1943 (Kirov Series Book 27) Page 12

  “What order?” Hyakutake leaned forward, his breath stilled as he waited.

  Part V

  Grim Reckoning

  “There's a sin, a fearful sin, resting on this nation, that will not go unpunished forever. There will be reckoning yet ... it may be sooner or it may be later, but it's a coming…”

  — Solomon Northup

  Chapter 13

  Halsey was back, standing on the weather deck off the bridge of the Essex as he watched the battleships arrive from the south. He stood tall and proud, full recovered from his illness, just as the fleet he now commanded had made a remarkable recovery. There beside him were the Lexington and Yorktown, risen from the dead in the shape and form of two more Essex class flattops. The cruisers and destroyers were farther out, but the Admiral wanted the battleships in nice and tight. He had been on the short range radio a moment earlier.

  “Looks a little busy out here,” came Fletcher. “Where’s the valet parking?”

  “Pull ‘em right in close,” said Halsey. “You can park one right next to each of the three carriers.”

  There were North Carolina, South Dakota and Washington, three fast battleships, and the only heavy ships in the fleet that could run with the carriers. They were beautiful ships, their architecture foreshadowing the long sleek lines of the Iowa Class that was now under construction. Fletcher had been operating them independently in the Fiji Group, occasionally pounding Tavua field in the north. Now Halsey wanted them near. They were fast at 28 knots, they had excellent endurance, with a range over 17,000 nautical miles, and they had guns—lots of them. There were 20 x 5.5-inch dual purpose guns, and 15 quad 40mm Bofors—sixty guns. The nine 16-inch guns wouldn’t fire at planes, but there were there to back up Halsey’s cruisers if that ever became necessary. And to thicken the flak stew further, the two Light AA Cruisers San Diego and San Juan arrived with the battleships.

  ‘Knock ‘em Down Halsey’ was ready for a brawl. They were calling him the ‘Knuckle Swinger’ back home, though his battles often were painful and the source of much anxiety when they would hit the headlines. He had lost the Lexington at Pearl Harbor, bravely challenging an enemy he had no business attacking at that time, though he did not know that then. He had fought hard at the Koro Sea, and lost the Hornet, but he hurt the Japanese even worse.

  It was Fletcher’s debacle in the Coral Sea that saw both Saratoga and Yorktown go down that was the real wound inflicted on the fleet. For that, Fletcher had been moved to the battleships, but Halsey never said anything more about the stinging defeat to Fletcher. He would never hit a man when he was down—unless he was Japanese. So Halsey always gave as much as he took in the ring, and always fought his heart out. That’s the way the public saw it, and after Doolittle and his raids into the Marshalls, they had come to love the man. The US had been back on its heels for too long after Koro Sea reduced the fleet to just two carriers. Spruance had kept them safe, as Nimitz wanted. Now, with those three new carriers and a host of new planes to go with them, Halsey was going to attack.

  He knew Operation Push on Viti Levu was jumping off on January 7th, so he wanted to take the 1st Marine Paras and 8th Marine Regiment out to sea and surprise the Japanese with an attack on the New Hebrides. The island Nimitz and King had fingered was Efate, centrally located and with good airfields that could be rapidly improved. Halsey was going to give it to them.

  To coordinate the attack, he would link up with Spruance in TF-12 to complete the cast of his new ensemble. That would add Enterprise and Hornet to the show, and the two new hybrids, Gettysburg and Vicksburg, would join Shiloh to escort in the transports. The initial rendezvous would be here off the waters of Funafuti in the Ellice Islands. Then the whole group would head for the New Hebrides, with more raw carrier air power than any other operation the US had mounted in the war.

  On the other side of the equation, Yamamoto and Ugaki had been planning the development of Japanese power in the lower Solomons. They had Tulagi, and the Raider battalion that took it from them in the old history was busy on Viti Levu. So Now the Japanese were in the process of shipping in aviation support and airfield construction units to get a working airfield at Tulagi. At the same time, a small detachment would be landed amphibiously on Guadalcanal to secure that island, as additional sites had been located and approved for airfields.

  That would be a bigger operation than it seemed, for the Japanese were lacking in most essential equipment to adequately build and maintain airfields. They had very few fuel trucks to send from Rabaul, and almost no bulldozers or earth moving equipment. Instead it was pick and shovel work to build a new field, and raw manpower and horses were used on the fields for labor and hauling.

  If local labor could not be rounded up and put to work, the garrison troops would have to do the job, and it was hot, sweaty, backbreaking work in the tropical sun. If the troops took to working in the evening or morning to avoid that merciless sun, it was mosquito time, and few avoided bouts of Malaria in the Solomons, though on Fiji that disease was not a problem. Now, in the Monsoon season, the rains could quickly turn an unpaved or reinforced field into a quagmire, and the Japanese would lose more planes to crash landings than to combat in the early days.

  Yet in spite of the difficulties, the operation was not aimed at securing Tulagi and Guadalcanal, and two transport groups were already outbound from Rabaul. To cover that operation, Yamamoto had mustered his carrier power into two groups. Carrier Division 1, with the Fleet Flag on Yamato, would bring Kaga and Akagi to the lower Solomon Sea. Meanwhile, Carrier Division 3 under Hara, the victor of Ceylon, would take the outside passage north of the Solomons with Taiho, Tosa, and the light carriers Junyo and Hiyo. Both forces then intended to rendezvous as they approached the Santa Cruz Islands, make a quick strike at the small field at Ndeni, and then return to Rabaul.

  Yamamoto had no idea that the US was now planning a major offensive. He and Ugaki were still working out how to transfer in fighter support to Noumea and begin to build up air power at Nandi and Tavua, not knowing the US was intending to launch an all-out attack on those fields. They were aware that the 1st USMC Division had been relieved, noted the arrival of the 25th Infantry in its place, but still believed the Americans incapable of mounting any offensive that could seriously bother two crack Army divisions like the 38th and 48th. As for the impending US attack on Efate, the possibility never entered their minds.

  On the 10th of January, the two sides suddenly became aware of each other’s presence. Halsey had been observing radio silence, so there was no SIGINT to tip off Yamamoto that something was up, but a long range naval search patrol out of Buin had stumbled across the US Fleet and reported carriers. That got the Admiral’s attention immediately, particularly since a patrol from Nandi had also reported two groups of US ships to the north of Fiji and moving west. The only thing west of that position was the New Hebrides, and the position of the reported US carriers looked suspiciously like a covering operation.

  His own operation had just concluded. Japanese troops were landed safely at Lunga on Guadalcanal, and the aviation support elements had arrived at Tulagi. The Light Carrier Junyo was given the honor of sending its dive bombers to attack Ndeni in the Santa Cruz Islands, which was soon to be the target of the next Japanese move southeast once sufficient air operations capability had been established at Tulagi. Now these disturbing sighting reports were cause for some concern.

  A signal was sent to Nandi on Fiji, where the Kawaguchi Detachment was slowly approaching the harbor, even as the land battle there drew nearer to that vital outpost. Commander Kanihira was to remain ready to abort his operation and immediately take his valuable transports and troops southwest on a roundabout return journey to Noumea. Then Yamamoto called for Ugaki and asked him to bring in the Captain and XO of Takami.

  “Why do you summon those officers?” asked Ugaki with a frown.

  “I know you think of them as junior officers, and beneath our considerations here, but I find their ins
ight useful. Besides, I have a mission for their ship. They have long range search capability with those helicopters. I want them to verify this carrier contact.”

  “Why not send our own planes?”

  “Because their aircraft can be stealthy, and also have radars, while our own planes must visually sight the enemy. If they in turn are spotted, then the Americans will know we have carriers within range.”

  As Fleet Admirals will always have the last word in any such discussion, Ugaki relented and summoned Harada and Fukada to Yamato. When they had arrived, Yamamoto explained the situation and told them what he wanted.

  “You will detach from Carrier Division 3 and assume the role of a forward picket. Approach the location of this sighting and use your helicopters to determine the true composition of the enemy, if they are present as reported.”

  “How far forward do you want us,” asked Harada.

  “As far as necessary to accomplish this task. I will leave that to your judgment. In the meantime, I intend to take the Kido Butai west of the New Hebrides. If you can ascertain the location of the enemy, I am prepared to strike.”

  “Will we remain in range of support from your carriers?”

  “That I cannot guarantee. I would prefer to conceal the position of the Kido Butai as long as possible.”

  “You believe the enemy plans a raid into the New Hebrides?”

  “That is quite possible, but your reconnaissance will hopefully give us a clearer picture.”

  “Very well, we will depart immediately.”

  That was that, but Fukada had some misgivings that he did not voice at the meeting, wary of Ugaki’s disapproving stare. “We’ll be in harm’s way, that’s for sure,” he said to Harada as they boarded the launch to return to Takami.

  “That’s the commitment we made when we decided to approach these men and offer our service. So now, like good little vassals, we do what this ship was built to do. Takami is as good a forward picket as anyone might find in this war.”

  “They have to know where the Kido Butai is right now,” said Fukada. “Yamamoto just tipped his hat with that raid on Ndeni.”

  “We don’t know what they know,” said Harada. “That raid could have been accomplished by a single light carrier, just as it was. Junyo sent only 15 planes in for that attack, and they busted up the airfield there pretty good just the same. That carrier could have attacked from anywhere in a 250-mile radius of that island.”

  “True, but if the Americans are out there in force, they should take that raid as a wakeup call.”

  “Then let’s go find them.” Harada was eager to get back to the ship.

  Halsey knew more than Harada realized that hour. The coast watchers on Ndeni had observed both the approach and withdrawal of the planes that raided that island, which narrowed down the location of the enemy carriers that sent them.

  “But it was just a pin prick,” said Captain Duncan on the Essex. “Word is they got hit with no more than fifteen to twenty planes.”

  “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” said Halsey. “I want the scout carriers up that way to have a look. We’ve got ten fat transports heading our way, packed to the gills with supplies and the 8th USMC Regiment. I want them delivered in one piece, and with no surprises. Vice Admiral Morton is the convoy master. I think we’d better tell him that if we can confirm enemy carriers, we may have to hold off on Efate until we show them the door.”

  That was going to send Captains Gorton and Herndon on the Vicksburg and Gettysburg northwest to have that look, and their high flying fighters would stand in for the long range radars that Takami would bring to the same duty they had been assigned.

  That night Takami sailed southeast into harm’s way. The SH60J/K Seahawk was up off the deck before dawn, and looking for trouble. In little time they had a contact, several flights of airborne contacts starting to coalesce over a small surface contact bearing 230, just two discrete ships.

  “What would a carrier be doing out there with no more than a single ship in escort?” said Harada.

  Fukada was leaning over Lieutenant Ryoko Otani’s SPY 1 station as the data came in from the Seahawk. “It’s the contacts further south that I’m worried about,” he said. “They look a whole lot more dangerous. If I had to take a good guess here, I’d say the Americans are going to hit our bases in the New Hebrides.”

  “I’ll pass that on to Yamamoto,” said Harada. “In the meantime, the ship will come to battle stations, and air alert 1. If that is a lone carrier to our southwest, it will be looking our way soon.”

  It was two lone carriers, Vicksburg and Gettysburg, and they were fanning out their search planes to have that look. Yet Halsey was suspicious of a Japanese approach through the nice open sea lane between the Santa Cruz Islands and the New Hebrides. He had already ordered Spruance to send out a small strike group and look the area over. If nothing else, it would be a good live training mission. So not more than thirty minutes later, just after dawn, Otani had some more bad news.

  “It looks like Commander Fukada was correct, sir,” she said. “I’ve got four airborne contacts heading our way now, and right on the heading he expected.”

  That wasn’t news Harada wanted to hear. “How in the world did they find us out here, nothing has come close enough to spot us.”

  “Who knows sir,” said Fukada. “But we’re right where I’d be looking for trouble if I were the Americans. This was route one for the Kido Butai if it was to continue south after hitting Ndeni. Yamamoto was cagey to sidestep west of the New Hebrides like that. For my money, the Americans could be taking a good guess with that package.”

  “Yes,” said Harada. “Well I don’t want to see it delivered. Let’s see if we can discourage them. Do we have the range yet with our SM-2s?”

  “Not yet, sir. I make it another ten minutes at the current closing rate.”

  “Then we hit them as soon as they cross our max range line. Two SM-2s, nothing more. I doubt if they’ve seen anything like our missiles before. It might shake them up.”

  It did.

  The thin streaks of the missile contrails caught the rosy dawn and were impossible to overlook. Hiroko Shiota was tuning in to listen to any chatter from the incoming planes, and they were dumfounded, and quite alarmed, particularly when the leading flight of F4F Wildcats became the intended targets of those SM-2s.

  Missile shock had been a weapon Karpov had used on his WWII era enemies from the very first, but as it had also happened before, a diligent US pilot decided to connect the dots. Something had come out of the northwest horizon, trailing that long white contrail, something fast, mean, and deadly. But if they followed that trail it might lead them to whatever had fired of that little 4th of July party. It was his Dauntless from the small group of six off Vicksburg that would finally see a lone ship on that empty horizon, and his wing mates were just mad enough to want to get even for the loss of those fighters.

  Chapter 14

  “Damn,” said Harada under his breath. He looked at Fukada. “I was afraid this might happen.”

  “Hell, we can knock them down in five minutes.”

  “Yes, well how many SM-2s is that going to leave us under the forward deck?”

  As if to answer the Captain, Lt. Hideo Honjo sounded off. “Sir, we expended two of thirty-eight missiles against that initial recon flight, and—”

  “I can do the math,” said Harada. “How many bogies?”

  “I’m reading 24, and it looks like 12 are up on top cover. Those have to be fighters. The second group is 3000 feet lower, 12 more contacts.”

  “Probably the strike package.”

  “Why so few?” said Harada. “Didn’t the US carriers pack over eighty planes each?”

  “If we were spotted by that recon flight, then they know we’re just a single ship. They wouldn’t empty their flight deck for a lone target.”

  “Then we put our missiles on the group at lower altitude,” said Harada. “Maybe if we thin the herd a bit
more, we can dissipate this strike without expending much of our defensive capability. We’ll do it in stages. Give me four more SM-2s and we’ll repeat the performance and see if they clap.”

  The result was almost preordained—four missiles away, four more planes dead, and another breaking off and making a wide turn, possibly damaged or too shaken up to continue. That was still going to leave seven strike planes, and 32 SM-2s under the deck. The range closed to 40 klicks.

  “Fukada, how good are these guys?”

  “Anybody’s guess,” said Fukada. “It’s going to be the pilots that will decide that. From the altitude they’re flying, I’d guess these are dive bombers, and they’ll come in right on top of us. If even one gets a bomb on us it won’t be pretty.”

  “Alright, I’ll knock down two more and thin out the odds. Then we’ll see what the close in systems can do.”

  Harada was even reluctant to expend those last two SM-2s, thinning their inventory to just 30 missiles, and the 12 SM-3s. Yet he did cut the odds in half, because after those last two missiles went up, only four planes had the stomach to stay in the hunt.

  The US pilots had seen the uncanny accuracy of the rockets, watched them swerve and home in on wildly dancing planes trying to avoid them. It was more than shocking to hear the explosions and know that one man after another that you had breakfast with wasn’t going to be there for chow the next time you found the mess hall. The four that braved the experience to make their dives were going to meet something different.

  The Phalanx could elevate through 80 degrees and it knocked down two. The last two let their bombs fly early and bugged out, hitting nothing but seawater. Thankfully, the other twelve planes were fighters, just as Otani had suggested. They broke off and turned for home.