December 28th - The Day of Infamy, Part VIII

Midway, Part II

Funding for this story is provided by the IJN society for things that begin with the string “Yama” and end with the letter “o.”

Halsey was very pleased with the morning’s results. The Japanese had been battered, and with their amphibious force mangled they would surely withdraw. Halsey would pursue and pick off any cripples.

Yamamoto, however, never considered withdrawal. He was very clear on the objective of the battle, and it was not Midway. Midway had only been a means to draw the US fleet out so it could be destroyed, and the US fleet was here. Despite the morning’s losses against Midway his carriers retained considerable striking power. He ordered Ryujo, Chiyoda, and all but three destroyers of the Tranport Force’s escorts to close up with the main body, while the transports themselves and their token escort turned back for Truk.

Both sides sent out early-afternoon searches to locate their enemies. The US did this with the PBY’s from Midway, while the IJN used float planes off its various seaplane carriers, battleships, and cruisers. Both sides were conserving their carrier aircraft for the expected strikes, and both sides launched their attacks less than 20 minutes apart.

The IJN strike arrived first. A total of 141 aircraft, including 44 Zeros, met 36 Wildcats on CAP over the joint TF 16 and 17. The Zeros had only a small numerical edge, but the nature of air combat attrition and the total Japanese commitment to the campaign meant many of them were veterans of every battle all the way back to Pearl Harbor. Only a few of the American pilots matched their experience. Only ten bombers and eleven Zeros were lost to the Wildcats, which lost 19 of their own in trade.

Eighty-seven bombers got past the fighters to attack the fleet, all of them targeting the carriers and battleships.

The three battleships and four Atlanta-class cruisers alone mounted 100 5”/38 DP guns. Almost half the attackers were shot down, though some of those were able to launch their bombs or torpedoes first. USS Wasp was targeted by some of the last veteran torpedo bombers of the Pearl Harbor raid in a perfectly executed hammer-and-anvil attack. She took three torpedo hits and began to list heavily even before four bombs started fires in her hanger. USS Lexington had torpedoes pass in front of her bow, behind her stern, and along both sides but took only a single fish forward and a near-miss from a bomb aft that damaged one of her propellers; she remained able to operate aircraft, though not able to achieve full speed. Her crew began to call her the “Lucky Lex.” USS South Dakota was only targeted by seven aircraft but five of them scored bomb hits, wrecking her starboard secondary battery, her aircraft handling facilities, badly damaging “A” Turret, and holing a fuel oil tank. Several fires were started, the worst in the starboard superstructure, but with help from USS Helena they were contained and extinguished. She turned to follow USS Arizona back to Pearl. Luck and extremely effective anti-aircraft fire prevented any damage to either of the other battleships.

The worst ship hit, USS Wasp, could not control her damage. Firefighting assistance from USS Minneapolis and USS New Orleans prolonged her struggle and saved most of her crew, but the ship herself was doomed. She sank two hours after the attack began.

One hundred and eighteen USN aircraft were about to land their own blows. 71 SBDs and the 12 new TBFs, escorted by 35 Wildcats, were out looking for the IJN carriers. Kido Butai, however, was covered by a rain squall and the strike was unable to locate them. Continuing on, near the extreme edge of their range, they spotted the IJN battle force and attacked.

37 Zeros were up over the formation. In sharp contrast to the strike escorts, these were the greenest pilots the IJN had ever deployed. The two squadrons of Wildcats shot down 19 for the loss of only five of their own. Only one SBD was downed by fighters.

USS Lexington’s Torpedo Squadron 2 focused their attack on the biggest ship any of them had ever seen – the Yamato. Four were killed by anti aircraft fire, but nine torpedoes closed on the battleship. Three missed and three more were duds, but three hit and detonated. Two did minimal damage, but one struck on the starboard outboard shaft, wrecking it. Scouting Squadron 2 also targeted the flagship, hitting her with five bombs. These smashed a number of her secondary and anti-aircraft guns, but the main battery and vitals of the ship took no damage from the bombs.

Bombing Squadron 2 concentrated their attacks on Junyo and hit her with three bombs. Fires on the converted liner quickly raged out of control and she was abandoned two hours later.

The two squadrons from the Wasp attacked the Fuso, scoring two hits, and the Yamashiro, scoring three. The hits on Fuso damaged her upper works but impaired her ability to steam not at all. Yamashiro was another story. One bomb blasted a hole in her deck armor, and a second hit almost the exact same spot, penetrating into her engineering spaces. One boiler room was blown apart, and the fires would put three more of her six boilers out of commission before they were put out.

Eleven SBDs were lost to anti-aircraft fire.

Yamamoto now faced his own difficult choice. His strike aircraft were almost gone, and two of hit battleships were lamed. His strike had brought word that three more battleships were on hand than previously believed, and these were the newer, more powerful ships of the US battle line. One was claimed sunk, but that left nine USN battleships to face his eleven. Yamamoto was also fully aware that four of his ships would more properly be rated as battlecruisers, and that the USN seemed to still have strike aircraft to weaken him. To seek battle would be to risk disaster. To abandon the Yamato, flagship of the Combined Fleet, and flee leaving it and Yamashiro to their fate would forever seal the IJN’s fate, however; if his fleet was not superior now, it never would be.

Yamamoto chose to gamble. First, he drew his forces together. Every cruiser except Tone and Chikuma and all but a single squadron of destroyers were detached, formed a patrol line and turned east at high speed. The remainder of the force except for the transports and one destroyer division followed them at the best speed the battered Yamashiro could manage, Yamato still leading the formation despite her wounds. If the Americans pursued they would find themselves in a night gunnery and torpedo action. If the US fleet was crippled, Yamato’s own battleline could finish them off. Even if they were only lamed, he might be able to catch and finish off several cripples cheaply.

Halsey was indeed giving chase, but not until morning. The loss of USS Wasp and the damage to USS South Dakota were regrettable, but the US had given as good as it got and there were almost certainly cripples ahead he could kill. He would not do so recklessly, however. Like Yamamoto he drew his forces together, but essentially held them in place. Tomorrow morning would be soon enough to begin the chase in earnest, and ran no risk of blundering into a night action. Tomorrow morning his thirsty destroyers would refuel, along with as much of the rest of the force as could be managed, and then his task force would follow the Japanese at high speed. USS Lexington packed aboard a full wing, making up her own losses from USS Wasp’s wing. The remaining aircraft landed on Midway, ready to fill gaps in USS Lexington’s wing as the next day’s action progressed. Several damaged aircraft that would normally have eventually been repaired were pushed over the side. Halsey only had one deck left, and he wanted it fully loaded.

OrBat, 2nd Phase:

Main Body (Yamamoto):
CV Akagi, Kaga, Shokaku, Zuikaku, Ryujo
CVL Zuiho, Shoho
Total, all carriers: 63 A6M, 25 D3A, 43 B5N
CVS Nisshin, Chitose, Chiyoda (total of 35 F1M, 7 E13A)
BB Yamato, Nagato, Mutsu, Ise, Hyuga, Fuso, Yamashiro
BC Kongo, Hiei, Kirishima, Haruna
CA Tone, Chikuma
8 DD
5 AO

Attack Force (Kondo):
CA Mogami, Mikuma, Suzuya, Kumano, Takao, Maya, Chokai, Myoko, Haguro, Ashigara
CL Nagara, Kinu, Tama, Kitakami, Oi, Isuzu, Yura, Yubari
37 DD

Auxiliary Force:
4 DD
3 Transports & Freighters
6 AO
1 AE


TF 16 (Halsey):
CV USS Lexington (41 F4F, 40 SBD, 7 TBF)
BB USS North Carolina, USS Washington, USS New Mexico, USS Mississippi, USS Idaho, USS Colorado, USS Maryland, USS West Virginia, USS Pennsylvania
CA USS Minneapolis, USS New Orleans, USS Louisville, USS Quincy, USS Vincennes, USS Wichita
CL USS Atlanta, USS Juneau, USS San Diego, USS San Juan, USS St. Louis, USS Helena, USS Phoenix, USS Boise
32 DD

TF 11
4 DD
4 AO

Midway:
33 PBY (Patrol Wing 2)
24 B-17
12 F4F (VMF-221)
21 SBD (VMSB-241)
6th Marine Defense Battalion (Reinforced)
Sunset on the 28th was at 1915 hours local. The moon rose at 2120, and the sun would rise at 0626 the next day.

Quite a few sailors would not live to see that sunrise.

The Japanese force was now at full extension; a line of destroyers running north-south for 50 miles, with pairs of cruisers at intervals behind them.

First contact was reported at 0510 by a lookout on DD Hatsukaze. Right behind her were CL Kitakami and Oi, which had each been refitted before the war to carry 40 torpedo tubes. While still 15 nautical miles from the US screen, the two cruisers volleyed their starboard-side tubes, came about, and launched their portside tubes. Within five minutes four heavy cruisers and ten destroyers added their own fish. Despite a speed of over 40 knots, it would be 22 minutes before they reached their targets. Still unspotted, the cruisers withdrew below the horizon, while those ships that could began reloading their torpedo tubes. Kitakami turned north and Oi turned south, running up and down the IJN line and alerting the ships by blinker light to the position of the US fleet. The Japanese picket line began to form into three groups, all but a few destroyers below the horizon from the US force.

A naval formation has far more empty space than ships, and at 30,000 yards even the finest torpedoes in the world could not have been expected to hit any single ship. The Japanese hadn’t even tried. Eight torpedoes ran short and roughly 70 ran wide even of the US formation, spread out to minimize the risk of collision in the dark, but nearly 120 fish ran through the US task force. Starting at 0547, 19 of them found targets.

USS San Juan took two hits and blew up almost instantly as one found her forward 5” magazine. USS Wichita took three hits and capsized in less than 20 minutes. USS Maryland took two hits and lost all power as fires raged in her engineering spaces.
USS Lexington, USS North Carolina, USS Mississippi, USS Quincy, USS Boise, USS Juneau, and six destroyers were hit by one torpedo each. Five of the destroyers sank within minutes.

The IJN closed on the formation, now maneuvering franticly and firing at shadows, from three sides. More torpedoes slipped into the water. USS O’Brien finally reported a radar contact at 0558. The US formation exploded with gunfire, obliterating the CA Mikuma with an avalanche of battleship and cruiser shells. The Japanese charged in, and a furious, twisting, half-blind melee spread across an area of almost nine hundred square miles. The Japanese fired over 400 torpedoes before sunrise.

By 0630, the rising sun illuminated the IJN survivors fleeing west, chased out of range by 14” and 16” shells, and a sea dotted with burning and sinking ships.

Sunk or destroyed, morning action on August 29th, 1942:

IJN
CA Mikuma, Ashigara
CL Tama, Isuzu
9 DD

USN
BB USS Mississippi, USS Maryland
CA USS Quincy, USS Vincennes, USS Wichita
CL USS Juneau, USS San Juan, USS Boise
14 DD

Yamamoto’s gamble had paid off. Every US battleship except the USS Pennsylvania had been hit. USS Idaho could only make eight knots. Halsey ordered the shattered, disorganized fleet to head due east.

The one bright spot was the USS Lexington. Despite having been hit by a torpedo for the second time in the battle, she could, barely, get up enough speed to operate aircraft. The first Wildcat left he deck even as DD Oboro was pounded under by the USS Washington, the last Japanese casualty of the early-morning action. Minutes later, a PBY from Midway, launched in the moonlight shortly after word arrived of the raging night action arrived, spotted the Japanese battle-line 70 miles west of the US force.

Even more sailors would not live to see the sunset.