#zuikaku/lexington

[osinfulserpent]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 碧蓝航线 | Azur Lane (Video Game) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lexington/Zuikaku (Azur Lane), Implied Zuikaku/USS Enterprise (Azur Lane) Characters: Zuikaku (Azur Lane), Lexington (Azur Lane) Additional Tags: Fluff, Coffee Shops, First Dates, Accidental Relationship, Double Drabble Series: Part 12 of femslash feb 2024 Summary:

Zuikaku has had karma catch up with her. This will not stop her from trying to woo Lexington. Zuikaku is a disaster with dates. This doesn't stop Lexington from wooing her.

[lifejoy-co]

USS Yorktown

She was the lead ship of the Yorktown-class aircraft carriers and was only the second US aircraft carrier built from the start as a carrier, the first being USS Ranger (CV-4). The Yorktown-class was a truly legendary class made up of 3 carriers, the Yorktown, Enterprise (CV-6) and Hornet (CV-8). These 3 sisters also had a cousin named USS Wasp (CV-7) that was built as a reduced size Yorktown to use up the remaining tonnage made available for the US under the Washington Naval treaty.

Back to the Yorktown, she was the first actual fleet carrier for the US Navy, being able to carry 90 aircraft. She was laid down in 1934, launched in 1936 and commissioned in 1937. Her early career was quite monotonous as she took part in fleet exercises and patrols in the Atlantic. She did come into contact with a couple of German U-boats but always left her escorting destroyers deal with the problem.

On the 7th of December 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, she was still busy in the Atlantic ocean. On the 16th of that same month, she departed Norfolk for San Diego where she arrived on the 30th, she was loaded with new 20mm “Oerlikon” AA guns on top of her existing AA armament. This abundance of guns led dozens of sailors to go into the unofficial anti-aircraft gun business, according to a rapport "Yorktown bristled with more guns than a Mexican revolution movie." Soon after her arrival on the West coast she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Fletcher and formed Task Force 17 (TF-17).

Together with her sister, the Enterprise, she took part in the Marshalls-Gilberts raids, one of the first offensives of the Americans in the war. By the middle of February 1942 she had visited and again left Pearl Harbor for replenishment. This time she was headed for the Coral sea. She joined up with Task Force 11 (TF-11) that was led by the USS Lexington (CV-2). These 2 Task Forces were send there to stop the Japanese advancement on Papua New Guinea. On the 4th of May 1942 she launched her first attack on the Japanese that were attacking and advancing in Tulagi. This first attack consisted of 58 planes. The Yorktown launched another 3 attacks. In total the planes of the Yorktown sank the Japanese destroyer Kikuzuki, 3 minesweepers, 4 barges and 5 enemy seaplanes for a loss of 3 of her own planes (only one crew was never recovered). This was only the start of the battle however and the Japanese had 2 fleet carriers (Shokaku and Zuikaku) and a light carrier (Shoho) with all their escorts inbound.

On the 7th of May, the Yorktown, together with the Lexington, sank the Shoho. By the end of the day neither side had found the enemy carriers. This was until 3 Japanese planes mistook the Yorktown for one of their own carriers and attempted to land but were driven away with AA fire. Remarkable as it was, I would have wanted to see the faces on that ship when 20 minutes later another 3 planes made the exact same mistake. This time they did manage to shoot one down.

The next day the Lexington and Yorktown launched aircraft after a recon flight had found the enemy fleet, including the Shokaku and Zuikaku. The Yorktown hit the Shokaku 2 times with bombs which prevented her from launching any aircraft. Close to noon the US carriers were alerted of incoming enemy planes. The air patrol could down 17 enemy planes before they reached the Yorktown. The large 27 000 ton carrier managed to evade 8 torpedoes and all but one bomb. This bomb did penetrate multiple decks and exploded deep inside the ship, doing serious damage to her. Lexington however was hit far worse. Firefighting crews did get her keel almost back to an even level. Unfortunately an explosion within the ship caused a fire that reached an ammo room. The explosion that followed tore apart the Lexington. She was abandoned at 17:07 and sunk by a US destroyer later that day.

The battle of the Coral Sea should be noted for another reason. It was the first naval battle in history where surface ships never met each other. Only aircraft and their crews got to see the enemy fleet.

After the battle the Yorktown should have gone into the docks for at least 2 weeks to repair battle damage but there was little time for this. Admiral Nimitz knew the Japanese would attack Midway next and ordered Yorktown to sail with her 2 sisters together to Midway. This meant the Yorktown would be in dry dock for only 48 hours. However, every cloud has a silver lining. The Japanese were still in believe that they had sunk the Yorktown and the Lexington in the Coral sea and mistook the Yorktown for another carrier.

On the morning of the 4th of June 1942 PBY Catalina flying boats found the enemy fleet. The 3 sisters launched attack waves. Yorktown, that was in charge of the 3 Task Forces, launched 35 aircraft. Her dive bombers (SBD Dauntless) managed to score 3 1000 lbs bomb hits to the Soryu. These 3 hits sunk the Japanese carrier. Soryu’s sister ship, the Hiryu, launched 18 ‘Val’-bombers and 6 ‘zero’-fighters. They found the Yorktown quickly (but were still under the impression they were attacking another carrier). 3 Vals scored bomb hits, one bomb was still attached to it’s plane as it was shot down during it’s dive down to the carrier. Multiple fires were raging aboard the Yorktown. Even after taking such a beating she managed to survive thanks to her excellent crew and extensive training in damage control (something the Japanese lacked). 

Her radar spotted incoming planes again and she sent out her fighters. 3 planes were shot down but this was not enough. 2 torpedoes hit the Yorktown’s side. Without power, 2 gaping holes in the hull, bomb craters and an increasing list to port the order was given to abandon the Yorktown.

She did get her revenge on the Hiryu. Part of her planes were diverted to the Enterprise after the first bomb attack and these planes were now attacking the Hiryu. She took 4 direct hits and sunk.

The old lady did not want to give in however. She stayed afloat throughout the night and on the 6th of June a salvage party went aboard.

Underneath the water a Japanese submarine had found the Task Force and launched 4 torpedoes. 2 hit the Yorktown at her starboard side, letting in even more water. Unbelievably she stayed afloat for another night. At last then, on the morning of the 7th of June, her list increased rapidly and she rolled upside-down. The USS Yorktown had finally been sunk.

She received 3 battle stars for her contribution and would have a name successor in the form of the Essex-class USS Yorktown CV-10.

[nebris]

The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the battle is historically significant as the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other and the first in which the opposing ships neither sighted nor fired directly upon one another.

In an attempt to strengthen their defensive position in the South Pacific, the Japanese decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby (in New Guinea) and Tulagi (in the southeastern Solomon Islands). The plan, Operation Mo, involved several major units of Japan's Combined Fleet. They included two fleet carriers and a light carrier to provide air cover for the invasion forces, under the overall command of Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue.

The U.S. learned of the Japanese plan through signals intelligence and sent two U.S. Navy carrier task forces and a joint Australian-American cruiser force to oppose the offensive, under the overall command of U.S. Admiral Frank J. Fletcher.

On 3–4 May, Japanese forces successfully invaded and occupied Tulagi, although several of their supporting warships were sunk or damaged in surprise attacks by aircraft from the U.S. fleet carrier Yorktown. Now aware of the presence of enemy carriers in the area, the Japanese fleet carriers advanced towards the Coral Sea with the intention of locating and destroying the Allied naval forces. On the evening of 6 May, the two carrier forces came within 70 nmi (81 mi; 130 km) of each other, unbeknownst to anyone. On 7 May, both sides launched airstrikes. Each mistakenly believed they were attacking their opponent's fleet carriers, but were actually attacking other units, with the U.S. sinking the Japanese light carrier Shōhō and the Japanese sinking a U.S. destroyer and heavily damaging a fleet oiler, which was later scuttled. The next day, each side found and attacked the other's fleet carriers, with the Japanese fleet carrier Shōkaku damaged, the U.S. fleet carrier Lexington critically damaged and later scuttled, and the fleet carrier Yorktown damaged. With both sides having suffered heavy losses in aircraft and carriers damaged or sunk, the two forces disengaged and retired from the area. Because of the loss of carrier air cover, Inoue recalled the Port Moresby invasion fleet with the intention of trying again later.

Although a victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory for the Allies in several ways. The battle marked the first time since the start of the war that a major Japanese advance had been checked by the Allies. More importantly, the Japanese fleet carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku, the former damaged and the latter with a depleted aircraft complement, were unable to participate in the Battle of Midway the following month, but Yorktown participated on the Allied side, which made for rough parity in aircraft between the adversaries and contributed significantly to the U.S. victory. The severe losses in carriers at Midway prevented the Japanese from reattempting to invade Port Moresby by sea and helped prompt their ill-fated land offensive over the Kokoda Track. Two months later, the Allies took advantage of Japan's resulting strategic vulnerability in the South Pacific and launched the Guadalcanal Campaign. That and the New Guinea Campaign eventually broke Japanese defenses in the South Pacific and were significant contributors to Japan's ultimate surrender, marking the end of World War II.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Coral_Sea

[courtneytincher]

20 Most Powerful Submarines, Aircraft Carriers, Bombers and Fighter Jets EVER

The real best of the best.In today's world, where every day it seems a new piece of military technology is poised to take over the battlefield and make everything else obsolete, there are several weapons of war that seem to have some staying power. Aircraft carriers, while some may consider them obsolete, remain one of the ultimate ways to display national power and prestige, with the unique capability to attack targets from the world's seas with deadly accuracy.Submarines have many uses. Whether it is to exercise sea control, deter an enemy with underwater nuclear weapons or ensure you have the ability to strike with various types of conventional weapons like cruise missiles on land, subs seem to be only gaining in prominence. (This first appeared several years ago.)Then there is the bomber. Some are old, like the B-52. Some are just getting started, like the B-21 Raider. Some we don't know much about, like Russia's PAK-FA. Yet, one thing is clear: Bombers can still make or break any conflict that could occur now or in the future. And fighter jets are not going anywhere. The F-35 is the ultimate example--considering the massive cost--of this important military asset having clear staying power (the only debate at this point is whether it will be manned or unmanned). So what are the best carriers, submarines, bombers and fighters ever? Robert Farley, one of the world's best defense experts and frequent TNI contributor, has written on this subject extensively. For your reading pleasure, we have packed together several pieces that take this subject on into this one post, which were written several years ago. Let the debate begin. ***The first true aircraft carriers entered service at the end of World War I, as the Royal Navy converted several of its excess warships into large, floating airfields. During the interwar period, Japan and the United States would make their own conversions, and all three navies would supplement these ships with purpose-built carriers. Within months of the beginning of hostilities in September 1939, the carrier demonstrated its worth in a variety of maritime tasks.By the end of 1941, carriers would become the world’s dominant capital ship. These are the five most lethal carriers to serve in the world’s navies, selected on the basis of their contribution to critical operations, and on their longevity and resilience.USS Enterprise:The U.S. Navy supplemented Lexington and Saratoga, the most effective of the interwar battlecruiser conversions, with the purpose-built USS Ranger. Experience with all three ships demonstrated that the next purpose-built class would require a larger hull and flight deck, as well as a heavier anti-aircraft armament. This resulted in USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise, which along with their third sister (USS Hornet) would play a critical role in stopping the Imperial Japanese Navy’s advance in 1942. Capable of cruising at 33 knots, Enterprise displaced around 24,000 tons and could carry up to 90 aircraft.While both Hornet and Yorktown were lost in the carrier battles of 1942, Enterprise served throughout the entire war. She helped search for the Japanese fleet in the wake of Pearl Harbor, and carried out the first reprisal raids in the early months of the war. She escorted Hornet on the Doolittle Raid, then helped sink four Japanese flattops at the Battle of Midway. She filled a crucial role during the Battles of Guadalcanal, surviving several near-catastrophic Japanese attacks.Later in the war, Enterprise operated with the growing American carrier fleet as it formed core of the counter-offensive that would roll up Japanese possessions in the Pacific. Enterprise fought at Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf, helping to destroy the heart of Japanese naval aviation. She served in the final raids against Japan in 1945 until a kamikaze caused critical damage in May. Returning to service just as the war ended, she helped return American soldiers to the United States in Operation Magic Carpet. Enterprise was the most decorated ship in any navy during World War II, but sadly post-war preservation efforts failed, and the carrier was scrapped in 1960.HMS Illustrious:Between September 1939 and April 1942, the Royal Navy lost five of its seven pre-war aircraft carriers. HMS Illustrious and her three sisters filled the gap. Laid down in 1937, Illustrious traded aircraft complement for an armored deck, an innovation that would make the ship more robust than her Japanese or American counterparts. Displacing 23,000 tons, Illustrious could make 30 knots and carrying 36 aircraft.Illustrious’ first major achievement came in November 1940, when her Swordfish torpedo bombers attacked the battleships of the Italian navy at anchor at Taranto. The attack, carried out on a shoestring compared to the great raids of the Pacific War, nevertheless managed to sink or heavily damage three Italian battleships. Illustrious spent the next few months carrying out raids in the Mediterranean and covering the evacuation of Greece. In the course of the latter, she survived several hits from German divebombers.After receiving repairs in the United States, Illustrious operated against the Japanese in the Indian Ocean. She returned to the European theater in 1943, making additional raids on Norway and in support of Allied landings in Italy. Later Illustrious returned to the Pacific, where supplied with superior American carrier aircraft, she helped spearhead the Royal Navy counter-offensive into Southeast Asia. After surviving a kamikaze attack, she returned to Great Britain and eventually served as a training carrier before being scrapped in 1957.HIJMS Zuikaku:Zuikaku represented the zenith of pre-war Japanese carrier development. Along with her sister Shokaku, Zuikaku filled out Kido Butai with the addition of two large, fast, modern carriers. Displacing 32,000 tons and capable of carrying 72 aircraft, Zuikaku could make 34 knots, and absorb a relatively large amount of battle damage.The size and modernity of the carriers meant that they could handle a greater operational tempo early in the war. After the Pearl Harbor raid, they participated in the Indian Ocean Raid, helping to sink the British carrier Hermes and several other ships. Afterward, Zuikaku and her sister deployed to Port Moresby to cover Japanese landings in what became the Battle of Coral Sea. Zuikaku survived undamaged, and contributed to the sinking of USS Lexington, but because of a lack of aircraft could not participate in the Battle of Midway.Zuikaku continued to form the core of the Japanese carrier fleet into 1944, participating in and surviving the battles of Guadalcanal (where her aircraft helped sink USS Hornet) and the Battle of Philippine Sea. By October 1944, her supply of aircraft and pilots was almost completely exhausted. At the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Zuikaku and several other carriers served as bait for Halsey’s battleships and carriers, luring them away from the center of the Japanese attack. The last survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack, Zuikaku sank under a barrage of bombs and torpedoes.USS Midway:USS Midway entered service in September 1945, shortly after the end of hostilities against Japan. She displaced 45,000 tons, could make 33 knots, and could carry roughly 100 aircraft. Midway and her sisters represented a step beyond the Essex-class carriers that had won the Pacific War, and promised to introduce a new era of naval aviation.Upon commissioning, Midway became the world’s most lethal aircraft carrier. The offensive power of her air group exceeded that of the Essex carriers then in service, and with the introduction of jet aircraft the gap would grow. With the A-2 Savage carrier-based bomber, Midway and her sisters briefly became the only carriers in the world capable of delivering nuclear weapons.Midway underwent extensive modification over the course of her career, eventually acquiring an angled flight deck and other innovations. Although she missed Korea, Midway operated off Vietnam, and continued to serve as the larger “supercarriers” came online. She found heavy use in the Gulf War of 1990, as her (relative) small size gave her an advantage in maneuverability over the more modern supercarriers. Midway left service in 1992, having spanned the history of naval aviation from the F6F Hellcat to the F/A-18 Hornet.USS Theodore Roosevelt:The ten Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carriers have been the world’s dominant capital ships since they began to enter service in the late 1970s. Constructed over a period spanning nearly 35 years, the class continues to provide the core of American naval power. Among the most active of the Nimitz class has been the USS Theodore Roosevelt, first of the second group of ships. Roosevelt entered service in 1986; she displaces over 100,000 tons, carries between 75-80 aircraft, and can make 30 knots top speed.Roosevelt has served in most of the conflicts of the post Cold-War era. In 1991 she launched strikes against Iraqi targets during Operation Desert Storm. In 1999, her aircraft conducted strikes in Kosovo and Serbia in service of Operation Allied Force. After the September 11 attacks, Roosevelt deployed to the Middle East and participated in the first sorties against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Operation Enduring Freedom. Two years later, her aircraft flew against Iraqi targets again in the first days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After a refit, Roosevelt launched strikes against both Afghan and Iraqi targets in the latter part of the decade. Most recently, Roosevelt helped blockade Yemeni ports against a suspected Iranian arms convoy.Like her sister ships, Roosevelt has already undergone substantial modification across the course of her thirty year career, and the Navy expects that these refits will continue into the future. Current projections suggest that she will leave service around 2035, which would give the carrier a nearly fifty-year span of lethality.Wrap:Pundits and analysts have predicted the obsolescence and demise of the aircraft carrier since the waning days of World War II. At the moment, however, the Russian, Indian, British, Chinese, French, and American navies continue to put faith, and resources, into carrier aviation. Despite the vulnerability of the big ships to attack, they provide a unique combination of presence, prestige, and lethality that continues to make them attractive to the world’s most powerful navies.***There have been three great submarine campaigns in history, and one prolonged duel. The First and Second Battles of the Atlantic pitted German U-boats against the escorts and aircraft of the United Kingdom and the United States. The Germans very nearly won World War I with the first campaign, and badly drained Allied resources in the second. In the third great campaign, the submarines of the US Navy destroyed virtually the entire commercial fleet of Japan, bringing the Japanese economy to its knees. US subs also devastated the Imperial Japanese Navy, sinking several of Tokyo’s most important capital ships.But the period most evocative of our modern sense of submarine warfare was surely the forty year duel between the submarines of the USSR and the boats of the various NATO navies. Over the course of the Cold War, the strategic nature of the submarine changed; it moved from being a cheap, effective killer of capital ships to a capital ship in its own right. This was especially the case with the boomers, submarines that carried enough nuclear weapons to kill millions in a few minutes.As with previous “5 Greatest” lists, the answers depend on the parameters; different sets of metrics will generate different lists. Our metrics concentrate on the strategic utility of specific submarine classes, rather than solely on their technical capabilities.· Was the submarine a cost-effective solution to a national strategic problem?· Did the submarine compare favorably with its contemporaries?· Was the submarine’s design innovative?And with that, the five best submarines of all time:U-31:The eleven boats of the U-31 class were constructed between 1912 and 1915. They operated in both of the periods of heavy action for German U-boats, early in the war before the suspension of unrestricted warfare, and again in 1917 when Germany decided to go for broke and cut the British Empire off at the knees. Four of these eleven boats (U-35, U-39, U-38, and U-34) were the four top killers of World War I; indeed, they were four of the five top submarines of all time in terms of tonnage sunk (the Type VII boat U-48 sneaks in at number 3). U-35, the top killer, sank 224 ships amounting to over half a million tons.The U-31 boats were evolutionary, rather than revolutionary; they represented the latest in German submarine technology for the time, but did not differ dramatically from their immediate predecessors or successors. These boats had good range, a deck gun for destroying small shipping, and faster speeds surfaced than submerged. These characteristics allowed the U-31 class and their peers to wreak havoc while avoiding faster, more powerful surface units. They did offer a secure, stealthy platform for carrying out a campaign that nearly forced Great Britain from the war. Only the entry of the United States, combined with the development of innovative convoy tactics by the Royal Navy, would stifle the submarine offensive. Three of the eleven boats survived the war, and were eventually surrendered to the Allies.Balao:The potential for a submarine campaign against the Japanese Empire was clear from early in the war. Japanese industry depended for survival on access to the natural resources of Southeast Asia. Separating Japan from those resources could win the war. However, the pre-war USN submarine arm was relatively small, and operated with poor doctrine and bad torpedoes. Boats built during the war, including primarily the Gato and Balao class, would eventually destroy virtually the entire Japanese merchant marine.The Balao class represented very nearly the zenith of the pre-streamline submarine type. War in the Pacific demanded longer ranges and more habitability than the relatively snug Atlantic. Like their predecessors the Gato, the Balaos were less maneuverable than the German Type VII subs, but they made up for this in strength of hull and quality of construction. Compared with the Type VII, the Balaos had longer range, a larger gun, more torpedo tubes, and a higher speed. Of course, the Balaos operated in a much different environment, and against an opponent less skilled in anti-submarine warfare. The greatest victory of a Balao was the sinking of the 58000 ton HIJMS Shinano by Archerfish.Eleven of 120 boats were lost, two in post-war accidents. After the war Balao class subs were transferred to several friendly navies, and continued to serve for decades. One, the former USS Tusk, remains in partial commission in Taiwan as Hai Pao.Type XXIIn some ways akin to the Me 262, the Type XXI was a potentially war-winning weapon that arrived too late to have serious effect. The Type XXI was the first mass produced, ocean-going streamlined or “true” submarine, capable of better performance submerged than on the surface. It gave up its deck gun in return for speed and stealth, and set the terms of design for generations of submarines.Allied anti-submarine efforts focused on identifying boats on the surface (usually in transit to their patrol areas) then vectoring killers (including ships and aircraft) to those areas. In 1944 the Allies began developing techniques for fighting “schnorkel” U-boats that did not need to surface, but remained unprepared for combat against a submarine that could move at 20 knots submerged.In effect, the Type XXI had the stealth to avoid detection prior to an attack, and the speed to escape afterward. Germany completed 118 of these boats, but because of a variety of industrial problems could only put four into service, none of which sank an enemy ship. All of the Allies seized surviving examples of the Type XXI, using them both as models for their own designs and in order to develop more advanced anti-submarine technologies and techniques. For example, the Type XXI was the model for the Soviet “Whiskey” class, and eventually for a large flotilla of Chinese submarines.George Washington:We take for granted the most common form of today’s nuclear deterrent; a nuclear submarine, bristling with missiles, capable of destroying a dozen cities a continent away. These submarines provide the most secure leg of the deterrent triad, as no foe could reasonably expect to destroy the entire submarine fleet before the missiles fly.The secure submarine deterrent began in 1960, with the USS George Washington. An enlarged version of the Skipjack class nuclear attack sub, George Washington’s design incorporated space for sixteen Polaris ballistic missiles. When the Polaris became operational, USS George Washington had the capability from striking targets up to 1000 miles distant with 600 KT warheads. The boats would eventually upgrade to the Polaris A3, with three warheads and a 2500 mile range. Slow relative to attack subs but extremely quiet, the George Washington class pioneered the “go away and hide” form of nuclear deterrence that is still practiced by five of the world’s nine nuclear powers.And until 1967, the George Washington and her sisters were the only modern boomers. Their clunky Soviet counterparts carried only three missiles each, and usually had to surface in order to fire. This made them of limited deterrent value. But soon, virtually every nuclear power copied the George Washington class. The first “Yankee” class SSBN entered service in 1967, the first Resolution boat in 1968, and the first of the French Redoutables in 1971. China would eventually follow suit, although the PLAN’s first genuinely modern SSBNs have only entered service recently. The Indian Navy’s INS Arihant will likely enter service in the next year or so.The five boats of the George Washington class conducted deterrent patrols until 1982, when the SALT II Treaty forced their retirement. Three of the five (including George Washington) continued in service as nuclear attack submarines for several more years.Los Angeles:Immortalized in the Tom Clancy novels Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising, the U.S. Los Angeles class is the longest production line of nuclear submarines in history, constituting sixty-two boats and first entering service in 1976. Forty-one subs remain in commission today, continuing to form the backbone of the USN’s submarine fleet.The Los Angeles (or 688) class are outstanding examples of Cold War submarines, equally capable of conducting anti-surface or anti-submarine warfare. In wartime, they would have been used to penetrate Soviet base areas, where Russian boomers were protected by rings of subs, surface ships, and aircraft, and to protect American carrier battle groups.In 1991, two Los Angeles class attack boats launched the first ever salvo of cruise missiles against land targets, ushering in an entirely new vision of how submarines could impact warfare. While cruise missile armed submarines had long been part of the Cold War duel between the United States and the Soviet Union, most attention focused either on nuclear delivery or anti-ship attacks. Submarine launched Tomahawks gave the United States a new means for kicking in the doors of anti-access/area denial systems. The concept has proven so successful that four Ohio class boomers were refitted as cruise missile submarines, with the USS Florida delivering the initial strikes of the Libya intervention.The last Los Angeles class submarine is expected to leave service in at some point in the 2020s, although outside factors may delay that date. By that time, new designs will undoubtedly have exceeded the 688 in terms of striking land targets, and in capacity for conducting anti-submarine warfare. Nevertheless, the Los Angeles class will have carved out a space as the sub-surface mainstay of the world’s most powerful Navy for five decades.Conclusion:Fortunately, the United States and the Soviet Union avoided direct conflict during the Cold War, meaning that many of the technologies and practices of advanced submarine warfare were never employed in anger. However, every country in the world that pretends to serious maritime power is building or acquiring advanced submarines. The next submarine war will look very different from the last, and it’s difficult to predict how it will play out. We can be certain, however, that the fight will be conducted in silence.Honorable Mention: Ohio, 260O-21, Akula, Alfa, Seawolf, Swiftsure, I-201, Kilo, S class, Type VII***Bombers are the essence of strategic airpower. While fighters have often been important to air forces, it was the promise of the heavy bomber than won and kept independence for the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force. At different points in time, air forces in the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Italy have treated bomber design and construction as a virtually all-consuming obsession, setting fighter and attack aviation aside.However, even the best bombers are effective over only limited timespans. The unlucky state-of-the-art bombers of the early 1930s met disaster when put into service against the pursuit aircraft of the late 1930s. The B-29s that ruled the skies over Japan in 1945 were cut to pieces above North Korea in 1950. The B-36 Peacemaker, obsolete before it was even built, left service in a decade. Most of the early Cold War bombers were expensive failures, eventually to be superseded by ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.States procure bombers, like all weapons, to serve strategic purposes. This list employs the following metrics of evaluation:· Did the bomber serve the strategic purpose envisioned by its developers?· Was the bomber a sufficiently flexible platform to perform other missions, and to persist in service?· How did the bomber compare with its contemporaries in terms of price, capability, and effectiveness?And with that, the five best bombers of all time:Handley Page Type O 400:The first strategic bombing raids of World War I were carried out by German zeppelins, enormous lighter than aircraft that could travel at higher altitudes than the interceptors of the day, and deliver payloads against London and other targets. Over time, the capabilities of interceptors and anti-aircraft artillery grew, driving the Zeppelins to other missions. Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and others began working on bombers capable of delivering heavy loads over long distance, a trail blazed (oddly enough) by the Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets.Even the modest capabilities of the early bombers excited the airpower theorists of the day, who imagined the idea of fleets of bombers striking enemy cities and enemy industry. The Italians developed the Caproni family of bombers, which operated in the service of most Allied countries at one time or another. German Gotha bombers would eventually terrorize London again, catalyzing the Smuts Report and the creation of the world’s first air force.Faster and capable of carrying more bombs than either the Gotha IVs or the Caproni Ca.3, the Type O 400 had a wingspan nearly as large as the Avro Lancaster. With a maximum speed of 97 miles per hour with a payload of up to 2000 lbs, O 400s were the mainstay of Hugh Trenchard’s Independent Air Force near the end of the war, a unit which struck German airfields and logistics concentration well behind German lines. These raids helped lay the foundation of interwar airpower theory, which (at least in the US and the UK) envisioned self-protecting bombers striking enemy targets en masse.Roughly 600 Type O bombers were produced during World War I, with the last retiring in 1922. Small numbers served in the Chinese, Australian, and American armed forces.Junkers Ju 88:The Junkers Ju-88 was one of the most versatile aircraft of World War II. Although it spent most of its career as a medium bomber, it moonlighted as a close attack aircraft, a naval attack aircraft, a reconnaissance plane, and a night fighter. Effective and relatively cheap, the Luftwaffe used the Ju 88 to good effect in most theaters of war, but especially on the Eastern Front and in the Mediterranean.Designed with dive bomber capability, the Ju 88 served in relatively small numbers in the invasion of Poland, the invasion of Norway, and the Battle of France. The Ju-88 was not well suited to the strategic bombing role into which it was forced during the Battle of Britain, especially in its early variants. It lacked the armament to sufficiently defend itself, and the payload to cause much destruction to British industry and infrastructure. The measure of an excellent bomber, however, goes well beyond its effectiveness at any particular mission. Ju 88s were devastating in Operation Barbarossa, tearing apart Soviet tank formations and destroying much of the Soviet Air Forces on the ground. Later variants were built as or converted into night fighters, attacking Royal Air Force bomber formations on the way to their targets.In spite of heavy Allied bombing of the German aviation industry, Germany built over 15,000 Ju 88s between 1939 and 1945. They operated in several Axis air forces.De Havilland Mosquito:The de Havilland Mosquito was a remarkable little aircraft, capable of a wide variety of different missions. Not unlike the Ju 88, the Mosquito operated in bomber, fighter, night fighter, attack, and reconnaissance roles. The RAF was better positioned than the Luftwaffe to utilized the specific qualities of the Mosquito, and avoid forcing it into missions in could not perform.Relatively lightly armed and constructed entirely of wood, the Mosquito was quite unlike the rest of the RAF bomber fleet. Barely escaping design committee, the Mosquito was regarded as easy to fly, and featured a pressurized cockpit with a high service ceiling. Most of all, however, the Mosquito was fast. With advanced Merlin engines, a Mosquito could outpace the German Bf109 and most other Axis fighters.Although the bomb load of the Mosquito was limited, its great speed, combined with sophisticated instrumentation, allowed it to deliver ordnance with more precision than most other bombers. During the war, the RAF used Mosquitoes for various precision attacks against high value targets, including German government installations and V weapon launching sites. As pathfinders, Mosquitoes flew point on bomber formations, leading night time bombing raids that might otherwise have missed their targets. Mosquitos also served in a diversionary role, distracting German night fighters from the streams of Halifaxes and Lancasters striking urban areas.De Havilland produced over 7000 Mosquitoes for the RAF and other allied air forces. Examples persisted in post-war service with countries as varied as Israel, the Republic of China, Yugoslavia, and the Dominican RepublicAvro Lancaster:The workhorse of the RAF in World War II, the Lancaster carried out the greater part of the British portion of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO). Led by Arthur Harris, Bomber Command believed that area bombing raids, targeted against German civilians, conducted at night, would destroy German morale and economic capacity and bring the war to a close. Accordingly, the Lancaster was less heavily armed than its American contemporaries, as it depended less on self-defense in order to carry out its mission.The first Lancasters entered service in 1942. The Lancaster could carry a much heavier bomb load than the B-17 or the B-24, while operating at similar speeds and at a slightly longer range. The Lancaster also enjoyed a payload advantage over the Handley Page Halifax. From 1942 until 1945, the Lancaster would anchor the British half of the CBO, eventually resulting in the destruction of most of urban Germany and the death of several hundred thousand German civilians.There are reasons to be skeptical of the inclusion of the Lancaster. The Combined Bomber Offensive was a strategic dead-end, serving up expensive four-engine bombers as a feast for smaller, cheaper German fighters. Battles were fought under conditions deeply advantageous to the Germans, as damaged German planes could land, and shot down German pilots rescued and returned to service. Overall, the enormous Western investment in strategic bombing was probably one of the greatest grand strategic miscalculations of the Second World War. Nevertheless, this list needs a bomber from the most identifiable bomber offensive in history, and the Lancaster was the best of the bunch.Over 7000 Lancasters were built, with the last retiring in the early 1960s after Canadian service as recon and maritime patrol aircraft.Boeing B-52 Stratofortress:The disastrous experience of B-29 Superfortresses over North Korea in 1950 demonstrated that the United States would require a new strategic bomber, and soon. Unfortunately, the first two generations of bombers chosen by the USAF were almost uniformly duds; the hopeless B-36, the short-legged B-47, the dangerous-to-its-own-pilots B-58, and the obsolete-before-it-flew XB-70. The vast bulk of these bombers quickly went from wastes of taxpayer money to wastes of space at the Boneyard. None of the over 2500 early Cold War bombers ever dropped a bomb in anger.The exception was the B-52.The BUFF was originally intended for high altitude penetration bombing into the Soviet Union. It replaced the B-36 and the B-47, the former too slow and vulnerable to continue in the nuclear strike mission, and the latter too short-legged to reach the USSR from U.S. bases. Slated for replacement by the B-58 and the B-70, the B-52 survived because it was versatile enough to shift to low altitude penetration after the increasing sophistication of Soviet SAMs made the high altitude mission suicidal.And this versatility has been the real story of the B-52. The BUFF was first committed to conventional strike missions in service of Operation Arc Light during the Vietnam War. In Operation Linebacker II, the vulnerability of the B-52 to air defenses was made manifest when nine Stratofortresses were lost in the first days of the campaign. But the B-52 persisted. In the Gulf War, B-52s carried out saturation bombing campaigns against the forward positions of the Iraqi Army, softening and demoralizing the Iraqis for the eventual ground campaign. In the War on Terror, the B-52 has acted in a close air support role, delivering precision-guided ordnance against small concentrations of Iraqi and Taliban insurgents.Most recently, the B-52 showed its diplomatic chops when two BUFFs were dispatched to violate China’s newly declared Air Defense Zone. The BUFF was perfect for this mission; the Chinese could not pretend not to notice two enormous bombers travelling at slow speed through the ADIZ.742 B-52s were delivered between 1954 and 1963. Seventy-eight remain in service, having undergone multiple upgrades over the decades that promise to extend their lives into the 2030s, or potentially beyond. In a family of short-lived airframes, the B-52 has demonstrated remarkable endurance and longevity.Conclusion:Over the last century, nations have invested tremendous resources in bomber aircraft. More often than not, this investment has failed to bear strategic fruit. The very best aircraft have been those that could not only conduct their primary mission effectively, but that were also sufficiently flexible to perform other tasks that might be asked of them. Current air forces have, with some exceptions, effectively done away with the distinctions between fighters and bombers, instead relying on multi-role fighter-bombers for both missions. The last big, manned bomber may be the American LRS-B, assuming that project ever gets off the ground.Honorable Mention:Grumman A-6 Intruder, MQ-1 Predator, Caproni Ca.3, Tupolev Tu-95 “Bear,” Avro Vulcan, Tupolev Tu-22M “Backfire.”***What are the five greatest fighter aircraft of all time? Like the same question asked of tanks, cars, or rock and roll guitarists, the answer invariably depends on parameters. For example, there are few sets of consistent parameters that would include both the T-34 and the King Tiger among the greatest of all tanks. I know which one I’d like to be driving in a fight, but I also appreciate that this isn’t the most appropriate way to approach the question. Similarly, while I’d love to drive a Porsche 959 to work every morning, I’d be hesitant to list it ahead of the Toyota Corolla on a “best of” compilation.Nations buy fighter aircraft to resolve national strategic problems, and the aircraft should accordingly be evaluated on their ability to solve or ameliorate these problems. Thus, the motivating question is this: how well did this aircraft help solve the strategic problems of the nations that built or bought it? This question leads to the following points of evaluation:Fighting characteristics: How did this plane stack up against the competition, including not just other fighters but also bombers and ground installations?Reliability: Could people count on this aircraft to fight when it needed to, or did it spend more time under repair than in the air?Cost: What did the organization and the nation have to pay in terms of blood and treasure to make this aircraft fly?These are the parameters; here are my answers:Spad S.XIIIIn the early era of military aviation, technological innovation moved at such speed that state of the art aircraft became obsolete deathtraps within a year. Engineers in France, Britain, Germany and Italy worked constantly to outpace their competitors, producing new aircraft every year to throw into the fight. The development of operational tactics trailed technology, although the input of the best flyers played an important role in how designers put new aircraft together.In this context, picking a dominant fighter from the era is difficult. Nevertheless, the Spad S.XIII stands out in terms of its fighting characteristics and ease of production. Based in significant part on the advice of French aviators such as Georges Guynemer, the XIII lacked the maneuverability of some of its contemporaries, but could outpace most of them and performed very well in either a climb or a dive. It was simple enough to produce that nearly 8,500 such aircraft eventually entered service. Significant early reliability problems were worked out by the end of the war, and in any case were overwhelmed by the XIII’s fighting ability.The S.XIII filled out not only French fighter squadrons, but also the air services of Allied countries. American ace Eddie Rickenbacker scored twenty of his kills flying an XIII, many over the most advanced German fighters of the day, including the Fokker D.VII.The Spad XIII helped the Allies hold the line during the Ludendorff Offensive, and controlled the skies above France during the counter-offensive. After the war, it remained in service in France, the United States, and a dozen other countries for several years. In an important sense, the Spad XIII set the post-war standard for what a pursuit aircraft needed to do.Grumman F6F HellcatOf course, it is not only air forces that fly fighter aircraft. The F6F Hellcat can’t compare with the Spitfire, the P-51, or the Bf 109 on many basic flight characteristics, although its ability to climb was first-rate. What the F6F could do, however, was reliably fly from aircraft carriers, and it rode point on the great, decisive U.S. Navy carrier offensive of World War II. Entering the war in September 1943, it won 75% of USN aerial victories in the Pacific. USN ace David McCampbell shot down nine Japanese aircraft in one day flying a Hellcat .The F6F was heavily armed, and could take considerably more battle damage than its contemporaries. Overall, the F6F claimed nearly 5,200 kills at a loss of 270 aircraft in aerial combat, including a 13:1 ratio against the Mitsubishi A6M Zero.The USN carrier offensive of the latter part of World War II is probably the greatest single example of the use of decisive airpower in world history. Hellcats and their kin (the Douglas SBD Dauntless dive-bomber and the Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber) destroyed the fighting power of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), cracked open Japan’s island empire, and exposed the Japanese homeland to devastating air attack and the threat of invasion.In 1943, the United States needed a fighter robust enough to endure a campaign fought distant from most bases, yet fast and agile enough to defeat the best that the IJN could offer. Tough and reliable as a brick, the Hellcat fit that role. Put simply, the Honda Accord is, in its own way, a great car; the Honda Accords of the fighter world also deserve their day.Messerschmitt Me-262 SwallowThe Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow, in English) failed to win the war for Germany, and couldn’t stop the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO). Had German military authorities made the right decisions, however, it might at least have accomplished the second.Known as the world’s first operational jet fighter, full-scale production of the Me 262 was delayed by resistance within the German government and the Luftwaffe to devoting resources to an experimental aircraft without a clear role. Early efforts to turn it into a fighter-bomber fell flat. As the need for a superlative interceptor become apparent, however, the Me 262 found its place. The Swallow proved devastating against American bomber formations, and could outrun American pursuit aircraft.The Me 262 was hardly a perfect fighter: it lacked the maneuverability of the best American interceptors, and both American and British pilots developed tactics for managing the Swallow. Although production suffered from some early problems with engines, by the later stages of the conflict, manufacturing was sufficiently easy that the plane could be mass-produced in dispersed, underground facilities.But had it come on line a bit earlier, the Me 262 might have torn the heart out of the CBO. The CBO in 1943 was a touch and go affair; dramatically higher bomber losses in 1943 could well have led Churchill and Roosevelt to scale back the production of four engine bombers in favor of additional tactical aircraft. Without the advantage of long-range escorts, American bombers would have proven easy prey for the German jet. Moreover, the Me 262 would have been far more effective without the constant worry of P-47s and P-51s strafing its airfields and tracking its landings.Nazi Germany needed a game changer, a plane capable of making the price too high for the Allies to keep up the CBO. The Me 262 came onto the scene too late to solve that problem, but it’s hard to imagine any aircraft that could have come closer. Ironically, this might have accelerated Allied victory, as the Combined Bomber Offensive resulted in not only the destruction of urban Germany, but in the waste of substantial Allied resources. Win-win.Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 “Fishbed”An odd choice for this list? The MiG-21 is known largely as fodder for the other great fighters of the Cold War, and for having an abysmal kill ratio. The Fishbed (in NATO terminology) has served as a convenient victim in Vietnam and in a variety of Middle Eastern wars, some of which it fought on both sides.But… the MiG-21 is cheap, fast, maneuverable, has low maintenance requirements. It’s relatively easy to learn to fly, although not necessarily easy to learn how to fly well. Air forces continued to buy the MiG-21 for a long time. Counting the Chengdu J-7 variant, perhaps 13,000 MiG-21s have entered service around the world. In some sense, the Fishbed is the AK-47 (or the T-34, if you prefer) of the fighter world. Fifty countries have flown the MiG-21, and it has flown for fifty-five years. It continues to fly as a key part of twenty-six different air forces, including the Indian Air Force, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, the Vietnamese People’s Air Force, and the Romanian Air Force. Would anyone be surprised if the Fishbed and its variants are still flying in 2034?The MiG-21 won plaudits from American aggressor pilots at Red Flag, who celebrated its speed and maneuverability, and played (through the contribution of North Vietnamese aces such as Nguyễn Văn Cốc ) an important role in redefining the requirements of air superiority in the United States. When flown well, it remains a dangerous foe.Most of life is about just showing up, and since 1960 no fighter has shown up as consistently, and in as many places, as has the MiG-21. For countries needing a cheap option for claiming control of their national airspace, the MiG-21 has long solved problems, and will likely continue to serve in this role.McDonnell Douglas F-15 EagleWhat to say about the F-15 Eagle? When it came into service in 1976, it was immediately recognized as the best fighter in the world. Today, it is arguably still the best all-around, cost-adjusted fighter, even if the Su-27 and F-22 have surpassed it in some ways. If one fighter in American history could take the name of the national symbol of the United States, how could it be anything other than the F-15?The Eagle symbolizes the era of American hegemony, from the Vietnam hangover to the post-Cold War period of dominance. Designed in light of the lessons of Vietnam, at a time where tactical aviation was taking control of the US Air Force, the F-15 outperformed existing fighters and set a new standard for a modern air superiority aircraft. Despite repeated tests in combat, no F-15 has ever been lost to an aerial foe. The production line for the F-15 will run until at least 2019, and longer if Boeing can manage to sell anyone on the Silent Eagle.In the wake of Vietnam, the United States needed an air superiority platform that could consistently defeat the best that the Soviet Union had to offer. The F-15 (eventually complemented by the F-16) provided this platform, and then some. After the end of the Cold War, the United States needed an airframe versatile enough to carry out the air superiority mission while also becoming an effective strike aircraft. Again, the F-15 solved the problem.And it’s a plane that can land with one wing. Hard to beat that.A Contest Based on ParametersAgain, this exercise depends entirely on decisions about the parameters. A different set of criteria of effectiveness would generate an entirely different list (although the F-15 would probably still be here; it’s invulnerable). Nevertheless, the basic elements of the argument are sound: weapons should be evaluated in terms of how they help achieve national objectives.Honorable mentions include the North American Aviation F-86 Sabre, the Fokker D.VII, the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the Supermarine Spitfire, the North American Aviation P-51 Mustang, the McDonnell Douglas EA-18 Growler, the English Electric Lightning, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the Sukhoi Su-27 “Flanker,” and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.

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The real best of the best.In today's world, where every day it seems a new piece of military technology is poised to take over the battlefield and make everything else obsolete, there are several weapons of war that seem to have some staying power. Aircraft carriers, while some may consider them obsolete, remain one of the ultimate ways to display national power and prestige, with the unique capability to attack targets from the world's seas with deadly accuracy.Submarines have many uses. Whether it is to exercise sea control, deter an enemy with underwater nuclear weapons or ensure you have the ability to strike with various types of conventional weapons like cruise missiles on land, subs seem to be only gaining in prominence. (This first appeared several years ago.)Then there is the bomber. Some are old, like the B-52. Some are just getting started, like the B-21 Raider. Some we don't know much about, like Russia's PAK-FA. Yet, one thing is clear: Bombers can still make or break any conflict that could occur now or in the future. And fighter jets are not going anywhere. The F-35 is the ultimate example--considering the massive cost--of this important military asset having clear staying power (the only debate at this point is whether it will be manned or unmanned). So what are the best carriers, submarines, bombers and fighters ever? Robert Farley, one of the world's best defense experts and frequent TNI contributor, has written on this subject extensively. For your reading pleasure, we have packed together several pieces that take this subject on into this one post, which were written several years ago. Let the debate begin. ***The first true aircraft carriers entered service at the end of World War I, as the Royal Navy converted several of its excess warships into large, floating airfields. During the interwar period, Japan and the United States would make their own conversions, and all three navies would supplement these ships with purpose-built carriers. Within months of the beginning of hostilities in September 1939, the carrier demonstrated its worth in a variety of maritime tasks.By the end of 1941, carriers would become the world’s dominant capital ship. These are the five most lethal carriers to serve in the world’s navies, selected on the basis of their contribution to critical operations, and on their longevity and resilience.USS Enterprise:The U.S. Navy supplemented Lexington and Saratoga, the most effective of the interwar battlecruiser conversions, with the purpose-built USS Ranger. Experience with all three ships demonstrated that the next purpose-built class would require a larger hull and flight deck, as well as a heavier anti-aircraft armament. This resulted in USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise, which along with their third sister (USS Hornet) would play a critical role in stopping the Imperial Japanese Navy’s advance in 1942. Capable of cruising at 33 knots, Enterprise displaced around 24,000 tons and could carry up to 90 aircraft.While both Hornet and Yorktown were lost in the carrier battles of 1942, Enterprise served throughout the entire war. She helped search for the Japanese fleet in the wake of Pearl Harbor, and carried out the first reprisal raids in the early months of the war. She escorted Hornet on the Doolittle Raid, then helped sink four Japanese flattops at the Battle of Midway. She filled a crucial role during the Battles of Guadalcanal, surviving several near-catastrophic Japanese attacks.Later in the war, Enterprise operated with the growing American carrier fleet as it formed core of the counter-offensive that would roll up Japanese possessions in the Pacific. Enterprise fought at Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf, helping to destroy the heart of Japanese naval aviation. She served in the final raids against Japan in 1945 until a kamikaze caused critical damage in May. Returning to service just as the war ended, she helped return American soldiers to the United States in Operation Magic Carpet. Enterprise was the most decorated ship in any navy during World War II, but sadly post-war preservation efforts failed, and the carrier was scrapped in 1960.HMS Illustrious:Between September 1939 and April 1942, the Royal Navy lost five of its seven pre-war aircraft carriers. HMS Illustrious and her three sisters filled the gap. Laid down in 1937, Illustrious traded aircraft complement for an armored deck, an innovation that would make the ship more robust than her Japanese or American counterparts. Displacing 23,000 tons, Illustrious could make 30 knots and carrying 36 aircraft.Illustrious’ first major achievement came in November 1940, when her Swordfish torpedo bombers attacked the battleships of the Italian navy at anchor at Taranto. The attack, carried out on a shoestring compared to the great raids of the Pacific War, nevertheless managed to sink or heavily damage three Italian battleships. Illustrious spent the next few months carrying out raids in the Mediterranean and covering the evacuation of Greece. In the course of the latter, she survived several hits from German divebombers.After receiving repairs in the United States, Illustrious operated against the Japanese in the Indian Ocean. She returned to the European theater in 1943, making additional raids on Norway and in support of Allied landings in Italy. Later Illustrious returned to the Pacific, where supplied with superior American carrier aircraft, she helped spearhead the Royal Navy counter-offensive into Southeast Asia. After surviving a kamikaze attack, she returned to Great Britain and eventually served as a training carrier before being scrapped in 1957.HIJMS Zuikaku:Zuikaku represented the zenith of pre-war Japanese carrier development. Along with her sister Shokaku, Zuikaku filled out Kido Butai with the addition of two large, fast, modern carriers. Displacing 32,000 tons and capable of carrying 72 aircraft, Zuikaku could make 34 knots, and absorb a relatively large amount of battle damage.The size and modernity of the carriers meant that they could handle a greater operational tempo early in the war. After the Pearl Harbor raid, they participated in the Indian Ocean Raid, helping to sink the British carrier Hermes and several other ships. Afterward, Zuikaku and her sister deployed to Port Moresby to cover Japanese landings in what became the Battle of Coral Sea. Zuikaku survived undamaged, and contributed to the sinking of USS Lexington, but because of a lack of aircraft could not participate in the Battle of Midway.Zuikaku continued to form the core of the Japanese carrier fleet into 1944, participating in and surviving the battles of Guadalcanal (where her aircraft helped sink USS Hornet) and the Battle of Philippine Sea. By October 1944, her supply of aircraft and pilots was almost completely exhausted. At the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Zuikaku and several other carriers served as bait for Halsey’s battleships and carriers, luring them away from the center of the Japanese attack. The last survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack, Zuikaku sank under a barrage of bombs and torpedoes.USS Midway:USS Midway entered service in September 1945, shortly after the end of hostilities against Japan. She displaced 45,000 tons, could make 33 knots, and could carry roughly 100 aircraft. Midway and her sisters represented a step beyond the Essex-class carriers that had won the Pacific War, and promised to introduce a new era of naval aviation.Upon commissioning, Midway became the world’s most lethal aircraft carrier. The offensive power of her air group exceeded that of the Essex carriers then in service, and with the introduction of jet aircraft the gap would grow. With the A-2 Savage carrier-based bomber, Midway and her sisters briefly became the only carriers in the world capable of delivering nuclear weapons.Midway underwent extensive modification over the course of her career, eventually acquiring an angled flight deck and other innovations. Although she missed Korea, Midway operated off Vietnam, and continued to serve as the larger “supercarriers” came online. She found heavy use in the Gulf War of 1990, as her (relative) small size gave her an advantage in maneuverability over the more modern supercarriers. Midway left service in 1992, having spanned the history of naval aviation from the F6F Hellcat to the F/A-18 Hornet.USS Theodore Roosevelt:The ten Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carriers have been the world’s dominant capital ships since they began to enter service in the late 1970s. Constructed over a period spanning nearly 35 years, the class continues to provide the core of American naval power. Among the most active of the Nimitz class has been the USS Theodore Roosevelt, first of the second group of ships. Roosevelt entered service in 1986; she displaces over 100,000 tons, carries between 75-80 aircraft, and can make 30 knots top speed.Roosevelt has served in most of the conflicts of the post Cold-War era. In 1991 she launched strikes against Iraqi targets during Operation Desert Storm. In 1999, her aircraft conducted strikes in Kosovo and Serbia in service of Operation Allied Force. After the September 11 attacks, Roosevelt deployed to the Middle East and participated in the first sorties against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Operation Enduring Freedom. Two years later, her aircraft flew against Iraqi targets again in the first days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After a refit, Roosevelt launched strikes against both Afghan and Iraqi targets in the latter part of the decade. Most recently, Roosevelt helped blockade Yemeni ports against a suspected Iranian arms convoy.Like her sister ships, Roosevelt has already undergone substantial modification across the course of her thirty year career, and the Navy expects that these refits will continue into the future. Current projections suggest that she will leave service around 2035, which would give the carrier a nearly fifty-year span of lethality.Wrap:Pundits and analysts have predicted the obsolescence and demise of the aircraft carrier since the waning days of World War II. At the moment, however, the Russian, Indian, British, Chinese, French, and American navies continue to put faith, and resources, into carrier aviation. Despite the vulnerability of the big ships to attack, they provide a unique combination of presence, prestige, and lethality that continues to make them attractive to the world’s most powerful navies.***There have been three great submarine campaigns in history, and one prolonged duel. The First and Second Battles of the Atlantic pitted German U-boats against the escorts and aircraft of the United Kingdom and the United States. The Germans very nearly won World War I with the first campaign, and badly drained Allied resources in the second. In the third great campaign, the submarines of the US Navy destroyed virtually the entire commercial fleet of Japan, bringing the Japanese economy to its knees. US subs also devastated the Imperial Japanese Navy, sinking several of Tokyo’s most important capital ships.But the period most evocative of our modern sense of submarine warfare was surely the forty year duel between the submarines of the USSR and the boats of the various NATO navies. Over the course of the Cold War, the strategic nature of the submarine changed; it moved from being a cheap, effective killer of capital ships to a capital ship in its own right. This was especially the case with the boomers, submarines that carried enough nuclear weapons to kill millions in a few minutes.As with previous “5 Greatest” lists, the answers depend on the parameters; different sets of metrics will generate different lists. Our metrics concentrate on the strategic utility of specific submarine classes, rather than solely on their technical capabilities.· Was the submarine a cost-effective solution to a national strategic problem?· Did the submarine compare favorably with its contemporaries?· Was the submarine’s design innovative?And with that, the five best submarines of all time:U-31:The eleven boats of the U-31 class were constructed between 1912 and 1915. They operated in both of the periods of heavy action for German U-boats, early in the war before the suspension of unrestricted warfare, and again in 1917 when Germany decided to go for broke and cut the British Empire off at the knees. Four of these eleven boats (U-35, U-39, U-38, and U-34) were the four top killers of World War I; indeed, they were four of the five top submarines of all time in terms of tonnage sunk (the Type VII boat U-48 sneaks in at number 3). U-35, the top killer, sank 224 ships amounting to over half a million tons.The U-31 boats were evolutionary, rather than revolutionary; they represented the latest in German submarine technology for the time, but did not differ dramatically from their immediate predecessors or successors. These boats had good range, a deck gun for destroying small shipping, and faster speeds surfaced than submerged. These characteristics allowed the U-31 class and their peers to wreak havoc while avoiding faster, more powerful surface units. They did offer a secure, stealthy platform for carrying out a campaign that nearly forced Great Britain from the war. Only the entry of the United States, combined with the development of innovative convoy tactics by the Royal Navy, would stifle the submarine offensive. Three of the eleven boats survived the war, and were eventually surrendered to the Allies.Balao:The potential for a submarine campaign against the Japanese Empire was clear from early in the war. Japanese industry depended for survival on access to the natural resources of Southeast Asia. Separating Japan from those resources could win the war. However, the pre-war USN submarine arm was relatively small, and operated with poor doctrine and bad torpedoes. Boats built during the war, including primarily the Gato and Balao class, would eventually destroy virtually the entire Japanese merchant marine.The Balao class represented very nearly the zenith of the pre-streamline submarine type. War in the Pacific demanded longer ranges and more habitability than the relatively snug Atlantic. Like their predecessors the Gato, the Balaos were less maneuverable than the German Type VII subs, but they made up for this in strength of hull and quality of construction. Compared with the Type VII, the Balaos had longer range, a larger gun, more torpedo tubes, and a higher speed. Of course, the Balaos operated in a much different environment, and against an opponent less skilled in anti-submarine warfare. The greatest victory of a Balao was the sinking of the 58000 ton HIJMS Shinano by Archerfish.Eleven of 120 boats were lost, two in post-war accidents. After the war Balao class subs were transferred to several friendly navies, and continued to serve for decades. One, the former USS Tusk, remains in partial commission in Taiwan as Hai Pao.Type XXIIn some ways akin to the Me 262, the Type XXI was a potentially war-winning weapon that arrived too late to have serious effect. The Type XXI was the first mass produced, ocean-going streamlined or “true” submarine, capable of better performance submerged than on the surface. It gave up its deck gun in return for speed and stealth, and set the terms of design for generations of submarines.Allied anti-submarine efforts focused on identifying boats on the surface (usually in transit to their patrol areas) then vectoring killers (including ships and aircraft) to those areas. In 1944 the Allies began developing techniques for fighting “schnorkel” U-boats that did not need to surface, but remained unprepared for combat against a submarine that could move at 20 knots submerged.In effect, the Type XXI had the stealth to avoid detection prior to an attack, and the speed to escape afterward. Germany completed 118 of these boats, but because of a variety of industrial problems could only put four into service, none of which sank an enemy ship. All of the Allies seized surviving examples of the Type XXI, using them both as models for their own designs and in order to develop more advanced anti-submarine technologies and techniques. For example, the Type XXI was the model for the Soviet “Whiskey” class, and eventually for a large flotilla of Chinese submarines.George Washington:We take for granted the most common form of today’s nuclear deterrent; a nuclear submarine, bristling with missiles, capable of destroying a dozen cities a continent away. These submarines provide the most secure leg of the deterrent triad, as no foe could reasonably expect to destroy the entire submarine fleet before the missiles fly.The secure submarine deterrent began in 1960, with the USS George Washington. An enlarged version of the Skipjack class nuclear attack sub, George Washington’s design incorporated space for sixteen Polaris ballistic missiles. When the Polaris became operational, USS George Washington had the capability from striking targets up to 1000 miles distant with 600 KT warheads. The boats would eventually upgrade to the Polaris A3, with three warheads and a 2500 mile range. Slow relative to attack subs but extremely quiet, the George Washington class pioneered the “go away and hide” form of nuclear deterrence that is still practiced by five of the world’s nine nuclear powers.And until 1967, the George Washington and her sisters were the only modern boomers. Their clunky Soviet counterparts carried only three missiles each, and usually had to surface in order to fire. This made them of limited deterrent value. But soon, virtually every nuclear power copied the George Washington class. The first “Yankee” class SSBN entered service in 1967, the first Resolution boat in 1968, and the first of the French Redoutables in 1971. China would eventually follow suit, although the PLAN’s first genuinely modern SSBNs have only entered service recently. The Indian Navy’s INS Arihant will likely enter service in the next year or so.The five boats of the George Washington class conducted deterrent patrols until 1982, when the SALT II Treaty forced their retirement. Three of the five (including George Washington) continued in service as nuclear attack submarines for several more years.Los Angeles:Immortalized in the Tom Clancy novels Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising, the U.S. Los Angeles class is the longest production line of nuclear submarines in history, constituting sixty-two boats and first entering service in 1976. Forty-one subs remain in commission today, continuing to form the backbone of the USN’s submarine fleet.The Los Angeles (or 688) class are outstanding examples of Cold War submarines, equally capable of conducting anti-surface or anti-submarine warfare. In wartime, they would have been used to penetrate Soviet base areas, where Russian boomers were protected by rings of subs, surface ships, and aircraft, and to protect American carrier battle groups.In 1991, two Los Angeles class attack boats launched the first ever salvo of cruise missiles against land targets, ushering in an entirely new vision of how submarines could impact warfare. While cruise missile armed submarines had long been part of the Cold War duel between the United States and the Soviet Union, most attention focused either on nuclear delivery or anti-ship attacks. Submarine launched Tomahawks gave the United States a new means for kicking in the doors of anti-access/area denial systems. The concept has proven so successful that four Ohio class boomers were refitted as cruise missile submarines, with the USS Florida delivering the initial strikes of the Libya intervention.The last Los Angeles class submarine is expected to leave service in at some point in the 2020s, although outside factors may delay that date. By that time, new designs will undoubtedly have exceeded the 688 in terms of striking land targets, and in capacity for conducting anti-submarine warfare. Nevertheless, the Los Angeles class will have carved out a space as the sub-surface mainstay of the world’s most powerful Navy for five decades.Conclusion:Fortunately, the United States and the Soviet Union avoided direct conflict during the Cold War, meaning that many of the technologies and practices of advanced submarine warfare were never employed in anger. However, every country in the world that pretends to serious maritime power is building or acquiring advanced submarines. The next submarine war will look very different from the last, and it’s difficult to predict how it will play out. We can be certain, however, that the fight will be conducted in silence.Honorable Mention: Ohio, 260O-21, Akula, Alfa, Seawolf, Swiftsure, I-201, Kilo, S class, Type VII***Bombers are the essence of strategic airpower. While fighters have often been important to air forces, it was the promise of the heavy bomber than won and kept independence for the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force. At different points in time, air forces in the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Italy have treated bomber design and construction as a virtually all-consuming obsession, setting fighter and attack aviation aside.However, even the best bombers are effective over only limited timespans. The unlucky state-of-the-art bombers of the early 1930s met disaster when put into service against the pursuit aircraft of the late 1930s. The B-29s that ruled the skies over Japan in 1945 were cut to pieces above North Korea in 1950. The B-36 Peacemaker, obsolete before it was even built, left service in a decade. Most of the early Cold War bombers were expensive failures, eventually to be superseded by ICBMs and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.States procure bombers, like all weapons, to serve strategic purposes. This list employs the following metrics of evaluation:· Did the bomber serve the strategic purpose envisioned by its developers?· Was the bomber a sufficiently flexible platform to perform other missions, and to persist in service?· How did the bomber compare with its contemporaries in terms of price, capability, and effectiveness?And with that, the five best bombers of all time:Handley Page Type O 400:The first strategic bombing raids of World War I were carried out by German zeppelins, enormous lighter than aircraft that could travel at higher altitudes than the interceptors of the day, and deliver payloads against London and other targets. Over time, the capabilities of interceptors and anti-aircraft artillery grew, driving the Zeppelins to other missions. Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and others began working on bombers capable of delivering heavy loads over long distance, a trail blazed (oddly enough) by the Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets.Even the modest capabilities of the early bombers excited the airpower theorists of the day, who imagined the idea of fleets of bombers striking enemy cities and enemy industry. The Italians developed the Caproni family of bombers, which operated in the service of most Allied countries at one time or another. German Gotha bombers would eventually terrorize London again, catalyzing the Smuts Report and the creation of the world’s first air force.Faster and capable of carrying more bombs than either the Gotha IVs or the Caproni Ca.3, the Type O 400 had a wingspan nearly as large as the Avro Lancaster. With a maximum speed of 97 miles per hour with a payload of up to 2000 lbs, O 400s were the mainstay of Hugh Trenchard’s Independent Air Force near the end of the war, a unit which struck German airfields and logistics concentration well behind German lines. These raids helped lay the foundation of interwar airpower theory, which (at least in the US and the UK) envisioned self-protecting bombers striking enemy targets en masse.Roughly 600 Type O bombers were produced during World War I, with the last retiring in 1922. Small numbers served in the Chinese, Australian, and American armed forces.Junkers Ju 88:The Junkers Ju-88 was one of the most versatile aircraft of World War II. Although it spent most of its career as a medium bomber, it moonlighted as a close attack aircraft, a naval attack aircraft, a reconnaissance plane, and a night fighter. Effective and relatively cheap, the Luftwaffe used the Ju 88 to good effect in most theaters of war, but especially on the Eastern Front and in the Mediterranean.Designed with dive bomber capability, the Ju 88 served in relatively small numbers in the invasion of Poland, the invasion of Norway, and the Battle of France. The Ju-88 was not well suited to the strategic bombing role into which it was forced during the Battle of Britain, especially in its early variants. It lacked the armament to sufficiently defend itself, and the payload to cause much destruction to British industry and infrastructure. The measure of an excellent bomber, however, goes well beyond its effectiveness at any particular mission. Ju 88s were devastating in Operation Barbarossa, tearing apart Soviet tank formations and destroying much of the Soviet Air Forces on the ground. Later variants were built as or converted into night fighters, attacking Royal Air Force bomber formations on the way to their targets.In spite of heavy Allied bombing of the German aviation industry, Germany built over 15,000 Ju 88s between 1939 and 1945. They operated in several Axis air forces.De Havilland Mosquito:The de Havilland Mosquito was a remarkable little aircraft, capable of a wide variety of different missions. Not unlike the Ju 88, the Mosquito operated in bomber, fighter, night fighter, attack, and reconnaissance roles. The RAF was better positioned than the Luftwaffe to utilized the specific qualities of the Mosquito, and avoid forcing it into missions in could not perform.Relatively lightly armed and constructed entirely of wood, the Mosquito was quite unlike the rest of the RAF bomber fleet. Barely escaping design committee, the Mosquito was regarded as easy to fly, and featured a pressurized cockpit with a high service ceiling. Most of all, however, the Mosquito was fast. With advanced Merlin engines, a Mosquito could outpace the German Bf109 and most other Axis fighters.Although the bomb load of the Mosquito was limited, its great speed, combined with sophisticated instrumentation, allowed it to deliver ordnance with more precision than most other bombers. During the war, the RAF used Mosquitoes for various precision attacks against high value targets, including German government installations and V weapon launching sites. As pathfinders, Mosquitoes flew point on bomber formations, leading night time bombing raids that might otherwise have missed their targets. Mosquitos also served in a diversionary role, distracting German night fighters from the streams of Halifaxes and Lancasters striking urban areas.De Havilland produced over 7000 Mosquitoes for the RAF and other allied air forces. Examples persisted in post-war service with countries as varied as Israel, the Republic of China, Yugoslavia, and the Dominican RepublicAvro Lancaster:The workhorse of the RAF in World War II, the Lancaster carried out the greater part of the British portion of the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO). Led by Arthur Harris, Bomber Command believed that area bombing raids, targeted against German civilians, conducted at night, would destroy German morale and economic capacity and bring the war to a close. Accordingly, the Lancaster was less heavily armed than its American contemporaries, as it depended less on self-defense in order to carry out its mission.The first Lancasters entered service in 1942. The Lancaster could carry a much heavier bomb load than the B-17 or the B-24, while operating at similar speeds and at a slightly longer range. The Lancaster also enjoyed a payload advantage over the Handley Page Halifax. From 1942 until 1945, the Lancaster would anchor the British half of the CBO, eventually resulting in the destruction of most of urban Germany and the death of several hundred thousand German civilians.There are reasons to be skeptical of the inclusion of the Lancaster. The Combined Bomber Offensive was a strategic dead-end, serving up expensive four-engine bombers as a feast for smaller, cheaper German fighters. Battles were fought under conditions deeply advantageous to the Germans, as damaged German planes could land, and shot down German pilots rescued and returned to service. Overall, the enormous Western investment in strategic bombing was probably one of the greatest grand strategic miscalculations of the Second World War. Nevertheless, this list needs a bomber from the most identifiable bomber offensive in history, and the Lancaster was the best of the bunch.Over 7000 Lancasters were built, with the last retiring in the early 1960s after Canadian service as recon and maritime patrol aircraft.Boeing B-52 Stratofortress:The disastrous experience of B-29 Superfortresses over North Korea in 1950 demonstrated that the United States would require a new strategic bomber, and soon. Unfortunately, the first two generations of bombers chosen by the USAF were almost uniformly duds; the hopeless B-36, the short-legged B-47, the dangerous-to-its-own-pilots B-58, and the obsolete-before-it-flew XB-70. The vast bulk of these bombers quickly went from wastes of taxpayer money to wastes of space at the Boneyard. None of the over 2500 early Cold War bombers ever dropped a bomb in anger.The exception was the B-52.The BUFF was originally intended for high altitude penetration bombing into the Soviet Union. It replaced the B-36 and the B-47, the former too slow and vulnerable to continue in the nuclear strike mission, and the latter too short-legged to reach the USSR from U.S. bases. Slated for replacement by the B-58 and the B-70, the B-52 survived because it was versatile enough to shift to low altitude penetration after the increasing sophistication of Soviet SAMs made the high altitude mission suicidal.And this versatility has been the real story of the B-52. The BUFF was first committed to conventional strike missions in service of Operation Arc Light during the Vietnam War. In Operation Linebacker II, the vulnerability of the B-52 to air defenses was made manifest when nine Stratofortresses were lost in the first days of the campaign. But the B-52 persisted. In the Gulf War, B-52s carried out saturation bombing campaigns against the forward positions of the Iraqi Army, softening and demoralizing the Iraqis for the eventual ground campaign. In the War on Terror, the B-52 has acted in a close air support role, delivering precision-guided ordnance against small concentrations of Iraqi and Taliban insurgents.Most recently, the B-52 showed its diplomatic chops when two BUFFs were dispatched to violate China’s newly declared Air Defense Zone. The BUFF was perfect for this mission; the Chinese could not pretend not to notice two enormous bombers travelling at slow speed through the ADIZ.742 B-52s were delivered between 1954 and 1963. Seventy-eight remain in service, having undergone multiple upgrades over the decades that promise to extend their lives into the 2030s, or potentially beyond. In a family of short-lived airframes, the B-52 has demonstrated remarkable endurance and longevity.Conclusion:Over the last century, nations have invested tremendous resources in bomber aircraft. More often than not, this investment has failed to bear strategic fruit. The very best aircraft have been those that could not only conduct their primary mission effectively, but that were also sufficiently flexible to perform other tasks that might be asked of them. Current air forces have, with some exceptions, effectively done away with the distinctions between fighters and bombers, instead relying on multi-role fighter-bombers for both missions. The last big, manned bomber may be the American LRS-B, assuming that project ever gets off the ground.Honorable Mention:Grumman A-6 Intruder, MQ-1 Predator, Caproni Ca.3, Tupolev Tu-95 “Bear,” Avro Vulcan, Tupolev Tu-22M “Backfire.”***What are the five greatest fighter aircraft of all time? Like the same question asked of tanks, cars, or rock and roll guitarists, the answer invariably depends on parameters. For example, there are few sets of consistent parameters that would include both the T-34 and the King Tiger among the greatest of all tanks. I know which one I’d like to be driving in a fight, but I also appreciate that this isn’t the most appropriate way to approach the question. Similarly, while I’d love to drive a Porsche 959 to work every morning, I’d be hesitant to list it ahead of the Toyota Corolla on a “best of” compilation.Nations buy fighter aircraft to resolve national strategic problems, and the aircraft should accordingly be evaluated on their ability to solve or ameliorate these problems. Thus, the motivating question is this: how well did this aircraft help solve the strategic problems of the nations that built or bought it? This question leads to the following points of evaluation:Fighting characteristics: How did this plane stack up against the competition, including not just other fighters but also bombers and ground installations?Reliability: Could people count on this aircraft to fight when it needed to, or did it spend more time under repair than in the air?Cost: What did the organization and the nation have to pay in terms of blood and treasure to make this aircraft fly?These are the parameters; here are my answers:Spad S.XIIIIn the early era of military aviation, technological innovation moved at such speed that state of the art aircraft became obsolete deathtraps within a year. Engineers in France, Britain, Germany and Italy worked constantly to outpace their competitors, producing new aircraft every year to throw into the fight. The development of operational tactics trailed technology, although the input of the best flyers played an important role in how designers put new aircraft together.In this context, picking a dominant fighter from the era is difficult. Nevertheless, the Spad S.XIII stands out in terms of its fighting characteristics and ease of production. Based in significant part on the advice of French aviators such as Georges Guynemer, the XIII lacked the maneuverability of some of its contemporaries, but could outpace most of them and performed very well in either a climb or a dive. It was simple enough to produce that nearly 8,500 such aircraft eventually entered service. Significant early reliability problems were worked out by the end of the war, and in any case were overwhelmed by the XIII’s fighting ability.The S.XIII filled out not only French fighter squadrons, but also the air services of Allied countries. American ace Eddie Rickenbacker scored twenty of his kills flying an XIII, many over the most advanced German fighters of the day, including the Fokker D.VII.The Spad XIII helped the Allies hold the line during the Ludendorff Offensive, and controlled the skies above France during the counter-offensive. After the war, it remained in service in France, the United States, and a dozen other countries for several years. In an important sense, the Spad XIII set the post-war standard for what a pursuit aircraft needed to do.Grumman F6F HellcatOf course, it is not only air forces that fly fighter aircraft. The F6F Hellcat can’t compare with the Spitfire, the P-51, or the Bf 109 on many basic flight characteristics, although its ability to climb was first-rate. What the F6F could do, however, was reliably fly from aircraft carriers, and it rode point on the great, decisive U.S. Navy carrier offensive of World War II. Entering the war in September 1943, it won 75% of USN aerial victories in the Pacific. USN ace David McCampbell shot down nine Japanese aircraft in one day flying a Hellcat .The F6F was heavily armed, and could take considerably more battle damage than its contemporaries. Overall, the F6F claimed nearly 5,200 kills at a loss of 270 aircraft in aerial combat, including a 13:1 ratio against the Mitsubishi A6M Zero.The USN carrier offensive of the latter part of World War II is probably the greatest single example of the use of decisive airpower in world history. Hellcats and their kin (the Douglas SBD Dauntless dive-bomber and the Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber) destroyed the fighting power of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), cracked open Japan’s island empire, and exposed the Japanese homeland to devastating air attack and the threat of invasion.In 1943, the United States needed a fighter robust enough to endure a campaign fought distant from most bases, yet fast and agile enough to defeat the best that the IJN could offer. Tough and reliable as a brick, the Hellcat fit that role. Put simply, the Honda Accord is, in its own way, a great car; the Honda Accords of the fighter world also deserve their day.Messerschmitt Me-262 SwallowThe Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow, in English) failed to win the war for Germany, and couldn’t stop the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO). Had German military authorities made the right decisions, however, it might at least have accomplished the second.Known as the world’s first operational jet fighter, full-scale production of the Me 262 was delayed by resistance within the German government and the Luftwaffe to devoting resources to an experimental aircraft without a clear role. Early efforts to turn it into a fighter-bomber fell flat. As the need for a superlative interceptor become apparent, however, the Me 262 found its place. The Swallow proved devastating against American bomber formations, and could outrun American pursuit aircraft.The Me 262 was hardly a perfect fighter: it lacked the maneuverability of the best American interceptors, and both American and British pilots developed tactics for managing the Swallow. Although production suffered from some early problems with engines, by the later stages of the conflict, manufacturing was sufficiently easy that the plane could be mass-produced in dispersed, underground facilities.But had it come on line a bit earlier, the Me 262 might have torn the heart out of the CBO. The CBO in 1943 was a touch and go affair; dramatically higher bomber losses in 1943 could well have led Churchill and Roosevelt to scale back the production of four engine bombers in favor of additional tactical aircraft. Without the advantage of long-range escorts, American bombers would have proven easy prey for the German jet. Moreover, the Me 262 would have been far more effective without the constant worry of P-47s and P-51s strafing its airfields and tracking its landings.Nazi Germany needed a game changer, a plane capable of making the price too high for the Allies to keep up the CBO. The Me 262 came onto the scene too late to solve that problem, but it’s hard to imagine any aircraft that could have come closer. Ironically, this might have accelerated Allied victory, as the Combined Bomber Offensive resulted in not only the destruction of urban Germany, but in the waste of substantial Allied resources. Win-win.Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 “Fishbed”An odd choice for this list? The MiG-21 is known largely as fodder for the other great fighters of the Cold War, and for having an abysmal kill ratio. The Fishbed (in NATO terminology) has served as a convenient victim in Vietnam and in a variety of Middle Eastern wars, some of which it fought on both sides.But… the MiG-21 is cheap, fast, maneuverable, has low maintenance requirements. It’s relatively easy to learn to fly, although not necessarily easy to learn how to fly well. Air forces continued to buy the MiG-21 for a long time. Counting the Chengdu J-7 variant, perhaps 13,000 MiG-21s have entered service around the world. In some sense, the Fishbed is the AK-47 (or the T-34, if you prefer) of the fighter world. Fifty countries have flown the MiG-21, and it has flown for fifty-five years. It continues to fly as a key part of twenty-six different air forces, including the Indian Air Force, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, the Vietnamese People’s Air Force, and the Romanian Air Force. Would anyone be surprised if the Fishbed and its variants are still flying in 2034?The MiG-21 won plaudits from American aggressor pilots at Red Flag, who celebrated its speed and maneuverability, and played (through the contribution of North Vietnamese aces such as Nguyễn Văn Cốc ) an important role in redefining the requirements of air superiority in the United States. When flown well, it remains a dangerous foe.Most of life is about just showing up, and since 1960 no fighter has shown up as consistently, and in as many places, as has the MiG-21. For countries needing a cheap option for claiming control of their national airspace, the MiG-21 has long solved problems, and will likely continue to serve in this role.McDonnell Douglas F-15 EagleWhat to say about the F-15 Eagle? When it came into service in 1976, it was immediately recognized as the best fighter in the world. Today, it is arguably still the best all-around, cost-adjusted fighter, even if the Su-27 and F-22 have surpassed it in some ways. If one fighter in American history could take the name of the national symbol of the United States, how could it be anything other than the F-15?The Eagle symbolizes the era of American hegemony, from the Vietnam hangover to the post-Cold War period of dominance. Designed in light of the lessons of Vietnam, at a time where tactical aviation was taking control of the US Air Force, the F-15 outperformed existing fighters and set a new standard for a modern air superiority aircraft. Despite repeated tests in combat, no F-15 has ever been lost to an aerial foe. The production line for the F-15 will run until at least 2019, and longer if Boeing can manage to sell anyone on the Silent Eagle.In the wake of Vietnam, the United States needed an air superiority platform that could consistently defeat the best that the Soviet Union had to offer. The F-15 (eventually complemented by the F-16) provided this platform, and then some. After the end of the Cold War, the United States needed an airframe versatile enough to carry out the air superiority mission while also becoming an effective strike aircraft. Again, the F-15 solved the problem.And it’s a plane that can land with one wing. Hard to beat that.A Contest Based on ParametersAgain, this exercise depends entirely on decisions about the parameters. A different set of criteria of effectiveness would generate an entirely different list (although the F-15 would probably still be here; it’s invulnerable). Nevertheless, the basic elements of the argument are sound: weapons should be evaluated in terms of how they help achieve national objectives.Honorable mentions include the North American Aviation F-86 Sabre, the Fokker D.VII, the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the Supermarine Spitfire, the North American Aviation P-51 Mustang, the McDonnell Douglas EA-18 Growler, the English Electric Lightning, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the Sukhoi Su-27 “Flanker,” and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.

September 02, 2019 at 09:33AM via IFTTT

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USS Yorktown (CV-5): How a Badly Damaged Carrier Turned the Tides at Midway

USS Yorktown (CV-5): How a Badly Damaged Carrier Turned the Tides at Midway

On May 8, 1942, the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) was badly damaged after helping to destroy the Japanese carrier Shoho at the Battle of the Coral Sea. With a gaping hole in her flight deck and her superheater boilers out of commission, Yorktown was expected to be out of action for months—but after just 72 hours of repairs, she was able to participate in the Battle of Midway, where it helped sink two IJN carriers while protecting the other American carriers from aerial counterattack.

In honor of Memorial Day, we’ll take a brief look at the remarkable circumstances around this storied carrier and the exceptional contributions of the heroes who made it happen.

  The Yorktown: From Humble Beginnings to the Battle of the Coral Sea

Launched in 1936, Yorktown was the lead ship of the new Yorktown-class of carriers, designed to incorporate all the experience and lessons learned from the previous four carriers. She carried 90 aircraft—roughly equivalent to the larger Japanese carriers it would fight against at Midway—and a wartime complement of around 3,000 men.

  Yorktown in 1937. Photo is from the National Archives, Image # 19-N-17424

  Following training in Hampton Roads, Virginia, Yorktown conducted her shakedown cruise—or performance test—in the Caribbean. In 1939, she participated in Fleet Problem XX, the Navy’s 20th annual large-scale naval exercises, setting a new benchmark for carrier performance. After a brief period operating along the west coast, Yorktown set out for the Atlantic on April 20, 1941, to protect American interests from a new threat: the U-Boat. Following her neutrality patrols, she put into port at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia on December 2, 1941.

Little did her captain and crew know that in just five days’ time, Imperial Japan would attack Pearl Harbor, killing thousands of Americans and sending the US Navy’s surface fleet of destroyers, battleships and cruisers.

This left Yorktown and the six other carriers—Enterprise, Hornet, Lexington, Wasp, Ranger and Saratoga, none of which were at Pearl Harbor—as the backbone of the US Navy.

With America now at war, Yorktown was recalled to the Pacific and, on December 30, made flagship of Rear Admiral Fletcher’s newly-formed Task Force 17. It wouldn’t be long before she saw her first major action.

Working with superior intelligence, Admiral Chester Nimitz—now Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet—knew that the Japanese Navy intended to attack Port Moresby, New Zealand, in the first week of May 1942 in an attempt to strengthen their defensive position in the South Pacific. He issued orders that sent four carriers towards the port to finally put an end to a series of USN defeats. Only Yorktown and USS Lexington (CV-2) would make it there in time.

The American fleet made contact with the numerically-superior IJN fleet—which consisted of fleet carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku (both of which took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor), light carrier Shoho, and a number of support craft—and the two forces traded blows over the course of four days in what would come to be called the Battle of the Coral Sea. This was the first battle in history where two carriers battled toe-to-toe. Losses were heavy.

When the dust settled, both American carriers and all three Japanese carriers had sustained heavy damage or were depleted of aircraft. Lexington and Shoho were scuttled. Shokaku sustained heavy damage to the flight deck (courtesy of Yorktown’s dive bombers) and limped to safety. Zuikaku, her air arm slaughtered, did the same.

Bomb damage on Yorktown’s third and fourth decks, copied from the war damage report, 1942.

  Damage to Yorktown was significant. Captain Elliott Buckmaster, skilled as he was, could do nothing when a Japanese “Val” dive bomber scored a direct hit. The 550-pound bomb penetrated the deck and exploded below, killing or seriously injuring 66 men and damaging her superheater boilers. The damage looked to be so severe that the Japanese thought she had been sunk. They would soon be proven terribly wrong.

Patchwork Repairs

Following the Battle of the Coral Sea, Yorktown was ordered back to Pearl Harbor ASAP for repairs. Some experts estimated that she would need at least three months of repairs. Admiral Nimitz, understanding the grave urgency of a new threat to a tiny atoll called Midway, gave shipyard workers just three days to get Yorktown back into fighting shape.

One of my favorite accounts of the shipwrights’ struggle comes from Reddit user Limonhed in this thread:

“My late father-in-law was one of the civilian shipwrights flown out to Yorktown after it was damaged at the Coral Sea. He said they worked 24/7 doing what they could, and fell asleep on the deck where they worked. The sailors had orders not to bother a sleeping shipwright unless it was an emergency. They ate sandwiches brought by the sailors while they continued to work. Cutting torch in one hand and sandwich in the other. Sometimes a sailor would stop by and stick a lit cigarette in his mouth while he continued to work. Much of the preparation work for the repairs were finished when they arrived at Pearl. They continued working 24/7 the entire time they were at Pearl and were still on the ship when it sailed. They were flown off only when the fleet got close enough to worry about Japanese attacks. Their efforts cut a week off the repairs and allowed Yorktown to get back in time for the next battle.”

Without the hard work and dedication shown by the yard workers, Yorktown would never have made it to Midway. Her unexpected presence confused the IJN and helped the United States Navy deliver a crushing defeat—and serious payback—to the Japanese fleet.

Yorktown at the Battle of Midway

Armed with knowledge of when and with what ships the enemy planned to ambush Midway (and the two aircraft carriers that constituted the IJN’s real targets), Adm. Nimitz moved the entire Pacific fleet to Midway to set an ambush of his own.

The Yorktown was a lynchpin in this regard. The already-outnumbered US Navy could not make up the difference in operational aircraft—not to mention that the Yorktown was the only carrier with experience launching a full strike.

Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown would face off against Soryu, Hiryu, Akagi and Kaga in a battle that turned the tide of war in the Pacific.

Japan began its initial attack on Midway Island at 4:30am on June 4, intent on destroying the land-based aircraft. It was repulsed thanks to stiff resistance from American forces. Neither navy had located the other until 5:34am, when a PBY seaplane from Midway Island finally spotted the Japanese fleet. Admiral Fletcher ordered the launch of aircraft from Enterprise and Hornet starting at 7:00am.

LCDR Max Leslie ditches in the ocean

The first wave was a disaster from the get-go. While Japan was able to launch 108 aircraft in just seven minutes, it took Enterprise and Hornet over an hour to launch 117 aircraft. It’s odd to think of the USA as underdogs in any capacity, let alone war, but that’s exactly the case.

And Japan’s advantage reached far beyond coordination and training. The American Navy was still using the TPD Devastator torpedo bomber, a woefully outmoded aircraft that was totally outclassed by Japan’s Zero fighters. Of the 41 Devastators that sortied during Midway, not a single one produced a torpedo hit, and only six returned. And even if one of the Devastators HAD registered a hit, there’s a good chance that the poorly-manufactured Mark 13 Torpedoes would not have detonated.

Yorktown’s pilots, who had been held back from the initial launch in case other Japanese carriers were found, were given a harrowing briefing: “If only three out of your 12-plane squadron survive the run-in to deliver your torpedoes, your mission will have been a success.” Yorktown’s aircraft launched at 9:08am.

But just when the future of the US Pacific fleet began to look grim, the battle turned on a dime.

It just so happened that three squadrons of Douglas SBD Scout Bombers (a fine aircraft, not to be confused with the TBD Devastator) were approaching the Japanese fleet. Two of the three were short on fuel, and none of them knew exactly where the fleet was.

It was then that Enterprise Air Group Commander C. Wade McClusky, dangerously low on fuel, made one of the most fortuitous decisions in the war. Instead of turning back, he kept looking for the enemy carriers, and he just so happened to locate a lone Japanese destroyer traveling at flank speed. Acting on a hunch, he followed it…all the way to the Japanese carriers, now short on defense.

The three squadrons descended on the carriers like a swarm of locusts. Yorktown’s VB-3, commanded by Max Leslie, went for Soryu, battering it with three direct hits.

Enterprise’s squadrons split into two and took on Akagi and Kaga, scoring multiple direct hits.

Within six minutes, Soryu and Kaga were totally engulfed stem to stern. Although Akagi was hit by just one bomb, it exploded in the hangar, causing massive devastation and leaving it dead in the water. Just like that, a good portion of Imperial Japan’s mighty Pacific fleet was reduced to burning husks, leaving just the Hiryu.

Crewmen repair a 12′ diameter bomb hole on Yorktown’s deck. At this point, this kind of damage was mundane. She would be back in action shortly.

  But it wasn’t all good news. Japanese bombers from Hiryu followed the retreating American aircraft and attacked the first carrier they found…—which just so happened to be Yorktown. Japanese pilots managed to score three hits, blowing a hole in the deck and snuffing out her boilers. But American damage control and ship survivability were far beyond that of the IJN, and within just one hour, she was patched up and ready to go again.

The second wave of Hiryu torpedo bombers arrived another hour later. The repair efforts were so effective that the Japanese pilots assumed Yorktown must be a different, undamaged carrier. Again, they battered her, this time with two torpedoes. Yorktown lost all power and began to list…but she still didn’t sink.

  Yorktown lists badly after being abandoned. Official US Navy Photograph.

  Captain Buckmaster, having heard the reports about how quickly the Japanese carriers sank, gave the order to abandon ship. The wounded were offloaded first, followed by the able-bodied sailors, all in good order. Captain Buckmaster even walked the ship one final time to make sure nobody remained onboard, and when he found none, lowered himself into the water by means of a knotted line over the stern.

But this was a day of retribution, and later in the afternoon, a scout aircraft from Yorktown found the Hiryu. 24 dive bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown descended on the Japanese carrier, peppering it with four bombs. She went up in flames just like the other Japanese carriers had earlier in the day. Lieutenant Commander Dick Best, who has the distinction of hitting two different carriers with his bombs, recalls the feeling:

    All four of Japan’s carriers were now at the bottom of the Pacific. The US Navy delivered a decisive blow, and Japan was never able to replace its most-skilled pilots and best aircraft fast enough. The war was far from over, but the tide had turned.

  Yorktown finally succumbs

Believe it or not, after six major detonations—one at Coral Sea and five at Midway—Yorktown was still afloat, and the salvage effort was going well…until a Japanese sub snuck past the American destroyer line and fired a torpedo that hit the USS Hamann, a destroyer acting as tow/escort ship. The Hamann essentially broke in half and sank quickly, killing the 81 men aboard and others from Yorktown who has been blown overboard. Understandably, the other tow ship cut the cable to Yorktown, and the battered carrier finally fell beneath the waves the following morning.

  Yorktown sinking, June 7th 1942. Courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command NH #106011.

  “That’s alright, fellas,” Captain Buckmaster told his men. “We’ll get another ship and come out again.”

By the time the first shots were fired at Midway, Yorktown was already nearly half a year overdue for a major refit. The emergency repairs performed at Pearl Harbor were intended to keep her seaworthy for two or three weeks. She had been nearly blown to bits over the course of two major battles. And still, she gave more: her last great contribution was soaking up a Japanese counterattack that could easily have been aimed at one of the healthy carriers.

The truth is, the Japanese had to sink her three times before it finally “took.”

Here’s to the Heroes Who Made Yorktown Great

Despite her toughness, resilience, and valiant contribution to the war In the Pacific, Yorktown was still just a ship. A giant bathtub—albeit a remarkably well-engineered bathtub—made from steel and wood and rubber. Yorktown only achieved greatness because of the heroes who made her great.

On this Memorial Day, we honor them all. First and foremost, to the 207 Yorktown crewmembers who died in the Battles of Coral Sea and Midway. And to her crew, who put our fires, patched her up, and carried on in the face of constant duress. And to the Devastator torpedo bomber pilots who knew they would not make it back. To the Dauntless scout bomber pilots who directly contributed to the sinking of three Japanese aircraft carriers. To the shipyard workers at Pearl Harbor, who did the impossible. And, of course, to the savvy leadership of Capt. Buckmaster, Admiral Spruance, Admiral Fletcher and Admiral Nimitz..

Today, we honor those brave men, as we honor so many others for their sacrifices in serving our great nation. I’d like to offer a heartfelt thank you to all those who serve and have served.

Just one more note…I’ve never served, and as hard as I have tried to get my terminology correct and not be disrespectful, I admit that I may have made a misstep. Please feel free to correct me. – Thanks

Notes:

It’s unfortunate that by focusing on Yorktown, the contributions of Enterprise and Hornet, and of the ground forces on Midway, are implicitly minimized. This is not the case. The USS Hornet launched the Doolittle Raid and participated in both Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, USS Enterprise ended the war as the Navy’s most decorated ship, and the Marines stationed on Midway Island put up a hell of a fight and never flinched.

You can’t talk about the Navy’s intelligence operations without mentioning Joseph Rochefort. Rochefort not only helped to break Japanese code JN25, but was the only cryptanalyst to correctly surmise that “AF” was Japan’s code for Midway (others thought it was code for the Aleutian Islands or even the West Coast). In order to convince his superiors, he devised a plan: the garrison commander on Midway would radio an emergency request for water in “plain language.” Japan took the bait, transmitting a message that “AF” was out of water.

I tried my best to avoid the historical controversy around what happened when the three American bomber squadrons converged over the Japanese carriers. Much of our prior understanding of that event came from the writings of Japanese pilot Mitsuo Fuchida, who characterized the timing as something of a miracle. Parshall and Tully’s “Shattered Sword,” along with official Japanese publication of the war history, refuted many of Fuchida’s claims.“Shattered Sword” is excellent and I would recommend it to everyone interested in the subject.

If that Japanese submarine hadn’t snuck through the defensive perimeter and attacked the USS Hamann, there’s a very good chance Yorktown would’ve made it back to Pearl Harbor. Very generally speaking, American design favored survivability, while Japanese design favored speed and hitting power. For a navy that couldn’t replace pilots and materiel fast enough, this was a fatal decision.

Interestingly, of the 17 ships lost or damaged in the Attack On Pearl Harbor, 14 were repaired and returned to service. Additionally, Japan made a huge mistake by not targeting Pearl Harbor’s fuel storage and dry dock facilities.

As Lexington slowly sank after Coral Sea, her crew abandoned ship—but not before breaking into the freezer and eating all the ice cream. Soldiers dipper their helmets into the ice cream and licked them clean before leaving.

https://ift.tt/2kwsaU8

[jesusjensen59ch]

USS Yorktown (CV-5): How a Badly Damaged Carrier Turned the Tides at Midway

USS Yorktown (CV-5): How a Badly Damaged Carrier Turned the Tides at Midway

On May 8, 1942, the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) was badly damaged after helping to destroy the Japanese carrier Shoho at the Battle of the Coral Sea. With a gaping hole in her flight deck and her superheater boilers out of commission, Yorktown was expected to be out of action for months—but after just 72 hours of repairs, she was able to participate in the Battle of Midway, where it helped sink two IJN carriers while protecting the other American carriers from aerial counterattack.

In honor of Memorial Day, we’ll take a brief look at the remarkable circumstances around this storied carrier and the exceptional contributions of the heroes who made it happen.

  The Yorktown: From Humble Beginnings to the Battle of the Coral Sea

Launched in 1936, Yorktown was the lead ship of the new Yorktown-class of carriers, designed to incorporate all the experience and lessons learned from the previous four carriers. She carried 90 aircraft—roughly equivalent to the larger Japanese carriers it would fight against at Midway—and a wartime complement of around 3,000 men.

  Yorktown in 1937. Photo is from the National Archives, Image # 19-N-17424

  Following training in Hampton Roads, Virginia, Yorktown conducted her shakedown cruise—or performance test—in the Caribbean. In 1939, she participated in Fleet Problem XX, the Navy’s 20th annual large-scale naval exercises, setting a new benchmark for carrier performance. After a brief period operating along the west coast, Yorktown set out for the Atlantic on April 20, 1941, to protect American interests from a new threat: the U-Boat. Following her neutrality patrols, she put into port at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia on December 2, 1941.

Little did her captain and crew know that in just five days’ time, Imperial Japan would attack Pearl Harbor, killing thousands of Americans and sending the US Navy’s surface fleet of destroyers, battleships and cruisers.

This left Yorktown and the six other carriers—Enterprise, Hornet, Lexington, Wasp, Ranger and Saratoga, none of which were at Pearl Harbor—as the backbone of the US Navy.

With America now at war, Yorktown was recalled to the Pacific and, on December 30, made flagship of Rear Admiral Fletcher’s newly-formed Task Force 17. It wouldn’t be long before she saw her first major action.

Working with superior intelligence, Admiral Chester Nimitz—now Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet—knew that the Japanese Navy intended to attack Port Moresby, New Zealand, in the first week of May 1942 in an attempt to strengthen their defensive position in the South Pacific. He issued orders that sent four carriers towards the port to finally put an end to a series of USN defeats. Only Yorktown and USS Lexington (CV-2) would make it there in time.

The American fleet made contact with the numerically-superior IJN fleet—which consisted of fleet carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku (both of which took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor), light carrier Shoho, and a number of support craft—and the two forces traded blows over the course of four days in what would come to be called the Battle of the Coral Sea. This was the first battle in history where two carriers battled toe-to-toe. Losses were heavy.

When the dust settled, both American carriers and all three Japanese carriers had sustained heavy damage or were depleted of aircraft. Lexington and Shoho were scuttled. Shokaku sustained heavy damage to the flight deck (courtesy of Yorktown’s dive bombers) and limped to safety. Zuikaku, her air arm slaughtered, did the same.

Bomb damage on Yorktown’s third and fourth decks, copied from the war damage report, 1942.

  Damage to Yorktown was significant. Captain Elliott Buckmaster, skilled as he was, could do nothing when a Japanese “Val” dive bomber scored a direct hit. The 550-pound bomb penetrated the deck and exploded below, killing or seriously injuring 66 men and damaging her superheater boilers. The damage looked to be so severe that the Japanese thought she had been sunk. They would soon be proven terribly wrong.

Patchwork Repairs

Following the Battle of the Coral Sea, Yorktown was ordered back to Pearl Harbor ASAP for repairs. Some experts estimated that she would need at least three months of repairs. Admiral Nimitz, understanding the grave urgency of a new threat to a tiny atoll called Midway, gave shipyard workers just three days to get Yorktown back into fighting shape.

One of my favorite accounts of the shipwrights’ struggle comes from Reddit user Limonhed in this thread:

“My late father-in-law was one of the civilian shipwrights flown out to Yorktown after it was damaged at the Coral Sea. He said they worked 24/7 doing what they could, and fell asleep on the deck where they worked. The sailors had orders not to bother a sleeping shipwright unless it was an emergency. They ate sandwiches brought by the sailors while they continued to work. Cutting torch in one hand and sandwich in the other. Sometimes a sailor would stop by and stick a lit cigarette in his mouth while he continued to work. Much of the preparation work for the repairs were finished when they arrived at Pearl. They continued working 24/7 the entire time they were at Pearl and were still on the ship when it sailed. They were flown off only when the fleet got close enough to worry about Japanese attacks. Their efforts cut a week off the repairs and allowed Yorktown to get back in time for the next battle.”

Without the hard work and dedication shown by the yard workers, Yorktown would never have made it to Midway. Her unexpected presence confused the IJN and helped the United States Navy deliver a crushing defeat—and serious payback—to the Japanese fleet.

Yorktown at the Battle of Midway

Armed with knowledge of when and with what ships the enemy planned to ambush Midway (and the two aircraft carriers that constituted the IJN’s real targets), Adm. Nimitz moved the entire Pacific fleet to Midway to set an ambush of his own.

The Yorktown was a lynchpin in this regard. The already-outnumbered US Navy could not make up the difference in operational aircraft—not to mention that the Yorktown was the only carrier with experience launching a full strike.

Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown would face off against Soryu, Hiryu, Akagi and Kaga in a battle that turned the tide of war in the Pacific.

Japan began its initial attack on Midway Island at 4:30am on June 4, intent on destroying the land-based aircraft. It was repulsed thanks to stiff resistance from American forces. Neither navy had located the other until 5:34am, when a PBY seaplane from Midway Island finally spotted the Japanese fleet. Admiral Fletcher ordered the launch of aircraft from Enterprise and Hornet starting at 7:00am.

LCDR Max Leslie ditches in the ocean

The first wave was a disaster from the get-go. While Japan was able to launch 108 aircraft in just seven minutes, it took Enterprise and Hornet over an hour to launch 117 aircraft. It’s odd to think of the USA as underdogs in any capacity, let alone war, but that’s exactly the case.

And Japan’s advantage reached far beyond coordination and training. The American Navy was still using the TPD Devastator torpedo bomber, a woefully outmoded aircraft that was totally outclassed by Japan’s Zero fighters. Of the 41 Devastators that sortied during Midway, not a single one produced a torpedo hit, and only six returned. And even if one of the Devastators HAD registered a hit, there’s a good chance that the poorly-manufactured Mark 13 Torpedoes would not have detonated.

Yorktown’s pilots, who had been held back from the initial launch in case other Japanese carriers were found, were given a harrowing briefing: “If only three out of your 12-plane squadron survive the run-in to deliver your torpedoes, your mission will have been a success.” Yorktown’s aircraft launched at 9:08am.

But just when the future of the US Pacific fleet began to look grim, the battle turned on a dime.

It just so happened that three squadrons of Douglas SBD Scout Bombers (a fine aircraft, not to be confused with the TBD Devastator) were approaching the Japanese fleet. Two of the three were short on fuel, and none of them knew exactly where the fleet was.

It was then that Enterprise Air Group Commander C. Wade McClusky, dangerously low on fuel, made one of the most fortuitous decisions in the war. Instead of turning back, he kept looking for the enemy carriers, and he just so happened to locate a lone Japanese destroyer traveling at flank speed. Acting on a hunch, he followed it…all the way to the Japanese carriers, now short on defense.

The three squadrons descended on the carriers like a swarm of locusts. Yorktown’s VB-3, commanded by Max Leslie, went for Soryu, battering it with three direct hits.

Enterprise’s squadrons split into two and took on Akagi and Kaga, scoring multiple direct hits.

Within six minutes, Soryu and Kaga were totally engulfed stem to stern. Although Akagi was hit by just one bomb, it exploded in the hangar, causing massive devastation and leaving it dead in the water. Just like that, a good portion of Imperial Japan’s mighty Pacific fleet was reduced to burning husks, leaving just the Hiryu.

Crewmen repair a 12′ diameter bomb hole on Yorktown’s deck. At this point, this kind of damage was mundane. She would be back in action shortly.

  But it wasn’t all good news. Japanese bombers from Hiryu followed the retreating American aircraft and attacked the first carrier they found…—which just so happened to be Yorktown. Japanese pilots managed to score three hits, blowing a hole in the deck and snuffing out her boilers. But American damage control and ship survivability were far beyond that of the IJN, and within just one hour, she was patched up and ready to go again.

The second wave of Hiryu torpedo bombers arrived another hour later. The repair efforts were so effective that the Japanese pilots assumed Yorktown must be a different, undamaged carrier. Again, they battered her, this time with two torpedoes. Yorktown lost all power and began to list…but she still didn’t sink.

  Yorktown lists badly after being abandoned. Official US Navy Photograph.

  Captain Buckmaster, having heard the reports about how quickly the Japanese carriers sank, gave the order to abandon ship. The wounded were offloaded first, followed by the able-bodied sailors, all in good order. Captain Buckmaster even walked the ship one final time to make sure nobody remained onboard, and when he found none, lowered himself into the water by means of a knotted line over the stern.

But this was a day of retribution, and later in the afternoon, a scout aircraft from Yorktown found the Hiryu. 24 dive bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown descended on the Japanese carrier, peppering it with four bombs. She went up in flames just like the other Japanese carriers had earlier in the day. Lieutenant Commander Dick Best, who has the distinction of hitting two different carriers with his bombs, recalls the feeling:

    All four of Japan’s carriers were now at the bottom of the Pacific. The US Navy delivered a decisive blow, and Japan was never able to replace its most-skilled pilots and best aircraft fast enough. The war was far from over, but the tide had turned.

  Yorktown finally succumbs

Believe it or not, after six major detonations—one at Coral Sea and five at Midway—Yorktown was still afloat, and the salvage effort was going well…until a Japanese sub snuck past the American destroyer line and fired a torpedo that hit the USS Hamann, a destroyer acting as tow/escort ship. The Hamann essentially broke in half and sank quickly, killing the 81 men aboard and others from Yorktown who has been blown overboard. Understandably, the other tow ship cut the cable to Yorktown, and the battered carrier finally fell beneath the waves the following morning.

  Yorktown sinking, June 7th 1942. Courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command NH #106011.

  “That’s alright, fellas,” Captain Buckmaster told his men. “We’ll get another ship and come out again.”

By the time the first shots were fired at Midway, Yorktown was already nearly half a year overdue for a major refit. The emergency repairs performed at Pearl Harbor were intended to keep her seaworthy for two or three weeks. She had been nearly blown to bits over the course of two major battles. And still, she gave more: her last great contribution was soaking up a Japanese counterattack that could easily have been aimed at one of the healthy carriers.

The truth is, the Japanese had to sink her three times before it finally “took.”

Here’s to the Heroes Who Made Yorktown Great

Despite her toughness, resilience, and valiant contribution to the war In the Pacific, Yorktown was still just a ship. A giant bathtub—albeit a remarkably well-engineered bathtub—made from steel and wood and rubber. Yorktown only achieved greatness because of the heroes who made her great.

On this Memorial Day, we honor them all. First and foremost, to the 207 Yorktown crewmembers who died in the Battles of Coral Sea and Midway. And to her crew, who put our fires, patched her up, and carried on in the face of constant duress. And to the Devastator torpedo bomber pilots who knew they would not make it back. To the Dauntless scout bomber pilots who directly contributed to the sinking of three Japanese aircraft carriers. To the shipyard workers at Pearl Harbor, who did the impossible. And, of course, to the savvy leadership of Capt. Buckmaster, Admiral Spruance, Admiral Fletcher and Admiral Nimitz..

Today, we honor those brave men, as we honor so many others for their sacrifices in serving our great nation. I’d like to offer a heartfelt thank you to all those who serve and have served.

Just one more note…I’ve never served, and as hard as I have tried to get my terminology correct and not be disrespectful, I admit that I may have made a misstep. Please feel free to correct me. – Thanks

Notes:

It’s unfortunate that by focusing on Yorktown, the contributions of Enterprise and Hornet, and of the ground forces on Midway, are implicitly minimized. This is not the case. The USS Hornet launched the Doolittle Raid and participated in both Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, USS Enterprise ended the war as the Navy’s most decorated ship, and the Marines stationed on Midway Island put up a hell of a fight and never flinched.

You can’t talk about the Navy’s intelligence operations without mentioning Joseph Rochefort. Rochefort not only helped to break Japanese code JN25, but was the only cryptanalyst to correctly surmise that “AF” was Japan’s code for Midway (others thought it was code for the Aleutian Islands or even the West Coast). In order to convince his superiors, he devised a plan: the garrison commander on Midway would radio an emergency request for water in “plain language.” Japan took the bait, transmitting a message that “AF” was out of water.

I tried my best to avoid the historical controversy around what happened when the three American bomber squadrons converged over the Japanese carriers. Much of our prior understanding of that event came from the writings of Japanese pilot Mitsuo Fuchida, who characterized the timing as something of a miracle. Parshall and Tully’s “Shattered Sword,” along with official Japanese publication of the war history, refuted many of Fuchida’s claims.“Shattered Sword” is excellent and I would recommend it to everyone interested in the subject.

If that Japanese submarine hadn’t snuck through the defensive perimeter and attacked the USS Hamann, there’s a very good chance Yorktown would’ve made it back to Pearl Harbor. Very generally speaking, American design favored survivability, while Japanese design favored speed and hitting power. For a navy that couldn’t replace pilots and materiel fast enough, this was a fatal decision.

Interestingly, of the 17 ships lost or damaged in the Attack On Pearl Harbor, 14 were repaired and returned to service. Additionally, Japan made a huge mistake by not targeting Pearl Harbor’s fuel storage and dry dock facilities.

As Lexington slowly sank after Coral Sea, her crew abandoned ship—but not before breaking into the freezer and eating all the ice cream. Soldiers dipper their helmets into the ice cream and licked them clean before leaving.

https://ift.tt/2kwsaU8

[jamespdsolmcc09]

USS Yorktown (CV-5): How a Badly Damaged Carrier Turned the Tides at Midway

USS Yorktown (CV-5): How a Badly Damaged Carrier Turned the Tides at Midway

On May 8, 1942, the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) was badly damaged after helping to destroy the Japanese carrier Shoho at the Battle of the Coral Sea. With a gaping hole in her flight deck and her superheater boilers out of commission, Yorktown was expected to be out of action for months—but after just 72 hours of repairs, she was able to participate in the Battle of Midway, where it helped sink two IJN carriers while protecting the other American carriers from aerial counterattack.

In honor of Memorial Day, we’ll take a brief look at the remarkable circumstances around this storied carrier and the exceptional contributions of the heroes who made it happen.

  The Yorktown: From Humble Beginnings to the Battle of the Coral Sea

Launched in 1936, Yorktown was the lead ship of the new Yorktown-class of carriers, designed to incorporate all the experience and lessons learned from the previous four carriers. She carried 90 aircraft—roughly equivalent to the larger Japanese carriers it would fight against at Midway—and a wartime complement of around 3,000 men.

  Yorktown in 1937. Photo is from the National Archives, Image # 19-N-17424

  Following training in Hampton Roads, Virginia, Yorktown conducted her shakedown cruise—or performance test—in the Caribbean. In 1939, she participated in Fleet Problem XX, the Navy’s 20th annual large-scale naval exercises, setting a new benchmark for carrier performance. After a brief period operating along the west coast, Yorktown set out for the Atlantic on April 20, 1941, to protect American interests from a new threat: the U-Boat. Following her neutrality patrols, she put into port at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia on December 2, 1941.

Little did her captain and crew know that in just five days’ time, Imperial Japan would attack Pearl Harbor, killing thousands of Americans and sending the US Navy’s surface fleet of destroyers, battleships and cruisers.

This left Yorktown and the six other carriers—Enterprise, Hornet, Lexington, Wasp, Ranger and Saratoga, none of which were at Pearl Harbor—as the backbone of the US Navy.

With America now at war, Yorktown was recalled to the Pacific and, on December 30, made flagship of Rear Admiral Fletcher’s newly-formed Task Force 17. It wouldn’t be long before she saw her first major action.

Working with superior intelligence, Admiral Chester Nimitz—now Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet—knew that the Japanese Navy intended to attack Port Moresby, New Zealand, in the first week of May 1942 in an attempt to strengthen their defensive position in the South Pacific. He issued orders that sent four carriers towards the port to finally put an end to a series of USN defeats. Only Yorktown and USS Lexington (CV-2) would make it there in time.

The American fleet made contact with the numerically-superior IJN fleet—which consisted of fleet carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku (both of which took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor), light carrier Shoho, and a number of support craft—and the two forces traded blows over the course of four days in what would come to be called the Battle of the Coral Sea. This was the first battle in history where two carriers battled toe-to-toe. Losses were heavy.

When the dust settled, both American carriers and all three Japanese carriers had sustained heavy damage or were depleted of aircraft. Lexington and Shoho were scuttled. Shokaku sustained heavy damage to the flight deck (courtesy of Yorktown’s dive bombers) and limped to safety. Zuikaku, her air arm slaughtered, did the same.

Bomb damage on Yorktown’s third and fourth decks, copied from the war damage report, 1942.

  Damage to Yorktown was significant. Captain Elliott Buckmaster, skilled as he was, could do nothing when a Japanese “Val” dive bomber scored a direct hit. The 550-pound bomb penetrated the deck and exploded below, killing or seriously injuring 66 men and damaging her superheater boilers. The damage looked to be so severe that the Japanese thought she had been sunk. They would soon be proven terribly wrong.

Patchwork Repairs

Following the Battle of the Coral Sea, Yorktown was ordered back to Pearl Harbor ASAP for repairs. Some experts estimated that she would need at least three months of repairs. Admiral Nimitz, understanding the grave urgency of a new threat to a tiny atoll called Midway, gave shipyard workers just three days to get Yorktown back into fighting shape.

One of my favorite accounts of the shipwrights’ struggle comes from Reddit user Limonhed in this thread:

“My late father-in-law was one of the civilian shipwrights flown out to Yorktown after it was damaged at the Coral Sea. He said they worked 24/7 doing what they could, and fell asleep on the deck where they worked. The sailors had orders not to bother a sleeping shipwright unless it was an emergency. They ate sandwiches brought by the sailors while they continued to work. Cutting torch in one hand and sandwich in the other. Sometimes a sailor would stop by and stick a lit cigarette in his mouth while he continued to work. Much of the preparation work for the repairs were finished when they arrived at Pearl. They continued working 24/7 the entire time they were at Pearl and were still on the ship when it sailed. They were flown off only when the fleet got close enough to worry about Japanese attacks. Their efforts cut a week off the repairs and allowed Yorktown to get back in time for the next battle.”

Without the hard work and dedication shown by the yard workers, Yorktown would never have made it to Midway. Her unexpected presence confused the IJN and helped the United States Navy deliver a crushing defeat—and serious payback—to the Japanese fleet.

Yorktown at the Battle of Midway

Armed with knowledge of when and with what ships the enemy planned to ambush Midway (and the two aircraft carriers that constituted the IJN’s real targets), Adm. Nimitz moved the entire Pacific fleet to Midway to set an ambush of his own.

The Yorktown was a lynchpin in this regard. The already-outnumbered US Navy could not make up the difference in operational aircraft—not to mention that the Yorktown was the only carrier with experience launching a full strike.

Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown would face off against Soryu, Hiryu, Akagi and Kaga in a battle that turned the tide of war in the Pacific.

Japan began its initial attack on Midway Island at 4:30am on June 4, intent on destroying the land-based aircraft. It was repulsed thanks to stiff resistance from American forces. Neither navy had located the other until 5:34am, when a PBY seaplane from Midway Island finally spotted the Japanese fleet. Admiral Fletcher ordered the launch of aircraft from Enterprise and Hornet starting at 7:00am.

LCDR Max Leslie ditches in the ocean

The first wave was a disaster from the get-go. While Japan was able to launch 108 aircraft in just seven minutes, it took Enterprise and Hornet over an hour to launch 117 aircraft. It’s odd to think of the USA as underdogs in any capacity, let alone war, but that’s exactly the case.

And Japan’s advantage reached far beyond coordination and training. The American Navy was still using the TPD Devastator torpedo bomber, a woefully outmoded aircraft that was totally outclassed by Japan’s Zero fighters. Of the 41 Devastators that sortied during Midway, not a single one produced a torpedo hit, and only six returned. And even if one of the Devastators HAD registered a hit, there’s a good chance that the poorly-manufactured Mark 13 Torpedoes would not have detonated.

Yorktown’s pilots, who had been held back from the initial launch in case other Japanese carriers were found, were given a harrowing briefing: “If only three out of your 12-plane squadron survive the run-in to deliver your torpedoes, your mission will have been a success.” Yorktown’s aircraft launched at 9:08am.

But just when the future of the US Pacific fleet began to look grim, the battle turned on a dime.

It just so happened that three squadrons of Douglas SBD Scout Bombers (a fine aircraft, not to be confused with the TBD Devastator) were approaching the Japanese fleet. Two of the three were short on fuel, and none of them knew exactly where the fleet was.

It was then that Enterprise Air Group Commander C. Wade McClusky, dangerously low on fuel, made one of the most fortuitous decisions in the war. Instead of turning back, he kept looking for the enemy carriers, and he just so happened to locate a lone Japanese destroyer traveling at flank speed. Acting on a hunch, he followed it…all the way to the Japanese carriers, now short on defense.

The three squadrons descended on the carriers like a swarm of locusts. Yorktown’s VB-3, commanded by Max Leslie, went for Soryu, battering it with three direct hits.

Enterprise’s squadrons split into two and took on Akagi and Kaga, scoring multiple direct hits.

Within six minutes, Soryu and Kaga were totally engulfed stem to stern. Although Akagi was hit by just one bomb, it exploded in the hangar, causing massive devastation and leaving it dead in the water. Just like that, a good portion of Imperial Japan’s mighty Pacific fleet was reduced to burning husks, leaving just the Hiryu.

Crewmen repair a 12′ diameter bomb hole on Yorktown’s deck. At this point, this kind of damage was mundane. She would be back in action shortly.

  But it wasn’t all good news. Japanese bombers from Hiryu followed the retreating American aircraft and attacked the first carrier they found…—which just so happened to be Yorktown. Japanese pilots managed to score three hits, blowing a hole in the deck and snuffing out her boilers. But American damage control and ship survivability were far beyond that of the IJN, and within just one hour, she was patched up and ready to go again.

The second wave of Hiryu torpedo bombers arrived another hour later. The repair efforts were so effective that the Japanese pilots assumed Yorktown must be a different, undamaged carrier. Again, they battered her, this time with two torpedoes. Yorktown lost all power and began to list…but she still didn’t sink.

  Yorktown lists badly after being abandoned. Official US Navy Photograph.

  Captain Buckmaster, having heard the reports about how quickly the Japanese carriers sank, gave the order to abandon ship. The wounded were offloaded first, followed by the able-bodied sailors, all in good order. Captain Buckmaster even walked the ship one final time to make sure nobody remained onboard, and when he found none, lowered himself into the water by means of a knotted line over the stern.

But this was a day of retribution, and later in the afternoon, a scout aircraft from Yorktown found the Hiryu. 24 dive bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown descended on the Japanese carrier, peppering it with four bombs. She went up in flames just like the other Japanese carriers had earlier in the day. Lieutenant Commander Dick Best, who has the distinction of hitting two different carriers with his bombs, recalls the feeling:

    All four of Japan’s carriers were now at the bottom of the Pacific. The US Navy delivered a decisive blow, and Japan was never able to replace its most-skilled pilots and best aircraft fast enough. The war was far from over, but the tide had turned.

  Yorktown finally succumbs

Believe it or not, after six major detonations—one at Coral Sea and five at Midway—Yorktown was still afloat, and the salvage effort was going well…until a Japanese sub snuck past the American destroyer line and fired a torpedo that hit the USS Hamann, a destroyer acting as tow/escort ship. The Hamann essentially broke in half and sank quickly, killing the 81 men aboard and others from Yorktown who has been blown overboard. Understandably, the other tow ship cut the cable to Yorktown, and the battered carrier finally fell beneath the waves the following morning.

  Yorktown sinking, June 7th 1942. Courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command NH #106011.

  “That’s alright, fellas,” Captain Buckmaster told his men. “We’ll get another ship and come out again.”

By the time the first shots were fired at Midway, Yorktown was already nearly half a year overdue for a major refit. The emergency repairs performed at Pearl Harbor were intended to keep her seaworthy for two or three weeks. She had been nearly blown to bits over the course of two major battles. And still, she gave more: her last great contribution was soaking up a Japanese counterattack that could easily have been aimed at one of the healthy carriers.

The truth is, the Japanese had to sink her three times before it finally “took.”

Here’s to the Heroes Who Made Yorktown Great

Despite her toughness, resilience, and valiant contribution to the war In the Pacific, Yorktown was still just a ship. A giant bathtub—albeit a remarkably well-engineered bathtub—made from steel and wood and rubber. Yorktown only achieved greatness because of the heroes who made her great.

On this Memorial Day, we honor them all. First and foremost, to the 207 Yorktown crewmembers who died in the Battles of Coral Sea and Midway. And to her crew, who put our fires, patched her up, and carried on in the face of constant duress. And to the Devastator torpedo bomber pilots who knew they would not make it back. To the Dauntless scout bomber pilots who directly contributed to the sinking of three Japanese aircraft carriers. To the shipyard workers at Pearl Harbor, who did the impossible. And, of course, to the savvy leadership of Capt. Buckmaster, Admiral Spruance, Admiral Fletcher and Admiral Nimitz..

Today, we honor those brave men, as we honor so many others for their sacrifices in serving our great nation. I’d like to offer a heartfelt thank you to all those who serve and have served.

Just one more note…I’ve never served, and as hard as I have tried to get my terminology correct and not be disrespectful, I admit that I may have made a misstep. Please feel free to correct me. – Thanks

Notes:

It’s unfortunate that by focusing on Yorktown, the contributions of Enterprise and Hornet, and of the ground forces on Midway, are implicitly minimized. This is not the case. The USS Hornet launched the Doolittle Raid and participated in both Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, USS Enterprise ended the war as the Navy’s most decorated ship, and the Marines stationed on Midway Island put up a hell of a fight and never flinched.

You can’t talk about the Navy’s intelligence operations without mentioning Joseph Rochefort. Rochefort not only helped to break Japanese code JN25, but was the only cryptanalyst to correctly surmise that “AF” was Japan’s code for Midway (others thought it was code for the Aleutian Islands or even the West Coast). In order to convince his superiors, he devised a plan: the garrison commander on Midway would radio an emergency request for water in “plain language.” Japan took the bait, transmitting a message that “AF” was out of water.

I tried my best to avoid the historical controversy around what happened when the three American bomber squadrons converged over the Japanese carriers. Much of our prior understanding of that event came from the writings of Japanese pilot Mitsuo Fuchida, who characterized the timing as something of a miracle. Parshall and Tully’s “Shattered Sword,” along with official Japanese publication of the war history, refuted many of Fuchida’s claims.“Shattered Sword” is excellent and I would recommend it to everyone interested in the subject.

If that Japanese submarine hadn’t snuck through the defensive perimeter and attacked the USS Hamann, there’s a very good chance Yorktown would’ve made it back to Pearl Harbor. Very generally speaking, American design favored survivability, while Japanese design favored speed and hitting power. For a navy that couldn’t replace pilots and materiel fast enough, this was a fatal decision.

Interestingly, of the 17 ships lost or damaged in the Attack On Pearl Harbor, 14 were repaired and returned to service. Additionally, Japan made a huge mistake by not targeting Pearl Harbor’s fuel storage and dry dock facilities.

As Lexington slowly sank after Coral Sea, her crew abandoned ship—but not before breaking into the freezer and eating all the ice cream. Soldiers dipper their helmets into the ice cream and licked them clean before leaving.

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[pacificeagles]

https://pacificeagles.net/midway-plans-preparations/

Midway: Plans and Preparations

By March 1942 the Japanese had accomplished their pre-war goals of capturing the Netherlands East Indies and Malaya, together with the rich oil fields which they hoped would supply their economy. Burma was on the verge of falling, India was threatened, and British and American possessions across the Pacific had fallen into the hands of the Japanese. However the Allies were not defeated, showing no signs of coming to terms with the existence of the Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Australia remained secure and American supplies were reaching the Allied forces there in increasing quantities.

The Royal Navy and the US Navy in particular were still a thorn in the side of the Japanese. The US Navy had been bloodied at Pearl Harbor and the combined ADBA naval forces had been destroyed or driven out of the East Indies, but the Pacific Fleet retained its powerful collection of aircraft carriers and was using these in a series of increasingly aggressive actions that threatened the newly enlarged perimeter of the Japanese Empire. This culminated in the attack on Lae in March 1942, and the Battle of the Coral Sea in May, which slowed and then stopped cold the naval advance towards the strategically important town of Port Moresby on New Guinea.

Even before Coral Sea the head of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, wanted to bring the American carriers to heel and destroy them in a “decisive battle”, a concept which appeared prominently in Japanese naval strategy. The problem for Yamamoto was that the Americans were content to use their flattops to carry out hit-and-run raids such as those on Kwajalein and Makin in February and on Tokyo in April, withdrawing before the Kido Butai could hunt them down. Yamamoto needed a way to force a confrontation between his carriers and their American counterparts.

Operation MI

The plan Yamamoto put together called for an attack on a target that the Americans would be forced to defend. Ideally this would have been Hawaii itself, particularly Pearl Harbor, but since the attack there in December 1941 the Americans had greatly reinforced the base and it was highly unlikely that any repeat operation would succeed. Therefore Yamamoto selected Midway, at the extreme western end of the Hawaiian island chain, as the target for his plan. He hoped that its capture would force Admiral Chester Nimitz to send his carriers to relieve the defenders, or else risk having Hawaii fall within range of Japanese submarines and bombers operating from Midway.

Midway was a circular coral atoll 1,300 miles from Pearl Harbor. It consisted of two small islands, Sand and Eastern, at the southern end of the atoll. Eastern Island housed a small naval air station with three runways which covered most of the land area. This airfield had been used as part of the South Pacific Air Ferry Route, with B-17s staging through on their way to the Philippines. Marine Air Group 22 with a fighter and scout bomber squadron now occupied the field. Sand Island, the larger of the two, hosted most of the 6th Marine Defense Battalion as well as a seaplane base which had previously been used by Pan Am’s clippers. A squadron of Navy Catalina flying boats, VP-23, operated from the lagoon, patrolling the seas to the west of Midway. Occasionally Army aircraft staged through Midway on their way to reconnoitre Wake Island. Aside from a brief shelling by Japanese destroyers on December 7th and the shooting down of an Operation K flying boat in March, Midway had been a backwater to this point in the war.

There were major differences between the Navy plan and the Army’s preferred approach of an offensive in the southwest Pacific. The Army favoured a move from Rabaul south through the Solomon Islands chain towards New Caledonia, a major Allied base, and then on to Samoa. This would cut the Allied lines of communication between the United States and Australia, stopping the flow of supplies to MacArthur’s forces and potentially allowing for an offensive to seize northern Australia as a follow-on operation. A subsidiary Army plan also called for the seizure of the Aleutian Islands in the Northern Pacific which would protect the Empire’s northern flank from potential American incursions from that direction.

Yamamoto overcame the Army’s objections by agreeing to support the occupation of the Aleutians simultaneously with the start of the Midway operation. Midway itself would be occupied by troops from the Navy’s Special Naval Landing Force, absolving the Army of involvement in that operation. Further operations in the south seas with the aim of capturing New Caledonia and Samoa would follow the successful occupation of Midway. There remained objections within the Navy itself, but Yamamoto’s forceful arguments backed by his threats to resign seemed to be swaying the Naval General Staff. The Doolittle Raid of April 18th proved an enormous embarrassment to the Japanese, particularly to the Navy which had responsibility for securing the waters around the Empire, and Yamamoto used this to overcome the remaining objections. D-Day for the MI Operation was set for the 3rd of June, 1942.

Tactically, the plan called for the Kido Butai to sail within striking range of Midway, destroy the air base and its defending aircraft, then support the landing force as it occupied the atoll. It was expected that the American carriers would then sally forth from Pearl Harbor to come to the rescue of Midway, at which point Kido Butai would intercept and sink them. In support of Kido Butai would sail the rest of the Combined Fleet, commanded in person by Yamamoto. His main body would join the fight and destroy any remaining American ships that survived Kido Butai’s attentions. The plan was simple in concept but when combined with the Aleutians campaign required the employment of virtually every warship that Japan possessed.

To keep tabs on the American carriers, a plan was made track them from Pearl Harbor to the Midway area. Operation K was to be resurrected, and a H8K Type 2 flying boat was to fly from the Marshall Islands via a submarine refuelling stop in the French Frigate Shoals to reconnoitre Oahu, to verify that the Pacific Fleet was still in port. Then, two cordons of submarines would be positioned between Oahu and Midway, to report the passage of the Americans and to carry out the traditional role of attrition. However, both of these measures would prove to be lacking when the operation began, and the Japanese would have no inkling of the location of the carriers until it was too late.

American Response

Yamamoto’s plan began to come unravelled even before the first ship had left Japan. First, he lost the services of a third of his carrier force when the Shokaku and Zuikaku were committed to the Port Moresby operation. In the ensuing Battle of the Coral Sea, Shokaku was badly damaged by bombs and required several weeks of repairs. Her sister Zuikaku escaped undamaged, but lost so many planes and pilots that her air group was considered unfit for service. Both ships were removed from the operation, leaving Kido Butai commander VAdm Chuichi Nagumo with just four carriers – Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu and Soryu. The Japanese believed that they had sunk both American carriers at Coral Sea, but in fact only Lexington was lost. Yorktown suffered damage but returned to Pearl Harbor in late May.

Unbeknownst to the Japanese, American intelligence had already caught wind of the Midway Operation. Naval intelligence codebreakers had made great strides in breaking the Japanese naval cipher, JN-25, and had begun to read portions of the messages. In March there were hints in the intercepts of an impending attack on Pearl Harbor, but the intelligence was not accurate enough to give concrete warning of what eventuated as the Operation K raid of the 4th of March. Working hard to break more of the Japanese ciphers, naval intelligence station ‘Hypo’ at Pearl Harbor began to pick up messages regarding the capture of a location known by the codename ‘AF’ in early June. Further intelligence breaks gradually led Hypo to believe that the target was in fact Midway, but Admiral Ernest J. King in Washington was not convinced. A ruse was conducted, whereby Midway was ordered to transmit a message in the clear that its water purifying plant had broken down. The Japanese took the bait and transmitted a coded message declaring that AF was short of fresh water, confirming Midway as the target.

With this information in hand, Nimitz took steps to fortify Midway against the attack. The air garrison was substantially reinforced: three additional Catalina flying boat squadrons were moved to the island, as were new F4F Wildcat fighters and SBD Dauntless bombers for the two Marine squadrons. The Army Air Force contributed 17 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers and four new B-26 Marauders that were fitted with racks for Navy Mark 13 torpedoes. Last to arrive were a detachment of brand-new TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. These were assigned to VT-8 from the Hornet to replace her ageing TBD Devastators, but had not arrived in time to join the ship. Instead, the Avenger would make its combat debut flying from Midway rather than the deck of a carrier.

The most important addition to the American forces that would attempt to turn back the Japanese fleet was the carrier Yorktown. Damaged from a pair of bomb hits during the Battle of the Coral Sea, she limped into Pearl Harbor on the 27th of May. Shipwrights estimated that 90 days of repairs were required to bring her back to full fighting trim, but a program of temporary repairs by men working non-stop could get her back to sea on just three days. Yorktown entered drydock on the 28th and was ready to sail on the 30th, just in time to join her sisters Enterprise and Hornet.

Departure

The Kido Butai departed from its anchorage at Hashirajima on 27th of May 1942, a day later than originally planned. The four carriers were escorted by two fast battleships, the heavy cruisers Chikuma and Tone (carrying five seaplanes each), another light cruiser, and the usual gaggle of destroyers. The Landing Force and Occupation Force departed from Saipan two days later, taking a more southerly route to Midway which allowed the ships to partially benefit from air cover from Wake Island. The Midway invasion force also had a single light carrier, Zuiho, for local air cover. Providing distant support was the First Fleet, led by Yamamoto himself riding in the enormous battleship Yamato. First Fleet was to stand by around 600 miles from Kido Butai, prepared to sail into battle if the American fleet unexpectedly appeared. This enormous force sailed east, seeking decisive battle with its American counterpart. Little were the Japanese to know that the battle would be decisive for all the wrong reasons. 

[carriers-en-blog]

USS Lexington (CV-2)

"CC-1" redirects here. For other uses, see CC1 (disambiguation). For other ships with the same name, see USS Lexington. USS Lexington (CV-2), nicknamed "Lady Lex", was an early aircraft carrier built for the United States Navy. She was the lead ship of the Lexington class; her only sister ship, Saratoga, was commissioned a month earlier. Originally designed as a battlecruiser, she was converted into one of the Navy's first aircraft carriers during construction to comply with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, which essentially terminated all new battleship and battlecruiser construction. The ship entered service in 1928 and was assigned to the Pacific Fleet for her entire career. Lexington and Saratoga were used to develop and refine carrier tactics in a series of annual exercises before World War II. On more than one occasion these included successfully staged surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The ship's turbo-electric propulsion system allowed her to supplement the electrical supply of Tacoma, Washington, during a drought in late 1929 to early 1930. She also delivered medical personnel and relief supplies to Managua, Nicaragua, after an earthquake in 1931. Lexington was at sea when the Pacific War began on 7 December 1941, ferrying fighter aircraft to Midway Island. Her mission was cancelled and she returned to Pearl Harbor a week later. After a few days, she was sent to create a diversion from the force en route to relieve the besieged Wake Island garrison by attacking Japanese installations in the Marshall Islands. The island was forced to surrender before the relief force got close enough, and the mission was cancelled. A planned attack on Wake Island in January 1942 had to be cancelled when a submarine sank the oiler required to supply the fuel for the return trip. Lexington was sent to the Coral Sea the following month to block any Japanese advances into the area. The ship was spotted by Japanese search aircraft while approaching Rabaul, New Britain, and her aircraft shot down most of the Japanese bombers that attacked her. Together with the carrier Yorktown, she successfully attacked Japanese shipping off the east coast of New Guinea in early March. Lexington was briefly refitted in Pearl Harbor at the end of the month and rendezvoused with Yorktown in the Coral Sea in early May. A few days later the Japanese began Operation Mo, the invasion of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and the two American carriers attempted to stop the invasion forces. They sank the light aircraft carrier Shōhō on 7 May during the Battle of the Coral Sea, but did not encounter the main Japanese force of the carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku until the next day. Aircraft from Lexington and Yorktown succeeded in badly damaging Shōkaku, but the Japanese aircraft crippled Lexington. Vapors from leaking aviation gasoline tanks sparked a series of explosions and fires that could not be controlled, and Lexington had to be scuttled by an American destroyer during the evening of 8 May to prevent her capture. More details Android, Windows

[aviationhistory]

On the morning of the second and final day of the Battle of the Coral Sea, the two sides launch airstrikes at almost the same time. The strike by 84 aircraft from Lexington and Yorktown badly damages Sh?kaku. Shortly afterwards, the 70-plane strike from Sh?kaku and Zuikaku sinks Lexington – The first American aircraft carrier ever sunk – And badly damages Yorktown, after which both sides retire with the Japanese abandoning their plans for an amphibious invasion of Port Moresby. Sh?kaku's damage and Zuikaku's aircraft losses will keep them out of combat for two months, forcing them to miss the Battle of Midway in June. The Battle of the Coral Sea ends as the first naval battle in which ships of the opposing sides never sight one another.

[allcheatscodes]

birds of steel xbox 360

http://allcheatscodes.com/birds-of-steel-xbox-360/

birds of steel xbox 360

Birds of Steel cheats & more for Xbox 360 (X360)

Cheats

Unlockables

Hints

Easter Eggs

Glitches

Guides

Achievements

Get the updated and latest Birds of Steel cheats, unlockables, codes, hints, Easter eggs, glitches, tricks, tips, hacks, downloads, achievements, guides, FAQs, walkthroughs, and more for Xbox 360 (X360). AllCheatsCodes.com has all the codes you need to win every game you play!

Use the links above or scroll down to see all the Xbox 360 cheats we have available for Birds of Steel.

Check PlayStation 3 cheats for this game

Genre: Simulation, Flight Combat Sim

Developer: Gaijin Entertainment

Publisher: Konami

ESRB Rating: Teen

Release Date: March 13, 2012

Hints

Currently we have no tips for Birds of Steel yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Cheats

Currently we have no cheats or codes for Birds of Steel yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Unlockables

Currently we have no unlockables for Birds of Steel yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Easter eggs

Currently we have no easter eggs for Birds of Steel yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Glitches

Currently we have no glitches for Birds of Steel yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Guides

Currently no guide available.

Achievements

Achievement List

You Will Be Ace – You Will Be Ace (10)

Receive 5 medals – Good Start (40)

Win a battle against superior forces in Versus mode. – Brave Spirit (30)

Win a battle in Versus mode as the leader. – Leader (30)

Earn the second rank – Rookie (10)

Earn the fifth rank – Combat Pilot (40)

Earn the tenth rank – Half-Way (20)

Complete the Pre-War chapter. – Preparing (20)

Complete the American Historical campaign. – To The Far East (50)

Complete the Japanese Historical campaign. – From The Far East (50)

Complete the Japanese chapter “Attack on Pearl Harbor”. – Pearl Harbor (20)

Complete the American chapter “Battle of Wake Island”. – Wake Island (20)

Complete the Japanese chapter “Battle of Midway”. – Midway Atoll (20)

Complete the American chapter “Battle of the Coral Sea”. – The Coral Sea (20)

Complete the Japanese chapter “Guadalcanal Campaign”. – Guadalcanal (20)

Complete any Dynamic campaign – Winner (20)

Complete any mission in the Single Missions chapter “Siege of Malta”. – Malta (20)

Complete any mission in the Single Missions chapter “Battle for the Kuban”. – Kuban (20)

Complete any mission in the Single Missions chapter “Battle of Ruhr”. – Ruhr (20)

Complete any mission in the Single Missions chapter “New Guinea Campaign”. – New Guinea (20)

Land on an aircraft carrier. – It Was Easy (20)

Fly in each Italian plane. – The Italian (20)

Fly in each Australian plane. – The Australian (20)

Fly in one of each country’s planes. – Choose Your Favorite (30)

Complete any mission in CO-OP mode – Make a Flight (30)

Earn any skin for your plane – New Skin (30)

Earn any decal for your plane – New Decal (30)

Destroy 100 planes – New Record (50)

Destroy 100 ground units – New Weapon (50)

Destroy all vehicles on Wheeler Field in the mission “First Wave”. – First Wave (10)

Bomb two different targets by one loadout in the mission “Second Wave”. – Second Wave (10)

Make “Touch and Go” on Ford Island in the mission “Return to Oahu”. – Return to Oahu (10)

Land your damaged aircraft on the airfield in the mission “The Two Against Thirty-Nine”. – Survivor (10)

Rearm on the airfield between attacks on hostile ships in the mission “American Counterattack”. – Second Breath (10)

Destroy 6 enemy bombers before they reach the Wake in the mission “Japanese Raid”. – Blitz Attack (10)

Damage destroyer with machine gun fire in the mission “Invasion of Tulagi”. – Bombshell (10)

Don’t let enemy fighters destroy any bomber of your group in the mission “Attack on Lexington”. – Sentinel (10)

Don’t die in the mission “Shokaku Defense”. – Untouchable (10)

Destroy two hostile fighters with the rear gunner in the mission “To Scratch One Flat-top”. – Not a Victim (10)

Find the TF-17 carrier fleet in the “Counterattack” mission. – Eagle-Eyed (10)

Destroy 5 light targets on Midway Island on Simulator difficulty in the “Midway Atoll” mission. – Hedgehopper (10)

Destroy 3 enemy bombers in each wave on Realistic difficulty in the “First Carrier Fleet” mission. – Defender (10)

Complete the 1st secondary mission objective in the “Fate of Hiryu” mission. – Way of the Sun (10)

Stay near the flight leader all the way to the enemy fleet in the “American Strike” mission. – Formation Keeper (10)

Land on the Zuikaku at the end of the “Battle of South Pacific” mission on Realistic difficulty. – One of a Few (10)

Complete the first objective in less than 5 minutes in the “Tulagi Landing” mission. – Fast and Furious (10)

Destroy at least 20 enemy bombers in the “Battle of the Santa Cruz” mission. – Total Annihilation (10)

Destroy 5 enemy planes on Realistic difficulty in the “Battle of the Eastern Solomons” mission. – Sharp Shooter (10)

Kill 15 enemy infantry units in the “Battle for Henderson Field” mission. – Killer (10)

[pacificeagles]

https://pacificeagles.net/coral-sea-attack-task-force-17/

Coral Sea: The Attack on Task Force 17

As Fletcher’s Task Force 17 was launching its strike on the MO Striking Force, RAdm Chuichi Hara was likewise sending his fliers out to hit the American carriers. The Zuikaku and Shokaku launched seven B5Ns to search to the south with a search radius of 250 miles, the aircraft departing at 0615. Hara and his staff fervently hoped that the search teams would turn in a better performance than their colleagues had the previous day when they misidentified the Neosho and Sims as important targets. After the launch of the B5Ns, the two carriers prepared their own strike mission with a total of 69 aircraft waiting on deck for word of the American flattops. Meanwhile at Rabaul a strike force of twin-engine bombers, all armed with anti-ship torpedoes, also waited for the signal to attack but poor weather and soggy landing strips threatened to prevent their takeoff.

The Americans were meanwhile well aware that a fleet action was imminent and had made preparations accordingly. After launching his own strike, RAdm Frank Fletcher turned tactical command of the Lexington and Yorktown over RAdm Aubrey Fitch, an experienced carrier commander whose ship-handling skills would be required in the event of an air attack. Eight F4F Wildcats were launched for combat air patrol duties, and they were soon joined by eight SBD Dauntless bombers as make-shift fighters.

Coral Sea, 8th May 1942

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At 0807 the Lexington’s CXAM radar detected a nearby contact, which soon disappeared from the operator’s scope. CAP fighters were vectored out to find the intruder but failed to find the contact in heavy cloud. Nevertheless Lexington Fighter Direction Officer Lt Frank Gill believed the task force had been sighted, and so informed Fitch and Fletcher. This aircraft was indeed Japanese, commanded by WO Kenzo Kanno. At 0822 he sent out a contact report, with an accurate position for the Task Force 17. Hara had the contact in hand soon afterwards, and ordered the strike to be launched. Planes began to take off at 0910 – a total of 18 A6M fighters, 33 D3A dive bombers, and 18 B5N torpedo bombers. As on the 7th, the force was under the command of senior aviator LtCdr Kakuichi Takahashi.

The American CAP fighters had a busy morning chasing down unidentified ‘bogeys’. Most turned out to be returning SBDs of the morning search, all of which lacked IFF and had to be visually inspected by F4Fs, all while Kanno continued to shadow. Another bogey appeared on radar at 0932, and F4Fs were again sent to investigate, but again failed to find it. At 1008, however, lookouts on the Yorktown visually sighted a large flying boat – two F4Fs sent to intercept quickly found a hapless Yokohama Kokutai H6K and shot it down in flames. Several other false alarms kept everyone on the ships of TF17 on edge. At 1012 Lexington launched an additional 10 SBDs as ‘anti-torpedo patrol’ – the Dauntlesses were expected to act as auxiliary fighters, protecting the carriers from the Japanese torpedo bombers.

At 1055, both carrier’s CXAM sets registered a large incoming contact about 70 miles from the Task Force. This was clearly the long-awaited enemy strike. Eight F4Fs were airborne, albeit with limited fuel remaining having spent the morning chasing bogeys. Nine additional Wildcats, then waiting on deck, were scrambled to join them. The newcomers were vectored out in two groups – five under LtCdr Paul Ramsey of VF-2, and four under LtCdr James Flatley of VF-42. Ramsey was ordered to high altitude, whilst Flatley was ordered low, making the assumption that he was being ordered to hunt for torpedo planes.

WO Kanno, still orbiting within sight of Task Force 17, spotted the incoming strike and flew alongside Takahashi to guide him in. Takahashi kept his D3As at high, whilst the B5Ns were ordered to descend to torpedo release altitude, with all eighteen of the escorting A6Ms supporting them. At 1109, just as the Japanese were breaking out of cruise formation and selecting their targets, Ramsey spotted them and led his men in a climb to reach appropriate altitude to attack the high-flying D3As. Flatley meanwhile failed to spot the lower B5Ns which had flown in above his division, unnoticed.

The Torpedo Attack

The torpedo bombers under LtCdr Shigekazu Shimakaze would make the first attack. He decided to concentrate mainly on the distinctive silhouette of the Lexington, which he misidentified as her sister Saratoga. Shimakaze directed 14 of his 18 B5Ns against her, whilst the remainder made a token effort against the nearby Yorktown. 

One of Ramsey’s high flying F4Fs, piloted by Ens Edward Sellstrom, spotted the incoming B5Ns, and he decided to break formation and attack from high altitude. He quickly flamed a B5N, and was then in turn attacked by three escorting Zeros. In a furious melee, he claimed two A6Ms, whilst the rest of the Zeros fell upon the SBDs that were assigned to anti-torpedo duty. The Dauntlesses were exceedingly vulnerable to the much nimbler Mitsubishi aircraft, and soon four of the SBDs were shot down, although they claimed (erroneously) five A6Ms destroyed in return.

The B5Ns then began their torpedo runs, with 13 heading for the Lexington in two groups, one off each of her bows. Before reaching their release position they ran into another group of SBDs, a mixed group of VB-2 and VS-2 aircraft that had altitude advantage. These tore into Shimazaki’s planes, shooting down three of them and partially vindicating Sherman’s desire to use the SBDs in this manner.

The remaining 10 B5Ns carried out a textbook ‘anvil’ torpedo attack on the ponderous Lexington, which was unable to avoid all of the incoming Type 91 fish. Her first turn to avoid torps on the starboard bow put her in perfect position for the following attack on the port. Two B5Ns, under withering anti-aircraft fire from the carrier and her escorts as well as the pursuing VS-2 SBDs, veered off to attack the cruiser Minneapolis instead. They claimed hits on a ‘battleship’, but the Minneapolis escaped damage. The final three B5Ns dropped their torpedoes against the carrier from 700 yards out. One ran deep, but the other two ran straight and true. One hit the Lexington forward, the other amidships, killing several crewmen, fracturing fuel tanks, and damaging ventilation systems as well as locking the ship’s elevators at flight deck level. Several boilers had to be shut down, reducing the carrier’s speed to 24 knots.

Lexington under attack

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The four planes sent to attack Yorktown had much less success. Her anti-aircraft crews succeeded in flaming one of the B5Ns before it could release, and the much nimbler Yorktown was able to turn away from the remaining three fish that were successfully released, and she escaped damage.

The Dive-Bomber Attack

D3As moved around to take position upwind of TF17, and so were not in a position to begin their attack until a few minutes after the torpedo attack had been completed. During this movement, Takahashi noticed fighters from VF-2 climbing to intercept, and order the low-flying Zeros to assist. These soon came across a division of CAP F4Fs, which assumed a defensive ‘Lufbery Circle’. The Japanese fighter pilots succeeded in typing up the CAP division, which was unable to reach the D3As before they began their dives.

Takahashi, like Shimazaki, split his aircraft between the Yorktown and Lexington – Takahashi himself leading 19 aircraft against the ‘Saratoga’. Lookouts onboard the Lexington, pre-occupied with the torpedo attack, had failed to spot the incoming D3As and did not warn of the impending bombing attack until the aircraft were well into the dives. Despite this, heavy anti-aircraft fire thrown up, with the result that only one hit was obtained – this on the corner of the flight deck near the bow, which detonated ammunition for a nearby 5-in gun position. Several near misses caused minor damage, but the ship remained capable of manoeuvring and her water-tight integrity was maintained.  

B5N overflying a US destroyer

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The remaining 14 D3As targeted the Yorktown. Two VF-42 Wildcats were in position to intercept the dive bombers, and they followed the Aichis in their dive on the carrier, spraying machine-gun rounds at any aircraft that came in their sights. This may have had an effect on the accuracy of the Japanese attack, as only a single bomb struck the Yorktown despite none of the D3As being lost either to fighters or to anti-aircraft fire. This bomb hit the flight deck just forward of the midships elevator, and penetrated four decks before exploding. Additional near misses caused fragmentation damage and holed a fuel tank, causing oil to leak into the sea. Yorktown’s speed temporarily dropped to 25 knots, before her engineers effected repairs.

Their attack completed, the Japanese began to withdraw from the area. In doing so they had to run the gauntlet of American fighters and dive-bombers blocking their way. At low level, the B5Ns and their escorts ran in to a handful of VF-2 F4Fs and some SBDs from VS-2. Amongst the VS-2 contingent was Lt(jg) William Hall, whose aircraft was jumped by three Zeros. He aggressively counter attacked and, despite receiving severe wounds, claimed three enemy aircraft shot down. For this and his performance during the previous day’s attack on the Shoho, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Another SBD was damaged, and whilst attempting to land aboard the Lexington was mistakenly shot down by anti-aircraft fire. The SBDs gave as good as they got, claiming several more of the withdrawing B5Ns.

Other fights raged between the Zeros that had be escorting the dive bombers and the American CAP. Two F4Fs simply failed to return after the mission with no reason determined, likely the victims of Japanese fighters. The remainder were involved in a wild melee, being jumped by Zeros and taking opportunities to return the favour in a series of snapshot engagements. VF-2 commander Ramsey misidentified one of his targets as a German ‘Me109’, which was erroneously believed to be in Japanese service. Elements of the returning Yorktown strike force also tangled with the Japanese, including a pair of VF-42 pilots who shot down and killed WO Kanno who had so diligently tracked Task Force 17. Another victim was LtCdr Takahashi, who was likewise shot down by VF-42’s Lt Bill Leonard.

Aftermath

As the Japanese completed their withdrawal, the two American carriers took stock of the situation. Whilst the Yorktown was in reasonable shape, there were still worries about the Lexington – a blaze burned beneath the flight deck, with fire crews in attendance, and both elevators were out of commission which limited her aircraft handling capabilities. Refuelling of recovered aircraft was suspended until the fire was contained. However, deep in the ship fumes from fractured fuel storage tanks were seeping throughout several compartments, and these soon reached a motor generator room. A spark ignited the fumes, and at 1247 Lexington was wracked by an explosion which killed 25 men and started fresh fires. 90 minutes later a second, larger explosion occurred, followed by a final explosion at 1525 which resulted in uncontrollable fires. Reluctantly, Captain Frederick Sherman gave the order to abandon ship. Once the crew was off, the destroyer Phelps torpedoed the doomed carrier. Yorktown and the rest of the task force withdrew towards New Caledonia.

Crew abandons Lexington

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Losses amongst the Zuikaku and Shokaku air groups ruled out a second attack on Task Force 17 on the 8th, but the Japanese were not quite ready to call it quits. After refuelling, the Zuikaku ranged south during the 9th of May to attempt to re-engage Fletcher’s ships. But the Americans had already cleared the area, and the only ship that was sighted was the still drifting Neosho. Hara and Takagi realised that they had no chance to catch the enemy, and with their air groups battered by the day’s events they could not effectively cover the MO Invasion Force either.

Consequently, the Port Moresby operation was suspended until July, but events would soon overtake the Japanese and a seaborne attack on the town was never attempted. Instead, the Japanese Army would take the reins and attempt a land invasion, marching over the formidable Owen Stanley mountains, with thousands of troops meeting their fate on the infamous Kokoda track.

[pacificeagles]

https://pacificeagles.net/coral-sea-shokaku-attack/

Coral Sea: The Shokaku Attack

During the night of the 7th/8th, MO Striking Force was ordered to sail closer to the MO Invasion Force in order to give it additional support following the loss of the Shoho. VAdm Takeo Takagi and his carrier commander RAdm Chuichi Hara between them decided to sail due north, which would allow them to offer distant support to the convoy, but would primarily simplify the search requirements for the following day – the American carriers would almost certainly be to the south, so Hara could leave the northern sectors to land-based aircraft whilst his B5N carrier attack planes covered the south. These search aircraft, seven B5Ns in all, were launched at 0600 on the 8th of May. H6K flying boats from Tulagi covered the areas to the north.

The Americans for their part were less sure where the Japanese carriers were. RAdm Frank Fletcher ordered Task Force 17 to sail west during the night in order to close on RAdm John Crace’s support group and the likely route of the invasion force heading for Port Moresby. Fletcher could not be sure if Hara’s carriers were to the north or to the south, so he had to order a full 360 degree search, albeit with the aircraft assigned to the south given shorter legs due to the lower likelihood of the MO Striking Force having sailed in that direction. In total 18 SBDs from the Lexington were launched at 0625, followed by fighters for the combat air patrol from both carriers. Task Force 17 then began to assemble aircraft on deck for the expected strike mission.

Coral Sea, 8th May 1942

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Lexington’s VS-2, with 12 SBDs, had been assigned the northern sectors. The weather was quite poor, with heavy cloud cover in the vicinity of the MO Striking Force. Nevertheless Lt(jg) Joseph Smith managed to catch sight of Hara’s ships, sending out a voice transmission at 0820 announcing that he observed two carriers, four cruisers and several destroyers. His transmission was received on the Lexington in garbled form with the enemy’s position not copied, but soon afterwards Smith’s radioman sent out a Morse report which was soon amplified by SBDs in adjacent sectors. Just a few minutes later, a Shokaku aircraft radioed that it had found the American carriers. The race to destroy the enemy’s carriers was now on.

The Yorktown launched her strike group first, with aircraft lifting off at 0900 – 24 SBD Dauntless dive bombers and 9 TBD Devastators, escorted by just 6 F4F Wildcats. The F4Fs were divided, with four covering the torpedo bombers and two covering the SBDs. By 0915 all aircraft were in the air and the 39 planes set course for the reported contact. The Lexington began to launch her strike soon after the Yorktown, at 0907 – 15 SBDs, 12 TBDs and 9 F4Fs rolling down her flight deck with the last aircraft in the air by 0925. The launch was reported by the nearby Shokaku search plane, so Hara was pre-warned that a major strike was heading his way.

Near the MO Striking Force, Lt(jg) Smith had to break off when he discovered that his radio was malfunctioning, following a brief exchange with Zeros. VS-2 commander LtCdr Robert Dixon had completed his own search and flew to the reported location, and soon began to send out amplifying reports for the incoming strike groups, remaining in the vicinity until the Yorktown air group arrived. Smith, meanwhile, came across Yorktown’s torpedo planes as he made his way back to base, and was able to use his voice radio to provide VT-5 skipper LtCdr Joe Taylor with up-to-date contact information. Not long afterwards they spotted the Japanese strike force making its way towards Task Force 17 to deliver their own attack.

At 1032 the leading Yorktown planes spotted the wakes of the MO Striking Force, far below. In the air above the carriers were half a dozen Zeros, with another 13 spotted on deck ready to launch when the incoming strike was sighted. Lacking air-search radar of similar capability to the American CXAM, the Japanese were reliant on keen-eyed lookouts – however the poor weather greatly limited their ability to spot enemy aircraft. The Zuikaku and Shokaku were several miles apart, with the Zuikaku close to a rain squall towards which she headed, hoping to find concealment from the incoming Americans. Shokaku, trailing her sister, was too far away to hide in the squall and would become the focus of the entire American attack.

Shokaku at the Battle of the Coral Sea

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SBDs from VS-5 and VB-5 led by LtCdr William Burch manoeuvred to take position upwind of the Shokaku, ideal dive-bombing tactics, and waited for the much slower TBDs of VT-5 to get into position for a co-ordinated attack. For almost half an hour the SBDs circled, somehow remaining unobserved by the lookouts on the Japanese ships until just before the attack proper began. Shokaku began to launch her standby fighters just as VT-5’s Taylor radioed that he was beginning his run, which was the signal for Burch to start his own attack.

The Yorktown’s Attack

The first seven SBDs all from VS-5 under Burch, pushed over to begin their dives at 1057. They swept past a trio of Zeros that snapped off a few rounds, and then followed the bombers down. The SBDs suffered from the same bombsight fogging issues that had affected them during the Tulagi raid, with the result that none of their bombs hit the Shokaku. Several of the SBDs suffered damage from the pursing Zeros before they were able to make good their escape, with the rear gunners making the unrealistic claim that they had shot down 4 of the fighters.

LtCdr Wallace Short’s VB-5 SBDs, 17 in total, were the next to dive. Each was armed with a 1,000lb bomb, ideal ship-killers.  The first division of 6 rolled in to attack but came under heavy anti-aircraft fire which focussed on the aircraft piloted by Lt John Powers. Powers’ aircraft was badly damaged, but he chose to continue his attack, releasing his bomb at the dangerously low altitude of about 500ft. His bomb struck the Shokaku near her island structure, but Powers was unable to recover from the dive and his aircraft hit the water, both crewmen being killed. Powers was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. VB-5’s second division suffered the same problem of fogging bomb sights, but they nevertheless managed a second hit on the now burning Shokaku. Zeros harassed the SBDs as they withdrew, and a second Dauntless was shot down before the Japanese broke off.

Taylor’s lumbering Devastators soon began their runs. The TBDs were too slow to get into position for an anvil attack, so they formed a wide line abreast to make runs on the Shokaku’s port side. Anti-aircraft fire was again heavy, and one TBD was damaged but still managed to make a clean drop, as did the other eight aircraft, albeit from long range: 1-2,000 yards. Unfortunately the troublesome Mark 13 torpedoes again put in a mixed performance, with three veering off on erratic runs. Shokaku, now manoeuvring at over 30 knots, close to the 33-knot maximum speed of the torpedoes, was able to avoid damage from the incoming ‘fish’. Although VT-5 claimed three hits, no Mark 13s actually hit the carrier. All nine TBDs escaped into a nearby cloud bank before the nearby Zeros, which had been tied up by the escorting VF-42 fighters, could attempt an interception.   

In total the Yorktown air group claimed to have scored six bomb hits and three torpedo hits on the Shokaku, but they had actually scored just two hits with 1,000lb bombs. The carrier was damaged to the point that she could not conduct flight operations, but her hull and engineering spaces were intact and most of her aircraft had already been launched to attack Task Force 17. The nearby Zuikaku, still hidden in a rain squall, had escaped damage entirely. Two VB-5 SBDs had been shot down and several other aircraft had suffered damage but would nevertheless find their way back to the Yorktown.

Shokaku hit during the Battle of the Coral Sea

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The Lexington Attacks

The Lexington air group took off just a few minutes after their colleagues from the Yorktown, but had a much tougher time reaching the target with any level of coordination. One TBD was forced to turn back with engine trouble, and three of the escorting F4Fs became separated in the bad weather and likewise returned to the ship. The cloud cover also caused the SBDs and TBDs to lose sight of each other, making it impossible for the group to stay together – instead VB-2, the Group Commander’s flight and VT-2 flew in separate formations, descending to low-level to keep out of the cloud cover. Then, arriving at the reported position of the MO Striking Force, the Lexington fliers instead found only empty ocean. Commander William Ault, leading the group, ordered his charges to commence a box search in the hopes that the enemy was nearby. At 1130, he spotted the Shokaku, and ordered them in to attack – but VB-2, with eleven SBDs, never found the enemy and, low on fuel, turned for home.

Ault’s group was spotted by the airborne Zeros before he reached attack position, and they immediately tore into the F4Fs that had accompanied him. Rather than risk a lengthy and fuel-consuming climb to altitude for a dive-bombing attack, Ault decided to lead his four remaining SBDs in a shallow, glide-bombing run instead. This surprised the Zeros orbiting at higher altitude, and as a result the bombers were able to make their attack unmolested. Ault’s section claimed two more hits on the Shokaku, but in fact only one actually hit – just aft of the island. One of the four bombers suffered a malfunction and failed to drop its bomb, so the pilot turned around to make a solo run – he was never seen again, presumably falling victim to anti-aircraft fire. One of the F4Fs likewise disappeared, probably the victim of a Zero.  

Following on the heels of Ault’s attack came the eleven remaining TBDs of LtCdr James Brett’s VT-2. They were escorted by four F4Fs, which were soon busy fighting off Zeroes which had speed and altitude advantage which resulted in two being shot down, but crucially they had given VT-2 a clear run on the carrier. The TBDs descended at high speed through patchy cloud cover, which reduced the amount of time that they were vulnerable. Breaking into the clear just a few miles from the Shokaku, VT-2 slowed to the required drop speed for the finicky Mark 13s. Two of the Devastators had become separated from the rest, and were harassed by Zeros as they made individual drops – both of which missed. This had the effect of giving the remaining nine TBDs a clear shot at the Shokaku’s starboard side – however, the swift carrier was able to turn away and avoid all of the torpedoes which had again been launched at long range – over 1,000 yards.

The scattered Lexington group now attempted to extricate themselves from the situation and head back to base, but they would not have an easy time of it. Ault’s SBDs came under attack from more Zeros, with Ault himself being wounded. Another SBD became separated and lost, and never found its way back to home plate – the crew were never seen again. Ault remained in radio contact with the Lexington for some time, but alone and unable to navigate back to the ship he realised his chances were slim. He was last heard from as he decided to ditch his aircraft, but neither he nor his radioman was recovered.

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The American attack had crippled the Shokaku, and her captain recommended that she be detached from the MO Striking Force. Takagi and Hara agreed, and she turned north with an escort of two cruisers and two destroyers. 109 of her crew had been killed, and another 144 wounded, but her damage was not fatal and after a few weeks in drydock for repairs she rejoined the Fleet. She would, however, miss the an upcoming operation of the utmost importance to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.  

[aviationhistory]

The Battle of the Coral Sea, the first battle ever fought between aircraft carriers, begins between a U. S. force centered around the aircraft carriers USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Yorktown (CV-5) and a Japanese force with the aircraft carriers Sh?h?, Sh?kaku, and Zuikaku. Early in the morning, a 56-plane strike from Sh?kaku and Zuikaku sinks a destroyer and fatally damages an oiler. Later in the morning, a 93-plane strike from Lexington and Yorktown sinks Sh?h? – The first Japanese carrier ever sunk – prompting an American dive bomber pilot to send one of World War II's most famous radio messages, "SCRATCH ONE FLATTOP. " In the evening, confused Japanese carrier pilots mistake Yorktown for their own carrier and begin to fly a landing pattern before realizing their mistake.

[pacificeagles]

https://pacificeagles.net/coral-sea-searching-enemy/

Coral Sea: Searching for the Enemy

As part of Task Force 17, Admiral Frank J. Fletcher had been provided with a force of cruisers and destroyers from General MacArthur’s Australia-based naval contingent. These ships – the cruisers USS Chicago, HMAS Australia and HMAS Hobart and the destroyers USS Walke and Perkins, could be used independently as a surface force to counter the large number of Japanese cruisers that were participating in the MO operation. As dawn broke on the 7th of May, Fletcher decided to detach this force, designated Task Group 17.3 and with the destroyer Farragut also included, as a ‘Support Force’ to sit astride the likely route for the Japanese transports as they headed for Port Moresby.

TG17.3 was commanded by Rear Admiral John G. Crace, an Australian who actually outranked Fletcher but who had no experience commanding aircraft carriers. An agreement was in place that predominantly American naval forces would be commanded by a US Navy admiral, so Fletcher remained in overall command. Crace’s force was reasonably powerful but was completely lacking in air cover, and the Chicago’s CXAM radar would be forced to work overtime to provide adequate warning of incoming air raids.

Action off Misima

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The six ships detached from Task Force 17 early on the morning of the 7th of May, and set course take position south of the Jomard Passage with orders to destroy any Japanese ships encountered. Within a few hours, at 0810, the Allied forces had been sighted, when Japanese E7K floatplanes from the cruisers Furutaka and Kinugasa flew close enough to report the presence of Fletcher’s carriers with a second force, presumably Crace’s, just a few miles away. By this point however the MO Striking Force under Admiral Chuichi Hara had already launched its mistaken attack on the oiler Neosho and the destroyer Sims, and for now Fletcher and Crace were safe from air attack. Fletcher used this grace period to find and sink the carrier Shoho.

Crace was making good progress, on schedule to arrive off Jomard by 2pm. He would not find targets, because the MO Invasion Force had been ordered to turn away whilst Hara cleared the way. Crace was aware of the air threat from Rabaul and from the seaplane bases in the Louisades, and arranged his ships in anti-aircraft formation. It was fortunate he did so, because the skies were soon filled with Japanese planes. Crace overheard transmissions from the Neosho that she was under attack, and from the Yorktown and Lexington fliers after they had sunk the Shoho, so he was kept abreast of developments in the vicinity. At 1240 a floatplane from the Kiyokawa Maru flying out of the temporary base at Deboyne sighted Crace’s force and reported a battleship, two cruisers and three destroyers. Shortly afterwards a land-based bomber also found the formation, but incorrectly reported that a carrier was present, causing Japanese commanders to believe that Fletcher was 150 miles closer to New Guinea than he actually was.

By the early afternoon TG17.3 was approaching its assigned position south of the Jomard Passage. Japanese land-based aircraft were out hunting for the American carriers. At 0915 twelve G4M bombers from the 4th Kokutai had taken off from Rabaul’s Vunakanau airfield, armed with Type 91 torpedoes and escorted by a dozen A6M Zeros. They flew to the last reported position of the American flattops but failed to find them, although they were detected by Task Force 17’s radars. The A6M escort was directed to return to base whilst the bombers continued searching. Also on the hunt were 20 G3Ms from the Genzan Kokutai that had been ordered to bomb Port Moresby, but were instead diverted to find the American ships.

On their way back to Rabaul, the Zeros detached form the 4th Ku attack group stumbled across TG17.3. These were detected on Chicago’s CXAM at 1417, before they closed to within visual range of the ships. A few volleys of anti-aircraft fire forced the Japanese, who were variously identified by the Allied warships as dive-bombers, fighters, or twin-engine bombers, to move away but not before they had reported the location of TG17.3 to the nearby torpedo planes. Half an hour later, the 4th Ku bombers were picked up on Chicago’s radar 75 miles out.

Torpedo Attack

These aircraft closed quickly, descending to low altitude to deliver their torpedoes. The attack was “most determined but fortunately badly delivered” – the G4Ms attacked the formation from ahead, splitting into several groups. Fortunately for the Allied ships, the fish were dropped at relatively long range, from 1,000 to 1,500 yards. Two torpedoes passed close to Australia but sharp handling by her skipper saw them miss. Three more torpedoes aimed at Chicago likewise missed. The Japanese bombers raked the ships with machine gun fire as they passed, but the anti-aircraft gunners put up a vigorous barrage in return and four of the G4Ms were shot down, with several more receiving lesser damage. Casualties among Crace’s force were light.

G4M bombers attacking Task Group 17.3

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Shortly after the surviving 4th Ku bombers departed, the 20 G3Ms of the Genzan Ku arrived. They attack TG17.3 from astern, delivering a level-bombing attack from 18,000ft where anti-aircraft fire was much less effective. Australia, mistaken for a battleship, was again the focus of the attack, with a large pattern of bombs dropped all around her. The cruiser was straddled but suffered no damage other than a severe drenching from the spray of near misses and superficial shrapnel holes. Other bombs landed near Chicago, reportedly killing two of her crew, but otherwise they caused no damage.

Just after this attack a small formation of three bombers arrived and dropped a pattern of bombs close to the destroyer Perkins, without damaging her. Subsequently it was learned that these were actually American B-17s from the 40th Reconnaissance Squadron, operating from Townsville in Australia. B-17s had carried out several attacks on the MO Invasion Force transports without hitting anything, and their accuracy against TG17.3 was likewise poor. In fact Crace was driven to write in his action report that “their bombing, in comparison with that of the Japanese formation a few moments earlier, was disgraceful”. It would soon become evident that high-flying B-17s could rarely hit ships manoeuvring at sea.

HMAS Australia bracketed by bombs

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Crace was so concerned about the repeated air attacks, and the lack of communication from Fletcher as to his position or intentions, that he decided to withdraw from the Jomard Passage and take up a position southeast of Port Moresby for the night. He radioed Fletcher that without air cover he was unable to remain on station, and would instead withdraw to the south for the evening. He was able to complete this move without any further harassment from the air. Fletcher was too busy, and too reliant on the safety of radio silence, to reply to Crace.

Meanwhile far to the east, Hara’s MO Striking Force was making ready to attack the American carrier force reported south of the Louisades. Hara had to wait an eternity for his aircraft to return from the attack on the Sims and Neosho, with the last group of D3A bombers not landing back aboard the Zuikaku until 1515. Realising that any strike group sent out at this hour would have to return after dark, Hara decided only to send his most experienced crews. First though he decided to send out eight B5N bombers to search 200 miles to the west, hoping that they would provide more accurate reports than the ones he had received so far during the day. Because these were due to return before dusk he could assign less experienced pilots, retaining his veterans for the strike which finally departed at 1615.

Night Mission

The strike was again led by LtCdr Kakuichi Takahashi, flying his second very long mission of the day. The American carriers were believed to be 330 miles distant, but with the MO Striking Force closing on Task Force 17 the distance would close to 200 miles by the time the bombers were due to return. No fighters accompanied the 12 D3As and 15 B5Ns, because they lacked the radio homing equipment which would be crucial for finding the Zuikaku and Shokaku on the return trip. They would be sorely missed on this flight.

Hara had yet again been misled by inaccurate reconnaissance reports. The ‘carriers’ he had sent Takahashi to destroy were, in fact, the ships of Crace’s Task Group 17.3. Fletcher’s carriers Yorktown and Lexington were actually much closer, in a position between Crace and Hara’s formations, in an ideal position to intercept the inbound bombers. Fletcher had been maintaining a constant combat air patrol during the day, and he had 12 Wildcats airborne when a contact was detected on Yorktown’s CXAM radar at 1747 – a group of low flying, fast moving aircraft, closing on the task force. 18 more Wildcats were quickly launched, with a total of 30 in position to defend the two carriers.

Visibility was becoming increasingly poor when the first section of F4Fs, under the command of VF-2 skipper LtCdr Paul Ramsay, made contact with the Japanese. They ripped into a group of nine B5Ns, and shot down four immediately and crippled a fifth which never made it back to base. Because of poor weather and the fading light, the bombers had closed their canopies and stowed their defensive machine guns, leaving them defenceless. One F4F was lost, probably in a collision with one of the Nakajimas, and the pilot was not recovered. Fifteen Japanese aviators were lost with their aircraft.

Another division of F4Fs under VF-42 executive officer LtCdr James Flatley came across another group of five B5Ns, and initially misidentified them as friendlies before one element of two fighters realised their mistake and engaged them. Another B5N was shot down, before the two pilots separated to give chase and eventually claimed another, with a third torpedo bomber badly damaged and later forced to ditch. One of the two American pilots was never heard from again, possibly becoming lost in the dark with a malfunctioning radio. Flatley was meanwhile leading the rest of his division in an attack on a D3A, which was soon destroyed.

Having lost a third of his attack force, Takahashi and the torpedo leader LtCdr Shihekazu Shimazaki elected to call off the attack and return to base. They ditched their bombs and torpedoes and tuned in to the homing frequency transmitted by the MO Striking Force. Unfortunately for the Japanese this was very close to the frequency that the American fighter directors used for transmissions, which would cause no end of trouble. The light was fading fast, and the Americans struggled to recover their fighters, which had by this point abandoned the interception attempt, in the dark. As confusion began to set in, Japanese carrier bombers finally sighted the American carriers and sent out an accurate contact report – but they had no weapons with which to attack.

One Yorktown pilot waiting to land saw an aircraft signalling with a lamp – that was not American procedure! He fired a quick burst which caused three D3As to scatter in panic, before returning to the landing circle. Several of the destroyers of Task Force 17 caught sight of unidentified aircraft, and soon began to open fire and any suspicious target. Several Wildcat pilots were forced to scatter and abandon their landing attempts, one of whom subsequently became lost, and was never found again. The others eventually made it back aboard ship, several sporting holes from the fire thrown up by the American escort ships.

The Japanese eventually managed to find their way back home, with Hara taking the special precaution of lighting his ships and deploying them into a special formation. 18 aircraft eventually returned safely, many of the aviators exhausted after flying two long, stressful missions in the same day. They reported that their homing gear had not functioned correctly, perhaps having been misled or jammed by the radio signals from the American carriers.

Both commanders now realised that the enemy carriers lay very close, and it was inevitable that there would be an encounter the following day. Fletcher’s radio men had detected the Japanese homing transmissions and had a reasonably accurate position for Hara’s carriers, and Hara himself finally had an accurate report of Fletcher’s position. Both forces would continue manoeuvring during the night, but they fully expected to re-acquire contact and launch strikes early on the morning of the 8th of May. The Battle of the Coral Sea was about to come to a climax.