Dateline Kavieng - July 23rd, 1942 0500 Zulu
Operation Checkmate has been a complete success. US Marines from the 1st & 2nd Divisions stormed Kavieng in mid-June, throwing the garrison into complete retreat. Follow-up attacks against the Admiralty Islands by our Australian allies were also successful, but with higher losses due to Japanese army bombers operating out of Wewak.
June also saw the last naval engagements against the Imperial Japanese surface forces, when we were surprised by the appearance of the Battleships Nagato & Mutsu at Kavieng. A-20's operating out of our newly repaired airfields at Rabaul worked both ships over with low-level bombing runs, while our PT Boats rushed to put themselves between the Japanese battleships & our transport groups.
In a wild melee, PT 66 was able to put a torpedo into Nagato, delaying the battleships long enough for two destroyers and two destroyer mine-sweepers to join the fight. These crews heroic actions saved the lives of hundreds of US Marines, while sacrificing their own.
We lost three PT Boats and all four destroyers. The Japanese paid for this tactical victory however, with both battleships retiring north heavily damaged and on fire. When dawn broke the next day, the vengence of the US Navy fell upon these unfortunate ships. Planes from six carriers (2 CVs - Wasp & Victorious, 2 CVLs - Indepedence & Belleau Wood, and 2 CVEs) worked over the Japanese task force for the rest of the day.
When the squadrons winged for home, both Jap battleships were resting on the bottom, followed by a light cruiser and four destroyers. A small convoy of two destroyers and two APs were also sunk that day by land-based air out of Rabaul.
Since this naval victory on June 21st, we have not seen another Japanese surface vessel. Submarines are another matter.....The I-17 was able to sneak into Victorious' Task Force & put a torpedo into the veteran carrier. Damage control was on the top of its game, however, and the carrier remained on station. The sub was depth charged to oblivion by our escorts.
The presence of Japanese submarines forced us to withdraw our carriers for the time being (for aircraft replacement & refueling), while the USS Washington battlegroup refueled at Bonis to take up station for our follow-up invasions of the Admiralty Islands & New Guinea.
Transports at Rabaul & Kavieng were reloaded by the beginning of July, and sailing under cover from LR-CAP from Rabaul, Gasmata, Lae, & Kavieng, the combined forces of the US Army, Marines, & Australians stormed the remaining Japanese bases in New Guinea.
Air attacks plagued our surface forces, as Army bombers concentrated on our transports, but the P-38's out of Lae & Corsairs out of the Admiraltys inflicted severe losses on the Japanese fighters and bombers.
One week ago, our troops hit the beaches in a coordinated attack against no less than the four remaining Japanese bases in the area. The only remaining bases are Finschfen & Shortlands (both garrisioned by tens of thousands of infantry, but supply-less and not worth the time in lives it would cost to take).
Heavy fighting raged for days, while additional troops & supplies had to be brought in from the Solomons & even as far away as Brisbane & Noumea. Base troops continued to pour into Rabaul & Kavieng, building an inpeneratrable wall of medium bombers along our northern flank. One base after another fell to our troops, with the collapse of Japanese power in the South Pacific.
In preparation for further attacks, our carriers (rearmed & refueled) staged a surprise strike against Truk to assertain the strength of the garrison & forstall any attempts to interfere with our buildup in Rabaul & Kavieng. Unfortunately, we found Truk to be a veritable hornet's nest, and although we didn't suffer any material damage to our ships, our bomber squadrons were decimated. In the first attack, we lost six squadron commanders and almost fifty bombers. The second attack faired little better, with another three commanders killed, along with another thirty-five aircraft.
Three Japanese ships were damaged (with one submarine sunk in port). This was not what we expected. The carriers are beating a quick retreat to the south.....further consideration will be necessary before we take on such a fortified place. We will report to CincPac & decide whether to close down our operations & return the bulk of our forces to Pearl for refit for committment to the upcoming Central Pacific Campaign.
I will post a final tally of losses in the next few days. Suffice it to say, over 400 Japanese vessels have been confirmed sunk - with only 132 sunk on the allied side. Shokaku & Zuikaku, Yamato & Mushashi remain afloat (despite our best efforts), both a lack of escorts make them dead meat if they should approach our positions.
If we decide not to attempt a landing at Truk, we will continue to develop our bases in the Solomons & New Guinea (with the bulk of our transport dedicated to supplying our far-flung forces). I'm in this to the bitter end, and it that gives me a final shot at their carriers, all the better.
Coming soon......THE END......
By Hook or By Crook.....
Dateline Shortlands - September 30th, 1943 1000 Zulu
It has been an extremely busy few months in the South Pacific. Our marines & Australian allies have more than earned their reputation for hard fighting. With Truk posing such a huge obstacle - CinCPac ordered us to concentrate on clearing the remaining Japanese bases in the Solomons before planning a possible invasion of Truk.
The Australians & US Regimental Combat Teams pulled double duty by assaulting Finschafen from both the landward & seaward sides. Our troops out of Lae were heavily reinforced and annihilated the two Japanese regiments encamped outside of the main Japanese position.
US combat troops landed at Finschafen, and assaulted the main Japanese positions without delay. The five Japanese regiments holding the base were completely unsupplied and put up only light resistance. Within a week, the entire position was in Allied hands.
Taking advantage of the plethora of shipping in the area, we immediately embarked the assault troops & moved them within striking distance of Shortlands Is. It was now time to clear up that little mess in the middle of our area. The entire 1st & 2nd Marine Divisions were combat loaded out of Rabaul & Kavieng, along with the newly arrived New Zealand Division, and more troops out of Bonis & Vila to prepare for the assault.
Our minesweepers had a tough job, spending three whole days clearing mines, with one APD taking damage from a Type 93 mine. She was still there, just with a few more holes in her. We managed to land over 20,000 troops in the first day, but the anticipated Japanese counterattack never materialized. Dive Bombers out of Bonis, Buin, & Vila continued to pound the Japanese troops - killing more than a thousand each day with tons and tons of bombs dropped.
After two weeks of preparations & many additional troops joining the party - we gave the order for a general assault along the lines. The fighting was fierce, but the unsupplied Japanese could not cope with over 60000 combat troops overrunning their positions. It was all over in less than 24 hours. In the end, over 20,000 Japanese were killed, with a little over 2000 surrendering at the end. The battle for the Solomons was over.
Since then battles for Shortlands & Finschafen in early August, we've spent the last month supplying our forward bases and contemplating Truk. Would we invade? Did we have the shipping to pull it off? Should we soften them up first?
After much consultation with Washington - it was decided to bypass Truk & continue further operations in the Central Pacific. We would be receiving no further reinforcements - besides two more battleships & ten destroyers.
The USS Wasp & USS Beleau Wood had been at Noumea for the last two months undergoing repairs - and with our two escort carriers, it was decided to make a last large scale raid against Truk - if nothing else to clear out the airpower there & see what we could destroy in port. With all of our carriers equipped with Hellcats, we did not think the threat was too great from their bombers.
Three task forces were formed - one Carrier Task Force with seven carriers (241 planes embarked), and two bombardment task forces (one with 5 BBs, 6 CAs, & 14 DDs) & (1 CA, 24 DDs).
Our carriers would cover the bombardment forces, while launching their own airstrikes against Truk's port facilities. Heavy bombers out of Rabaul would strike at the airfields, hopefully destroying useful numbers of fighters, while providing intelligence on what's what at Truk.
The ships left port on September 19th - heading to Bonis to refuel before proceeding to Truk. No other activity. Once they had refueled, our bombers started their mission - with a combination of B-17s & B-24 variants. Losses were intially light, with very few CAP fighters on station.
Once our ships neared Truk, however, the Hornet's Nest was agitated. Our destroyer task force suffered first, with a large strike against them (mostly Japanese Army bombers) and several ships were damaged, though none severely. Our battleship force was hit next, with the voluminous AA fire adequate enough to beat off the attack with no losses.
Our carriers were next, but the combined might of the Japanese at Truk met our aircover - over 96 Hellcats. It was a turkey shoot. Over 25 Zeros were destroyed & over 40 KI-61 Tony's were shot down. The few bombers that made it were either damaged or destroyed by AA. After that first morning raid, we shot down or damaged over 100 Japanese warplanes.
Of course, every silver lining has a cloud. Our own raid of 54 dive bombers & 49 torpedo bombers was slaughtered by immense clouds of AA fire ringing the harbor facilities. We lost another six squadron commanders, along with the majority of our bombers. We did however hit several ships at dock, including two CVEs and a minelayer.
That afternoon, additional aircraft attacked from Truk, resulting in no damage to our ships, and the loss of another sixty Japanese fighters and bombers. There was no follow-up strike from our carriers. At night, our two bombardment forces hit Truk, hitting the airfields over 500 times, smashing air towers, hangers, and heavily cratering the airfield. More damage was also inflicted on the port facilities, with the two CVEs taking more damage, with other light damage scattered among the other ships in port.
The next day, our bombardment ships withdrew back towards Bonis, while our carriers remained on station to continue the culling of Japanese airpower. CAP was set to 100% & the Japanese again ran into a firewall of Hellcats. We have three pilots rack up more than 10 kills each over the past two days, with all of our pilots shooting down more than sixty Japanese planes.
We will withdraw back to Bonis for replenishment - while we prepare to head back for round 2. Our course, our intelligence was able to assertain that their are almost 200,000 ground troops & support personnel at Truk - so we will not be attempting an invasion as part of this campaign.
Current Score : US 18617
Japan 6285
After abusing Truk some more, we plan on remaining on the defensive through the end of the year - waiting for our ships to be called for further operations against Japan. I am told that Nimitz is extremely happy with our performance to date - and choice assignments may be in our future.
Next: End of the Campaign & Recap.
It has been an extremely busy few months in the South Pacific. Our marines & Australian allies have more than earned their reputation for hard fighting. With Truk posing such a huge obstacle - CinCPac ordered us to concentrate on clearing the remaining Japanese bases in the Solomons before planning a possible invasion of Truk.
The Australians & US Regimental Combat Teams pulled double duty by assaulting Finschafen from both the landward & seaward sides. Our troops out of Lae were heavily reinforced and annihilated the two Japanese regiments encamped outside of the main Japanese position.
US combat troops landed at Finschafen, and assaulted the main Japanese positions without delay. The five Japanese regiments holding the base were completely unsupplied and put up only light resistance. Within a week, the entire position was in Allied hands.
Taking advantage of the plethora of shipping in the area, we immediately embarked the assault troops & moved them within striking distance of Shortlands Is. It was now time to clear up that little mess in the middle of our area. The entire 1st & 2nd Marine Divisions were combat loaded out of Rabaul & Kavieng, along with the newly arrived New Zealand Division, and more troops out of Bonis & Vila to prepare for the assault.
Our minesweepers had a tough job, spending three whole days clearing mines, with one APD taking damage from a Type 93 mine. She was still there, just with a few more holes in her. We managed to land over 20,000 troops in the first day, but the anticipated Japanese counterattack never materialized. Dive Bombers out of Bonis, Buin, & Vila continued to pound the Japanese troops - killing more than a thousand each day with tons and tons of bombs dropped.
After two weeks of preparations & many additional troops joining the party - we gave the order for a general assault along the lines. The fighting was fierce, but the unsupplied Japanese could not cope with over 60000 combat troops overrunning their positions. It was all over in less than 24 hours. In the end, over 20,000 Japanese were killed, with a little over 2000 surrendering at the end. The battle for the Solomons was over.
Since then battles for Shortlands & Finschafen in early August, we've spent the last month supplying our forward bases and contemplating Truk. Would we invade? Did we have the shipping to pull it off? Should we soften them up first?
After much consultation with Washington - it was decided to bypass Truk & continue further operations in the Central Pacific. We would be receiving no further reinforcements - besides two more battleships & ten destroyers.
The USS Wasp & USS Beleau Wood had been at Noumea for the last two months undergoing repairs - and with our two escort carriers, it was decided to make a last large scale raid against Truk - if nothing else to clear out the airpower there & see what we could destroy in port. With all of our carriers equipped with Hellcats, we did not think the threat was too great from their bombers.
Three task forces were formed - one Carrier Task Force with seven carriers (241 planes embarked), and two bombardment task forces (one with 5 BBs, 6 CAs, & 14 DDs) & (1 CA, 24 DDs).
Our carriers would cover the bombardment forces, while launching their own airstrikes against Truk's port facilities. Heavy bombers out of Rabaul would strike at the airfields, hopefully destroying useful numbers of fighters, while providing intelligence on what's what at Truk.
The ships left port on September 19th - heading to Bonis to refuel before proceeding to Truk. No other activity. Once they had refueled, our bombers started their mission - with a combination of B-17s & B-24 variants. Losses were intially light, with very few CAP fighters on station.
Once our ships neared Truk, however, the Hornet's Nest was agitated. Our destroyer task force suffered first, with a large strike against them (mostly Japanese Army bombers) and several ships were damaged, though none severely. Our battleship force was hit next, with the voluminous AA fire adequate enough to beat off the attack with no losses.
Our carriers were next, but the combined might of the Japanese at Truk met our aircover - over 96 Hellcats. It was a turkey shoot. Over 25 Zeros were destroyed & over 40 KI-61 Tony's were shot down. The few bombers that made it were either damaged or destroyed by AA. After that first morning raid, we shot down or damaged over 100 Japanese warplanes.
Of course, every silver lining has a cloud. Our own raid of 54 dive bombers & 49 torpedo bombers was slaughtered by immense clouds of AA fire ringing the harbor facilities. We lost another six squadron commanders, along with the majority of our bombers. We did however hit several ships at dock, including two CVEs and a minelayer.
That afternoon, additional aircraft attacked from Truk, resulting in no damage to our ships, and the loss of another sixty Japanese fighters and bombers. There was no follow-up strike from our carriers. At night, our two bombardment forces hit Truk, hitting the airfields over 500 times, smashing air towers, hangers, and heavily cratering the airfield. More damage was also inflicted on the port facilities, with the two CVEs taking more damage, with other light damage scattered among the other ships in port.
The next day, our bombardment ships withdrew back towards Bonis, while our carriers remained on station to continue the culling of Japanese airpower. CAP was set to 100% & the Japanese again ran into a firewall of Hellcats. We have three pilots rack up more than 10 kills each over the past two days, with all of our pilots shooting down more than sixty Japanese planes.
We will withdraw back to Bonis for replenishment - while we prepare to head back for round 2. Our course, our intelligence was able to assertain that their are almost 200,000 ground troops & support personnel at Truk - so we will not be attempting an invasion as part of this campaign.
Current Score : US 18617
Japan 6285
After abusing Truk some more, we plan on remaining on the defensive through the end of the year - waiting for our ships to be called for further operations against Japan. I am told that Nimitz is extremely happy with our performance to date - and choice assignments may be in our future.
Next: End of the Campaign & Recap.
Never Underestimate the Power of a Small Tactical Nuclear Weapon.....
Dateline USS Bunker Hill - November 13th, 1943 1700 Zulu
Navy censors have prevented me from writing until Operation Knockout had been completed. I am now watching the recovery of the last of our strike aircraft (most badly damaged by AA fire), but Admiral Spruance seems pleased.
With the destruction of the last Japanese naval presence in the South Pacific two months ago, along with the capturing of their remaining bases in New Guinea & the Solomons, CINC-PAC ordered the heavy units of the US Navy back to Noumea for rest and repairs for a major upcoming operation.
On October 14th, recon aircraft detected Japanese ships leaving Truk, task force composition unknown. The USS Essex & CVLs Belleau Wood, Independence, & three CVEs were sent to investigate. Poor weather kept our aircraft at Kavieng & Rabaul grounded, but the carrier pilots were able to report that Mushashi, one light cruiser and three destroyers had come out to play.
Tracking these ships, it looked as though they were going to proceed to bombard our new base at Rabaul. This was entirely unacceptable. The carriers got off a strike of Torpedo bombers that put three torpedoes into the large battleship, but she kept on coming. They had reached the bend near Kavieng, preparing for the run to Rabaul, when the next flight of torpedo bombers came in.
The Mushashi took three more torpedoes, with the light cruiser and two destroyers taken one apiece. Two destroyers reached Rabaul, but Admiral Callaghan was waiting for them with five battleships and many destroyers - in a surface action that lasted less than ten minutes, both Japanese destroyers were wiped from the face of the earth.
The next day our carriers went looking for the Mushashi, but found only the single light cruiser. We hammered the cruiser all day, finally sending her to the bottom in flames. We had to assume that the battleship had been sunk, bringing our total to at least 8 Japanese battleships sunk during the course of the campaign.
One of our submarines found a badly damaged Japanese destroyer near Truk, and put three torpedoes into her. The submarine commander was watching the tracks through his periscope and was able to report that the destroyer was obliterated on impact. The entire bombardment force, one BB, one CL, and three DDs were destroyed during the two day ordeal.
With no further naval activity seeming likely, CinC-Pac ordered the majority of our units back to Noumea. By the end of October, we had concentrated 3 CVs (Wasp, Essex, & Bunker Hill), 3 CVLs, 3 CVEs, 7 BBs, 10 CAs, 3 CLAAs, 9 CLs, and 45 DDs. An additional CLAA & 11 DDs were docked at Bonis. Supply convoys continued to restock our forward supply bases, while we waited for word on our next target.
On November 1st, Admiral Spruance called us together for our briefing. We were told that we were going to launch the largest raid of the war against Truk, to eliminate any remaining Japanese air and sea presence & reduce the bases their to rubble. CinC-Pac had already decided that an amphibious invasion would be too costly, as the Japanese had over 200,000 men on the island. Our raid would isolate the base and remove any further threat to our positions in the South Pacific.
There were more than a few men at the table who were eager for revenge & payback for Pearl Harbor. The plan - Operation Knockout, would consist of three parts - 1st, all our ships would steam at full speed to Bonis, where they would be reorganized into component task forces.
2nd- A carrier task force, commanded by Spruance himself, made up of 9 carriers (3 CVs, 3 CVLs, & 3 CVEs - 520 aircraft) with escorts would move to within 90 miles of Truk and allow the Japanese to attack with all of their remaining bombers. With a potential CAP of 150 Hellcats & Corsairs, we doubted any would penetrate the screen to even get close to the carriers.
3rd - After absorbing the Japanese bomber strength, three separate bombardment task forces would move in and pummel the Japanese bases (one made up of 7 BBs & 18 DDs, one of 10 CAs & 15 DDs, and last one of 1 CLAA & 15 DDs).
On November 2nd, we set sail for Bonis. The trip was uneventful, and after resupplying and refueling, Spruance sailed north with his carriers on November 7th. On November 9th, the first Japanese planes attacked - a total of 75 fighters and bombers. These were met with a CAP of 105 Hellcats & 12 Corsairs. Every single Japanese plane was shot out of the sky - with Ensign Cross of VF-71 getting his 13th kill.
By this time, our bombardment forces had left Bonis and were moving into position. On the 10th, the remaining Japanese bomber strength was unleashed on our carriers, but these were met with an even more powerful CAP (140 Hellcasts & 24 Corsairs) and every Japanese plane was again shot out of the sky.
As our carriers remained on station, our bombardment groups moved into position. From November 10th to the 12th, Truk was battered from end to end - a rotating bombardment schedule smashing facilities, supply depots and devastating the remaing Japanese ships in port (mostly subs, minelayers, & aviation ships). By the morning of the 13th, ten submarines had been sent to the bottom, followed by three minelayers, and two AVs.
Spruance then unleashed his own attack, with 98 Dauntlesses, 30 Helldivers, 121 Avengers, and 105 Hellcat escorts. A pitiful number of Japanese fighters rose to meet them and were swatted out of the sky. Our bombers ranged in on the remaing intact Japanese airfields, depots, and ships, sweeping across the Japanese positions like vengeful demons.
Concentrated Japanese antiaircraft fire shot down many of the attacking planes and damaged many more, but enough got through to cripple Truk as an effective Japanese base - more subs were sunk, and damage was evident on all remaining Japanese ships in dock - and no surface warships were in evidence.
Attacks continued through the end of the day on the 13th, with the carriers inflicting more damage and covering the retiring bombardment forces. From our positions 120 miles south of Truk, we can still see the smoke rising from the devastated landscape. In all, we suffered minor damage to a dozen ships, though none particularly serious.
The results of our raid were sent to CinC-PAC, and new orders have us sailing south to Bonis for refueling, then southeast to Noumea to rest and refit. Our aircrews are planning a celebration when we hit port, the likes of which have rarely been seen.
I do not believe that additional operations will be necessary before the end of the year, as all damage possible has been inflicted on our Japanese enemy. Why risk our crews and ships when there is nothing left to destroy? I am looking forward to a nice stretch of R&R, and rumor has it that we will be proceeding to join the Central Pacific campaign after the 1st of the new year.
Up Next - Final Totals & Results.....
Navy censors have prevented me from writing until Operation Knockout had been completed. I am now watching the recovery of the last of our strike aircraft (most badly damaged by AA fire), but Admiral Spruance seems pleased.
With the destruction of the last Japanese naval presence in the South Pacific two months ago, along with the capturing of their remaining bases in New Guinea & the Solomons, CINC-PAC ordered the heavy units of the US Navy back to Noumea for rest and repairs for a major upcoming operation.
On October 14th, recon aircraft detected Japanese ships leaving Truk, task force composition unknown. The USS Essex & CVLs Belleau Wood, Independence, & three CVEs were sent to investigate. Poor weather kept our aircraft at Kavieng & Rabaul grounded, but the carrier pilots were able to report that Mushashi, one light cruiser and three destroyers had come out to play.
Tracking these ships, it looked as though they were going to proceed to bombard our new base at Rabaul. This was entirely unacceptable. The carriers got off a strike of Torpedo bombers that put three torpedoes into the large battleship, but she kept on coming. They had reached the bend near Kavieng, preparing for the run to Rabaul, when the next flight of torpedo bombers came in.
The Mushashi took three more torpedoes, with the light cruiser and two destroyers taken one apiece. Two destroyers reached Rabaul, but Admiral Callaghan was waiting for them with five battleships and many destroyers - in a surface action that lasted less than ten minutes, both Japanese destroyers were wiped from the face of the earth.
The next day our carriers went looking for the Mushashi, but found only the single light cruiser. We hammered the cruiser all day, finally sending her to the bottom in flames. We had to assume that the battleship had been sunk, bringing our total to at least 8 Japanese battleships sunk during the course of the campaign.
One of our submarines found a badly damaged Japanese destroyer near Truk, and put three torpedoes into her. The submarine commander was watching the tracks through his periscope and was able to report that the destroyer was obliterated on impact. The entire bombardment force, one BB, one CL, and three DDs were destroyed during the two day ordeal.
With no further naval activity seeming likely, CinC-Pac ordered the majority of our units back to Noumea. By the end of October, we had concentrated 3 CVs (Wasp, Essex, & Bunker Hill), 3 CVLs, 3 CVEs, 7 BBs, 10 CAs, 3 CLAAs, 9 CLs, and 45 DDs. An additional CLAA & 11 DDs were docked at Bonis. Supply convoys continued to restock our forward supply bases, while we waited for word on our next target.
On November 1st, Admiral Spruance called us together for our briefing. We were told that we were going to launch the largest raid of the war against Truk, to eliminate any remaining Japanese air and sea presence & reduce the bases their to rubble. CinC-Pac had already decided that an amphibious invasion would be too costly, as the Japanese had over 200,000 men on the island. Our raid would isolate the base and remove any further threat to our positions in the South Pacific.
There were more than a few men at the table who were eager for revenge & payback for Pearl Harbor. The plan - Operation Knockout, would consist of three parts - 1st, all our ships would steam at full speed to Bonis, where they would be reorganized into component task forces.
2nd- A carrier task force, commanded by Spruance himself, made up of 9 carriers (3 CVs, 3 CVLs, & 3 CVEs - 520 aircraft) with escorts would move to within 90 miles of Truk and allow the Japanese to attack with all of their remaining bombers. With a potential CAP of 150 Hellcats & Corsairs, we doubted any would penetrate the screen to even get close to the carriers.
3rd - After absorbing the Japanese bomber strength, three separate bombardment task forces would move in and pummel the Japanese bases (one made up of 7 BBs & 18 DDs, one of 10 CAs & 15 DDs, and last one of 1 CLAA & 15 DDs).
On November 2nd, we set sail for Bonis. The trip was uneventful, and after resupplying and refueling, Spruance sailed north with his carriers on November 7th. On November 9th, the first Japanese planes attacked - a total of 75 fighters and bombers. These were met with a CAP of 105 Hellcats & 12 Corsairs. Every single Japanese plane was shot out of the sky - with Ensign Cross of VF-71 getting his 13th kill.
By this time, our bombardment forces had left Bonis and were moving into position. On the 10th, the remaining Japanese bomber strength was unleashed on our carriers, but these were met with an even more powerful CAP (140 Hellcasts & 24 Corsairs) and every Japanese plane was again shot out of the sky.
As our carriers remained on station, our bombardment groups moved into position. From November 10th to the 12th, Truk was battered from end to end - a rotating bombardment schedule smashing facilities, supply depots and devastating the remaing Japanese ships in port (mostly subs, minelayers, & aviation ships). By the morning of the 13th, ten submarines had been sent to the bottom, followed by three minelayers, and two AVs.
Spruance then unleashed his own attack, with 98 Dauntlesses, 30 Helldivers, 121 Avengers, and 105 Hellcat escorts. A pitiful number of Japanese fighters rose to meet them and were swatted out of the sky. Our bombers ranged in on the remaing intact Japanese airfields, depots, and ships, sweeping across the Japanese positions like vengeful demons.
Concentrated Japanese antiaircraft fire shot down many of the attacking planes and damaged many more, but enough got through to cripple Truk as an effective Japanese base - more subs were sunk, and damage was evident on all remaining Japanese ships in dock - and no surface warships were in evidence.
Attacks continued through the end of the day on the 13th, with the carriers inflicting more damage and covering the retiring bombardment forces. From our positions 120 miles south of Truk, we can still see the smoke rising from the devastated landscape. In all, we suffered minor damage to a dozen ships, though none particularly serious.
The results of our raid were sent to CinC-PAC, and new orders have us sailing south to Bonis for refueling, then southeast to Noumea to rest and refit. Our aircrews are planning a celebration when we hit port, the likes of which have rarely been seen.
I do not believe that additional operations will be necessary before the end of the year, as all damage possible has been inflicted on our Japanese enemy. Why risk our crews and ships when there is nothing left to destroy? I am looking forward to a nice stretch of R&R, and rumor has it that we will be proceeding to join the Central Pacific campaign after the 1st of the new year.
Up Next - Final Totals & Results.....
Never Underestimate the Power of a Small Tactical Nuclear Weapon.....