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BANZAI, and no matter what happens, make sure Lurch comes through comes through safely.

0330 hrs

Darkness still rules , allowing the blue crackling exhausts to shine bright and clear on Zuihos deck.
Takeji has taken a place on the little flight control tower.
No place to command his ship. But the only place to farewell his eagles.

Ahead, 40 miles Hiyo leads the way.
Somewhere to his flank, the main body
Shokaku, Zuikaku, Soryu, Unryu, Katsaguri and Amagi.

Reports are coming in. Yahagi, Noshiro are even now re engaged, and only 200 miles away.
What will Admiral Abe do now?
This mad dash south..........will it catch them out?
Or lead them straight into hell.

But then, overhead...........Takeji gets his answer.
It is one that uplifts his warrior heart.

Extract from shattering thesword
A cantona production

................the japanese, it seemed, would lurk to the north of the islands, covering whatever should come.
At 0430 hours, a roaming Avenger however reports the enemy carriers, and battleships coming south, south past Taberfane, and coming hard.
It reports, but the report, and plane, dies half sent.

The allies react.
Well, some do.
Two task forces, 285, 287, turn North, and prepare for battle, rising to 24 knots. Spread across the Arafura sea, flight decks are loaded, and strikes are prepared. The japanese are coming, but how many, and exactly where.
CV Yorktown 2 launches a search, ...........find the enemy, pin the enemy, kill the enemy.
The search cleared, todays CAP begins to launch, ready for the days work.

But the days work is already arriving.................

It is Tokiwana, group captain of shokaku, who decides this battle
To him, it is simple. The Arafura sea crawls with enemy. Finding them will not be hard. Strike, and strike now!
Abe agrees

Japans carriers still know their work
Even as Takeji watches his CAP, his search Jills clear his deck, the sky above thunders to the strike
320 aircraft, climbing high, climbing fast, winging straight south

Abe has not waited "to pin the target"
Tokiwana will find it, find it even as the sun begins to rise.

28 minutes to target.

"Always bloody raining when we give battle"
yes Hidaka, it seems like it always is.

It rains this morning, scattered showers under a cloud base of 5000...........but 5000 breaking up.

A cloud base that gives every advantage to an attacker above it..if you can find the target.

Some of the strike is lost in this muck, katsaguri jills seperate, so do Amagi's.
But they climb, and climb, and the sun peeks into the world, and wings gleam, canopys sparkle

12000 feet.
A break in the clouds


The allies plan to place 180 fighters on CAP today.

28 minutes to target
32 required to launch, to climb, to intercept

Only 20 manage it.

Across the radios of japans fleet, the message crackles

'Limited resistance, enemy strike coming your way, 1 Essex class, 2 Independence class.........commencing dives!"

Flatfooted
caught
Disorganised
Surprised

These are the words history will write
Maybe we should whisper what cannot be said?
Out foxed?

This Task force has barely cleared her decks..is still clearing her decks of their frantically dispatched strike, when the japanese arrive

'Resistance is light"
No, resistance is too low, too late
120 judy dive bombers, 80 torpedo bombers

It begins

Soft morning light, cool breeze. A black, black flak filled sky, and the screaming dives.
Yorktown takes the first bomb, and shrugs it off
Independence vanishes in a forest of bomb columns

Yorktown continues to steam hard, following a doctrine of steady platform for steady guns.
And a steady target
The first fish strikes near the bow, the next admidships, the next below the bridge as well.....after that the flames and black columns of smoke and death will hide whatever else strikes.
Some will say 7, others 5.
it does not matter.
The waters will claim her anyway

Independence takes 3 bombs............hit hard, she will live, if they can get her away
CVL Cowpens will not
3 torpedoes, 3 bombs, she turtles as she goes, taking all of her men with her.

There are pitifully few ships to rescue the survivors.
Cl St loius will dodge her bombs, CL Leander wears her half score , as if to take her share as well.
CLAA Juneau takes a fish, 3 bombs

The attack lasts just 30 minutes.

Another 30 is taken up gathering the flock, recalling the fighters (fighters that have chased the enemy strike ) and turning for home

If, of course, home is still there

There are other carriers out here, a great many, it seems

Hiyos destroyers, 90 miles from the fleet, send in the first report

"160 plus, your way"


Calmly, Takeji views his empty flight deck, his guns pointing skyward.
About him, clear to see, the fleet has gathered now.
Smoke streams from his funnel, she vibrates beneath him.
28 knots
A last glance above.............clouds still at 5000. Thin, but there.
Fighters rising from every deck.
The Steel helmet feels strange, heavy.

I am the captain. I have captained for 10 years now, I have never lost a ship, never damaged one..
And I am not about to start now.

'This is your Captain speaking"

'We can expect to come under attack in the next 20 minutes
You know your duty.
Long live our empire"


Duty

Charge at his throttles, eyes still for but one thing...........pressure, vacuum, revolutions, temperature
These have been his life
Death threatens
This is his life


Minobe, in damage Central
Waiting for the flames
Waiting for the test, the test he knows he must fail.
Wanting to live
Shamed enough to die.

Lurch
Staring at his damage control board
Imagining the worse
Hoping for the best
No fear of the enemy, or of death
But of the barsted sitting behind him

Okano
In the after repair.
Wondering of his wife, his children.
Wondering, how in the hell he got here.
But there are no regrets

Hirate
Burnt hairate
Abandoned, betrayed by his wife Hirate
Wedded now to this ship, this life, this duty
He's moved from after repair
You might call it an idiotic act, but right now, hes bolting down that damn cylinder head

Takeji
Starbaord bridge wing, glasses to the horizon
waiting

let them come



And now for the ones that really matter

Hidaka leads them, zuihos's 18
6000 feet, only a mile out, circling.
The best, of the best, of Japans best
Goalkeepers.

They are going to be needed.

Commander Rickard leads the allied strike

Frantic to get away from the hammer descending on his task force, he leads the strike initially due west, hugging the waters, the still dark air below the suns rising

Only after ten minutes, does he turn North
He begins the climb, his Avengerr at the head of 51 helldivers, 29 dauntless , 75 avengers.
Only 40 hell cats escort .
They are still climbing, still at only 5000 feet, trapped, or maybe reluctant to pass through the grey curtain above, when the first zeros appear.
The enemy are 50 miles away still, and the sharks are nipping at them.
Maybe subconciously, maybe not, Commander Rickard seeks safety in speed.
The hell divers climb through the muck............the Avengers begin a slow, but steady descent.

A hellcat goes down
4 zeros die
45 miles to go.

Hidaka leads them higher, higher, higher, through the thinning mist, mist/cloud, whatever it is melting away in the morning sun.
He banks south at 12000 feet, and joins the other fighters streaming south.
The enemy approach, and like bees to honey, they draw the fighters to them

The helldivers have seperated, the avengers come in, packed tight, a stream of bombers nearly a mile long,, the Hell cats weaving above them, the thatch weave working like a loam .
Shokaku's zeros weave in, now Amagis, now Shohos, ...
Zeros go down, another, and another
But the hellcats are getting thinner too..............too many enemy, too many bombers to protect

Hidaka banks them again, zuihos 18, flying parrallell to the bombers.
Ahead, almost below, the flanking destroyers begin to appear
The sky is filling with flack

They are at 2000 feet now, the bombers, breaking up into groups, picking their targets.

Hidaka attacks



They dive,.....





A hellcat flashes past Diogawa.......too easy..............a burst.........a kill
the avengers float up, up.
They are amongst them!

He picks the first one, turrett turning frantically his way...........oh, its been so long!.....close, get closer.......turret, man, the hammer of guns, shattering glass, blood, slumping men...............and past, banking, up, up into the belly of the next beast, firing, firing, rolling past...flames erupting from that buka, rolling away, falling, away, thats 2!.....bank!, rudder, kick!, stick, body lurching, head swivelling...the sky seemingly full of avengers, avengers firing, avengers burning..........and like barracuda amongst bait fish, his eagles.........hunting, hunting, and killing

he rolls inverted, the ocean rising above him, the, stick hard over, the savage beauty of when it all just comes together.........another burst, and another fat barsted falls, and his guns hiss empty............


Wolves amongst lambs, Combined fleets CAP has fought well.
But they still get through.......

Action report
battle of Arafura sea
IJNS Zuikaku


At 0700 hours the enemy formation, estimated 160 aircraft strong, was sighted approaching from due south, at a hieght of 4000 feet.
Our Combat patrol of approximately 100 fighters began to intercept some 15 kilometres out.
The enemy fighetr escort, initially strong, began to fall apart with the attack some 10 kilometres away, with CVL Shohos and Zuihos Combat patrol being particularily effective

It is estimated that some 28 avengers, 7 dauntleess dive bombers, 12 helldivers and 6 hellcats were destroyed in this stage of the battle.
At some 5 kilometres the enemy formations began their attacks.
Standard tactic of turning stern to the attack, and then manouvering violently was employed.
AA gunfire, regretfully, remains ineffective.

It was during this attack that some 30 hell divers (reported as many as 50 by other ships) also made attacks.
These were, with only one exception, all shallow dive attacks, only the straight dive attacks being effective

All ships in the fleet report being attacked to varying degrees..........

The first attack was upon this ship.............

The first attack was upon this ship.............

Oh come on!!

Leaving us hanging in the middle or start of the major battle in the last weeks.

The suspense is killing me already.

Mat

Unlike CVL Cowpens, IJNS Zuikaku can prepare an action report

The last episode was worth waiting for, as will be the next one. But man, I hate waiting!

Right now, the fleet is scattered across 10000 yards of ocean. What was a nice orderly box formation is rapidly falling apart, and soon, Takeji knows, it will dissolve even further as the carriers begin their own individual evasive manouvers

Zuiho is near the head of the fleet, hammering into the wind, and here , on the Port bridge wing, the salt is on his lips.
he stares aft, watching the attack develop, watching for what ever comes his way.

The Avengers are breaking into small packs -still harrassed and attacked by the fighters, and up there, at 12000 feet, the dive bmbers are approaching.......
Its going to be a hot fifteen minutes.........

The first bombs are falling astern of him,............Zuikaku..............missed
Well over on the horizon, Amagi is dancing through her forest of bombs.............missed

And then it gets too busy to notice anyone else

4 Avengers bank 5000 yards astern, coming in hard, coming in low, coming at them...........
"Dive bombers!"
The helldivers have begun their dives

"Flank speed!, PORT 30!, hold the wheel hard coxswain!"
Zuiho heels...........and the guns begin to bark

Like magic, CVL Nisshin comes into view astern of him, 2000 yards, ..........dead between the avengers, Zuiho....
"Gods!, can't he see them?"
Three avengers lift over her deck, one cartwheels into the sea, they thunder past 500 yards away, tracer, and explosions chasing the madly weaving bombers

Takeji barely sees them...............in the corner of his eye he see's Nisshin leap as two fish strike. All concentration is on the two Hell divers coming down, down, the great blob detaching.......falling at them, straight at them..over them..........hammering into the sea 50 yards away and ahead, the ocean going CCCCAAARACCKKK! as 1000 lbs of death explodes twice...........

Zuiho keeps turning, turning, her guns hammering away......avengers seem to be weaving everywhere, seeking targets, seking safety, for the zeros hunt them still.
The turn continues, revealing the battle about them........
Nisshin is slewing to a stop.healing, healing, men already swarming her flanks..........
Musashi , a volcano of fire and smoke............undamaged, her guns blast away
CVL Shoho.......her bow gone, snatched by a fish.............
And as the turn finishes, as the guns fall silent, CVL Mizuho burns admidships.............

This attack is over
Zuiho, and basically, the fleet, lives.

War waits for no one
The last attackers are still being chased away across the ocean, when the flagship signals

"make general direction due east, maintain CAP "

Hidaka is first down, followed by Uto, Diogawa.
Ogawa remains aloft.

The deck crews race to the machines, pushing the three planes astern, fuel hoses snake, belts of ammunition begin to disapear
The pace is frantic.
It is still only 9 am.
the first strike is coming back in, waiting to land, waiting for clear decks.


"Enemy strike approaching!"
There has been time to grab a drink, nothing else
Within minutes, they climb away again




Only 50 odd fighters truly intercept this strike
But nearly a dozen are Zuihos's

10 hellcats, 21 Avengers, 20 Helldivers
Again, all coming in low, coming in with bombs only, coming in shallow.

The wolves of Zuiho rip in.
ALL the wolves rip in

The raid breaks, dumps its bombs uselessly
3 hellcats are destroyed, 13 helldivers, 7 Avengers follow them into the emerald green seas


The score is mounting (but who keeps score ney?)

The sun climbs slowly
Combined fleet steams hard east, begins to recover her strike
The day marches on.
And death continues its harvest.

'What time is it?
"10 Am chief"

10 AM..............a long day. A long day down here indeed.
Charge stretches his back, eyes never moving from the guages
Three hours now at boost, three ours of pushing the old lady as hard as they can
What is happening?...........there has been an attack, that is for certain, how could you miss that? ( and a bloody close miss at that, the hammering bang has rained lagging down all over the shop), but after that?

He looks around
Pale faces. Strained faces. Too many faces with too many things to think about...........
he turns to the palest face down here.........."You, Able seaman...........quickly now, how many coils in the After Vap?"

Diogawa sits on his arse in the shade of the little bridge.
Blood soaks his boot, his ankles.
Commander Korri tut tuts over the jagged lump of shrapnel sticking obscenely out of Diogawas calf.
"You will have to go below pilot officer"
Diogawa gives him a look that could kill.........'Buggar that...........pull the bloody thing out, bandage it up, and get the Truk out"
Korri rolls his eyes.........'As you wish.........this might hurt a bit"
A animal growl howls across the flight deck..............drowned however in the beat of the six zeros warming for the next launch
'Did you bloody get it?"
'Yes, now hold still, while I stop it, you are bleeding like a pig Pilot Officer.........."

Ogawa comes over.........'laying down on the bloody job friend........."
'Piss of Ogawa!...........hey, you can't get me a bite to eat can you.?...........this war business is bloody appetite growing"
Ogawa grins.......'Ill see what we can do"

It is 1 pm, and the next raid, is rolling in.

Diogawa hobbles to his plane, climbs in.
Still chewing, he joins 13 other Zuiho fighters, 13 goalkeepers..........

Uto climbs away last............wheels up, pitch ...............flaps in.......throttle, mixture......
1 pm, and the day , so long, so bloody long, is still a rolling battle

he climbs, and has time to take in the fleet now.
Mizhuo seems to have her fires under control..shoho however..............

And Nisshin has sunk
And the enemy are still coming. Every bone aches. Every one.
So this is the life of a fighter pilot yes................and don't say they did not warn you.

More shapes.............racing in from ahead, 2 miles away.
Hidaka waggles his wings, peels away and down.
Back to bloody work then....................

Throttle full...........stick, rudder. Dauntless dive bombers............and no escort

Cl Noshiro, Yahagi will die today, caught north of Darwin, south of the fleet
The allies send 5 seperate attacks this day, each one progressively weaker than the next. Japan does not manage to get another away.
Abe will order the fleet due east, then North towards Babo..
Three attacks by land based planes have simply been shattered this day............the giant, hurt or not........to the south remains lethal.

And then, of course, there is the age old problem.............fuel.
Dark falls shortly after 9pm , dawn begins about 4.30...........precious time enough to make good the repairs that are needed, to rest, to eat, to prepare.
They have been lucky.......perhaps.

Tomorrow, he feels, they must do it again





Battle of Arafura sea.day 1

japan
CVL Nisshin sunk
CVL Shoho-1 torpedo hit.heavy damage
CVL Mizhuo -1 bomb hit, moderate damage

2 Cls lost
1 DD lost

32 jill, 23 judy, 19 betty, approx 40 fighters lost

allies
CV Yorktown2 sunk
CVL Cowpens sunk
CVL Independence ....is dead in the water
1DD sunk
CL leander sunk.......(surely)
and possibly 2 more CL sunk

93 avengers destroyed
60 helldivers
28 hellcats

Zuiho fighters now have...............70 kills!
Virtually every pilot has 2 or 3

Hidaka has 3
Uto still only 1
Ogawa 5
Diogawa 6

3 pilots lost, currently at 13 available planes, 2 damaged planes
18 pilots remain

Jills -11 strong, 1 lost today.
No idea how.


And, yes, the battle continues..........
And congrats to Cantona.......he just told me he's going to be a DAD again.

More tomorrow..............(no turn today, as you can guess why!)[:)]