment of artillery was more 6 more 6 inch cannon from older cruisers and another 12 3 inch AA guns . the crane needed to drive piles into coral also arrived . it immediately was put to work increasing the offloading area . 4 bulldozers were also included and they immediately set to work grading roads to the expected runway and creating revetments and AA gun positions. The second convoy was still 200 nm away on the 19th when the first Carrier Raids on Darwin occured. with the obvious threat of carrier attack and no land based defences it was decided to divert to the Cocos Islands and await further developments . Apart from an occasional overflight and high level bombing run the next 2 weeks were quiet . The Barracks were completed. unlike normal Barracks these were platoon sized only and each barracks building had revetments to protect from bomb blast . Near each of the Coastal defence Batteries 2 platoons of soldiers were housed. trenches to defend in all directions were dug . Radio intercepts had picked up no sign of a mojor force heading to the island so the convoy headed for The Cocos Islands reversed course and made it to Christmas island on the 19th of April . This convoy brought the equipment to operate aircraft off the Islands Runway . Halfway through the unloading a message arrived detailing the loss of the Hermes . A Japanese Carrier group was loose in the Indian Ocean !!! With a growing sense of inevitability the Garrison finished off the Runway . The convoy had brought 12 Wirraways and 4 Ansons in a disassembled state to carry out Patrols . Obviously a more advanced fighter was needed . Urgent messages asking for Fighters were sent out . unfortunately Darwin came first . on the same day the Convoy arrived Operation X the invasion of Chistamss island was approved

Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura set sail with 3 light cruisers ( Naka , Naga and Natori ) all with 7 5.5 inch cannon and 8 destroyers. also included in the invasion force was an oiler and 2 maru's carrying 850 men of the 21st and 24th special landing force. D-day was planned to be the 31st of April . a patroling Anson found the Japanese invasion force some 130 nm to the NE of Christmas island . all exposed positions were evacuated and most of the workers for the phosphate mine sent to a hidden jungle camp . The first sign of the Japanese force that was arriving was a single destroyer the Satsuki . ordered to asertain the defences for the remainder of the force the small destroyer moved inshore at 25 kts. After much discusion it was decided to only use the 3 inch AA guns to engage the destroyer . mounted at varying elevations were 6 3 inch aa guns that covered Flying Fish Cove . with their 12lb shells their was little chance of more then sctaching the destroyer however they fired very enthusiasticly . with 6 guns firing at around 10 rounds a minute it was quite a shock . out of 400 shells fired before Satsuki was out of range only 1 hit the forecastle . at the same time the Satsuki also fired back using 120 mm cannon . a lucky shell hit one 3 inch aa fun on the barrel and destroyed the mount and crew . thanks to the revetments apart from a nasty secondary explosion no further damage was done .

The Captain of the Satsuki reported to Rear Admiral Nishimura that he had recieved heavy fire from a small calibre shore battery and destroyed part of it . With only 3 inch guns to worry about Rear Admiral Nishimura decided to lead his cruisers in line astern and focus fire on the annoying battery from 2 nm . trusting his 62 mm belt to keep out any lucky hits. the 8 destroyers were spit into two groups . 1 group of 4 was to circle the island looking for another landing point and the other was to escort the transports. As the cruisers came into view the Royal Artillery Regiment gunners worked out ranges and elevations . with three cruisers it was decided to use the main battery at Smith Point ( 4 6 inch and 6 3 inch ) to engage the first Cruiser . the battery on the hill side overlooking Flying Fish Cove ( this was the battery that fired on the destroyer ) was to engage the second ( 4 6 inch and 5 3 inch ) the third cruiser was to recieve a free ride . all batteries had oil filled drums and fiireworks behind them to use if the fire got to accurate . The Army had 6 2 lb antitank guns ready and also large numbers of vickers guns .

As the Cruisers got closer frantic messages reached the artillery officer mentioning the slow moving destroyer squadron moving around the island . Not wishing to lose the element of surprise the gunners were told hold your fire unless they shoot . By this point in time the cruisers were 2 1/2 nm offshore moving at 15 kts.
Holding his nerves in check the artillery major waited until the cruiser squadron began to straighten up .

"FIRE " with this instruction 8 6 inch cannon and 11 3 inch cannon began firing as fast as they shell could be fed into the breech . The battery at Smith Point had a almost stationary target only range was changing due to the angle of the Japanese aproach . out of the first 4 6 inch shells 3 missed by 100 yds or more showing the inexperience of the crews on the guns . the fouth shell came in on a shallow trajectory and punched through the bridge exploding on the first funnel . this slowly made the first boiler room unihabitable . the 3 inch shells made a much bigger impact . one of the 3 inch shells landed on an exposed type 93 long lance Torpedoe tube .
The oxygen bottle exploded with such force that a gaping hole was formed in the side of the ship . water surged in and the Naka began to settle in the water . The second cruiser was missed completely by the first salvo directed at her . the huge pall of smoke being produced by the Naka was a convinient smokescreen for the Natori as she rescued first the emperors portrait and then the crew of the Naka . having lost face in such a way Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura was furious . he immediately recalled the entire force and decided on a close in massed assault . with the 2 maru's landing their troops while the destroyers and cruisers engaged the shore batteries.

The 8 destroyers began their smokescreen to shelter the transports 4 nm offshore . at the 2 nm point they again came under fire from the shore batteries . for the next 12 minutes a furious battle developed with the 2 6 inch batteries shooting at rapidly closing destroyers and slowly taking casualties from the incoming fire. the 3 inch batteries fired time fused shells hoping to kill deck gun crew . this worked better against some ship then others. 500 yds from shoreand already having lost 2 destroyers the 6 remaining destroyers turned and literally hove to . this was to provide close in firesupport to the two Maru's . at this point in time the Army let lose with 6 2 lb antitank guns and every machine gun and mortar they had . the carnage on the decks of the maru's was incredible . behind this the cruisers were dropping high explosive shells all over the water front . casualties were high on both sides . Then suddenly the cruiser Nagara took 3 torpedoes on the seaward side . unknown to anyone the USS Seawolf was heading to harbour looking for a doctor for an injured sailor . with all remaing ships damaged to various degrees and the two maru immobile and on fire it . Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura elected to retire and get reinforcements. swearing to not rest until the shame of this defeat was removed his force left at 24 kts ( this being the fastest his cruiser could go due to shrapnel damage ) . 24 hours later the ansons reported no ships in the vicinity and the Seawolf came to port . not that their was much left of it . the 2 burnt out maru's had sunk and created massive problems . The salvage and removal of the two maru's was going to by a massive headache until an enterprising engineering officer suggested using them as the basis for the pier.
 
The Siege of CHristams Island part 2

1st of May was a day unlike any other for most of the defenders on Christmas Island . their half completed defences had just utterly defeated a Japanese invasion force . only a few brave Japanese soldiers had made it to land and died just as fast as they arrived. The butcher's bill was high over 200 defenders were wounded mostly by wood splinters or shrapnel and 25 were dead . In light of the proven defensive capability of the island garrison extra supplies and men were sent on a long looping approach to the island. The extra supplies being sent included replacement dock cranes , more rolling stock and most interestingly a pair of old WW1 12 inch railway howitzers . in addition to the Army and Coastal defences being upgraded , The Dispersals were to be expanded and more fighters and bombers sent in . it had been decided that it was important to start night bombing raids on any harbour facilities or fuel facilities in range.

At the same time in Kure a discusion was taking place regarding the forthcoming invasion of Port Moresby . With large forces currently aproaching the Coral Sea it was hard to decide what to do . also the forthcoming Invasion of Midway was most important. with this in mind it was decided to split the forces assigned to the operation up . The invasion force transports were to continue to their destination however the Shoho was to be diverted to Christmas Island . Her Dive bombers were to pound the island into submition while the Battelships Ise and Hyuga took care of any targets spotted.

The landing force was to consist of 750 SNLF MArine paratroops to land 3 hours before the 3000 man landing force was to arrive . by carefull analysis of possible landing sites ( from recon photos it was discovered that their was 3 possible landing areas .the Flying Fish Cove site was already proven to be fortified. The other two posible landing sites were so marginal even the Emperors finest balked at the sugestion . eventually it was decided to drop the paratroopers in 3 units of 250 men each . 1 at each of the secondary landing beaches and 1 on the airfield . it was also decided to do the drop at 6 am . no bombardement of the airfield was planned as further reinforcements were planned. 2 Transports escorted by a cruiser and 2 destroyers were to assault the 2 secondary beaches. Flying fish cove was to recieve a massive bombardement and with this in mind the Ise and Hyuga were to land most of their AP shells and replace them with common type 0 HE shells. following the Battleship bombardement both battelships were to proceed to a point 4 nm off shore and fire directly at any shore positions.

Invasion day was to be the 14th of May . A huge volume of signals went out from Kure to direct the required forces into position . Allied intelligence picked up much of this and decoded it . The Port Moresby Invasion force was betrayed by this flurry of communicaes . The exact date and composition of the invasion force was also determined. The Allied convoy would have 3 days to unload and leave the area. The distant covering force was to stay within 12 hours steaming of Christmas Island and to Strike when possible. The first of 30 Beauforts arrived from Austrailia on the evening of the 8th . rapidly hidden in forest dispersals They had to await the convy to recieve thier Bombs and Torpedoes. 28 Hurricane's were carried as deck cargo and a further 16 were carried on the Carriers of the British Pacific Fleet .

In a Ferry mission unlike any yet attempted 1 squadron of Beaufighters were stripped of all non essentials and sent from Colombo to the Brtish Indian Ocean territory and then on an epic 1700 mile ferry flight to the Cocos islands . following rest and refueling they were then to fly to Christams island. On the long journey 2 suffered engine failure and were lost along with their crews.

As the day of the Invasion aproached the forces on the island consisited of
Air Force
4 Ansons
12 wirraways
44 Hurricane 11C
30 Beauforts
12 Beaufighters

Army
3 Radar Units . 2 operating 1 spare

Coastal batteries .

12 6 inch cannon
4 7.5 inch cannon

Railroad Artillery

2 * 12 inch Howitzer mark V equiped with 340 kg HE shells. mounted on a purpose designed track on the military side of the central hill .

Anti-Aircraft Artillery .

16 3.7 inch
18 40 mm
many twin vickers mounts built by unit armourers.
24 3 inch AA guns

Artilery .
manned as seperate untis from the infantry battalions . ( each gun crew had a rifle section for defence )
36 18 lb
12 2 lb antitank
24 mortars of 81 mm ( ML 3 inch )

Infantry .

The equivalent of three infantry battalions was now enplaced upon the island . due to the ad hoc nature of some of the units proper tables of organisation and equipment fits did not exist . instead most units were heavy on bren guns and vickers guns . all units were dug into elaboate fixed defences. all of the battalions carriers were concentrated into a single rapid reaction force of 38 carriers .

one battalion was dug in around Flying fish cove . another was dug in around the dispersals and runway . the third was scattered around the likely invasion points and as scouting units.

The Royal Navy had a force consisting of

HMS Warspite
HMS Indomitable 12 Fulmar 9 Sea hurricane 24 Albacores
HMS Formidable 21 Albacores 12 martlets 12 Fulmar
HMAS Canberra
HMS Emerald
HMS Enterprise
HMAS Perth
HMS Napier ,Nestor ,Paladin ,Panther

Available to use as a covering force and or to attack the Japanese Navy .
 
The Siege of Christmass Island part 3

13th May 1942


As the sun reached it’s zenith the occupants of Christmas Island detected a deep throated roar coming closer, the nervous amongst the soldiers reached for their weapons but the more experienced allied soldiers started to relax once the distinctive white shape of a Short Sunderland came into focus, a flight of radar equipped Sunderland’s were staging through Christmas Island while looking for the IJN assault force due to be thrown at the fortified allied island. The aircraft came in at 6 hour intervals to top up their fuel tanks to extend their already impressive range, the cursing and sweating aircraftsmen at Christmas island had learnt to hate the back breaking and sweaty task of having to hand pump the fuel from drums on small tossing lighters in the middle of Flying Fish Cove, but they understood the importance of the massive white flying boats to the safety of there Island base.

At 17:30 Sunderland “C” brought its four Pegasus to take off power as it ploughed through the choppy swell to resume its patrol; their orders were to scour the seas to the east of Christmas Island looking for the Japanese invasion fleet, at a cruising speed of 155 Knots they were a slow but effective method of searching for the enemy fleet if it was coming.

Shortly after 2300 hours Sunderland “C” reported a series of contacts 170nm east north east of Christmas Island, immediately the Pilot swung onto the contact heading to try to close the range and identify the blips on the radar. Not long after this another Sunderland reported a contact 250nm NNE of Christmas Island. As Sunderland “C” closed the range to identify the target it sent off a homing signal for the strike force of 30 heavily laden Beauforts struggling to rise from Christmas Island. A flight of Beaufighters were scrambled carrying flares to determine the composition of the second formation. As the Beauforts reached their cruising height they set course for the Sunderland’s homing beacon and reduced revs to their cursing speed. At around 00:30 they contacted Sunderland “C” and prepared to attack.

Sunderland “C” Started dropping parachute flares on the north side of the formation. In flights of 4 the Beauforts dived to 250 feet traiding height for speed in the initial run in to the convoy. The Pilot in the lead Beaufort realized that a huge group of ships were ahead, many more than they expected from their briefing. The Beauforts were ordered to pick individual targets to maximise the chances of hitting as many as possible. Unfortunately the Beauforts were carrying the 18 inch British Mk XIV, at its fastest setting it had a range of around 1650 yards, this meant getting in low and slow and very, very close in order to maximise the chance of a hit.

As the 30 Beauforts set off on their attack runs the first set of flares spluttered out. The second set of flares burst right over the top of what had been thought to be the amphibious attack convoy. Instead the Beauforts were headed straight into the teeth of the shore bombardment group. In 3 columns around the 2 Ise class battleships were 6 cruisers and 8 destroyers. The Starboard wing contained 3 screening Destroyers Shimakaze,Kaya and Nashi with 2 cruisers, Nagara and Abukuma between the DDs and Battleships. The centre column was lead by the destroyer Minekazi followed by the light cruiser Yubari with the Ise and the Hyuga followed by Jintsu and the destroyer Sawakaze. The third column contained the destroyers Hokaze, Nire and Kaki and the 2 Sendai class cruisers Ayase and Minase. The lead Beaufort was only 1000 metres from his chosen target when the flare burst. Immediately he realized that he was attacking a small destroyer. Pressing in to 500 Yards and saying prayers out loud he dropped his torpedoes and began increasing speed. Instead of climbing away he dropped lower and fed in a little rudder to try and slip down the stern of the destroyer, a decidedly risky manoeuvre in the dark. Fortunately surprise was total on both sides. Not a single shell was fired at his aircraft or the other 4 from his flight. Of the 4 torpedoes launched 2 were aimed at destroyers and 1 at a cruiser, the torpedo was dropped too high by the inexperienced and frankly terrified crew and disintegrated on contact.

Within 30 seconds the first torpedoes had hit their targets. The first small destroyer did not see the underwater missile until it was almost on top of it, the Kaya took the torpedo in the Boiler room almost severing the small 2nd class destroyer under the uptakes, with the engine room open to the sea and the keel broken it was a matter of time untill she slipped below the waves, her Captain immediately understood that his small 2nd class destroyer was not built to take that kind of punishment and ordered the crew to prepare to abandon ship. The Shimakaze was saved by an alert lookout who spotted the silver trails in the water as she put her rudder hard over and ran her engines in full reverse the torpedo passed ahead of the destroyer. The cruiser Nagara was hit in the stern as she started her turn away, blowing a big hole in her stern and seizing her rudder hard over, it also distorted the inner Starboard shaft which lead to some leaking down the glands and the engine room starting to fill with water, however the real damage was done to the starboard outer shaft, the impact fractured the shaft sending the propeller and 10 ft of prop shaft spinning off down into the sea, the turbine suddenly freed of the massive drag of her bronze propeller started to over speed, and within seconds had gone past all of her design limitations, inevitably causing the disintegration of the turbine blades which flew off in every direction severing steam lines and punching further holes in the engine room bulkheads and hull. The Nagara pulled out of line and cut the power to her remain 2 engines in order to take the strain off her already weakened engine room bulkheads, as her crew fought to shore up her bulkheads and plug holes to save their ship, the gun crews topside could see the Kaya slowly settling in the distance as her crew took to their boats.


The next wave of Beauforts were now powering in at around 100 feet Unfortunately for the aircrews one of the destroyers had starshells loaded in her b mounting and managed to illuminate the attackers with the 680 000 candlepower shell. With an illuminated target to aim for the triple 25 mm mounts on the escorts went into action. The predictable height and steady track made it easier for the gun crews to track the unfortunate Beauforts. Not long after this the 5 inch dual purpose guns opened fire. As the Beauforts came in the leader of the second flight told the other flights to break off and attack from the port side. This proved very wise as of the four Beauforts in the second wave only 2 survived to drop their torpedoes and only 1 made it back to base. The two Beauforts bored in to drop there weapons from as little as 500 yards from their target to make avoiding the speeding torpedoes as difficult as possible, the already crippled cruiser watched one of the torpedoes track towards the centre of the ship unable to avoid the incoming missile the crew braced for impact, which came as a resounding thud as the torpedo hit fair and square amidships and failed to explode. The 2nd torpedo raced off into the distance after the Gyro guidance went haywire

With 3 Beauforts lost it was an acutely shaken squadron leader that organised the next wave of attacks. The 4 original Beauforts would dummy run along the same axis while the remainder came in from the other side. As the circling Sunderland again dropped a flare directly over the bombardment group, the 4 Beauforts reached 3000 yards from the fleet every gun opened fire on them including the Ise and Hyuga’s main 14 inch armament firing sankaidan shells. The sheer volume of fire directed at the weaving Beauforts invariably resulted in some hits occurring, it also resulted in histories only recorded success for the Sankaidan shells, 1 shell burst 10 metres in front of the number 2 Beaufort. The expanding cone of incendiaries perforated the big Bristol bomber hundreds of times in the following tenth of a second. The Beaufort disintegrated in to a rolling fireball that was even larger then the initial blast. Badly shaken by what had been witnessed not a few hundred feet away the remaining 3 Beauforts broke formation and pushed the straining Taurus engines to the maximum to make their escape.

On board the Japanese ships a cheer went up as they thought the battle was over, until an anguished cry from the bridge lookout, not 10 seconds later 22 Beauforts dropped their torpedoes from ranges that ranged from 500 to 1500 Yards. Only 12 torpedoes made it in to the densely packed formation the remainder ran out of fuel because of the distance they were launched from by some of the greener crews. Most of the torpedoes sped towards a group of 3 ships, the Sendai class cruisers Ayase and Minase and the Nire a Momi 2nd class destroyer, with 6 torpedoes aimed at her the cruiser Ayase put her helm hard over and avoided 3 of the incoming Tinfish, however 3 could not be avoided and hit the old light cruiser in quick succession. The 1st hit came aft and blew the stern off the cruiser just aft of the rear 5.5” turret allowing water to pour into the rear of the ship, swiftly after the 1st impact she was hit under her funnels blowing a huge hole in her 2” armoured sides and allowing water to flood into her forward boiler rooms extinguishing the now useless Kampon boilers. The final torpedo hit the unfortunate Ayase suffered was well below the armoured belt as the ship heeled over after the initial impacts, the MkXIV hit just below the No 3 5.5” mounting easily breaching the ineffective TDS on the lower hull and blowing a 40ft hole in the bottom of the ship not far away from the 2nd torpedo hit, the weakened magazine protection plates allowed the flash from the explosion to enter No3 magazine, it was a fortunately quick death for the magazine crew, unfortunately it was quickly followed by a quick demise of the old light cruiser as the magazine touched off, tearing the ship in two just behind the bridge swiftly followed by the sympathetic detonation of Nos1&2 magazines which obliterated the forward half of the old light cruiser The shock wave blew into the aft section of the mortally wounded ship tearing engine and boiler room bulkheads asunder. The battered aft section slowly rose to the almost vertical and slid gracefully below the waves.


The 2nd Class destroyer Nire was commanded by a wily old captain who had been recalled to the service at the start of the war, while almost all were watching the demise of the Ayase, he was passing orders to put the helm to put the old destroyer hard over to Starboard and increasing speed to well past 30 knots, the old destroyer lept round moving like she had at her trials ack in 1922, responding to her rudder like an againg greyhound and avoided the 4 torpedoes that were heading her way.

The cruiser Minase was targeted by 2 of the Mk XIVs dropped by the Beauforts, she curtsied round and avoided one running aft but was unfortunate to be hit by one right in the eyes of the ship, the torpedo exploded blowing out the cable locker and the forward mess deck, tons of water flooded into the holed hull giving her a distinct bow heavy motion made worse by the rash decision of a young magazine officer to flood No 1&2 magazines, her captain slowed to a crawl to allow her damage control parties to shore up the forward bulk heads.


The first round was over and at a frightful cost, the Beauforts had sunk the Ayase and the destroyer Kaya, 2 light cruisers were badly damaged and would need assistance to make it back to Java. The attack had been more successful than the Beaufort crews could have imagined.

In an hour the Beauforts would be back at base. 11/2 hours after that they would be back to try again. This time however only 26 could attack.

30 minutes after the Beauforts announced the discovery of the bombardment group the Beaufighters reached the position of the second group. Once again a flare was dropped. This time their was 10 transports in nice neat lines headed by a flattop and 6 destroyers. On the deck of the carrier their was 4 zero fighters, brought up and readied due to the earlier attack on the bombardment group. The flight commander ordered one of the Beaufighters upto 4000ft to drop flares to keep the convoy illuminated and orderd a straffing attack on the transports to see if they could inflict some damage before they had to return for fuel.Without thinking the most junior pilot flipped over and began a strafing run on the funny looking aircraft transport at the head of the center column. At 300 metres he let fly with 4 20 mm cannon and 6 .303 machine guns. For 1 long second he was joined to the deck of the SHOHO by an incandescent stream of tracer. As he flayed it back and forth first one then a second zero caught fire and sent rivers of burring fuel into the path of the other two zero fighters. Little did he know what destruction he had actually wrought down below? As the 1st Zero he hit fuel tanks exploded it threw the zero behind it onto the port twin 5 inch mount, which then promptly exploded and set off the ready use ammunition a massive whole was blown out of the side of the flight deck. As yet more fuel flowed around the area some made it into the hangar. Fortunately no aircraft were fuelled or bombed up yet but as each aircraft caught fire the practically empty fuel tanks went off like bombs. Over the next 4 hours the hangar deck was reduced to a charnel house for men and equipment. The Shoho was afloat and steaming but had no aircraft left to launch. Taking 2 destroyers with her she headed for Singapore for emergency repairs.

Battle was yet to be joined properly and already the death toll was steadily increasing.
 
This chapter represented a slight departure as Brazen who also lurks here helped my grammar etc and fleshed it out for me . I have kept my original grammar and mistakes in the previous chapters for this reason . Yes I can and will return and rewrite this story one day with some changes but I posted it as is so the progression in writing could be seen .


Part 4.

Time 0045,





Flag quarters on the HMS Warspite.





127nautical miles south of Christmas Island.





James Somerville was rudely awakened from a rather pleasant dream by the shrill ringing of the phone from the bridge.





“Captains compliments Sir, he requests that you join him in the navigation room”





"Thank you, I’ll be there shortly".





Admiral Somerville stretched himself, and pulled on the fresh white dress shirt his steward seemed to have an endless supply of, took a quick bite of the rather stale corned beef sandwich and proceeded to the navigation room. As he entered the room another message was received. The message slip was offered to the captain. He took one look at it grinned and handed it to the Admiral. The news was definitely good but a cause for concern.

"3 cruisers sunk and a battleship damaged admiral, that’s a very good effort for a green squadron, let’s hope the other attacks bring similar results.” said Captain Hutton.





Somerville examined the flimsy “I doubt they sank three cruisers, it’s almost certain they hit something but I think they may be overestimating. The message definitely states 2 Fuso or Ise battleships though.”





“Might be a bit of a handful for us sir, they outgun us pretty comprehensively” Captain Fitzroy Patrick Hutton said as he passed an enamel mug of tea to the Admiral.





“I’m aware of that Pat, but this could our only chance of intercepting battleships with next to no air cover. Ask the Pilot to work out an interception course please. “

Several minutes later the Pilot approached his captain and Admiral Somerville.


“They are approximately 210 nm away from us on a bearing of 54 degrees according to the information the Aussie Flyboys have passed on; they are heading straight for Christmas Island on a heading of 264 degrees. We could intercept them before they get into position to bombard Christmas Island at around 0500 if we maintain 20 knots. We should be in position off Christmas Island and have the rising sun at their backs to silhouette them. Our calculated point of interception is 15 nm off Christmas Island at 05:00.

“That’s a very precise report Pilot”.





“I try my best Sir, if the Aussies can be trusted to know which end of the compass to use.”





“Ha, you better not let old Frank Getting in the Canberra hear you say that pilot, he might bring back keel hauling” said Somerville, lightening the mood in the Plotting room, bringing smiles form some of the nearby ratings.

“Back to work, let’s make it happen please Gentlemen” returning to the job in hand, Somerville turned to his Staff.





“Pass instructions to the rest of the fleet, standard battle formation as we have practiced. Send the carriers to the far side of the Island with their usual brood and have them operate well away from the area we will be meeting our oriental visitors. I want search aircraft up at 1st light, the Albacores ready for a Torpedo strike and a CAP up ASAP in case of scout planes“





“Yes Sir” replied the slightly haggard looking Flag lieutenant.





“Got that?”





“Yes Sir” acknowledged the suddenly alert Flag lieutenant, repeating Somerville’s instructions.





“Excellent! We will go to action stations at 04:00, could we make sure the ships crews have been fed and watered by then as well please. Wake me in 3 hours, until then I’ll leave things in your capable hands Pat and retire to my sea cabin".





“Good night Sir” Replied Captain Hutton, saluting as the Admiral left the plot house.





Admiral Somerville left the bridge, knowing full well that he wouldn’t sleep but needing some time alone to plan, if any more information became available they would soon let him know. Captain Hutton however began the process of preparing the proud old girl for action. Orders were passed to the rest of the fleet via VHF and the striking forces started to take shape.


Slowly the 2 divisions took formation and then separated, Formidable and Indomitable pulled over port with their companions HMS Caledon and HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerk, while the destroyers HMS Express, HMS Fortune, HMS Inconstant and HNLMS Isaac Sweers formed a protective cordon around the precious carriers.





HMS Warspite held steady on the interception course while the rest of the fleet formed around her, HMAS Canberra formed on her starboard side with HMAS Perth on her port side, with HMAS Nizam, Nepal and Napier took position ahead and to either side while HMAS Norman swept along behind.





The scouting force of HMS Frobisher, HMS Emerald and HMS Enterprise worked up to 27 knots, foaming bow waves effervescing in the moon light as the 3 old cruisers sped ahead to form a scouting line, HMAS Nestor and HMS Panther powered past HMS Warspite to form up on the 3 scouting cruisers, the 5 ships making an impressive sight in the soft moon light as they swept NNE to their forward positions.









HIJMS Ise





Flag bridge 01:30


On the flag bridge of the Ise Admiral Kondo put down his cup of tea and turned towards Captain Isamu Takeda.



“The Sankaidan shells seemed to be effective in the last attack Isamu?”





“I think so Admiral, if for nothing more than scaring the pilots off”

“Well I don’t doubt that we will be seeing the torpedo bombers again, so we will go with your proposal, load all main guns with the Sankaidan shells and have them ready to fire as soon as they come into range, However Isamu we don’t want to fire more than 2 more salvos of those wretched things as they ruin the liners”





“Understood admiral, the Gunnery officer will be most upset if we fire more, some of the rifles are quite worn as it is.”





“Would you like some more tea captain?”





“No thank you admiral, I wish to return to the bridge and keep an eye on the situation”





“Ahh most commendable, I would like to launch our Type Zeros in a search pattern to the south, can one also see if they can contact the invasion force, I would like to know where our fighter cover is”





“I will pass on the orders to your staff admiral and ready our scouts”


“Excellent, according to our intelligence the Royal Navy has 4 Battleships in the Indian Ocean, Most of those are supposedly supporting the invasion of Madagascar, and one of our submarines was reported to have sunk one. However I’m a little sceptical of the performance of our underwater brothers so I would like to make sure we will not be surprised. Admiral Nagumo swept through the Indian Ocean a few months ago; in theory they should be in no fit state to interfere with our plans, however it’s always wise to take precautions”.





Christmas Island 2:15
The Briefing tent at Christmas Island was very very quiet, with quite a lot of pensive looking aircrew; a Flight Lieutenant stood up and said what they were all thinking.





“No more bloody flares, they lit us up like training targets for that 2nd run, I’d prefer to take my chances with a low level run in the dark”





The rest of the room murmured their agreement until the Wing commander cleared his throat.





“Well it shouldn’t be a problem this time as the sky will be getting light, we will attack from the dark towards the sunrise, we will be going back in a soon as Keith’s Beaufort has been dragged off the runway and the old girls are rearmed”.

The wing Commander continued the briefing outlining the attack plan to the gathered crews, only 14 MkXIV torpedoes were ready for the next attack so 10 Beauforts would be going in with 500lb bombs, using shallow dive-bombing attacks synchronized with the torpedo carrying Beauforts attack. Once again Sunderland “C” would be providing a homing signal for the attack. The group broke up and some of the pilots went to watch the Beaufighters coming in to land.





The Beaufighters floated into land and taxied to dispersal, one of them looked a little ragged with bullet holes in the starboard wing and slightly blackened paint work, the pilot jumped out and excitedly started talking to his ground crew, who gave a little cheer which attracted a crowd of people to the happy looking crew, soon the word was out the Beaufighters had managed to inflict some serious damage on the Japanese carrier leaving it in flames but still steaming, this was an added bonus to most of the aircrew but especially to the Beaufort pilots who feared that the ships may have a fighter escort. The ground crew set about re arming the Beaufort strike with a renewed vigour, animatedly chatting while arming the next strike.

03:30 hours Christmas Island


“BANG”





The puff of smoke from the starter cartridge was whipped away to nothing as the rough, unharmonised coughing turned into a throaty roar as the Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp run up to full power. This was swiftly followed by 47 more of the big radials being brought to life as the Beauforts got ready to assail the Japanese fleet once again. The strip was becoming covered with billowing dust clouds as the lead Beaufort taxied from it’s dispersal to the end of the runway.





Running the engines up to full power the Pilot released the brakes and trundled down the runway kicking up dust, the tail came up at the halfway point but the overloaded Beau was struggling to reach her take off speed. Just as the pilot started to call the Beau some really interesting names the big Bristol bomber floated into the air and easily cleared the trees at the end of the runway, quickly clearing his flaps and landing gear the pilot banked to port to see another Beau lifting off the dirt strip and turning in to join him in the circuit.





Within 30 min the 24 bombers formed up into 2 loose formations and turned towards the beacon signal coming from the ever reliable Sunderland ”C”. At a point approximately 40 miles from the Japanese battle group the smaller formation started their climb up to 6000ft while the torpedo carrying aircraft slowly descended to 500ft for the initial run in. The experienced pilots selected for the torpedo attack started to spread out into the attack pattern and started to gradually reduce height for the attack run.





Battlespace





The Japanese gunners had been kept on edge over the past few hours by the close attentions of the circling Sunderland, listening to the big flying boat lazily keeping the formation under observation while out of gun range had been slowly driving the gun crews crazy, now they final had a chance to open up on the incoming torpedo bombers. The cruisers and Destroyers opened up with their main weapons, sending water spouts up into the air in front of the bobbing and weaving torp bombers.





On the Japanese battleships twelve 14” turrets ominously trained to starboard and elevated slightly, then fired at the incoming torpedo bombers, 23 projectiles sped towards the Beauforts exploding in front of them, too far away to cause any real harm to the attacking aircraft, however one of the Sankaidan shells exploded seconds after leaving the barrel of the Ise almost directly overhead the destroyer Shimakaze.

The people on the front end of the Minekazi class destroyer didn’t know what had hit them, the blast and shrapnel from the shell ripped into the forward gun mounts and bridge structure of the hapless destroyer, almost everyone on the front end of the destroyer including the Captain, bridge staff and the crew in the wheel house died before they had a chance to register what had happened as the forward part of the ship was lacerated by shrapnel, the destroyer was also well ablaze by now, the incendiaries taking advantage of the lack of able bodies to fight the fires, smoke billowing from round the forward guns and the bridge.









The Beauforts eased down to 80ft for the final run in, bucking and lifting from the rising air currents the pilots sweated profusely as they worked on keeping the big torpedo bombers level while slewing from side to side to put the Japanese gunners off their aim. The barrage they were having to fly into looked awe inspiring in the morning twilight, light tracer whipping past the aircraft and tall water spouts splashing up in front of the speeding aircraft, one of the Beauforts took several rounds in the port wing and engine, a trail of oil falling from the nacelle, the pilot jettisoned the torpedo and pulled the bomber up into a climbing turn, struggling for height with a misfiring engine and turned towards Christmas island.





The remaining 13 started selecting their targets, helped by the brightly burning Shimakaze acting as a marker, as the range closed a Beaufort in the second flight flew into one of the water spouts thrown up by the cruiser Abukuma’s 5.5” guns, the speeding aircraft stopped dead as if it had hit a concrete wall and was dragged down into the sea, taking her unfortunate crew her, still the remaining 12 aircraft bored into attack the Japanese fleet.





The range was quickly decreasing as the Beauforts closed to release range, but the response from the Japanese ships was intensifying, close range machine guns throwing up walls of tracer as the bombers neared the outer line of escorts, a 3rd Beau was hit and fire started to spread along it’s port wing but the pilot held formation with the other aircraft unfortunately in his bravery he was acting as a beacon for the AA gunners.





At ranges between 1000 to 1500 yards the Beauforts released there deadly payload and traded a little height for extra speed as they swept through the formation, the rear gunners got in the act sweeping the ships with their .303” Vickers guns achieving very little but being glad of the chance to hit back. The burning Beaufort released its torpedo at the Ise and tried to pull out, but the weakened port wing started to buckle and the bomber side slipped into the rear super structure of the Ise disappearing in a cloud of flame and smoke, the battle ship shrugged off the impact and carried on in formation while the damage control crews fought the flames around the rear 4.7” secondary turret and the rear superstructure.


Signals flashed between the ships as the fleet strangely turned into the oncoming torpedo’s, the Starboard turn was a credit to the discipline and control of the Japanese crews and officers as the fleet turned almost as one into the oncoming threat, however there was one small problem that Admiral Kondo had not taken into consideration, the stricken Shimakaze continued on her present course due to loss of all her command officers and crew to the Sankadian shell, the massive bulk of the Hyuga tore into the wounded Destroyer just in front of the bridge, tearing through her thin hull plates, severing and driving the front portion of the destroyer under the battle ship, the aft section became entangled for a few moments then started to grind down the Starboard side of the battleship gouging holes in the un-armoured front end of the ship, it was then that the only torpedo that found it’s target smashed into the aft section of the sinking destroyer.





The torpedo demolished the starboard side of the destroyer, tearing the engine rooms open to the sea and driving the hull back against the Hyuga and renting the battleships TDS open to the sea for around 100ft, the remaining section of the destroyer hull slid free and turned onto her beam ends as some of the crew tried to escape the rapidly sinking ship she fell behind the rapidly disappearing battleship.





The rest of the torpedo’s caused a few moments of stress and worry as they passed through the rest of the fleet but none found a target, as the crews of the ships relaxed the dive bombers nosed over into their attack, the big Beauforts had never been built with this kind of attack in mind so a shallow dive was the best they could manage, building up speed the pilots aimed for the battle ships in the centre of the formation, slowly the Japanese gunners reacted to the new threat and light flak started to worry the bombers.





No one could fault the bravery of the 10 dive bombers, but it was an attack they had never been trained for so it came as no surprise that the results were poor, 6 of the bombers selected the burning Ise as their target, the battleship disappeared in a deluge of water spouts but emerged unscathed if a little shaken, and maybe just a little cleaner, on the other side. Four of the pilots nosed over towards the Hyuga once again the bombs were released this time they got a little closer, one off the 500lb bombs landing close to the damaged starboard side of the battleship, inflicting slightly more damage to the TDS and knocking out some electrical fittings with the impact.





The dive bombers streaked away catching up with the torpedo bombers as they headed back towards Christmas Island, which was now less than 100km away tiredness now started taking an effect as they climbed to join the landing pattern

Sunderland “C” 04:28





To the crew of the circling Sunderland the attack had looked impressive but after the last of the Beauforts had raced back towards Christmas Island only 1 less blip was present on the radar as the crew settled back into their routine shadowing of the Japanese formation.





Fifteen minutes later as the Sunderland reached the extremity of the western leg of its search pattern; a faint blip was detected at maximum range on a bearing of approximately 225° heading towards the Japanese ships still stoically heading towards Christmas Island
 
Siege of christmas island part 5

0345




With The Japanese Fleet only 70 nm away the British began the final disposition of the fleet units. Warspite and a small screen of destroyers would initially face the Japanese alone . it would be Warspites 8 15 inch guns against the Ise and Hyuga mounting 24 14 inch guns . on paper it was a walkover for the Japanese . however ships do not fight on their own . The equaliser for the Warspite was the British Pacific Fleets Carriers currently 50 nm south of Christmas Island. a full Albacore strike was awaiting the signal to launch . The Royal Navy pilots were trained to strike Warships in the teeth of AAA at any time of day . night attacks being a speciality at Admiral Sommerviles insistence.. The 2 E class Cruisers Enterprise and Emerald were to attack from the north supported by HMAS Canberra shortly after the main battle began .Between them the 2 cruisers carried 32 21 inch torpedoes. Their cue to attack was to be a sortie of the Japanese cruiser and destroyer escort.




From 1 hour before daylight until the battle was over the fighters on Christmas Island would be either airborne and circling the Warspite or awaiting the order to scramble . their would be no repeat of the Prince of Wales debacle . On the Warspite all hands were served an early breakfast . The ships cooks were busy making thick corn beef sandwiches and massive vats of cocoa were being brewed . any lull in the action and extra food would be sent to the crew by the purser . the ships surgeon had already converted the mess tables into casualty rooms . first aid parties were ready and bandages prepared. damage control officers went over their supplies of shoring spars and checked communications . The radar officer was aware of the need to know exact ranges and double checked his equipment for the 10th time . The Warspite was not a green ship and most of the crew had seen battle before . This would be the %5 of their life at see that was exciting. they were on board a lucky ship that could take and dish out punishment . The Engineering officer was happy with his engines until some wag asked if the rudder might get a case of the gremlins again . this of course sent him to the steering room to check it . of course everything was perfect.




0400

From the decks of the two Fleet carriers Formidable and Indomitable came a steady stream of Albacores. instead of forming up over the carriers they immediately headed for Christmas island . as they neared the island they would split into flights and be controlled from the radar operators on the island. their only goal was to sink or cripple at least 1 of the IJN Battleships in order to give the Warspite a chance of winning . By 0415 all 45 Albacores were airborne and being shepherded by 12 Fairey Fulmars into their attack formations . In the process 4 Aircraft developed faults and returned to the carriers.




0440

On Christmas Island the passage at low altitude of 41 low flying biplanes was the signal for the remaining Beaufort's to launch to assist the strike . 18 Beaufort's struggled into the sky . following them were all 12 Beaufighters as escorts. the Hurricanes were being retained to provide daylight fighter cover only .




0500

On board the ISE and Hyuga thousands of tense men awaited the next aircraft attack . On the bridge of the Ise Rear Admiral xxxxxx awaited dawn with relish . once the sun rose he would have fighters from the Shoho to cover him and the dive bombers would attack the accursed islands airfield . then resistance would be crushed. After 5 hours at action stations the imminent sunrise would signal breakfast and a relaxation due to the fighter cover . From Dawn till 0700 their would be little action . then the bombardment would begin . Bearing the hours of toil awaiting his gunners he decided to order an early meal and rest for the main gun crews. At 0500 they left their turrets and magazines and went to their mess area's . luck was with them the cooks had prepared eel and rice . a Warriors meal . The 2 duty turrets were crewed again by 0515 . the remainder of the men went to sleep . hoping for at least 2 hours rest. for the AAA crews their was no rest given . meals arrived at their positions , usually cold and occasionally hot .




0505 . the first 4 KI-43 HYbayusa "oscar" fighters arrived to provide fighter cover for the approaching Transports carrying the first assault wave of the Paratroopers . As they approached the area at low altitude one pilot saw high above a glint of light . climbing towards it he realised it was a enemy flying boat . a short burst of his twin 12.7mm machine guns and a parachute flare was hit . it burst inside the Short Sunderland . the intense heat melted through the wing spar nearby and incinerated the radio officer before he knew what happened. 30 seconds later contact was lost forever with C for Charlie.




0510 The Albacores were approaching their expected point of c0ntact with the Japanese fleet . spread out to attack from several directions the Albacore pilots strained their eyes looking for a silhouette that would become an aim point . Meanwhile 5 miles north the Beaufort crews also strained their eyes hoping their course would keep them clear of the Japanese until the Albacores attacked.




0515 . The Beaufort squadron leader realised their was a problem . they were past the expected position of the Battle group with no signal from the Sunderland . He broke Radio silence . " C for Charlie can you hear me I need a bearing to the target . " after trying various means to contact the ill fated flying boat he gave up . his next message was more ominous . " Santa no sign of C for Charlie " request vector to target .

unfortunately they had lost contact with the Bombardment group at the worst time . Stumbling around in the dark the rookie that had done so well once before decided to try a stab in the dark literally . cruising at 5000 ft he dropped first one then a second parachute flare without informing anyone . as they burst he looked down and lost his equilibrium . after turning upside down and not realising it his observer started punching him and shouting pull up pull up . at an altitude of barely 25 ft he levelled off as he started to climb and head back to Christmas island for a well deserved roasting he looked off to the East . to his surprise their was a shadow . as he climbed further he saw several wakes . forgetting Radio discipline he shouted at full volume . " got the bastards their over here " fortunately he was visible on radar and a bearing in relation to the island was sent to the Albacores and Beaufort's




Reorientating on the new intercept course all aircrews realised that it would be dawn soon . for the Albacores it meant easier landing . for the Beaufort's it meant more losses.




0517 .

The sudden rush to action stations for the third time was almost an anticlimax for the tired Japanese Sailors. The guns belted out their deadly song while the impossible slow Biplanes came into their attack range . The gunners on the destroyer xxxxxxx were tracking one of the Biplanes and wondering what fools would attack defended warships with such antiques. unheard over the cacophony of guns a solid stream of tracers joined their Destroyer with first one and then a second Demon .

with a full one second burst each the 2 Beaufighters had fired between them 120 .303 bullets and 93 20 mm shells . The 0.303 bullets ricochetted wildly off any metal surface . relatively few caused any injury . the 20 mm shells however were a different matter . with HE shells followed by AP the damage was much worse . Able to penetrate up to 20 mm of armour many of the shells went through the deck of the destroyer others chewed through the gun mountings needed to defend the ship . the crews of these exposed guns simply died . some AP shells spent themselves uselessly others started small spot fires. these fires were not in themselves dangerous . what they did do was attract the albacores like a moth to the flames . with 8 Albacores all headed for one destroyer their would be no escape . 2 torpedoes were launched too soon . another broke on impact following a poor drop . 3 missed the wildly manoeuvring destroyer . the remainder hit one after another over a 10 second period . The first hit was under the bridge . The shock through everyone to the deck

, barely had the started to pick themselves up when a second hit 5 ft from the bow . the entire hull from the bow to the second frame simply came off . Scarcely had the ship stopped shaking from this hit when the third hit simply opened up the engine room . their was no escape the stricken destroyer Capsized and went under . their were no survivors.


0518

The Ship to be targeted through the gap in the destroyer screen was the hyuga . 15 Albacores turned their attention on the massive pagoda mast that appeared before them . The first 6 Albacores to drop were the most inexperienced pilots. Night torpedo runs were certainly an acquired art . Judging range at night was very hard and such short ranged weapons was a real problem . 10 seconds later the first of the more experienced pilots dropped their weapons . these only just had the range . however the aim off was simply to hard to calculate . only one of these hit . It was a critical hit . One of the rudders was simply blown off the second folded almost flat against the hull . With only engine power to steer with it was a very vulnerable battleship that was about to go into battleship vs battleship combat . The remainder of the Albacores closed to impossibly close ranges and dropped their deadly payloads. The sudden loss of speed caused by the engineers stopping the shafts after the torpedo hits caused most of the aircraft to miscalculate and miss forward . 2 Albacores had aimed at the engine room rather then the bows. These torpedoes hit forward of the two forward turret . Both opened huge holes in the hull . Some 2000 tons of water soon flooded the forward part of the Hull . Down by the bows and only capable of 15 kts the hyuga began to fall behind . The damage control efforts were never going to be totally effective at sea .




The Beaufort's were diverted by the Sunderland observing the invasion transports . With the invasion transports now only 80 nm from Christmas island it was decided to reduce their numbers.

The air attack was over almost as fast as it had begun . On-board the Ise the admiral looked at the tattered remnants of his force. It still boasted massive fire-power and if he left the Hyuga with 2 destroyers he could bombard the Island in only 1 hour . Ordering full speed ahead he left the hyuga behind to make her way to the gun line on her own . It was a fateful decision . The Hyuga was falling behind at 1 mile every 2 minutes .




0530

The Ise ploughed through the waves at 25 kts , she was a fine spectacle and in only 45 minutes could begin the islands bombardment , she was only 31 nm from the Island . Surely their would be no time for another Air strike before he destroyed the Airfield .




0531

In the radar site on top of Christmas Island a series of signals began to be received . 100 miles away at 10000 ft a procession of aircraft appeared . This was the Parachute unit headed for the islands runway . Their escort was 12 Oscars , they were arrayed ahead and above the transports . Down at the airstrip all aircraft were immediately launched . Only 14 Hurricanes were kept to be launched at the last minute in case of a follow up raid . The Beaufighter squadron was diverted to an intercept point . The Hurricanes were being coached by their controller to take on any escorts and leave the bombers to the Beaufighters and their massive fire-power. All over the island men who were not yet awake were roused and every fighting position was manned and made ready for what promised to be the longest day .




0535

The Radar operator on the Warspite received his first range on the lead Japanese ship .

“Bridge range to target is currently 32000 yards “ . Captain Hutton turned to Admiral Sommerville . “Sir I plan to engage from maximum range with radar ranging and close to 20000 yards before maintaining that range. “ Admiral Somerville nodded his ascent and called his communications officer over . “ contact the Canberra and inform them to engage the second battleship until either the Warspite can engage it or it is destroyed. No torpedo attacks until ordered. “ with these commands the Battle was planned .

0537




The range slowly came down to 30700 yards . The Warspite had crossed the Japanese T and had the advantage of total surprise . 10 nm to the north the Cruisers , HMS Frobisher HMS Enterprise and HMS Emerald were working around to the side . The gunnery officer reported that he was ready to fire .




0538

Captain Hutton heard the latest range report , turning to the Admiral he said “ with your permission we will commence “ a curt nod was his acknowledgement . “OPEN FIRE”

with those words 8 of the finest guns ever to see action recoiled in their cradles . Even as the shells began their flight the gunners sweated and toiled to reload the gaping maws of the guns . Although the maximum rate of fire was 2 every 30 seconds extra care was being taken to avoid the possibility of a flash back . 45 seconds after the first salvo was sent on their one way journey the 8 ready lights illuminated in the director . Down in the fire control room the ranges were being continuously changed . The barrel life count was altered the exterior temperature and many other variables were entered into the table . The table then sent a corrected elevation and range to the guns . The gunners then altered their elevation slightly and again the massive guns fired . The first salvo was still 12 seconds from landing and the second was already on the way . The sky was beginning to change colour with the first streaks of sunlight illuminating clouds above the Warspite. Many years later a famous paining would show the scene but for now only the action at hand was on anyone's minds.




0539

On board the Ise a lookout had just reported lightning on the horizon . The duty Officer had just trained his binoculars in the direction the sailor had pointed out when Warspite fired her second salvo . In a kind of trance the officer turned and spoke . “ Captain possible gunfire on the Horizon . “ 2 seconds later the first 8 shells landed with a roar . The 8 shells hit the water in a 300 yard long line not 50 yards from the bows of the Ise . For such long range shooting is was incredible . As the directer was ordered to search for a target . the sweating crews in the 14 inch turrets realised they had sankaidan shells loaded . The gunnery officer immediately ordered all guns cleared. At a command they elevated to clear their escorts and fired. Then they began the process of reloading . By the time the first AP shells were loaded the Warspite had fired another 2 salvo's . From the Warspites 4th Salvo a single shell hit . The range at the time was 28400 yards . That one shell described an arc in the sky and landed on the faceplate of the Forward Turret . The 12 inches of Armour just managed to keep out the 15 inch 1938 pound shell . The shock wave from the explosion rattled the turret and the ship . A turret was jammed . Steel splinters had torn several holes in the deck and badly scarred both barrels .




0541

“HIT” we have a hit on her forecastle . No major damage seen “ Keep firing “ with these commands the entire crew of the Warspite found out they had damaged their opponent.

At the same time on board the Ise the Admiral was asking the director to find and kill the ship firing at them . From the muzzle flashes he correctly assumed they faced only one allied battleship . He found himself cursing the gods for first the damage to the Hyuga and second for the sun at his back . Warspite was in darkness while he had the rising sun to show him to his enemy . In 30 minutes the advantage would be his as the Enemy battleship would have to shoot into the sun . All he had to do was survive that long . As he completed the thought the director suddenly caught a good glimpse of the battleship shooting at them . The Captain of the Ise ordered an alteration to port to expose all 6 turrets and allow a 10 gun salvo . ( A turret is unable to traverse) And a workable range. Range 26000 shoot . The 10 14 inch cannon on the Ise able to train fired .

0542

On board the Warspite the range was given as 26650 yards yet another salvo was flung at the Ise . Seconds after the salvo was fired the first of the Ise shots landed 500 yards short . The importance of Radar was clear . By this point in time for 7 salvo's 1 hit had been achieved . This salvo changed that . As they reached out to destroy their intended target a further salvo was unleashed . In a show of accuracy rarely seen 4 shells hit . The first hit the torpedo bulge and exploded in the void . Hundreds of small holes were punched in the side of the ship . However the belt behind the void held and only 500 tons of water flooded the voids. The second hit occurred alongside the Funnel . It easily penetrated the 2 inch deck and made it's way into the forward boiler room . In an instant the forward boiler room was converted to a steam filled mausoleum . A massive cloud of steam flowed out of the funnel as the engines lost way . The Third shell hit the director and carried it away . This effectively mission killed the Ise as she no longer could control her guns as well . The Fourth shell hit the Top of A Turret . Fortunately their was no ammunition available to be ignited by the incandescent flash that immolated the gun crew and damage control crews trying to release the jammed roller.



On Board the Warspite the magnitude of the hits was not easily determined. The first clue was from the next salvo fired from the ISE . With the aft secondary fire control director unable to see over the horizon the next salvo was short by 600 yards. Admiral Somerville correctly realised the Japanese were badly hurt . He ordered a change or course to more rapidly close the distance and also ordered the HMAS Canberra to open fire if she was in range.




0544

The Fire-control crew on Board the Canberra had been observing the fall of shot from the Warspite with professional interest. Suddenly came permission from the Admiral himself to join in the party. After much discussion it had been decided to remain at around the 22000 yard mark to allow the SAP 8 inch shells to have a chance of penetrating some of the deck armour . Also equipped with radar the HMAS Canberra had waited only 10 seconds to recalculate her firing solution before she opened fire . At a rate of a salvo every 20 seconds her gun crew fired 2 and were about to fire the third before the first landed . At rapid salvo's her crew would keep up 24 shells a minute for as long as the shells kept coming up the hoists.




0545

Another bone shaking salvo landed all around the ISE . Her decks were covered in the water of so many near misses when suddenly their was another series of shell splashes . Smaller but no less dangerous . These shells came from a different direction . Over the next 2 minutes 48 shells landed on and around the ISE from the HMAS Canberra . The only hit received was the top of B turret ., the Turrets Top Armour easily rejected the 8 inch shell . The steel splinters lacerated the bridge killing several sailors and wounding the admiral . In a fit of rage he screamed at his subordinates to send their cruisers and destroyers to carry out a torpedo attack on the formation of Allied warships .




The Destroyers and Cruisers that still made the Ise's screen accelerated to 30 knots and hauled around and charged at their flagships tormentor . As they closed the range they came under fire first from the HMAS Perth (detached to head off just such an attack )then as the range closed the HMS Frobishier came in from the north to head off the possible torpedo attack . It was a gutsy move fighting between two battleships tearing at each other , however it was what the Emeralds in particular were designed to do . Into the maelstrom of fire drove the remaining Japanese cruisers . Being older ships they did not have the firepower to seriously trouble the allied cruisers but a lucky shell or a good torpedo run could make all the difference . Frobishier quickly engaged the lead cruiser and the Perth the second . The 2 E class cruisers took a destroyer each and began a methodical execution . With 5 6 inch mounts aimed at each destroyer the destruction was almost methodical . As soon as the Enemy ship was a crippled mess target change was called . In 3 minutes of furious fire both the Hokaze and the Nire were left burning and sinking . Several 5.5 inch shells had hit both E class cruisers but damage and casualties were slight .




With a rate of fire twice that of the HMAS Canberra the HMAS Perth Quickly found the range and smothered her designated target with 6 inch shells . 48 112 pound shells a minute swept the Japanese cruiser Yubari . Valiantly she tried to fight back , 5.5 inch shells fired as fast as their crews could load the guns . Taking a single 112 lb shell to the forward single turret . The explosion of the ready ammunition destroyed the twin mount above . With her firepower halved she was swiftly reduced to a wreck by the continuous fire . . The Cruiser that HMS Frobishier chose as her target also died quickly . With shells ripping through her innards a lucky 7.5 inch shell went through the engine room into the aft magazine . In an incandescent ball of flame the cruiser Jintsu simply disappeared.


The Cruisers Nashi and Abukuma and the surviving destroyers had almost reached their turn point for the attack . As the signal flags fluttered The crews of the torpedo launchers trained to port . Unknown to the Japanese officers Admiral Sommerville had decided that it was time to intervene in the battle approaching him . The cruiser HMAS Canberra had been ordered to swap targets to the Nashi , and all of the escort destroyers had been released to attack the remaining ships . In an avalanche of shells 3 allied cruisers and 4 destroyers rained shells down on the 4 remaining Japanese cruisers and destroyers. Due to their larger size the Nashi and Abukuma were singled out first .




The first shell to land was a 7.5 inch HE shell fired by HMS Frobishier . It tore through the bridge crew on board Nashi , without any bridge crew The Nashi absorbed another 30 shells ranging from 7.5 to 4.5 inch in the next 2 minutes . Crippled and on fire her end came swiftly when the fire reached the oxygen cylinders in her torpedo launchers . Torn in half be the explosion her end was swift. On board the Abukuma the Captain watched the storm sweeping his consort with concern . He had to launch his torpedo's but he saw little chance of hitting the battleship out their . Changing his targets he instead ordered a spread fired at the 3 cruisers to the north and their escorting destroyers. Barely had his crews aimed their mounts when the maelstrom he had just witnessed began to strike his vessel . His Torpedo crews had launched 8 torpedo's and were trying to reload even while the water washed over the deck . The destroyers fared little better although one of them managed to get off a torpedo spread that unfortunately hit HMS Forbishier in the bows. Critically damaged the HMS Frobishier limped towards Flying Fish cove with HMAS Perth as an escort.




IN the time it took to see the Smaller forces destroyed the Hyuga had come up to her seriously wounded sister . The Warspite now had two opponents. Things began to look bleak for the Warspite.




In the air a battle developed some 15 nm from Christmas island . The Japanese Army Oscar's had arrived and been bounced by some 24 Hurricanes. In a furious battle the Hurricane pilots learnt the folly of manoeuvring with the lighter and faster Japanese fighters. Of the 12 Oscars 4 went down in the initial bounce the remainder quickly gained a parity with the hurricanes in a twisting twirling battle that slowly dropped lower and lower . 4 Hurricanes were shot down and the remainder were fighting for their lives . At about the same time the Beaufighters found the Transports . Like a pack of wolves they fell on their prey . A half second burst literally chewed the Japanese transports in two . Panicked soldiers tried to shoot rifles at the Beaufighters but to no avail . Only 60 soldiers and 8 transports managed to land on Christmas island . As the last 12 transports came in to drop their soldiers over the runway from 500 ft the 40 mm bofors guns opened up . Soon joined by 40 bren guns . 4 transports died before they could drop their soldiers of the remainder most only dropped partial loads before going down in flames. No a single transport survived to return to base. The 60 Japanese soldiers were butchered as they landed only 3 managed to shoot back and of these only one wounded an Australian and even then it was only because he played dead .




With Christmas Island safe from Air attack it was HMS Warspite vs ISE and Hyuga for the prize.
 
SIege of Christams Island part 6

0615
For the last half hour the giants had dueled while avoiding the attentions of the smaller ships fighting between them . during the small ships battle Admiral Sommerville had slowly worked the Warspite south of the Ise . This maneuver was an attempt to avoid being blinded by the rising sun . The one downside to the maneuver was that it allowed the Hyuga to close the range and formate on his sister ship . The HMS Warpite had actually ceased firing on the Ise at one point and aimed her great rifles at the oncoming cruisers and destroyers. When her screen successfully intercepted and defeated the Japanese cruiser and destroyer force , the Warspite again Aimed her great 15 inch rifles at the oncoming enemy . On board the Hyuga the range to the enemy battleship was carefully calculated and 6 Turrets swung around and elevated to the desired range . On the bridge a signalman carefully sent the range to the Ise . As soon as the ready lamps lit up the fire control officer pressed the firing button and 12 14 inch rifles sent their 1485lb shells on their way .

0616
Suddenly 12 large fountains of water apeared not 50 yards from the HMS Warspite.
The Japanese Had the range for the first time in the battle . 10 seconds later a further 10 shells landed 300 yards away . The Ise was getting closer to the desired range thanks to range input from her sister ship . HMS Warspite shivered as she flung 8 15 inch shells in reply . Captain Hutton turned to Admiral Sommerville and said "i think it's time to open the range and let the little ships have some fun Sir ". Admiral Sommerville looked at the dispositions of his fleet and gave his orders . 2 smoke screens were to be created one to hide his main force and a second to hide the Cruisers including the crippled Frobisher .

Not long after he gave his orders then the latest salvo from Warspite hit home . . 3 critical hits were received. The first landed on the port 5.5. inch casemate and demolished three guns . This seriously weakened the firepower against a torpedo attack . The second Struck home on Bow nearly directly over the forward Bulkhead . Passing through the 44 mm thick deck as if it did not exist it then passed through the 199 mm forward bulkhead and exploded , sending a massive shockwave through the structure of the vessel .The Third landed at the base of one of the amidships turrets . Striking at an angle of nearly 18 degrees and successfully penetrating nearly 300 mm of Armour plate the 15 inch shell carried nearly 500 kg of Armour plate ahead of itself in an orgy of destruction . As the 15 inch shell began to slow and tumble from it's pasage through the armour the delay fuse initiated the explosion of 48.5 lbs of shellite . This tore through the inner structure of the Barbette , igniting several cordite charges and sending a flashback down to the magazine . Unfortunately one of the side effects of the weak structure of the class was a small gap in the flash-tight seal to the cordite room . Over the next 5 seconds nothing happened then suddenly in a pillar of fire the turret launched itself into the air . Half a second later in a blinding flash the ISE was torn in two . The forward half of the ship slowly turned turtle and sank . The aft stayed afloat a little longer .


On the bridge of the Warspite their was quiet exultation but no celebration . Change target. Was the comand . Hardly had this command been received when the Warspites steering took a hand in the battle . Exactly as happened at Jutland the Warspite turned into her enemy in an uncontrollable circle .

0620
On board the Hyuga their was a steely resolve to avenge their sister ship . Suddenly the Warspite changed direction and charged the Hyuga . On board the Hyuga the change in course made an exact range to be received for the first time in the battle . 12 14 inch guns roared their defiance . 2 hit . On board the Warspite the first hit slammed into the chain locker . 300 tons of anchor chain withstood the blow but now was useless for it's intended function . A huge rent in the deck admitted hundreds of tons of water but it was only a pinprick . The second shell hit directly under B turret.
Passing through the 150 mm upper belt Armour on the ships side a slow tumble occurred. Slamming into the side of B turrets 250mm Barbette it exploded . Fortunately it failed to penetrate the Barbette however it badly jarred the turret and took it out of action for the next 20 minutes while damage control assessed the damage . fortunately the smoke screen obscured the HMS Warspite while they tried to correct the steering and fix the damage that had put a quarter of her armanent out of action . The Hyuga continued to fire into the smoke . most of the salvo's missed or sent shrapnel into the sides of the Warspite . 1 shell however hit at a very oblique angle on the upper belt . The 100 mm of armour was able to deflect the path of the shell but not keep it out . a great rent in the side of the ship stretched some 6 ft down her side . and ended in a jagged tear 5 ft across were the explosion took place. This hit actually came close to ending the engagement and would have pre modernisation . some of the red hot shrapnel entered the plated over forward 6 inch casemates and other red hot shrapnel penetrated deep into the bowels of the ship . A major fire started and thick black smoke billowed out of her side .

0640
On the Warspite no further hits had been recorded . Range was down to 17000 yards and the steering was finally under control . At such close range it was obvious that something could go wrong very easily . Admiral Somerville was suddenly pensive .slowly and with great deliberation he spoke into the radio “ in the words of our greatest Admiral I can say no different . “No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy. “ let us end this at close range. “ . With these orders Admiral Sommerville ordered a general attack by all of his task force on the only enemy vessel in sight . The destroyers ceased making smoke and formed up in divisions . The Cruisers made ready for their torpedo run and loaded SAP again .on board the HMS Enterprise the Captain asked his Chief engineer for whatever the "old girl had in her " . The Chief Engineer adjusted the the oil nozzles personally to gain the extra pressure in the boilers . Silently praising the designers the Enterprise first reached her design speed of 33 kts then slowly exceeded it . At 34.5 kts she was a magnificent sight . With waves being effortlessly pushed aside and a great spume of water from her bows she rushed towards her huge adversary hidden behind the pall of smoke.

0645
On board the Hyuga the danger of torpedo attack from the smoke was readily apparent it was after all what her own captain would have done. Then suddenly their came a shout from a lookout with the rising of the sun visibility was slowly improving . Of to port their was a magnificent sight . 2 cruisers and 4 destroyers at full speed and line abreast charging into range to drop torpedoes. The range was still 15000 yards point blank for a battleship but long range for torpedoes . Immediately a change of target was ordered . Slowly 6 ponderous turrets traversed to port and steadied on target . The small 5.5 inch guns began firing . Their small shells seemingly insignificant in the face of such incredible firepower that was suddenly unleashed.

Same time on board the Warspite. “Sir they have changed target . Now aiming at the Cruisers”Captain Hutton turned to his admiral .” Sir with your permission I would like to follow our destroyers through " Admiral Sommerville turned to his Flag Captain , "Pat i would like nothing more then to see her pushed under at close range. "With those words the Warspite turned towards the smoke and plowed through it . As she came out the other side the Hyuga was firing great salvos at the intrepid cruisers and their destroyers. Already one destroyer was heeled over her side torn open by a 14 inch shell . With no time to waste the Warspite closed her opponent. With a closing speed of 40 kts they two behemoths of the sea closed rapidly . Range was 14000 yards and closing at a rate of 1400 yards a minute. The rate of change was to great for the fire control table on board the Hyuga . On board the Warspite the fire control table was hardly keeping up . The officer in the director however was making his own allowances. At 12000 yards the Warspite again achieved a series of hits. This time 3 shells hit and penetrated the belt . At such a short range the 15 inch shells went through the belt armour as if it was not their and exploded deep in the vitals of the Hyuga .

Flames spread rapidly inside the vitals of the Japanese battleship . Several electrical mains were destroyed and power within parts of the ship failed. It was not a lethal hit however it was a body blow . Several of the plates weakened earlier by the torpedo strikes began to leak at an increasing rate .

0655
the sun rose in the east over the wreckage of The Imperial Navy Battleship Hyuga . With a list of 15 degrees her guns could no longer bear on the Warspite. At a range of 8000 yards the Warspite continued the methodical destruction of the Hyuga . When ammunition supplies were down to 20 rounds per gun . The gunnery officer informed the Captain . Admiral sommerville was actually disappointed. He had wanted a second gun kill for his beloved flagship . The 4 hits she had received had killed over 100 seamen but not impaired her fighting ability . Still it was dangerous to be this close to the Java coast even with fighter cover. Reluctantly he ordered the Warspite to meet up with the carrier group and head for Perth and repairs . The Enterprise was although missing her forward 6 inch twin turret giving the privilege of sinking the Hyuga .

0700

the Enterprise had just turned to expose her starboard banks of torpedo's when the first 6 she launched hit . 4 hits and 2 misses . The bottom was blown out of the hyuga and she slowly slipped beneath the waves. As the ships regathered and left the scene of battle they thought the day was over . However their was one more action to fight . The actual invasion convoy was currently only one and a half hours and 25 nm from flying fish cove and unfortunately for them on a collision course with the crippled cruiser HMS Frobishier and HMAS Perth . The troop transports and their escorting destroyers had no idea of what was headed for them . Although crippled the HMS Frobishier had sufficiently repaired to achieve 20 kts depending on the shoring . While still 30 nm off Flying fish cove HMS Frobishier and HMAS Perth made ready to again go into combat .

0710
The first of the expected air-cover for the Ise battlegoup arrived in time to see the battered Hyuga slip under the waves. The pilots reported to base that the British had sunk the entire battle-group . Enraged the pilots turned for Christmas Island thinking the Islands air power had done the work . They had not gone far when they saw the Warspite group on it's southerly run . In the process of several strafing runs the Zero's were bounced by 12 Martlets from the carriers losing 4 of their number . After that one pass the Martlets headed for the deck and dragged the zeros past the waiting AA guns of the Warspite and her escorts .multiple POMPOMS opened up their streams of shells neatly intersecting the path of 4 zero's and tearing them apart. After that experience the zero's pulled back and headed for home. Over the invasion convoy another 12 zero's had begun to circle . Although visible on radar the allied fighters decided to ignore them . Pulling back to land and reload . Barely had the last fighter landed then the Full Import of Warspites battle was made clear to the defenders of Christmas Island. Now it was the turn of Christmas Island to defend the Warspite. Steaming south at a steady 20 kts The battle scared Warspite was hideously vulnerable for the next 12 hours to aircraft attack . Once it was dark the Warspite would be safe. Within 24 hours she would be outside of range of the Java based Bombers.
 
Siege of Christmas island . finished

0715
Admiral Sommerville was in the process of creating a tally of Japanese losses and allied sunk and damaged . The butchers Bill was looking worse with every damage report that came in . Apart from the destroyer HMS Panther lost with 120 of her crew . Their was serious damage to HMS Frobishier from a torpedo that hit forward , their was a good chance that being an older Hawkins class vessel of limited usefulness anyway that she would be turned into a depot ship or harbour AA platform Her Engineering officer had described her as close to a total lose . The Two E class cruisers had been hit numerous times by 5.5 inch shells and poor Enterprise had lost her entire forward turret . HMAS Perth had minor damage from the 4 5.5 inch hits she took . It would take less then a fortnight for a good dockyard to make good her damage . Enterprise had lost 27 sailors dead and 54 wounded . Emerald was luckier with 10 dead and 8 wounded . Several of the destroyers in the screen had reported wounded from shell splinters but no dockyard damage . HMS Warspite would need much longer in the dockyard to put right the damage received . a large portion of the 3 inch teak backing of the upper armoured belt was burnt . The rent in the side was taking water and a heavy swell could be dangerous . The large calibre hit under the forward turret was already plugged . close to 500 tons of water had been pumped out already . most of this had been due to the firefighting efforts. large portions of the mess decks were ripped to shreds. The Chain locker hit was now the most dangerous . with water still entering the damaged section pumps were slowly winning the battle .

As each new splinter hole was revealed the CPO in charge of the damage control section would call out for a pin or lumber and direct his best men to plug the hole . if it was a pin that was used a few sharp taps with a large hammer and the leak was slowed . in the case of a larger more jagged hole shoring timbers would be used to place timber over the tear and then pins inserted into any leaks . it was not watertight but it certainly slowed the rate of water flow . These actions were being repeated on all of the damaged Ships in the Eastern Fleet .

Battlespace over Christmas Island .

"Bandits at angels 15 50 miles bearing 015 " , With those words the Radar Plotting Officer and his team directed 4 Beaufighters that had not been engaged yet to close with yet another enemy formation . Down on the Airstrip their was barely organised chaos . As each fighter landed and arrived at it's dispersal a weary team of ground crew would check the aircraft for damage and service the guns and refuel . This was back breaking work when a Hurricane landed their was 8 .303 machine guns to be removed and cleaned . then replaced. at the same time 44 gallon drums of fuel would be hand pumped into the aircraft . most of the Erks had been working hard since midnight . By 7AM they were fighting fatigue and the physical aspects of their job had become harder and harder . at one platoon defensive position a private turned to his sargent and unwisely remarked how good they had it . in a bellow that was heard in several other positions around the dispersal's the Sergeant let fly " you horrible lazy little bugger if it's so good over here go and pump that fuel " another soldier laughed at his oppo's misfortune . soon their was 4 soldiers taking turns pumping fuel on one Hurricane . Word spread and soon enough their was Infantry working alongside the Erk's doing the manual labour and leaving the actual servicing to the experts. Several of the AA positions sent over their ordinance artificers to assist. in no time at all the number of hands working to maintain the aircraft doubled . A small act but every minute saved was saving lives.

While the Hurricanes and Beaufighters refueled and rearmed the contacts came ever closer. at an altitude of 17000 ft the 4 Beaufighter pilots positioned themselves up sun of the Formation they were to intercept . it was a mixed formation of Nells and Betty's Their task was to bomb the defences of Flying Fish Cove . while still 10 nm away the Beafighters tore into the undefended formation on the first pass 3 Nells and a Betty went down in flames . As the Beaufighters came around for a classic line astern tail attack the Betty's struck back . with a 20 mm cannon in the tail and 7 betty's firing on 1 Beaufighter their could be only one outcome . a single 20 mm shell exploded on the windscreen in front of the Flight Leaders Beaufighter . fragments of the shell peppered his face . At the same time other shells tore cylinders out of the big radials and changed the Bristol Beaufighter into scrap metal . With an unconscious and dieing pilot the Observer was pinned to the fuselage on the 30 second 600km/hr corkscrew into the ocean . Following the lose of their Flight Leader all semblance of control was lost . in a series of beam attacks the formation of 7 betty and 5 Nells were clawed from the sky one by one until their was no ammunition left .
of 16 aircraft and 112 Japanese airmen only 2 Betty and 1 Nell remained and half their crews were dead or dieing anyway .

From 15000 ft Christmas Island is quite small and the locations of the Shore defences were not well known . The bomb Aimers did their best and 11 250 kg bombs dropped away . These did considerable damage . 1 hit a 6 inch gun pit and destroyed it completely in an instant , Another landed in front of a gun pit and severely concussed the crew . unfortunately with the alert due to the naval battle noone had sounded the air raid sirens . the remaining 9 landed seemingly at random in the water and along the foreshore of Flying Fish Cove . another 20 soldiers were killed and wounded in this attack . This was to be the last gasp of the Initial Japanese effort to take Chistmas Island . What Aircraft that were available for attacking the Warspite group were instead withheld to defend the troop convoy currently making 16 kts towards the Sunda Straights. Admiral Sommerville had already decided his battered command should withdraw and on Christmas Island it was time to count the cost . The Japanese had lost 2 battleships ,1 small carrier badly damaged 6 cruisers sunk 2 badly damaged and 8 destroyers . It was one of the most one sided battles in Naval History . Without the use of Aircraft it would have been so different . from the initial intelligence it was clear that Air power would be the deciding factor .

In London it was 2AM . The blackout curtains were in full use at the Admiralty .
Churchill had turned up at midnight to await development's . In typical British Fashion Admiral Sommerville had sent the damage report for his battered Eastern Fleet first . it would be nearly 20 minutes before the true magnitude of the victory became aparent . When the message arrived it simply stated the facts . " Engaged Japanese fleet off Christmas Island , 2 ISE class battleship sunk along with 4 cruisers and 3 destroyers , withdrawing now " . The Eastern Fleet was not bothered again on it's journey to Perth and Then on to Sydney .HMS Frobishier Became the Depot ship in Fremantle . Both Emerald Class cruisers were sent as escorts for Warspite on her Journey to the USA for repair and upgrading .
Warspite would emerge from this repair and upgrade a different beast altogether . it would take 6 months .


Because i love the Warspite so much i may use her position in an American Shipyard for repair to do a nice upgrade . any sensible suggestions
 
Yes I know this story is full of typo's etc , I could have fixed it completely however I feel it is important to understand that this was written back in 2010 and was one of my first ever attempts . I failed English in school and it shows . I do however love reading naval stories .
 
Not a Problem , I check your story every day and enjoy it immensely .

In OTL the Japanese garrison was small and very likely never even patrolled past the mine workings . The existing 6 inch coastal battery was likely still operational when the Japanese captured it .
 
I just finished the story. I enjoyed the action and how well a defended base can hold out with support of Navy and Air Force. If you have other stories I would read them if you post them here. :cool:
 
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