The 'canal

August 8, 2022

[80 years ago today] "• Carriers Enterprise, Wasp, and Saratoga launch 93 strike aircraft an hour before dawn while the invasion forces round the western shore of Guadalcanal. Once those are away, the carriers launch 40 F4Fs as CAP for the carriers and for the Tulagi and Guadalcanal landing forces. After that they launch search aircraft to look for shipping and aircraft on anti-submarine patrol. Strike aircraft, fighters, and search planes will shuttle through the carriers throughout the day in a very intricate operational plan. The three carriers will conduct a record 703 take offs and 687 landings this day, exhausting aircrew and deck crew alike.

- Task Groups Yoke and X-Ray round Cape Esperance and split each side of Savo Island as they proceed to the debarkation areas off Tulagi and Guadalcanal.

• At 6:13, USS Quincy opens fire with eight-inch guns on Guadalcanal's Red Beach. She is quickly followed by Astoria, Vincennes, and the Australian heavy cruiser Canberra. Aircraft from USS Wasp destroy fifteen Japanese seaplanes at anchor off Florida Island.

- On receiving word of the invasion, Naval General Yamamoto issues a single order: “Counterattack”. On Rabaul, a force of 27 (some sources say 36 but that's paper strength) G4M bombers and 18 A6M fighters are preparing to take off for a strike on New Guinea with high explosive bombs. They are instead directed to attack the American ships, and the decision is made to not re-arm them with torpedoes. The aircraft pass over Aravia, a small mountain village in northern Bougainville, where Coastwatcher Jack Read is huddled over his teleradio, listening with fascination to American carrier jargon. He flashes the alert to the Navy ships, which go to general quarters.

- Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes aboard USS Wasp, responsible for coordinating air operations, puts as many fighters over the transports and carriers as possible.

- Naval Major General Sadayoshi Yamada of the 5th Air Attack Force also orders nine D3A dive bombers at Rabaul to attack, despite the fact that they don’t have the range to return and can only carry two 60 kg bombs that far. The pilots are ordered to ditch at the Shortlands seaplane base after attacking.

- Shortly afterward, Station HYPO picks up heavy traffic from Japanese 5th Air Attack Force at Rabaul and from IJN Sixth Fleet (submarines) at Truk. The new codes haven’t been broken yet but Commander Rochefort advises Nimitz’ intelligence chief that it looks like tasking to counterattack in the Solomons.

- In a fierce air battle over the ships off Lunga, 17 A6Ms engage 34 F4Fs and 16 SBDs on anti-torpedo plane patrol. 2 Zeroes, 9 Wildcats, and one Dauntless are downed while the American planes and AA fire also down 6 Bettys and 5 Vals. The only damage inflicted is on destroyer USS Mugford by the dive bombers, which claim leaving a light cruiser in flames.

Near misses on USS Mugford

- General MacArthur will report his bombers destroyed 75 Japanese bombers parked wingtip to wingtip at Rabaul. In reality, the thirteen B-17s hit an empty airstrip from which the G4Ms had already departed. Two B-17s are lost to defending fighters.

- Naval Lieutenant General Gunichi Mikawa immediately raises steam and gets under way from Rabaul with heavy cruiser Chokai, light cruisers Tenryu and Yubari, and a single destroyer. The rest of his destroyers are escorting the Sasebo SNLF to Guadalcanal, having departed the evening before. He will be reinforced by heavy cruisers Aoba, Furutaka, Kako, and Kinugasa which are already en route from Kavieng, New Ireland.

- The below photos are all taken from HMAS Canberra on this day:

Counterattack by Japanese G4Ms

Bombs fall wide of the mark"

August 8, 2022

I enjoyed Guadalcanal Campaigns and flying from Henderson Field (Call Sign: Cactus) in various types of Allied aircraft in the old IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946. One can always dream, but it would be great if Guadalcanal was part of the next IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles DLC after Battle of Normandy.

August 8, 2022

7 minutes ago, No105_Swoose said:

I enjoyed Guadalcanal Campaigns and flying from Henderson Field (Call Sign: Cactus) in various types of Allied aircraft in the old IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946. One can always dream, but it would be great if Guadalcanal was part of the next IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles DLC after Battle of Normandy.

Agreed Swoose. My all time favorite campaign is "Cactus Diary", I've played it many times. Endless flights up from Henderson to intercept incoming Bettys in my Wildcat, and mostly getting my ass kicked. I'd pay $100 to fly that campaign again, in a more modern sim.

And there's no carrier involved. ?

August 9, 2022

[80 years ago today] "• An Australian Hudson spots Gunichi Mikawa’s cruiser force which is heading for Guadalcanal. The Japanese see the aircraft first and Mikawa orders the course reversed. On receiving the report of a northbound Japanese force, the Americans assume it to be a seaplane tender force moving its base in reaction to the invasion. Historian Samuel Eliot Morison and the Navy will blame the Australian flight crew issuing an error-filled sighting report for the upcoming defeat at Savo Island. The US Navy will issue a written apology to the last surviving Hudson crewman in 2014.

• Citing critical fuel shortage, Rear Admiral Thomas Kinkaid withdraws USS Enterprise to refuel his destroyers despite her being the duty carrier for morning strikes. Rear Admiral Turner urgently requests an airstrike on Tanambogo and Fletcher orders Saratoga to provide the strike for Turner despite her being the reserve carrier to provide air cover. This disrupts Rear Admiral Noyes’ air schedule and will result in a reduction of CAP later in the day.

USS Wasp flight operations off Guadalcanal

• On Guadalcanal, the Marines continue pushing through the jungle while supplies are feverishly unloaded, piling up on the beach and proving that Richmond Kelly Turner’s prediction of two days to unload was unrealistic.

- Just before noon, 23 G4M1 “Betty” bombers armed with torpedoes escorted by 15 A6M “Zero” fighters arrive from Rabaul. Warned by coastwatchers, the ships have stopped unloading and gotten under way into anti-air formations with lunch served early.

- The G4Ms come in at very low altitude. Japanese ace Saburo Sakai is escorting the bombers and his four plane element dives on a group of eight fighters that are attacking the bombers. He is surprised that the “fighters” have a tail gunners. They are SBD Dauntlesses on anti-torpedo plane duty. Sakai’s Zero is transfixed by several thirty caliber rounds and his canopy disintegrates. He is struck in the head by one bullet and despite being blinded in one eye will make it back to base, and evacuation to Japan.

Sakai after being pulled from his plane. He will train pilots until 1944 when shortages result in him flying combat again, despite being mostly blind in one eye.

- SBDs and F4Fs down two A6Ms and four G4Ms without loss. Another thirteen Bettys are downed by concentrated AA fire.

- The Japanese succeed in putting a torpedo only into destroyer USS Jarvis, which had maneuvered between heavy cruiser Vincennes and the enemy aircraft. Naval transport USS George F. Elliott is badly damaged by a G4M which crashes into her.

- The Japanese survivors report sinking four heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, two destroyers, and two transports.

- G4Ms launching torpedoes here is a surprise, since Pacific Fleet Intelligence had stated that G4Ms would only have range to reach Guadalcanal if carrying a lighter load of bombs.

USS Jarvis, low in the water with a fifty foot gash in her hull, and USS George F Elliott burning in the background.

- Fletcher reports to Vice Admiral Ghormley that he has lost 21 of his fighters and that his carriers are getting low on fuel. He desires to withdraw and refuel so as to be ready for a response by Japanese carriers as per the SoPac OpPlan. Ghormley approves and the carriers retire to the south after midnight.

• A float plane from heavy cruiser Aoba reports two split Allied groups, north and south of Savo Island. Mikawa signals his battle plan. He will penetrate the passage south of Savo in single line, torpedo the enemy units off Guadalcanal, sweep toward Tulagi to attack with gunfire and torpedoes, and withdraw by the passage north of Savo. The force will sail in elementary line-astern formation with 1,300 yards between them. Shortly before sunset, the ships jettison all topside flammables.

Downed G4M 08 August 42

August 12, 2022

[80 years ago today] "• Eight B-17s attack Rabaul, damaging transport Matsumoto Maru.

• Three Japanese transports unload men and supplies at Buna, New Guinea.

• A patrolling SBD scout bomber from USS Enterprise spots I-175 on the surface and attacks her with bombs. I-175 has to abort her patrol with damage.

Enterprise in distance and Saratoga, taken from Wasp on 12 August, 1942

• The former Japanese airfield inland from Lunga Point is named Henderson Field after Lofton R. Henderson, a Marine aviator who was killed during the Battle of Midway. A PBY Catalina makes a trial landing. The field is still in operation today as Honaira International Airport.

- Overnight, Japanese destroyers Yuzuki and Oite conduct a bombardment of the field with minimal damage inflicted."

August 20, 2022

[80 years ago today] "• Auxiliary carrier USS Long Island delivers 19 Marine Corps F4F Wildcats and 12 Marine Corps SBD Dauntlesses to Henderson Field.

- Most of the ground crew and supplies will not arrive until the 30th, so this work will be done by ground crew from SoPac Navy patrol and transportation air units who volunteered. Aircraft at Henderson became known as the “Cactus Air Force” (CAF) after the Allied codename for Guadalcanal. The Marine fighters will go into action the next day, on the first of the almost-daily Japanese bomber air raids.

- A Japanese flying boat spots Long Island, reporting her as USS Wasp. Twenty-six G4M bombers and 13 A6M fighters sortie but are unable to locate her.

• Colonel Ichiki moves his 770 troops forward to within a few miles of Henderson Field, stopping. Ichiki is pitting his single battalion against five. The Marines dig in machine gun emplacements plus 37mm guns loaded with canister shot, while 75mm and 105mm artillery range their guns on the far side of Alligator Creek.

75mm pack howitzer on Guadalcanal after either the Tenaru or Edson’s Ridge actions. Note that it has not yet been fitted with pneumatic tires as later arriving guns will be.

• Sergeant-Major Jacob Vouza of the British Solomon Islands Constabulary is captured while scouting around the Japanese. The Japanese tie him to a tree and torture him for hours during which he is bayoneted in both of his arms, throat, shoulder, face, and stomach. He refuses to give any information so eventually the Japanese leave him tied to the tree, presuming that he is dying.

- Vouza has just enough strength left to chew through his ropes and make an escape back to the American lines. Martin Clemens describes him: “He was in an awful mess. I could hardly bear to look at him. After he chewed free of his bonds, he set off to try to contact the Marines, but after a bit, he became so weak that he had to crawl on all fours. He must have crawled nearly three miles, right through the whole battle [area]. As if this wasn’t enough, he also insisted in spluttering out a very valuable description of what the Japanese forces had consisted, its numbers and weapons. All of this was passed on immediately.”

- Vouza receives 16 pints of blood and is in the field hospital for 12 days before he insists on going back to work to “pay back all they had done with me”.

- General Vandegrift presents Vouza with the Silver Star. He will receive the Legion of Merit later in the year for service as Chief Scout for the 2nd Raider Battalion during Colonel Edson’s thirty day raid. The British will present him with the George Medal, and he will later be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

- Later in the year, Vouza will hear that some Allied airmen were shot at by a sniper while bathing in a stream. He takes off into the bush and later returns with a head in a sack, saying, “Jap fella no shootum at fly boys no more ever.”

Sir Jacob wore the uniform for the rest of his life"

August 20, 2022

Talk about a hero!

These people deserve to be remembered.

August 23, 2022

[80 years ago today] "• Fletcher’s carriers are east of Guadalcanal covering two cargo ships unloading, one at Lunga Point and the other at Tulagi. Two Enterprise SBDs spot submarine I-17 and bomb her, missing as she crash dives. A half hour later the submarine surfaces and is strafed, diving again.

• Fourteen hundred Japanese soldiers (the remainder of Colonel Ichiki’s 28th Infantry Regiment) and several hundred SNLF Marines are bound for Guadalcanal from Truk, escorted by 5 cruisers and 8 destroyers. They are followed by General Nagumo’s fleet which is also covering the unopposed Nauru landing. A PBY spots the troop convoy, and Fletcher turns north to attack it. At this point a series of errors occur:

- Fletcher has received an intelligence report from OP-20G (Captain Redman) in Washington that Japanese carriers Junyō, Hiyō, Zuihō, and Ryuhō are in home waters. Shōkaku, Zuikaku, and Ryūjō are north of Truk (over a thousand miles away) heading south.

- Fletcher is too far away to launch a full strike against the convoy but can send an unescorted one to hit in late afternoon. Rather than have them return to the carriers after dark he will have them overnight at Henderson Field. Under radio silence, he dispatches a TBF to message drop the plan to General Vandegrift and ask if he can receive them. By early afternoon Vandegrift signals that he can, but only has room for one air group.

- Fletcher dispatches 31 SBDs and 6 TBFs from Saratoga to attack the convoy. Unknown to him, Tanaka had reversed course on spotting the PBY and is now out of range. The shadowing PBY reported this but the message does not reach Fletcher for 13 hours. The Saratoga strike aircraft will find nothing, and land safely at Henderson Field. They report that due to makeshift fueling facilities they will be unable to return to Saratoga before 1030 tomorrow instead of 0730 as planned.

- With no Japanese carriers in the area, Fletcher follows Ghormley’s suggestion and detaches USS Wasp TF-11 to refuel from the oilers loitering 350 miles southeast of Guadalcanal.

- Unknown to Fletcher, Naval General Nagumo with carriers Ryūjō, Shōkaku and Zuikaku, battleships Hiei and Kirishima, 11 cruisers, 17 destroyers and seaplane carrier Chitose are only 300 miles north of him. He is well within PBY search sectors but remains undetected under thick clouds.

- An F4F from Enterprise shoots down an H6K flying boat 25 miles from the carrier. It does not get off a radio report.

Kawanishi H6K down on the water

- Overnight, Japanese destroyer Kagerō bombards Marine troop positions on Guadalcanal as reported by the Ichiki detachment but inflicts little damage. Henderson Field, with nearly seventy aircraft parked in the open, is not targeted.

USS Saratoga south of the Solomons Aug 42 taken from Wasp or Enterprise"

August 24, 2022

[80 years ago today]

Battle of the Eastern Solomons

• The Japanese are in three forces: the convoy under Tanaka, the mobile force with carrier Ryūjō covering the convoy, and the carrier striking force under Nagumo ready to respond to any American moves. Neither side currently knows there are enemy carriers in the area. Nagumo orders Ryūjō to launch an attack against Henderson Field at daybreak. This has sometimes been reported as a decoy operation to sacrifice the light carrier in order to expose the Americans and allow Zuikaku and Shōkaku to counter-attack them, but is actually in response to a request from Rabaul for aid in neutralizing Henderson field. Ryūjō will not be in position until noon.

(One should remember that Ryūjō was the sole carrier covering the conquests of the Philippines and Malaya, and did so successfully.)

0935 – A Ndeni based PBY spots the Ryūjō covering group, reporting 1 CV, 2 CL, and 1 DD. The PBY evades two A6M Zeroes for an hour in clouds before escaping. Saratoga does not hear the report but Enterprise does, passing the sighting to Saratoga AirPlot, which assumes that FlagPlot already knows about it. Admiral Fletcher is not informed.

~0950 – Nagumo’s carrier forces sights a PBY in a break in clouds, but it does not see him. Nagumo is startled by the sighting, thinking he is out of range of American search aircraft.

1016 – A PBY spots Kondo’s Advance Force, reporting two cruisers and two destroyers. Seaplane carrier Chitose launches three F1Ms that pursue the PBY for an hour before it escapes. The PBY initially reports itself under attack by carrier fighters, then corrects the report to reconnaissance floatplanes.

1035 – After unloading their bombs from yesterday’s failed strike on the convoy for Marine use, Saratoga’s strike aircraft return to the carrier from their overnight on Henderson Field.

1116 – A “seething” Admiral Thomas Kinkaid on Enterprise queries Fletcher on Saratoga on why no action is being taken against the Japanese carrier. It takes some time to sort out the sighting report and determine why Fletcher had not been told about the sighting. (Unfortunately no record is made of the language used in FlagPlot). The now two hour old sighting is out of strike range to the northwest. Fletcher turns the carriers towards the target and informs all ships he wants all boilers on-line in thirty minutes.

1137 – Fletcher orders an air search out to 250 miles from 270 to 090.

1213 – Enterprise F4Fs, vectored after a radar target, report shooting down a large sleek Japanese flying boat of an unfamiliar type. This is a new Kawanishi H8K “Emily”, supplementing the older H6K.

1250 – Ryūjō launches nine B5N2 with 60 kg bombs for maximum fragmentation effect, nine A6M2 to strafe, and six A6M2 for top cover to attack Henderson Field.

Ryūjō from a “Kate” which has just taken off

1315 – The Ryūjō group attacks Henderson field, intercepted by Marine F4Fs and army P-400s. Five B5N2s and three A6M2s are downed for the loss of two F4Fs. A planned simultaneous attack by twenty-four G4M and fifteen A6M from Rabaul aborts due to weather. Damage to field is minimal. During the raid Marion Carl, a veteran of the Marine Air Group on Midway, becomes the Marine Corps’ first ace.

1320 – Fletcher launches Saratoga’s strike of 31 SBDs and 8 TBFs against the now four hour old CV sighting. He retains the remaining Enterprise strike aircraft for response to sightings from the Enterprise search aircraft.

1330 – Nagumo orders Hiroaki Abe to proceed 120 miles in advance of the carriers in order to provide early warning, absorb airstrikes aimed at the carriers, and to be able to engage Allied units in night action. Abe will only be 10 miles ahead with his battleships, cruisers, and destroyers by time of the battle.

1400 – Chikuma #2 floatplane reports Fletcher’s carriers and is quickly shot down by Enterprise F4Fs.

1405 – PBY updates enemy carrier position, course and speed, and identifies target as light carrier with no island. This is relayed to the Saratoga strike force but it is not received.

1425 - Nagumo launches from his fleet carriers, but they are still unable to operationally launch their entire complement at once without the first wave having to orbit for a long period, using fuel. 27 D3A dive bombers and 15 A6M fighters head out, followed by a second wave nearly 90 minutes later.

1430 – Two Enterprise SBDs spot Kondo’s Advance Force and attack heavy cruiser Maya, missing with 500 lb bombs.

1449 – Lieutenant Ray Davis, the CO of VB-6 at the end of his search leg, spots Abe’s cruisers. While he and his wingman are preparing to bomb one, he just makes out Shōkaku to the north. He climbs while heading for her and makes out Zuikaku beyond her. Davis reports two large carriers with decks full launching aircraft but the message is not received by Enterprise nor Saratoga. Shōkaku radar picks him up but the Japanese are too slow in passing word from radar to the bridge, and then from the bridge to CAP. One 500 lb bomb lands 10 meters from the stern of the carrier with the other about 20 meters away.

1457 – Two separate pairs of search TBFs from Enterprise sight Ryūjō, bombing from high altitude. The first is not spotted and four 500 lb bombs land only 150 meters astern of the carrier. The second pair is engaged by CAP and one Avenger piloted by a Devastator survivor from Midway is shot down.

1536 – The Saratoga strike group attacks Ryūjō, hitting her with four bombs and one torpedo. No American planes are lost. Although the fires are quickly put out her machinery is flooded and she has a 21° list. Attempts to tow her are quickly dropped and she is abandoned.

It is not surprising that Ryūjō capsizes within a few hours with 120 crewmen lost.

1602 – The Japanese first wave is picked up on radar. Fletcher orders the Enterprise strike (waiting for a target) to launch and proceed towards the Ryūjō, and land at Henderson field if unable to return to carrier. He then launches extra CAP.

1605 – A search plane from battleship Hiei spots both Fletcher’s carriers, but erroneously reports them to be 50 miles south-south-east of their actual position. This is relayed to Nagumo’s second wave and they change course away from the carriers.

1629 – 25 Wildcats engage in a distant intercept while thirty are over the carriers. The Americans learn a valuable lesson on trying to coordinate the interception on a single radio frequency when overlapping pilot transmissions effectively jam attempts to coordinate and direct. This prevents all but a few of the Wildcats from intercepting before the Vals begin their dives.

1640 – Fletcher turns crossways to the wind to provide a more difficult target for dive bombers. Most of the Japanese target Enterprise but nine D3As target Saratoga while seven target North Carolina, the first American battleship the Japanese have seen since Pearl Harbor.

1644 – Amid violent maneuvering by Captain Arthur Davis which dodges multiple attacks, Enterprise takes three bomb hits. One hits the flight deck aft penetrating several decks, one on the 5” anti-aircraft gallery, and one that explodes on the flight deck amidships without penetrating. The Saratoga and North Carolina are undamaged, though the battleship erupts with so much anti-aircraft fire that Enterprise will blinker her during the attack: "Are you afire?" The North Carolina fires 841 rounds of 5-inch, 1,037 rounds of 1.1-inch, 7,425 rounds of 20-mm, and 8,641 rounds of .50 caliber during this attack. She is shaken by near misses and credited with downing seven aircraft though her gunners claim fourteen. [Refits would replace the 1.1s with dual and quad 40mm and the .50s with more 20mm]

{Most of this video is taken aboard Enterprise during the attack. Enterprise is hit by the 2nd and 3rd bombs at about 2:11 and 2:40. The second hits near the 5” AA gallery, wiping out one gun and killing 35 more men. The third hits and detonates on the flight deck without penetrating. At minute 4 Enterprise is turning hard and smoke from two crashed D3As is visible.

1655 – Saratoga recovers a badly damaged F4F that flips on landing.

1703 – American radar picks up the 2nd Japanese wave, but it is heading on a tangent that will bring it no nearer than 70 miles from the carriers.

1730 – Saratoga recovers fighters from both carriers frantically refueling and respotting them for take-off in case the 2nd Japanese wave comes in. Returning search planes are orbiting, getting low on fuel. The Japanese report that they have left *two* carriers in flames.

D3As returning to Shōkaku 24 August 42.

1805 – Kinkaid signals Fletcher that Enterprise can resume flight operations.

1813 – Enterprise steering motors short out and she circles helplessly, nearly running down destroyer Balch.

1820 – Two Saratoga SBDs attack seaplane carrier Chitose, scoring near misses which dash in her port side and disable the port engine, giving her a 30º list. Three floatplanes are destroyed by the near misses. She will be towed to Truk by destroyer Minegumo despite a subsequent attack by B-17s that miss. After repairs, she will be equipped with A6M2-N floatplane fighters, reducing her air group of F1M2 and E13 floatplane reconnaissance bombers.

1827 – The Japanese second wave, not finding anything, makes a course change towards Fletcher’s carriers but before sighting them turns back to Nagumo. After recovering them, Nagumo will turn north to refuel.

1830 – Four B-17s attack destroyer Maikaze in Abe’s group, now pushing south to destroy the “damaged carriers”.

1915 – Enterprise steering is restored. Kinkaid signals she is capable of flight operations and 25 knots but will need to retire for repairs.

1930 – Fletcher gives orders to proceed southeast into the wind to recover aircraft, after which he will withdraw south to refuel. Enterprise TF-16 destroyers have from 12% to 30% fuel while Saratoga TF-11 destroyers have from 26% to 40%. He tells his staff,

“Boys, I’m going to get two messages tonight. One from Admiral Nimitz telling me what a good job you did and one from King saying ‘Why the hell didn’t you use your destroyers to make torpedo attacks?’ and by God, they’ll both be right!”

- Sometime during the night a message arrives from Vice Admiral Ghormley, advising Fletcher that the Japanese have received large numbers of destroyers recently and they boast of their night torpedo technique.

2100 – Though Enterprise SBDs land on Henderson with their bombs, the TBFs return to the carriers after dark. Fletcher authorizes lights turned on to recover them on both carriers. One TBF crashes into the crane abaft Enterprise’s island. Saratoga has 93 aircraft aboard; they are so tight that handlers tip some F4Fs on their noses and stack them close together.

2133 – A radar equipped PBY reports at least five contacts 145 miles north of Fletcher, heading south at twenty knots. This is Abe’s group consisting of battleships Hiei and Kirishima, ten cruisers, and nine destroyers. It will turn back at midnight to be under Nagumo’s air cover by dawn.

- The Japanese have lost 33 fighters and 32 bombers to all causes, plus 61 airmen. The Americans have lost eight F4F fighters (four to friendly AA) and one TBF Avenger. Most of the American aircrew are recovered. Vice Admiral Fletcher will submit a detailed report on the Eastern Solomons battle, concentrating on the many communications failures and remedies needed. Other major points include:

Fighter direction has improved since Midway but separate circuits are needed to prevent channels from being overloaded.
The fast battleship was invaluable.
Once enough carriers are available to conduct offensive operations, one “fighter carrier” should be designated, being able to cycle and reinforce CAP without interruptions from having to launch and recover search and strike aircraft.
The practice of requiring each carrier be in a separate Task Force results in escorts being thinly spread to cover each one and hampers coordination.

- Fletcher and Saratoga will not be credited with the sinking Ryūjō until 1943 when cryptography confirms her loss.

SBD slides while Enterprise turns at flank speed

Aichi D3A shot down over USS Enterprise 24 August 1942"

October 13, 2022

[80 years ago today] "• An American troop convoy consisting of naval transports McCawley and Zeilin plus eight high speed destroyer transports lands the Army 164th Infantry Regiment on Guadalcanal. The regiment has “acquired” sixteen Bren gun carriers, probably from a New Zealand unit, which will be extremely useful in hauling supplies through the jungle. The unit is landed and the convoy departs before nightfall.

• The Japanese launch the heaviest bombardment of Henderson Field during the entire campaign. The first phase consists of two airstrikes. Fortunately for the soldiers being unloaded, the airmen follow their orders to hit the airfield and ignore the transports.

- A total of 45 G4M bombers escorted by 36 A6M fighters arrive in two waves, intercepted by 42 Navy and Marine F4Fs and thirteen Army P-39/P-400s. Each side loses only two aircraft, but both fields are cratered and an underground fuel tank with 5,000 gallons of avgas is destroyed.

- Shortly after midnight, Battleship Division 3 under Lt-General Takeo Kurita arrives off the island. “Louie the Louse” arrives overhead and begins dropping flares to illuminate Henderson Field. This warns the men to take to their dugouts.

- One minute later the Japanese battleships Kongō and Haruna cut speed to 18 knots. The operation is well prepared. Navigators align range finders on three reference lights being shown on the Japanese-held coast to fix their positions exactly. A gunnery officer from battleship Yamato sits atop Mount Austen to handle fall of shot tracking. The Japanese battlewagons are to hurl shells in a barrage pattern into a 2,200-meter square overlapping Henderson Field and the backup strip Fighter One.

- As a diversion, light cruiser Isuzu fires on Tulagi Island. The four newly arrived PT boats attack the destroyer screen, but score no hits. PT-60 runs aground while withdrawing.

- The battleships open fire while on an easterly course with their main armament firing to starboard. Then they make a 180-degree turn and come back, firing to port. Shore batteries return fire but the battleships are out of range.

- Kongō fires 435 and Haruna 433 shells of 14” size. Haruna has standard high explosive rounds while Kongō is testing new Type 3 "Sanshikidan" shells. Originally designed as anti-aircraft rounds, each time-fused shell contains 480 incendiary (rubber thermite) submunitions. Towards the end of the bombardment as the battleships run out, a few armor piercing shells are fired but these do little damage. A few dozen 6” shells are also fired, mostly at the Marine artillery positions.

- The 14” shells hit west of the runway at first, but the Japanese walk their fire across the airfield, setting off aircraft, ammo dumps, gasoline tanks, turning night into day. Japanese sailors watch the explosions and cheer.

- Ashore the Americans endure one of the most concentrated shellings in history. To Coastwatcher Martin Clemens, "the ground shook with the most awful convulsions." Fighter pilot and Medal of Honor winner Joe Foss admits later that he shook uncontrollably.

- General Vandegrift’s command bunker takes a near miss that knocks everyone to the ground. Vandegrift says later. "Until someone has experienced naval or artillery shelling or aerial bombardment, he cannot easily grasp a sensation compounded of frustration, helplessness, fear, and in the case of close hits, shock..."

- At 0230, BatDiv 3 retires up the slot at 28 knots.

- At dawn, exhausted Marines find Henderson Field unusable, with forty planes completely destroyed and many of the others damaged. Only seven of thirty-nine SBDs can fly, and none of the TBFs. Twenty F4Fs, four P-400s and three P-39s are ready to defend Guadalcanal, but there is almost no fuel remaining. “Only” 41 Americans are killed in the bombardment.

- While engineers try to repair runway damage and aircraft mechanics try to put lightly damaged planes together with parts from the wrecks, the newly arrived National Guard soldiers are wondering what they’ve gotten into.

October 26, 2022

[80 years ago today] "• The last phase of what will be called the Battle for Henderson Field plays out with a delayed attack by the 124th Infantry Regiment under Colonel Akinosuke Oka against the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Marines slightly upsteam of the Matanikau mouth. Again, the weakened Japanese soldiers take heavy losses to overwhelming firepower, but they are able to push back one Marine company before a counterattack drives them off with more than 300 killed. The Marines lose 14 killed and 32 wounded.

A wounded Marine is carried back. Losses for the past five days: 86 Americans killed, 192 wounded; 2,353 confirmed Japanese dead, unknown number of wounded.

• General Nagumo has been circling northeast of the Solomons with fleet carriers Zuikaku and Shōkaku plus light carrier Zuihō. Detected by a PBY the day before, he retreated to the north to avoid airstrikes, then doubled south during the night to close on the expected American carriers.

- Vice Admiral Halsey, partly to display aggressiveness to show a difference from Ghormley and Fletcher, directs Rear Admiral Kinkaid to “make a bold sweep” to the furthest extent of land based air support. Kinkaid continues north with Enterprise and Hornet and is less than 200 miles from Nagumo at dawn. Light carrier Junyō departs from covering Henderson field towards Nagumo’s area.

0310 – A radar equipped PBY spots the Japanese carriers, but it takes two hours for the report to reach Kinkaid. He withholds his strike aircraft pending a more recent report. The PBY makes a night attack with bombs, missing Zuikaku by 300 meters. Perhaps remembering Midway, Nagumo orders his aircraft defueled and disarmed until shortly before dawn.

0650 – A scout SDB from Enterprise spots the Japanese carriers.

0658 - Hornet is spotted by a Japanese B5N which reports her as USS Saratoga.

0710 - Nagumo launches half of his strike complement, 21 D3A dive bombers, 20 B5N torpedo planes, 21 A6M fighters with two B5N acting as command and control aircraft.

Aircraft preparing to launch from Shōkaku 26 October 42. This photo is sometimes misidentified as being just before Pearl Harbor.

0720 - Kinkaid launches his strike, but believing a rapid attack is more important than a coordinated one, his 27 SBDs, 21 TBFs, and 23 F4Fs are straggling along in three separate waves.

Enterprise TBF on 26 October, 1942. The signs are the bearing and distance to Japanese carriers and a note telling them to not wait for Hornet aircraft.

0740 – Additional scout SBDs are tracking the Japanese force. The CAP is sent after them, but due to the Japanese only using one frequency and not being organized into sections, ALL of the CAP leaves the carriers. Two Enterprise scout SBDs take advantage of this and attack light carrier Zuihō through ineffective anti-aircraft fire. Both score hits on the after end of the flight deck with their 500 lb bombs. Damage is not serious but it does prevent further flight operations.

0750 - Nagumo orders battleships Hiei and Kirishima with their escorts forward to engage the American ships. Kinkaid’s carriers are covered by battleship South Dakota, six cruisers, and fourteen destroyers.

0810 - The Japanese are still organizationally unable to launch their full air complements. Nagumo gets his second strike off two hours after the first.

0840 - The opposing strikes sight each other and nine Zeroes from Zuihō engage a flight from Enterprise with four Zeroes, three Wildcats, and two Avengers downed while two Wildcats and one Avenger have to abort.

0850 – The lead American strike aircraft pass the Japanese battleship force and press on towards the carriers. Zuikaku picks this force up on radar at a distance of 78 miles.

0855 – The American ships pick up the first Japanese wave on radar at forty miles distance. 37 F4Fs are vectored in but control mistakes and confusion result in only a few intercepting.

0905 – Still driving to join Nagumo, light carrier Junyō launches 17 dive bombers and 12 fighters from 280 miles away to attack the American ships.

0912 – A D3A dive bomber places its 250 kg semi-armor-piercing bomb dead center on Hornet's flight deck, across from the island, which penetrates three decks before exploding, killing 60 men. Moments later, a 242 kg "land" bomb strikes the flight deck, detonating on impact and creating an 11 foot hole as well as killing 30 men.

0913 - A third bomb hits Hornet near where the first bomb hit, penetrating three decks before exploding, causing severe damage but no direct loss of life.

0914 - A D3A dive bomber is hit and damaged by anti-aircraft fire directly over Hornet.

0916 – Launching from two directions, Japanese torpedo planes hit Hornet with two torpedoes. The Japanese have lost 25 aircraft in the attack.

0917 – The second American group attacks General Abe’s battleship force, with TBF Avengers launching against heavy cruiser Suzuya which evades torpedoes. The third group also attacks, with SBDs targeting heavy cruiser Chikuma. She is hit by three bombs, including one on the bridge and one on her torpedo battery.

Chikuma under attack. A hit on her bridge is visible. Her torpedo officer jettisons the torpedoes seconds before the bombs hit. Chikuma suffers 190 killed and 154 wounded. Chikuma will be under repair through February 1943.

0927 – The first American group (from Hornet) has lost track of its six TBF Avengers. The eight F4Fs are drawn off by three Zuihō A6Ms leaving the fifteen SBDs to be engaged by 23 A6Ms from Shōkaku and Zuikaku. Four SBDs are shot down, but the rest score four (possibly six) hits on Shōkaku, shattering the flight deck but not penetrating past the hangar deck. She is definitely out of action but is able to maintain thirty knots.

1000 – With assistance from three destroyers, the fires are out on USS Hornet. Heavy cruiser Northampton attempts to tow the carrier.

1008 – The dive bombers of the second Japanese strike arrive and Northampton quickly moves away from Hornet. Believing her to be sinking, the Japanese concentrate on Enterprise. Again, the American CAP has trouble intercepting and only two Japanese aircraft are downed. Accurate anti-aircraft fire from Enterprise and South Dakota shoots down ten more Japanese aircraft, but they plant two bombs on the flight deck, inflicting heavy damage and jamming the forward elevator in the up position.

Enterprise and South Dakota during the dive bomber attack.

1028 – The torpedo planes of the second strike arrive. Captain Osborne Hardison, who took command of Enterprise only five days earlier, drives his carrier at flank speed in a series of radical evasive maneuvers, evading no less than 16 torpedoes. Nine B5Ns are shot down. One of them, on fire, crashes into escorting destroyer Smith, killing 57 of her crew.

1050 - Around this time a damaged TBF that had aborted the mission ditches near destroyer USS Porter. On ditching, the torpedo begins running in circles, hitting the destroyer aft and disabling her. The crew is picked up and the Porter is scuttled by USS Shaw.

1115 – Enterprise reopens her flight deck, taking aboard aircraft from both carriers desperately short on fuel. Sixteen aircraft cannot be accommodated and are forced to ditch near escorts, with all crew recovered.

1121 – The airstrike from Junyō arrives and attacks the Enterprise task force. The dive bombers score one near miss on Enterprise and one hit on light cruiser San Juan, causing moderate damage to both ships. Another bomb hits South Dakota’s forward 16” turret but does not penetrate. 50 sailors including South Dakota’s captain, are wounded. Eleven Japanese dive bombers are destroyed in this attack.

1135 – Admiral Kinkaid decides to withdraw since he has a single damaged carrier and the Japanese have two undamaged ones remaining. As the Japanese aircraft return to their carriers, staff officers describe the aviators as severely shaken by American anti-aircraft fire. The only Junyō dive bomber leader to survive is unable to speak coherently for several minutes.

1300 – The damaged Shōkaku and Zuihō head north for Truk, with Nagumo still aboard the Shōkaku. Command devolves onto Major General Kakuji Kakuta aboard Zuikaku.

1306 – Junyō and Zuikaku launch airstrikes.

1445 – Heavy cruiser Northampton begins towing Hornet to the south.

1520 – Junyō’s second strike arrives and puts one torpedo into the Hornet, flooding the starboard after engine room and giving her a 14° list. The Zuikaku strike arrives shortly afterward and hits the carrier with one bomb. Unable to operate the pumps, the crew abandons ship.

2040 – All efforts to salvage Hornet are abandoned when the Japanese battleship/cruiser group is only twenty miles away. Destroyers Mustin and Anderson attempt to scuttle her with torpedoes but they apparently don’t detonate. The destroyers put nearly 400 shells into her but she stubbornly remains afloat. They flee the scene after an hour with the Japanese entering gun range.

2220 – Major General Hiroaki Abe arrives before the wallowing Hornet. He spends nearly two hours trying to figure a way to tow her home as a prize, but ultimately orders her sunk with torpedoes (that explode). The US Navy reports her scuttled by American torpedoes.

- The Japanese, with fuel levels near critical, break off the action to refuel. PBYs conduct night bombing and torpedo attacks but score no hits.

- The loss of Hornet and damage to Enterprise leaves the US Navy with no operable fleet carriers in the Pacific.

- The Japanese will claim a victory, saying that three American carriers and a battleship have been sunk. General Nagumo knows better. He will report: “This battle was a tactical win, but a shattering strategic loss for Japan. Considering the great superiority of our enemy's industrial capacity, we must win every battle overwhelmingly in order to win this war. This last one, although a victory, unfortunately, was not an overwhelming victory.”

- Nagumo will be relieved of command and reassigned to the Sasebo Military District.

- 99 Japanese aircraft are lost, compared to 81 American. However, only 26 American aircrew are lost compared to 148 Japanese. Japanese aircrew losses are greater than those of Coral Sea, Midway, or Eastern Solomons. 409 of the 765 elite aviators who had attacked Pearl Harbor are now dead.

- This newsreel is released in early 1943, combining Stalingrad and Santa Cruz Islands (starting at minute 5 with some footage from other times such as Eastern Solomons):

B5N crashes into USS Smith taken from USS South Dakota

October 26, 2022

2 hours ago, cardboard_killer said:

General Nagumo has been circling northeast of the Solomons with fleet carriers Zuikaku and Shōkaku plus...

Vice Admiral?

2 hours ago, cardboard_killer said:

Major General Hiroaki Abe arrives before the wallowing Hornet.

Rear Admiral?

October 26, 2022

I think the Japanese used the same word for rank in both Army and Navy, with different qualifiers, so you will sometimes see it translated as Naval General.

October 26, 2022

Wow. I didn’t know the Japanese actually had the abandoned Hornet for a couple of hours.

November 13, 2022

[80 years ago today] "• Knowing that the Japanese fleet is coming, the US transport force departs Guadalcanal while the two task groups guarding it (commanded by Rear Admirals Norman Scott and Daniel Callaghan) remain to intercept the Japanese.

- The Japanese force under Lt-General Hioaki Abe consists of battleships Hiei and Kirishima, six heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, sixteen destroyers, and eleven transports. The Americans have two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and twelve destroyers. The Japanese are expecting to land troops and conduct a bombardment. The guns and ready lockers are filled with special bombardment ammunition. The Americans detect the Japanese on radar first, but inexperience with tracking, poor command preparation, and confused communications results in no fire being opened until the leading elements are at close range, SSE of Savo Island.

- Destroyer Akatsuki and Hiei turn on searchlights and illuminate AA cruiser Atlanta only three thousand yards away. Surprised despite having tracked the Japanese on radar for more than twenty minutes, Admiral Callaghan issues a confusing order for “Odd ships fire to starboard, even ships fire to port.”

- This had not been planned and ships were unsure their numbers, so American ships open fire, then several switch fire in an attempt to comply.

- With her searchlights on, Akatsuki draws fire from at least six American ships and blows up in only a few minutes.

- At the front of the formation, USS Atlanta similarly draws fire from at least four Japanese ships. She is also hit by a torpedo and takes friendly fire from USS San Francisco, being hit with eighteen American 8” shells. Read Admiral Scott and much of her bridge crew are killed. Destroyer Cushing takes fire and is quickly dead in the water. She will sink under repeated gunfire as the Japanese pass her.

- Battleship Hiei then becomes the focus for many American ships with destroyer USS Laffey passing only twenty feet from her. The battleship is unable to depress her guns in order to hit the destroyer, but Laffey rakes her with 5” and AA fire, wounding General Abe and killing his chief of staff. Four destroyers each fire six torpedoes at Hiei. Only one is confirmed to hit and it fails to explode.

- Laffey is then hit by 14” gunfire from Kirishima and quickly sinks. Hiei turns her own 14” guns on San Francisco and shatters her superstructure with high explosive shells, killing Rear Admiral Callaghan and Captain Cassin Young. At the same time Hiei has a serious fire from multiple 5” and 8” hits. San Francisco lands an 8” shell into Hiei’s steering gear. Captain Gilbert Hoover of light cruiser Helena moves between San Francisco and the Japanese in an attempt to protect the heavy cruiser.

- Heavy cruiser USS Portland is hit aft by a Japanese torpedo that blows off two propellers and jams her rudder. She is only able to steer in a wide circle. She fires into Hiei and is carried away from the battle.

Painting of the confused action

- Destroyer Amatsukaze torpedoes destroyer Barton, sinking her immediately. She fires more torpedoes and hits light cruiser Juneau which is exchanging fire with Yudachi, breaking her keel. Three destroyers sink USS Monssen with gunfire.

- With two ships fallen to her, Amatsukaze approaches the San Francisco to finish her off, but takes seven full broadsides from USS Helena. She is barely able to escape while making smoke. USS San Francisco will survive despite taking forty-five shell hits, fifteen of them from 14” guns.

- Destroyers Aaron Ward and Sterett hit Yudachi simultaneously with gunfire and torpedoes, heavily damaging the destroyer and forcing her crew to abandon ship. Continuing on her way, Sterett is suddenly ambushed by Teruzuki, heavily damaged, and forced to withdraw from the battle area to the east. Aaron Ward finds herself in a one-on-one duel with Kirishima, which the destroyer loses but survives, dead in the water.

- After nearly 40 minutes of brutal, close-quarters fighting, General Abe and Captain Gilbert Hoover of the Helena (the senior surviving American officer) both give orders to break off at around the same time. Unknown to Abe, the Americans have only the Helena and one destroyer still fit for action. Having fired off his bombardment ammunition, he chooses to abandon the mission and depart the area.

- Dawn reveals three crippled Japanese (Hiei, Yudachi, and Amatsukaze), and three crippled American ships (Portland, Atlanta, and Aaron Ward) in the general vicinity of Savo Island. Amatsukaze evades an American air attack and escapes to Truk. The abandoned hulk of Yudachi is sunk by Portland, whose guns still work despite her inability to maneuver. The tugboat USS Bobolink spends the day motoring around Ironbottom Sound, assisting the damaged US ships, rescuing Americans from the water, and, reportedly, shooting Japanese survivors. Bobolink will be taken under long range fire from Hiei while towing Aaron Ward clear.

- Hiei is attacked repeatedly by aircraft from Henderson Field and from USS Enterprise, plus B-17s from Espiritu Santo. Zeroes from the carrier Junyo attempt to protect the battleship but are outnumbered. She is hit by two torpedoes from Marine TBFs one from an Enterprise TBF, and one bomb from a B-17. Kirishima is ordered to take Hiei under tow, but the attempt is cancelled because of the threat of submarine attack and Hiei's increasing unseaworthiness..

Hiei leaking oil under attack from B-17s

- After sustaining more damage from air attacks, Hiei sinks northwest of Savo Island during the following night. She is the first Japanese battleship to be lost in the war.

- During the day twelve Japanese aircraft are shot down by fighters and AA.

- Portland, San Francisco, Aaron Ward, Sterett, and O'Bannon will eventually make it back to rear-area ports for repairs. In the evening, USS Juneau is torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-26, blowing up with about a hundred surviving the sinking.

- Command miscommunication forces Juneau’s complement to fend for themselves for eight days before being rescued. Of 697 men, only ten will survive. The dead include all five of the Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa.

- Rear Admirals Scott and Callaghan will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Captain Hoover, who received a Navy Cross for putting Helena alongside the burning Lexington at Coral Sea in an attempt to save her, and a second Navy Cross for performance in the Battle of Cape Esperance, will be relieved of command by Vice Admiral Halsey, primarily because of the losses from USS Juneau. Halsey will later admit that it was a mistake. He will concur with Nimitz’ later awarding of a third Navy Cross for this action.

- General Yamamoto is furious at Abe’s withdrawal relieves him of command. He orders Lieutenant General Nobutake Kondō to form a new bombardment unit around Kirishima and attack Henderson Field on the night of 14–15 November.

Stern of USS Portland after the battle"

November 13, 2022

Knife fight.

November 15, 2022

[80 years ago yesterday] "• Japanese battleship Kirishima steams north and meets with Kondō’s Second Fleet for another attempt on Guadalcanal. Submarine USS Trout attempts to torpedo her but cannot get into firing position. After refueling, she heads for Guadalcanal with heavy cruisers Atago and Takao, light cruisers Nagara and Sendai, and nine destroyers. General Kondo flies his flag in the cruiser Atago.

14 November photo from Atago with Takao and Kirishima following.

• Low on undamaged ships, Vice Admiral Halsey sends the new battleships Washington and South Dakota under Rear Admiral Willis Lee to defend Guadalcanal. The hastily assembled force is escorted by four destroyers that have never worked together before.

• Heavy cruisers Suzuya and Maya bombard Henderson field in the pre-dawn darkness, then head north, joined by heavy cruisers Chōkai and Kinugasa, light cruisers Isuzu and Tenryū, and six destroyers which had been guarding against American surface forces. This force is attacked by USS Flying Fish which launches six torpedoes that miss. The cruiser force then covers the convoy which consists of Japanese transports carrying 13,500 soldiers plus equipment.

- With daylight, the Americans launch repeated airstrikes from USS Enterprise and Henderson Field against the convoy that overwhelm the Japanese fighter cover being supplied from distant Rabaul. Marine Corps and Army aircraft sink Canberra Maru, Nagara Maru, Nako Maru, and Shinanogawa Maru with heavy loss of life.

- Navy aircraft sink Brisbane Maru and Arizona Maru, while both groups score hits on heavy cruisers Kinugasa and Maya. One SBD misses heavy cruiser Maya with its bomb but crashes into the cruiser after clipping her mast with a wing. Heavy cruiser Chokai has a boiler room flooded from near misses and light cruiser Isuzu loses steering. Destroyer Michishio is damaged.

- During this action Marine Lieutenant Colonel Harold Bauer, CO of VMF-212, is shot down by an A6M while strafing a transport. He is seen alive in the water but not recovered despite five days of searching.

- Kinugasa capsizes and sinks with the loss of 511 crewmen.

Kinugasa

[80 years ago today] "• American radar picks up Kondō’s force one minute after midnight, with the Japanese spotting the Americans only a few minutes later. The lookouts identify the American battleships as cruisers. Kondō orders the light cruisers and destroyers to engage while Kirishima and the heavy cruisers continue on their bombardment mission.

- The four American destroyers in the vanguard are taken under accurate torpedo and gunfire with Walke and Preston being hit and sunk within 10 minutes with heavy loss of life. The destroyer Benham has her bow blown off by a torpedo and retreats, sinking the next day. The last destroyer, Gwin is hit in the engine room and put out of the fight. Washington engages destroyer Ayanami with her secondary batteries, inflicting damage that will force her scuttling. South Dakota opens fire on light cruiser Sendai, straddling her.

- On South Dakota, while crews are patching minor holes from 5” hits by Ayanami her chief engineer, frustrated by circuit breakers repeatedly popping, locks them down in violation of safety procedures. This forces the electrical system into series, and the big ship loses electrical power immediately. Radar, fire control, turret motors, ammunition hoists, radios--everything is out. Captain Thomas Gatch writes later: “The psychological effect on the officers and crew was most depressing.”

- Washington changes course to pass with the burning destroyers between her and the Japanese. South Dakota fails to follow and ends up being silhouetted. Kondō realizes that he is up against a new battleship (the Japanese log her as North Carolina class) and orders Kirishima and the heavy cruisers to open fire.

- South Dakota takes one 14”, seventeen 8”, five 6”, and one 5” hit. They inflict significant superstructure damage, tearing up radar and communications cables, shattering the radar plot, disabling gun directors and destroying four of her six fire-control radars. However, they fail to penetrate the armor. Several torpedoes miss the battleship.

- Undetected, Washington approaches to within 5,800 yards of Kirishima and opens fire.

USS Washington firing at Kirishima.

- She hits Kirishima with nine confirmed and up to twenty possible out of seventy-five 16” armor piercing shells. These and over forty 5” shell hits set Kirishima on fire, disable two 14” turrets, wreck her rudder, and hole her at the waterline. Flooding, she circles to port and lists to starboard.

- During this respite, South Dakota withdraws from the action.

- Kondō, aboard cruiser Atago, orders a coordinated torpedo strike on Washington (identified as an Idaho class battleship). Radar plot on Washington recognizes the pattern and warns Captain Glenn Davis who skillfully evades the projected runs, dodging into shallow water without running aground. The Japanese lose track of her and Kondō inexplicably instructs his ships to break contact without conducting the bombardment while also signaling that the way is clear for the troop convoy to land.

- Kirishima and Uranami are scuttled around 0330. Three hundred crewmen are lost, with 1,125 being picked up by destroyers Asagumo, Teruzuki, and Samidare. 242 American sailors have been killed, mostly aboard the four destroyers.

- With no screens, both American battleships retire to New Caledonia. Meeting up shortly before 10am, South Dakota signals to Admiral Lee “We are not effective.” Reportedly, the reaction aboard Washington is “No shit.”

- South Dakota will receive repairs from USS Prometheus and return to the US for a thorough overhaul. Washington received no hits during the battle.

- The four Japanese transports beach themselves at Tassafaronga on Guadalcanal. Only the men and light weapons are unloaded before they come under American air attack with daybreak. They are pounded by aircraft, Marine artillery, and destroyer USS Meade. The transports are set on fire with the equipment, food, and other supplies being destroyed.

Hirokawa Maru and Kinugawa Maru beached and burning 15 Nov 1942

- This four-day air and sea battle which raged around Guadalcanal had been fought to enable each side to reinforce and resupply their forces on the island. The Japanese only land 2,000 of the 13,000 embarked, with few supplies and a total of ten transports lost. The USN landed 5,500 men with full supplies and no transport losses."

February 14, 2023

[80 years and two days ago] "• VMF-124 arrives on Guadalcanal with the first operational Vought F4U-1 Corsair fighters. They will fly their first combat mission tomorrow escorting a PBY to pick up two aviators on Vella Lavella but encounter no enemy aircraft.

F4U-1 Corsairs of VMF-124 Guadalcanal April 1943

- The more glamorized VMF-214 “Blacksheep” will not arrive for another seven months.

- Demand for Corsairs exceeds Vought’s capacity. This month, the first license built Goodyear FG-1 will fly. More than four thousand will be delivered to the US, Britain, and New Zealand, plus numerous other countries post-war. Brewster Aeronautical Corporation will build more than eight-hundred F3A-1s but mismanagement and poor quality control will see none of them entering combat, with several losing their wings during testing.

RNZAF Goodyear FG-1Ds"

=========================================

[80 years and a day ago today] "• Six Army B-24Ds escorted by two P-38Gs and four P-40Fs from Henderson Field (two more P-38s and three P-40s abort with engine problems) attack Japanese shipping in the Shortland-Buin Area. The raid is engaged by more than thirty landbased A6Ms and floatplane A6M2-N fighters. The escorting American fighters are providing close support and both P-38s, two P-40s, and three B-24s are shot down for no Japanese losses."

=========================================

[80 years ago today] "• After the slaughter of the Army bombing raid yesterday, nine PB4Y-1s (Navy B-24s) take off from Henderson Field escorted by ten P-38s and twelve F4U Corsairs to bomb shipping in in the Buin-Shortland area. The bombers score hits on cargo ship Hitachi Maru and near misses on two others. On the way back the formation is attacked by an estimated forty A6M Zeroes and A6M2-N floatplanes from the 204, 252, and 802 Kōkūtai.

A6M2-N “Rufes” and an F1M “Pete” at a seaplane base

- In what the Americans will call the “Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre” the Americans lose two Corsairs, two Liberators, and four P-38s. The Americans claim to have downed sixteen enemy but the Japanese only lose one land based A6M2. Daylight bombing raids to the northern Solomons will be curtailed until additional fighter escorts are available and better trained.

- The losses from these two raids may be a factor in Yamamoto's decision to engage the Allies in the Solomons in an aerial campaign of attrition.

- The Hitachi Maru is beached but before she can be repaired, she will be wrecked by a follow-on B-17 strike.

Wreck of the Hitachi Maru"

February 16, 2023

[80 years ago today] "• Eight B-24Ds from Henderson field make night bombing attacks on Ballale Island, with some spending an hour over the target making several single drops. Two of the B-24s are lost while returning due to poor visibility as weather deteriorates. Three aircrew are lost and fifteen rescued.

Ballale Island with airfield built by British PoWs.

• Japanese floatplanes make their last nuisance raid on Amchitka as Allied fighters are now based there.

• USS Flying Fish torpedoes and sinks the Japanese 1,000 ton Hyuga Maru off Pagan, Mariana Islands.

• Having made her last transmission two days earlier, reporting the recovery of a Japanese aviator from the water, submarine USS Amberjack is never heard from again. It is likely but not positive that she is sunk today by torpedo boat Hiyodori and submarine chaser Ch-18 while attempting to attack a convoy off Cape St. George, New Britain.

Hiyodori"

February 26, 2023

[80 years ago today] "• Japanese prisoners captured in the Solomons conduct a work-strike at the Featherston PoW Camp in New Zealand. Most of the 800 prisoners are Korean or Formosan laborers which do not strike but more than 250 are IJA soldiers or IJN sailors. The camp adjutant, Lieutenant James Malcolm, shoots Naval Lieutenant Toshio Adachi (later saying it was an accident and he meant a warning shot) and the rest of the assembled prisoners rise to their feet. Fearing that the Japanese are attacking, the guards open fire with rifles and submachine guns, killing forty-eight prisoners and wounding seventy-four. One guard is killed by a richochet.

Work detail at Featherston

- A subsequent investigation reveals that most of the fatal shots were fired by a Corporal whose brother had been killed by the Japanese in the Tarawa massacre. The initial report has been lost, replaced by a heavily edited version that places the blame on the Japanese. News reports of the incident are heavily censored in part to prevent Japanese retaliation against Allied prisoners.

- Today, sixty-eight cherry trees are planted in rows, and a plaque commemorates the site with a 17th Century haiku:

Behold the summer grass

All that remains

Of the dreams of warriors

Remembrance-Garden-Featherston-Memorial-Cherry-Trees"

Edited February 26, 2023 by cardboard_killer

April 7, 2023

[80 years ago today] "• In the second phase of the Japanese Operation I-GO to cut down the Allied airpower through attrition, 67 Aichi D3A dive bombers escorted by an estimated 117 Mitsubishi A6M2s take off to attack a convoy off the east coast of Guadalcanal, shipping at Koli Point, and a Task Force at Tulagi in four separate waves.

Aichi D3A2s at Lakunai Field, Rabaul.

- All 75 operable fighters on Guadalcanal: 36 F4F Wildcats, 9 F4U Corsairs, 12 P-38 Lightnings, 6 P-40s and 12 P-39 Airacobras, are scrambled, and the bombers are moved to the south-western tip of the island for safety. The air battle takes place off the Russells, near Tulagi, and over the convoy. The Americans claim shooting down 39 Japanese aircraft (19 are actually lost) while 7 Americans are downed, though only one pilot is killed – 70th Fighter Squadron CO Major Waldon Williams who is downed in his P-39K by a Junyō A6M2 pilot.

- The “Vals” attack Allied shipping and hit the minesweeper HMNZS Moa with one or two bombs that sink her in four minutes with the loss of five killed and fourteen wounded.

- Also attacked is destroyer USS Aaron Ward which is hit once and has her hull caved in by near misses. Despite efforts of repair ship USS Ortolan she will sink just south of Florida Island with the loss of 27 killed, 59 wounded.

- Fleet oiler USS Kanawha is struck by a bomb that sets her on fire. She is beached but will slide off into deeper water tomorrow. 19 crewmen are killed. Lightly damaged are destroyer Farenholt, fleet oiler Tappahannock and LST-449. PT Boat Tender Niagara and tug Rail are damaged by friendly fire.

- On one of the newly arrived transports in the convoy is LTJG John F. Kennedy, a replacement PT boat skipper.

- Marine 1st Lieutenant James Swett is on his first combat mission, and becomes an ace being credited with shooting down seven D3A “Vals”. His F4F Wildcat is damaged by a rear gunner and he ditches in Tulagi Harbor. He will be awarded the Medal of Honor.

- The results disappoint Naval General Yamamoto and indicate a decline in Japanese pilot quality.

Isoroku Yamamoto at Rabaul 1943

USS Kanawha on fire"

May 21, 2023

[80 years ago today] "• Naval Lt-Colonel Yasuna Kozono of the 251st Kōkūtai on Rabaul has field-modified a Nakajima J1N Gekkō reconnaissance aircraft (Allied code name “Irving”) by installing 20mm cannons firing upward at a thirty degree angle. Against orders of his superior who is skeptical of his idea, he tests his idea of using the Gekkō as a night fighter. During an American raid on Rabaul, Shigetoshi Kudo maneuvers the J1N below two B-17Es and shoots them down with multiple hits in the engines.

Nakajima J1N1-S cannons can be seen behind the canopy

- Seven crewmen survive the crashes. Six will be captured and executed by the Japanese. One will successfully hide for eight months with the help of local natives, make contact with a coastwatcher, and be rescued by USS Gato in 1944. Shigetoshi Kudo will shoot down three more B-17s, a B-24, and a New Zealand Hudson with the field-modified aircraft before rotating back to Japan.

Bombardier Gordon Manuel at bottom right is the only survivor of both B-17 crews

- The Imperial Navy takes notice of the success and orders the J1N1-S night fighter version, which eliminates the observer crew position and installs 20mm cannons firing obliquely upward and downward."

June 15, 2023

[80 years ago today] "• Two B-24s are lost by collision during a night raid on Rabaul.

• Search aircraft report nearly 250 Japanese airplanes at Rabaul and other nearly airfields. Coastwatchers later report, confirmed by radar, that a large formation Japanese aircraft are flying towards Guadalcanal and Tulagi. The force consists of forty-nine D3A “Val” dive bombers of 582 Kōkūtai and seventy A6M “Zero” fighters of 204 and 251 Kōkūtai. One hundred and four Allied fighters (RNZAF Kittyhawks and American P-38s, P-39s, P-40s, F4Fs, and F4Us) meet them and dogfights spread through the skies over Savo, Tulagi, Cape Esperance and Koli Point. The dive bombers damage three ships, with LST-340 and naval transport USS Celeno being beached.

- Celeno is returned to service. LST-340 is judged too badly damaged for amphibious operations and will be converted to a barracks ship for the island campaigns. With reference to today’s attack, she will be formally recommissioned as USS Spark, ending the war at Saipan.

- The battle results in the largest single-day Allied aerial victory of the Solomon Islands campaign with three-quarters of the Japanese force claimed downed by fighters and AA fire. Actual losses are thirteen D3A Dive bombers and fifteen A6M fighters. The Japanese refer to the action as “The Battle off Lunga”.

- This is the last daylight raid on Guadalcanal.

Rabaul Airfield"

July 22, 2023

[80 years ago today] "• Japanese seaplane carrier Nisshin and two destroyers are carrying 880 soldiers of the No 4 South Seas Guard Unit, twenty-two tanks, some artillery, and a load of food and gasoline stores. This group is escorted by heavy cruiser Mogami, lights cruisers Ōyodo and Agano, and one destroyer. ULTRA decrypts provide the US with precise arrival time and location off Buin Harbor.

- When the force is only two hours outside port and the covering force is retiring, ten B-17s attack Nisshin, but she accelerates to 34 knots and turns to port causing all bombs to miss. Three minutes later a following strike by eleven B-24s and thirty-four land based Marine and Navy dive bombers covered by nearly a hundred Allied fighters attack. They ignore the two destroyers which are banging away ineffectually with their AA guns and concentrate on the big ship.

- The B-24s miss but one dive bomber hits the No 2 turret on the port side blowing out a twenty meter hole in the hull extending below the waterline. Another bomb hits the seaplane hangar which is full of troops and a third hits the aircraft maintenance deck.

- While the Nisshin circles with a jammed rudder and speed dropping to 15 knots, American and New Zealand fighters make strafing runs, following which the forces depart.

- Naval Colonel Ito Jotaro orders the rudder locked and while his crew fights the fire heads towards Buin at best speed steering with the engines, intending to beach and offload the troops.

- To Ito’s dismay, a wave of carrier bombers from USS Saratoga and HMS Victorious then arrive, making shallow glide bombing attacks. Unable to maneuver, she is hit by three more bombs which collapse her deck portside forward.

- Within six minutes of the last attack she goes down by the bow while rolling to starboard. The two destroyers, already loaded with their own troops, begin rescuing survivors but within twenty minutes another B-17 raid attacks, doing no damage, and they have to break off, leaving their own boats which had been picking up survivors. These with what survivors they can bring, struggle into Buin.

- Of Nisshin’s 948 crewmen, 546 are lost. Of the 630 soldiers aboard the seaplane carrier, 539 are lost. Colonel Ito will be promoted posthumously. No Allied aircraft are lost.

Nisshin during work ups in 1942"

July 23, 2023

[80 years ago today] "• American B-25s, P-40s, and SBDs pound the Munda area on New Georgia. One SBD is struck by AA fire and unable to return to base, pilot James Dougherty ditches in Rendova Harbor just off the Allied landing beach. Both crewmen are uninjured.

- In 1995, 52 years to the day after being downed, Mr Dougherty will make a SCUBA dive and sit in the cockpit of his old Dauntless, which lies in 12 meters of water.

After the dive, Mr Dougherty visits the AA guns that brought him down, which are still in situ."

August 2, 2023

[I know this isn't all in the Salomons, but I didn't want to penny packet it. 80 years ago today] "• A USAAF C-87 Liberator Express operated by United Airlines carrying Japanese nationals of the consular corps slated to be exchanged with Japan for Allied prisoners of war crashes just after takeoff from Auckland, New Zealand, killing 16 of the 30 people on board. The accident will be hushed up to prevent Japanese retaliation against Allied personnel.

• A C-46 flying a Hump mission crashes after experiencing engine trouble. CBS News correspondent Eric Sevareid is aboard and reportedly grabs a bottle of Carew’s gin before parachuting out. A special rescue team is quickly put together and parachuted in to lead the survivors out from behind the Japanese lines.

• B-25s and P-38s sink Japanese PT boats Gyoraitei No.112 and Gyoraitei No.113 at Lae. One B-25 crashes after colliding with another. 2nd Lieutenant Owen Salvage is the only survivor. He will be captured, and at the end of the month Japanese soldiers will take turns bayonetting him along with four other captured airmen.

• Australian Kittyhawks escort Bostons and Beaufighters in an attack on Gazmata airfield, New Britain. One P-40K force lands on the beach. After two weeks of interrogation, Flight Lieutenant Daryl Sproule will be executed by the Japanese.

• A large Allied airstrike hits Bairoko Harbor in the Solomons. One aircraft taking part in the raid is a worn out B-17E named “Yankee Doodle” piloted by First Lieutenant Gene Roddenberry. It suffers a mechanical failure during take-off, plows into coconut trees at the end of the runway at Espiritu Santo and catches fire. Two crewmen are killed. The bomber will be repaired but as B-17s are being phased out in the Pacific it will be relegated to use as a transport.

Roddenberry will fly eighty-nine missions during which he will be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

• American motor torpedo boats PT-109, PT-162 and PT-169 are due east of Gizo Island in misty conditions heading south at idling speed to reduce wake and sound. Japanese destroyer Amagiri, heading northwards at forty knots from covering a troop run to Kolombangara looms out of the mist and cuts PT-109 in half. The Japanese did not spot the PT boat prior to the collision.

- Alerted by the flames from PT-109, PT-162 attempts to fire torpedoes but they do not launch. PT-169 launches two torpedoes at the destroyer but they miss. Amagiri straddles PT-169 with gunfire and its wake douses the flames from PT-109's fuel. The two surviving PT boats make a brief search for survivors and depart.

- The stern section of PT-109 (with the engines) sinks immediately but the bow floats for some time. Lieutenant Junior Grade John F Kennedy had been thrown from the cockpit, slamming his already bad back (from a football injury). Kennedy had previously commanded PT-101 out of Panama. Requesting combat duty, he was transferred to the Solomons in April and placed in command of PT-109. Two crewmen are lost in the collision with two lightly and one badly wounded.

- Several crewmen can be heard calling in the darkness. Kennedy swims to one group while his executive officer, Ensign George Ross swims to the other. It takes the injured Kennedy three hours to tow the badly burned MoMM1/c Patrick McMahon (boat’s engineer) back.

- Because the wreck is listing badly and starting to swamp, Kennedy decides to swim for a small island three miles to the southeast. Five hours later, all eleven survivors make it to the island. Kennedy had put McMahon in a life-jacket and towed him all three miles with the strap of the device in his teeth.

- Meanwhile, PT-162 and PT-169 have returned to Rendova, reporting that there are almost certainly no survivors from the 109. A memorial service will be held for the crew.

- Fortunately for the survivors, the fire from the boat had been spotted by Australian coastwatcher Sub Lieutenant Arthur Evans, who mans a secret observation post at the top of the Mount Veve volcano on Kolombangara island, garrisoned by 10,000 Japanese troops. Evans dispatches Solomon Islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana in a dugout canoe to look for possible survivors after decoding a radio report that the explosion he had witnessed was probably from the lost PT-109.

LTJG Kennedy and PT-109 crew"

December 26, 2023

[80 years ago today] "Operation Backhander

• At Cape Gloucester, New Britain, a preparatory shore bombardment is made by Australian heavy cruisers Shropshire and Australia and American light cruisers Nashville and Phoenix, under Rear Admiral Victor Crutchley, VC.

Australia and destroyer Arrunta bombarding Cape Gloucester 26 Dec 43, taken from Shropshire.

- Covered by twenty-two destroyers, Rear Admiral Daniel Barbey’s amphibious force of ten APDs, one LSI, one LSD, fifteen LCIs, nineteen LSTs, fourteen LCMs, twelve LCTs, and three attack cargo ships land four battalions of the 1st and 7th Marine Regiments of the 1st Marine Division under Major General William Rupertus, plus engineers and elements of the 12th Defense Battalion including stores, vehicles, guns, and tanks. The two landing beaches are small and narrow, backed by swamp.

- Nearly three hundred Allied bombers pound the Cape Gloucester area on New Britain, engaged by Japanese A6M and Ki-61 fighters. Two B-25s and one P-47 are shot down by friendly fire from naval vessels. Some of the B-25s drop their bombs too early, hitting Marine positions. Two P-38s and a P-47 are shot down by Japanese aircraft.

- Rabaul-based aircraft attack the Allied force. D3A dive bombers sink destroyer USS Brownson with 108 killed while level bombers damage LST-66 and destroyers Shaw and Mugford.

• There are 7,500 Japanese at Cape Gloucester, mostly from the 65th Brigade reinforced by detachments from the 17th and 51st Divisions under Major General Matsuda Iwao. They are too far from the initial landing beaches to initially offer resistance. The Japanese also have support troops of the 4th Shipping Command which uses motorized barges to move forces more quickly than the roads and tracks allow.

- The main enemy of the Marines on the ground the first day is the jungle/swamp terrain.

Marines landing at Cape Gloucester New Britain - 26 Dec 1943 "

February 16, 2024

[80 years ago today] "• Off Three Island Harbor, New Hanover. Convoy SO-903 is attacked by nine Fifth Air Force B-25s They sink Sanko Maru as well as a midget submarine that was being towed by Sanko Maru.

Midget submarine Ha-52 off New Hanover, 16 February, 1944

- Of five midget submarines sent to defend Rabaul, Ha-53 is the only one that arrives.

• USS Skate torpedoes and sinks Japanese light cruiser Agano 170 miles north of Truk. She had left Truk the day before to avoid American airstrikes.

• To ensure air and naval superiority for the upcoming invasion of Eniwetok, Admiral Raymond Spruance ordered an attack on Truk, Operation Hailstone. Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher's Task Force 58 has more than five hundred aircraft aboard fleet carriers Enterprise, Essex, Bunker Hill, Intrepid, and Yorktown, and light carriers Cabot, Belleau Wood, Cowpens, and Monterey.

- While the heavy units of the Combined Fleet have evacuated, numerous smaller vessels and merchant ships are still present. Over a two day period, more than two hundred Japanese aircraft are destroyed, most on the ground, while light cruisers Katori and Naka, destroyers Oite, Fumizuki, Maikaze, and Tachikaze, three troopships, two submarine tenders, three sub chasers, an aircraft transport, and thirty merchant ships are sunk or permanently disabled.

- One witness to the attack is captured Marine aviator Gregory Boyington who had just flown in from Rabaul to Truk along with five other POWs on a G4M bound for Japan. They are taxiing when the first strikes come in, and are taken roughly from the plane to shelter in a shallow pit. An F6F strafes and the “Betty” blows up. The prisoners are able to watch the repeated strikes all through the day.

- Twenty-five American aircraft are lost. Truk will be unable to support Eniwetok, and ceases to be a significant threat to the Allied advance. The Japanese will evacuate the remaining aircraft from untenable Rabaul to Truk, but these will be for the most part destroyed in another carrier strike in April.

Japanese ammunition ship Aikoku Maru explodes after being torpedoed - the TBF from USS Enterprise is lost in the blast

Japanese freighter torpedoed by USS Yorktown Avenger at Truk

F6F-3 from USS Essex over beached destroyer Tachikaze at Truk

Sub Chaser CH-39 under attack by B-25s off New Hannover

Sub Chaser CH-39 explodes after being bombed by B-25s"

February 17, 2024

[80 years ago today] "• Australian, New Zealand, and American aircraft attack shipping in Keravia Bay near Rabaul, sinking Japanese minesweeper W-26, a guard boat, and IJA cargo ship Iwate Maru.

- After dark, American destroyers Farenholt, Buchanan, Lansdowne, Lardner, and Woodworth bombard coastal batteries around Rabaul, expending thirty-eight hundred 5” shells.

• USS Cero torpedoes and sinks 1,100 ton Jozan Maru between Truk and New Ireland.

• USS Tang sinks 6,900 ton army cargo ship Gyoten Maru and 5,200 ton tanker Kuniei Maru about 130 nautical miles west-north-west of Truk. She is depth charged by escorts but not damaged.

• Japanese ships flee Truk. Light cruiser Naka is caught by TBF Avengers and SB2C Helldivers from Bunker Hill and Cowpens. Maneuvering at high speed she evades two separate airstrikes, but a third catches her with one torpedo and one bomb hit, breaking her in two.

- Light cruiser Katori is damaged by aircraft, then intercepted by Admiral Spruance flying his flag in USS New Jersey. Escorting destroyer Maikaze fires a spread of torpedoes which passes between New Jersey and USS Iowa. Iowa expends forty-six non-armor piercing 16" and a hundred 5" shells to sink Katori. Survivors are seen in the water but none are picked up.

Katori burning.

- Heavy cruisers Minneapolis and New Orleans strike the destroyer Maikaze with 8" gunfire, detonating her magazines and sinking her with all hands.

- Destroyer Nowaki flees at 35 knots while both battleships chase her at 32 knots, straddling her with 16" shells. Naval Colonel Moriya Setsuji flees into the sun's glare, forcing Spruance to shift to radar targeting.

- The battleships continue to fire at a range of 22 miles before giving up. Nowaki will reach Saipan and then Japan.

- Destroyer USS Burns sinks Japanese submarine chaser Ch-24 west of Truk. About sixty survivors are in the water but all but six resist being rescued.

- Airstrikes pound Truk for a second day, inflicting heavy damage. During the night, USS Iowa is struck by a bomb that inflicts superficial damage. A G4M of the 744th Kōkūtai torpedoes USS Intrepid in the starboard quarter, flooding several compartments and distorting her rudder. While trying to head for Pearl Harbor, strong headwinds keep turning her bow towards Tokyo. Captain Thomas Sprague will later say, “Right then I wasn't interested in going in that direction.”

USS Intrepid torpedo damage

- The crew moves all aircraft forward and jury rigs a sail from wood, cargo nets, and canvas to increase her headsail. Combined with running the port screw at full with the starboard screw at ⅓ ahead she is able to stay on course. Intrepid will reach Pearl under her own power on the 24th and proceed to California for repairs, which last into June.

SBD from USS Lexington over Truk Feb 1944

Truk facilities 17 Feb 44

F6F-3 fighters landing on USS Enterprise (CV-6) 17 Feb 44."

February 18, 2024

Truk: operational debut of the Kawanishi N1K1 floatplane fighter.
Lt. Shiro Kawanami perfomed an armed reconnaissance mission on febr 16th (having already flown a simular mission the day before) out of Moen in Truk. He had launched well before daybreak and with sunrise returned to Moen. He noticed air activity over Truk lagoon and after seeing a fighter going down in flames realised there was an airbattle. His first impulse was to leave the area but he was low on fuel and where would he go? He decided to fight and climbed to gain altitude. As he closed on Moen he watched a quartet of 'Zeros' rise from nearby airfield at Eten and was horrified to see US Grumman F6F Hellcats diving to engage them. Opening up his throttle he observed a pair of Hellcats slightly below and to port, intent on chasing down a limping A6M2-N.
Because of his height advantage he was able to close on both enemy fighters with ease. Sliding into position he triggered his 7,7mm machine-guns and, seeing strikes, added the firepower of two 20mm cannon in a long sustained burst and watched as the rudder and tail surfaces of the blue-painted enemy fighter were torn to shreds. Almost at once the Grumman went into an uncontrolled spin, and Kawanami noted that most of its tailplane had been shot away. Turning his attention to the other Grumman , he triggered a short burst in its direction before the range became too great.
Almost at once he felt his seaplane lurch as it took several hits. Instinctively he broke down and away , losing height rapidly, diving to sealevel. Remarkably no further attack was forthcoming. Kawanami was able to ditch close to shore and survive (the centrefloat came loose with the N1K1 nose into the sea and flipped over onto its back). He probably encountered Hellcats from VF-10 from USS Enterprise. Lt. Jack Farley had a 20mm shell explode in his cockpit shattering his instrument panel and wounding him. As he broke down and away he had a fleeting glimpse of what he described as another 'Rufe' positioned behind him. He later found his wingman (Ensign Linton Cox) was missing.

An early production N1K1 was stationed at Truk to be put through its paces in an operational environment.

Lt. Shiro Kawanami had arrived some two weeks ago with a small support team.

Edited February 18, 2024 by Heliopause

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