The mother of all carrier battles... 12 vs 12. It's unfortunate that the first Japanese strike chose the Brit TF but such is the fortune of war. Ozawa's reaction cost the IJN dearly but with only two carriers lost at this point, there is hope that the others can be saved. I don't know what Zuikaku's speed is after the torp hit nor do I know what course CF intends for her to take but I think I would probably have run SSE in the hopes that the US CVTFs would pursue north and open the range enough to prevent any further reaction. She is the best carrier the IJN has (left) IMO.
Its been my experience that nothing, repeat, nothing will prevent a carrier TF from reacting to enemy carriers. You can set reaction to 0, change commanders, even transfer air groups off of them. In a previous game, I once had Zuikaku and Shokaku, both heavily damaged and incapable of flight ops, react to Brit carriers. Needless to say, both were blasted to bits.
Good luck, CF.
Chez
Putting them into an Escort TF should work as well...
No. I will repeat that I hope for at least one heroic death; big fan of proper death scenes, and it's totally in the spirit of the samurai. Shun is a good candidate for this.
there goes the IJN's stiking power between the CVs and planes lost. The next day will be huge depending on what the Allies do or don't do....Hail CF!
At this point, none of the USN Essex class CVs have been damaged (and only one CVL) ... Zuikaku has to be slowed somewhat by that torp hit, and almost the other IJN carriers are slower ones... at this point, if any get away it will be a plus for the IJN.
is the mostly British task force commanded by Admiral Sir Denis Boyd. It is this group, with carriers Victorious, Indomitable, Formidable, and the American light carrier Cowpens, that bears the fury of the Japanese attack.
You have to like wolffpack's sense of irony, grouping the Cowpens with the British Carrier TF...
Yeah, trying to look at the story of Hibiki (and beyond the disaster that just occurred), things are going to be much tougher on the crew of the Hibiki.
Grevious losses for the Japanese but where is Taiho, Unryu, Katsuragi, Chitose, and Chiyoda? They should be finished and serving right now...
Member: Treaty, Reluctant Admiral and Between the Storms Mod Team.
Location: 170 miles northeast of Reef Island
Course: Northeast
Attached to: TF 4
Mission: Air Combat
System Damage: 2
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 253
Orders: Get Zuikaku safely back to Kwajalein
---
It is a dark night. Overhead there are only scattered islands of clouds, but the waning moon is now just a sliver and rises late. On Hibiki’s bridge everyone is quiet. The mood is a subdued one from the events of the previous day and everyone knows that the enemy forces are somewhere near. The men know, rationally, that talking isn’t going to give away their position, but nonetheless when they do speak they speak in hushed tones.
Lieutenant Miharu checks the lookouts and then trains his binoculars back towards the dim shape of Zuikaku. The carrier is maintaining a steady 18 knots; Lieutenant Miharu wishes it was more, but knows that under the circumstances they are lucky to be making this much speed. The Japanese ships are heading northeast, attempting to pass east of the last known position of the Allied forces and make a run back towards Kwajalein. At this speed there is no chance they will be out of enemy air range by morning, even if they don’t run right into the enemy force.
He hears the sound of someone coming up the ladder behind him, and turns to see Captain Ishii stepping onto the bridge. Ishii waves off the usual “captain on the bridge” routine and comes to stand next to his executive officer.
“Couldn’t sleep,” he says. “Any sign of the enemy?”
“No sir,” says the lieutenant. “Everything is quiet. Zuikaku is maintaining her speed.”
“Good,” says Ishii. He checks the ship’s course and speed and then stands quietly, looking out at the darkness.
“Lieutenant, I’m picking up some reports,” comes the radio operator’s voice from the speaking tube. Around the bridge men startle a little at the sudden break in the silence. “It sounds like there is a big battle taking place to the south.” Captain Ishii and Lieutenant Miharu look at each other on the darkened bridge.
“Thank you,” says Miharu. “I will be right there.” He and Captain Ishii head for the radio room.
---
The fragmentary reports Hibiki is receiving tell that the Japanese surface forces, groping for the enemy in the darkness, have collided with the powerful enemy battleship group that was covering the Efate landings. The Allies have more battleships, but this is offset in a series of chaotic nighttime engagements by the Japanese proficiency in making torpedo attacks.
In the end the two sides shoot each other to rags and are both forced to retire. Though tactically a draw this action puts an end to the last chance the Japanese have to salvage a win from the battle.
---
Dawn finds Hibiki and the rest of Task Force 4 still laboring to the northeast. Captain Ishii, dozing on his stool, is awakened by Lieutenant Miharu, who hands him a cup of strong tea.
“Eh? Oh, thank you, Exec,” he says. He sips the tea and then stands and stretches, still holding the cup. “You should go get some sleep,” he says.
“Perhaps later, sir,” says Miharu. “I imagine that if we are going to be attacked it will be soon.” Ishii nods grimly.
“I think you are right,” he says.
---
Though Hibiki’s officers are unaware of it, their fate is about to be influenced by a decision made by Captain Okada, commander of Task Force 49. It was clear, late in the previous day, that Soryu and Kaga could not be saved. He denied a request to scuttle the carriers, however.
“These proud ships have one last duty they can perform, for us and for the Emperor,” Okada said. Their crews were taken off and then the other ships withdrew, leaving the carriers behind. As morning comes Kaga and Soryu drift alone upon the sea, each sending a column of black smoke high into the sky as an unmistakable marker for the enemy.
---
Though Hibiki and her fellow ships are only 175 miles from the enemy carriers as the sun rises they do not see an Allied plane all day. They continue to open up some distance, unaware that behind them the fury of the enemy air attacks is spent on the gutted hulks of the Kaga and Soryu. By nightfall Hibiki’s men are breathing a little easier, though they are well aware that the enemy could still make a move in their direction, a move they would have little hope of escaping.
---
The six smaller Japanese carriers and their escorts make good their escape, but Hiryu founders and sinks before nightfall. This leaves Zuikaku as the only remaining carrier of the six that struck at Pearl Harbor. These carriers have roamed the Pacific with impunity for almost two years. They have sowed destruction wherever they went and have sunk nearly 100 enemy ships. But that era has now come to an end.
---
Captain Ishii lies back on the bed in his cabin. He is mortally tired but still not sure he can sleep. He has maintained a stern face in front of the crew, but now he lies staring up at the metal ceiling overhead and feels a crushing weight of sorrow and despair pressing down on him.
“What went wrong?” he whispers. But there are no answers in the close, warm air of the equatorial night, and finally his eyes close and he sleeps.
there goes the IJN's stiking power between the CVs and planes lost. The next day will be huge depending on what the Allies do or don't do....Hail CF!
