Battle beneath the Pole Star – the engagement off Adak
The Adak strike forces’ approach is both surreptitious and sedate. Hiei’s captain, Nishida, has impressed on his engineering department the vital necessity of the battleship’s propulsion machinery remaining on the top line: the slightest defect may degrade their ability to outrange a retaliatory air strike when the bombardment’s done. Further, the forces’ advance has to be coordinated with the approach to Attu of the transport groups nearly a thousand miles distant to the east of Paramushiro.
On 4 March Onishi shifts his flag to Kiso as his Sweeping Group and Hosogaya’s screen top off their tanks from Fujita’s oilers for the last time. Now they shift their course northwards, heading, not too directly, towards Adak, and trailed at a distance of 150 miles by Yamaguchi’s carriers who are flying fighter cover above them. During the afternoon of 6 March, at a point some 350 miles south of Adak, Chokai’s air search set detects a prowler to the north. The communications net isn’t sophisticated enough for the covering fighters to be directed towards the contact, and the search aircraft in question is never visually acquired. But there are indications from wireless traffic that the Japanese have been spotted – true enough, as it turns out, though the consequences will not be as expected. Aboard the strike forces tension goes up several notches; it had been the ardent hope of the Japanese that their approach might remain unseen. There will be no turning back now, however: for good or ill they enter the waters around Adak tonight.
Coming in from the south, the strike forces have a choice of four approaches. Little Tanaga Strait is narrow and easily mined and the passes either side of Umak Island too far east for the Japanese taste. They have planned instead for an approach via Adak Strait, leaving Kanaga Island to the west, knowing they should have a minimum of twenty fathoms beneath their keels at the shallowest point and that charts for the Strait reflect a wire dragging sweep conducted ten years earlier. Moreover, they are fortified by the report that the Strait is clear of mines stemming from submarine Ro-65’s reconnaissance one day earlier.
It’s a rough night off Adak as Onishi’s Sweeping Force slips through the Strait and, rounding Cape Adagdak, enters Sitkin Sound – territory familiar to him from his previous penetration aboard Tama. The chop is throwing up a lot of clutter on the A-scopes of the destroyers’ radars, but the watches have been practising hard and presently the rating who is steering Urakaze’s antennae in azimuth is refining his bearing solution for four targets in response to his colleague who is hunched over his oscilloscope and calling the amplitude of the spikes these targets are displaying. The Chu-i supervising the watch passes the contact report to the bridge over the voicepipe and Urakaze’s skipper issues instructions to his gunnery and torpedo officers as the destroyer continues to close silently on the detected enemy. Similar scenes are being played out on the other Japanese destroyers, but not, apparently aboard the Canadian ships who remain blissfully unaware of Onishi’s approach until the moment fire is opened at short range.
In fact, the Sweeping Force has caught an Allied group consisting of four Canadian minesweepers and a US sub-chaser stone cold. This time it is the Japanese who enjoy a radar advantage so complete that the Allied force never gets a shot off. Four of its five vessels are summarily despatched in a welter of shell and torpedo strikes, whilst the fifth, Lockeport, is so hard hit that its attempts to evade are over in a trice. Overhauled rapidly by the Kageros as soon as it is re-acquired, Lockeport is hit by a further six rounds and quickly slips into the depths of the Sound.
Night Time Surface Combat, near Adak Island at 97,38
Japanese Ships
CL Kiso
DD Tamanami
DD Maikaze
DD Isokaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Urakaze
DD Hamakaze
Allied Ships
MSW Canso, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
MSW Caraquet, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
MSW Guysborough, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
MSW Lockeport, Shell hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
SC SC-643, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Adak Island at 97,38
Japanese Ships
CL Kiso
DD Tamanami
DD Maikaze
DD Isokaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Urakaze
DD Hamakaze
Allied Ships
MSW Lockeport, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
Somewhat to the Japanese’ surprise, Adak is unprotected by torpedo boats.
Of the other Allied task group reported by Attu’s reconnaissance aircraft there is, puzzlingly, no trace.
The Japanese plan has succeeded! Without interference from defending surface units, Hosogaya’s Bombardment Group enters the sound and begins to work over the shore installations. Now, however, the absence of sufficient heavy units makes itself felt, and whilst moderate damage is done to Adak’s harbour facilities, its airfields receive insufficient attention, and only minor damage is done to its bomber complement.
Naval bombardment of Adak Island, at 97,38
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 2 destroyed
PBM Mariner: 1 destroyed
B-26B Marauder: 1 destroyed
Japanese Ships
CA Chokai
CA Takao
BB Hiei
Allied ground losses:
667 casualties reported
Guns lost 26
Vehicles lost 3
Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 12
Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 2
Port supply hits 6
Four hundred miles to the west, the first of the Japanese transport groups enters Attu's Massacre Bay and commences unloading operations: the underlying purpose for the whole exercise. Meanwhile, their bombardment ammunition expended, Hosogaya’s ships turn away from Adak and commence their southward sprint in the wake of Onishi’s victorious destroyers, straining to be clear of Allied detection and counter-strike by break of day.
