1943

Chapter 19

“Ships that never were,” said Karpov. “Very interesting. Do we have a fix on their location?”

“Not yet,” said Fedorov. “These were long range intercepts. They were on shortwave when they transmitted, and those signals can propagate a good distance.”

“It’s clear we have no further business up north for a while,” said Karpov. “What course would you recommend?”

“Due south. There’s a 1400-mile gap between the first two Japanese outposts we’ll encounter, Guam and Wake Island. We can go right through the center, and the only planes that might spot us would be very long range seaplanes—flying boats. Frankly, I doubt they even mount regular patrols in that sector.”

“Then make it so,” said Karpov.

“After that, we’ll be approaching the Marshall Islands from the north, and Ponape will be due south of us on that course. That island will probably be lightly held, but a few degrees to starboard is Truk, about 450 miles from Ponape. That is the main operating base of the Japanese Combined fleet. It will have airfields, large anchorages in a protected lagoon that will probably be well used. There will be transports, tankers, and a lot of warships come and go. The fleet headquarters is presently operating from the battleship Musashi. That is the sister ship of the vessel we encountered earlier, the Yamato.”

“A tough ship,” said Karpov. “Will it be at anchor?”

“Most likely.”

“Carriers?”

“Yes, they use that base to refuel and replenish. There might be a full carrier division there, but we won’t know until we can recon the area. That could be risky, as there will be a lot of naval air patrols originating from that base, and probably a strong fighter presence.”

“Excellent. Then we move on Truk.”

Fedorov raised an eyebrow. His warning had been received with enthusiasm. “You mean to attack that base?”

“Didn’t the Japanese take the war right to the heart of their enemy when they started this? Two can play the game.”

“Yes sir, but it will likely involve some risk. Don’t forget what the Japanese did to the aft battle bridge.”

“Forewarned is forearmed. We were running low on SAMs, if I recall. That won’t be the case for this raid. Was this base ever attacked by the Americans?”

“Not until mid-February of 1944—Operation Hailstone. They simply did not have the power to penetrate that deeply into Japanese held waters through most of 1943. The US wanted to invade Eniwetok in the Marshalls. Any reinforcements and support would have come from Truk, so they wanted to neutralize that base before the invasion. They hit it with five fleet carriers, three light carriers, seven battleships and over 40 other warships—a massive attack. The base was useless after it was over, and it was bypassed as the Americans continued north into the Marianas.”

“We’ll see what we can do now,” said Karpov, eager for battle.

“You plan on expending missile ordnance on ships anchored there?”

“Possibly. Particularly warships. I think we can get close enough for the KA-226 to sneak in and get us some camera footage. We can jam any radar they might have to spot our helo, and it is fairly nimble, and will see any enemy planes long before they could spot it. Let’s go have a look at Truk and see what they have in the cupboard. Then I can make a decision as to what ordnance we might expend. I will say one thing. If this battleship is there, I’m putting a missile on it.”

“Musashi? You know a single missile won’t sink it. Look what we threw at Yamato. It took a lucky torpedo hit aft to force it to withdraw.”

“Yes, but we’ll certainly shake up the General Headquarters staff, won’t we?” Karpov smiled.

“That will likely be like poking a beehive with a stick. They could have a lot of planes at Truk, and you can bet they’ll get them airborne as soon as we attack.”

“Fair enough. But they’ll have to find us to attack us, and I won’t let a search plane get close enough to see us. This is going to be a good deal easier than you think.”

“There’s one other consideration,” said Fedorov. “These new ships I was telling you about—we think they are already at sea. If that is the case, and they are deploying to the South Pacific, then they will likely be bound for either Truk or perhaps Rabaul. That’s the other big base they have in the Bismarck Archipelago.”

“New enemy carriers,” said Karpov with a smile. “Mister Fedorov, let’s hope they are heading for Truk. The more the merrier. It’s time we let the Japanese know they can no longer dismiss us as a fringe nuisance on their northern front. I intend to show them I can strike them anywhere, and anytime I choose. The gloves are coming off now, and it’s going to be a bare-knuckled fistfight from here on out.”

It was Nabuo Kita on a Mitsubishi F1M float plane out of Maloelap in the Marshalls who started everything. He had been out on a routine patrol to the east, about 180 nautical miles from the island, and was ready to turn for home. His plane had a radius of about 200 nautical miles, and it was always a good idea to leave some fuel in the tank for the landing cycle. He never knew if there might be storms over the island upon his return.

Yet today the weather looked good, with banks of fleecy clouds and other wise clear blue skies. So he made one of those little one man decisions that acted like a match lighting a fuse. He decided to push his plane out that last 20 miles, to the point of no return, and see if anything might be lingering out there in a place they believed was safe from prying eyes.

He was correct, for two American light carriers had been out on their maiden voyage to train off Midway. Now they were ready for combat drills, and gained authorization to approach the Marshalls and conduct routine recon patrols of their own.

Kita was going to run right into them, and make the acquaintance of a new F6F Hellcat that day. He saw it up above, a blue speck descending on him like a hawk diving on its prey. Looking quickly over his shoulder for a place to hide, he finally saw where that plane had come from. There were a series of thin white wakes making a broad letter C turn on the sea, and right in the middle were those aircraft carriers.

With no clouds close enough to hide in, he had two choices. Dive his plane and head for the drink, hoping to save himself and evade that fighter, or instead use those precious few seconds to get on his radio and report this contact. That was why he was out there, and he had always accepted the potential hazards of his trade. So he took that right hand fork in the road, and began his radio signal. It would be received at his home base, and then passed on to Kwajalein—a small task force approaching the Marshalls, and with two aircraft carriers.

That was the last anyone would hear of Nabuo Kita, but his message would live on after his passing, lighting up the signals traffic airwaves and leaping from one island outpost to another, Kwajalein to Eniwetok to Ponape to Truk, a distance of over 1300 nautical miles. Those two words—American Carriers—immediately got the attention of Combined Fleet HQ Staff aboard Musashi. The big battleship was anchored in the main anchorage, its bow pointed at the bustling airfield that sat right on the northwest edge of that small islet.

The problem this message posed was now apparent. While Japan had occupied all the main islands and atolls in the Gilberts and Marshalls, many of those outposts were lightly held. The few aircraft assigned were mostly seaplanes, and a few Squadrons of A5M4 Fighters, the plane the Allies called “Claude.” There were no planes that could bother those carriers at all, which meant that if the Americans were coming to raid the Marshalls, they could feast on those islands at their leisure.

Even at Truk, the only strike capable aircraft based there at that moment was a single squadron of nine C3M2 twin engine Bombers. Called “Nell” by the Americans, they were capable of carrying torpedoes, but those nine planes would not make much of an impression on a carrier task force. What the Japanese needed to do was fight fire with fire, but Admiral Hara had his 3rd Carrier Division at Rabaul, and in fact, it had already moved into the Coral Sea on the mission Yamamoto had authorized to oppose the American landings on Efate.

The only other force capable of intervening was the Shadow Fleet, which was just 50 nautical miles north of Saipan at that moment. While the Japanese did not want this force put into combat so soon, they now had no choice. The Shadow Fleet was ordered to turn southeast to a position 500 miles east of Truk, as the American carriers had been reported as moving south.

In truth, after they got sniffed out, the man in charge had orders to be very cagey and avoid combat as well. He had two carriers to break in, and inexperienced pilots. It was not that he was faint hearted, for this was one Captain Clifton Sprague, recently transferred in from Naval Air Station Sand Point near Seattle to start drilling for carrier operations. Those that knew him well had come to call him by an odd nickname, because of the errant way he would sometimes walk, heading one direction, then quickly changing his mind and turning elsewhere.

They called him Ziggy.

Sprague had a few newly hatched eggs in Independence and Princeton, but instead of pressing on into the Marshalls, the he turned south for the Gilberts, where he had orders to scout out Makin and Tarawa, and send the photos back to Pearl. The Shadow Fleet would move southeast towards Ponape on a course to intercept, but it was taking them right across the path of another shadow, that of a sea monster they had come to call Mizuchi.

Admiral Chuichi Nagumo stood on the bridge of the battle carrier Ryujin, watching the planes being spotted for takeoff. Today’s drill was being led by Commander Amagai Takahisa, an able man with over 2500 flight hours at the start of the war. He led the strike off the Hiryu at Pearl Harbor, then transferred briefly to Kaga before being sent home to Japan to a classified assignment. The official orders were that he was to take charge of aircraft carrier flight deck installations for new construction projects. In that capacity, he would soon find himself at the heart of the Shadow Fleet.

Nagumo had also been asked to fly home to Japan after the fleet had returned to Rabaul. He initially believed it had been due to the damage the Americans put on Kaga and Soryu, but Yamamoto dispelled that notion immediately.

“No, Admiral, there is no shame in what happened. War is war. Thankfully, the damage to both carriers was not serious. Yet Admiral Nagano has asked me for a senior officer with carrier experience. Seeing that Carrier Division 1 will be laid up here at Rabaul for the next several weeks, I ask you to fly home and see to his concerns.”

At that time, Yamamoto was not even aware of the advanced state of readiness of the Shadow Fleet vessels. Nagumo was also quite surprised when he arrived at Sasebo and saw the cluster of many small carriers near the naval dockyard. Where did all these ships come from? He was soon briefed by Nagano and learned the truth, and now he was proud to be leading out this flotilla, and made sure he got the most experienced men he could find. There were many in Japan from the early loss of Hiryu, and most had been reassigned to local naval air stations to train new arrivals. Nagumo gathered a handful of the best men he could locate, personally asking Nagano to push through the transfer orders.

So he now had Torpedo Squadron Leader Heita Matsumura off the old Hiyo, and also Dive Bomber Squadron Leader Michio Kobayashi, and Fighter Operations Leader Kiyokuma Okajima. That group was here aboard his flagship Ryujin, the Dragon Lord. Trailing in its wake was the second battle carrier, Kinryu, the Golden Dragon; with the two smaller Kami Class escort carriers to port and starboard in the diamond pattern he was sailing. Far ahead, a pair of Gozo Class light scout carriers were in the vanguard, Kaya and Kiryu. The two super cruisers and five new destroyers were in a wide fan forward of his carriers.

The drill went off with expected precision, and in very good time. The orders Nagumo had just received had not been expected. This was to be a simple transfer operation, the inaugural cruise of the Shadow Fleet to Truk, where it would be formally received by Combined Fleet Headquarters, the Captains lining up to make their first deep bow aboard Musashi. Then these orders came to divert southeast towards the Gilberts to look for a pair of American carriers that had been snooping around the Marshalls off Marcus Island, and were now believed to be heading south.

The men are certainly ready, thought Nagumo. As for the planes, they look splendid. There will certainly be a few bugs to work out, but the pilots seem very pleased with these new aircraft, and the performance statistics on this new single engine recon plane are unbelievable. The Saiun truly gives us eyes at sea to find our enemy. They will soon be put to the test.

He had three of the new long range recon planes aboard each of the two battle carriers. So these were to be the two Kii Class Battlecruisers, he thought. I see they left me the two forward turrets, though I have no idea what I will do with them. They should have just removed them and extended the flight deck. In fact, I will recommend this if these ships ever return for a planned fleet upgrade.

Nagumo was a carrier man, and thought it best to leave the big guns to the battleships. If he ever found himself needing to use those two 15-inch gun turrets against an enemy ship, he simply wasn’t doing his job as a carrier commander. They would not fire quick enough, or have the necessary accuracy to engage enemy destroyers, and any battleship he might encounter should be dealt with by his planes before it ever came anywhere near this ship.

The navy simply can’t make up its mind, he thought. But behind that was the realization that this conversion must have been ordered just after Pearl Harbor. The Hiryu had been hit on the way home by that rocket weapon, just one single rocket, yet it was immolated in a matter of minutes, striking the ship with so many of its aircraft armed and fueled.

Mizuchi, he thought. That monster took down Hiryu, and then it beat both Mutsu and Chikuma to piles of floating scrap metal. Not even the new missile destroyer we have was able to stop it. How could the Siberians have such advanced weaponry? And yet we have them as well. I spoke with Kurita in Japan, and he told me he saw our rockets firing at those of the enemy, and we were finally able to destroy them. If we also have these weapons, why doesn’t this Takami simply replenish and get after this beast again? And why aren’t they installed on any of these new ships? I have 25mm AA guns in abundance, but no rockets. Those five fast destroyers could use them like aerial torpedoes, yet not one rocket graces the deck of any of these ships. Something is very strange about all of this.

Nagumo knew of Takami, and he had seen the rocket weapon that hit Hiryu with his own eyes. Yet he knew nothing of the real origin of either ship. That was a secret known only to Yamamoto and Ugaki.

Chapter 20

On the 18th of January, the Americans filled the vacuum left by the withdrawal of Yamamoto’s carriers when the 1st USMC Parachute Battalion arrived off shore on three fast transports. The French garrison was caught by surprise, and was therefore unable to effectively oppose the landing at Mele Bay, which was bounded on two sides by peninsulas.

While it made a decent anchorage, the Americans knew that they could not simply sail into Mele Bay for these landings, which would expose the transports to shore battery fire from any guns that might be set up on the two peninsulas that framed the bay.

To the northwest, the thicker peninsula was about 4.5 miles wide at the base, and extended about 5.5 miles to the southwest. It rose from shallow coal studded beaches to a flat grassy plain with scattered stands of trees, which were thicker near the shore. At its farthest end was Devil’s Point, where there were two small bays no more than a mile wide. The southeast frame of the bay was a much smaller extension of land, no more than a mile and a half wide and a little over three miles long, ending at Pango Point.

The battalion did not want to land at Devil’s Point, for it would mean they would have to fight their way along that peninsula before they could reach the main body of the island. Instead they landed on the irregular coastline of the southern Peninsula, between Pango Point and the main settlement of Port Vila. They were able to seize that small peninsula by storm, and the town began right at its base, where they were fighting house to house when the French Garrison was finally turned out to meet them.

This force would have been outnumbered two to one by the two battalions of the French Tonkin Division, so it was never intended to try and seize the island on its own. The main blow would be delivered by the 8th USMC Regiment the following day. With the French defense mustering near Port Vila, it would land at the base of the larger peninsula at the small village of Mangalilu. There was a narrow road that led from that hamlet across the base of the peninsula to Port Vila. There, the main town hugged the southeast portion of the bay, and right behind it was the airstrip.

The only Japanese forces on the island were a small aviation support detachment, which had been sent to improve that airfield. They had been working to break up coral to strengthen the bed of Vila Field, and had been able to support the arrival of a small squadron of nine Zeroes. Once the landings occurred, they were so close to that field that it could be taken under mortar fire. So the planes all took off, got tangled up with the American CAP from the scout carriers Shiloh and Antietam that had escorted in the Para Battalion, and then turned away north to Luganville on Espiritu Santo.

There was one other good anchorage in the north called Havana Harbor. The 8th USMC Regiment landing at Mangalilu was going to send one battalion north to seize the harbor, then cut off that thicker peninsula, isolating any gun positions there before attacking Port Vila from the northwest. Yet the French put up a dogged defense, still steaming from the loss of the Bearn at the hands of these same to American scout carriers. In fact, Admiral Jean Decoux was there at Efate, and saw the arrival of the fast American landing force as if the Americans were adding insult to injury, and making an attempt to capture him personally. There were no French ships in the bay at that time, and he had been planning to fly to Noumea the following day on a small plane, but those travel plans were now impossible. Flustered and on edge, the Admiral got into a car and fled inland to a plantation site near Pang Pang on the other side of the island.

That afternoon, a squadron of 17 twin engine Nells were sent from Noumea to attempt to strike the American landing ships. But Both Antietam and Shiloh had twelve fighters each, and they were enough to wreak havoc when the raid was detected on radar. Seven Nells were shot down, with two others damaged, and only four got through to actually make attack runs. They had been using bombs instead of torpedoes, and made an ineffective pass over the anchorage, hitting nothing.

Yet farther north, Admiral Hara’s force was approaching the area, intent on trying to frustrate the American landings. With Halsey over 500 miles to the southeast, and heading for Pago Pago, it would be Spruance on the watch, with two groups. The escort carriers Vicksburg and Gettysburg were farthest north, near the small Vanikoro islands, and Spruance had the Wasp and Enterprise about a hundred miles to the southeast. They were actually heading for Luganville, the other enemy base in the New Hebrides which was beginning to build up its airfield and post small groups of planes. Spruance had permission to hit that base, but the Japanese found those escort carriers before he could close up on the situation.

Hara had sent a probing attack at the Americans, just 60 planes, with most of them fighters. There were only 10 Vals and 15 Kates in the strike element, but those fighters were enough to sweep the skies over the escort carriers, which had only six or seven planes up each on CAP. The result wasn’t pretty, for the pilots had come off the Tosa, all experienced aviators out for blood. The Kates were carrying bombs for this strike, which was at fairly long range, and the Japanese were skilled enough to get three hits on the Gettysburg, wrecking the small flight deck and starting a bad fire. Vicksburg took one hit from a Val, the bomb falling very near the island.

That attack sent a shock wave through the US command structure, and Spruance signaled Captain Sherman on the Wasp to turn northwest, put on speed, and prepare to engage enemy carriers. He did not yet know exactly where the enemy was, but had a good guess that they were probably north or west of the Santa Cruz Islands, most likely intending to sneak in and pound Ndeni again when they spotted his picket carriers and landed that sucker punch.

This was a decision that was somewhat impulsive, given that he had only Wasp and Enterprise at hand. He had no real idea where the enemy was, or in what force, and yet, he was the cop on the beat that hour, and moved to support his comrades as best he could. His only other option would have been to contact Halsey and request support, but the Fighting Admiral was so far away, it could take 18 to 24 hours before he could be on the scene. So this option was tantamount to doing nothing in the mind of Spruance, and he rolled the dice, increasing speed and making ready for battle.

Yet Hara had no intention of lingering where the enemy might expect him. That night, he turned south, and then slightly west, putting on speed and maneuvering to a position where he might be able to hit those American landings at Efate a day or so later. He decided to try and deceive the Americans with a feint attack from the north by land based planes on the morning of the 20th. There was a Squadron of old Ki-30 single engine bombers at Luganville that had taken off to make a run at Efate, but they suffered the same fate as the Nells out of Noumea. The fighters off Shiloh and Antietam cut them to pieces, killing 13 of 18, though that defense left them with little ammo and less fuel, which was exactly what Hara intended when he threw a long shot at the area, again with his Kates armed with bombs.

Captain Hansen got the word from radar that another formation of enemy planes had been spotted to the northwest. “Nothing out there but open ocean,” he said. “Those won’t be from Luganville. Better tell the air crews to turn over those fighters ASAP. Our CAP is thinned down to just three planes.”

Those crews would be too late, and the price would be two bombs on Antietam. The ship wasn’t seriously damaged, but it was hit badly enough to end flight operations while the crews were fighting a fire. So Hara had been fighting like Muhammad Ali, at long range, and he had been able to deliver two stinging jabs to the lighter American carriers, forcing Vicksburg and Gettysburg to withdraw east. Now he delivered this setback to Hansen’s smaller group. Spruance was beside himself, and he turned his two fleet carriers due west to close the range, but Hara knew exactly where he was.

The cagey King Kong had maneuvered into the Coral sea, well west of the New Hebrides, and he believed he still had the range to strike his enemy as Spruance rushed west to look for him. This time the strike would be much bigger, nearly 100 planes, with half of them fighters, the remainder being longer range Kates, 26 planes off Junyo and Hiyo, and then another 18 Jills, the new torpedo bomber he had on the Taiho. They were the only strike planes that could go that far, along with the long legged Zero escorts. A scout plane out of Luganville fed that strike the location of Spruance and his carriers, and in they came, hitting at a time when Spruance did not believe his enemy was even close enough to reach him.

The American had 12 fighters up, all F4F Wildcats, and the decks were scrambling another dozen planes on each carrier. The resulting fighter duel saw them get seven enemy Zeroes, and a good number of those torpedo bombers. The B6N Jills were out in front, and they got the worst of it, with six of the 18 shot down, and another seven damaged. Yet of the five planes that got through to make their attack run three would put their torpedoes right into the guts of the Wasp.

Then the larger body of Kates arrived, with 11 of the 26 planes getting down to make clear attack runs at the American ships. Those B6Ns had the range to haul their torpedoes, over 1600 nautical miles endurance as compared to only 1075 miles for the B5N Kates. So the Kates were again carrying bombs, but they would be very good that day. Three would rock the Wasp, adding smoke and deck fires to the flooding caused by those torpedo hits. Only one bomb would strike Enterprise, and that did not cause serious damage.

Yet when it was over, Spruance knew his game was over as well. He had gambled that he could intervene and challenge his enemy, but the presence of those land based search assets on Luganville had given Hara the read edge. He informed Halsey that he had been bushwhacked, with Wasp badly damaged, most of her remaining planes diverted to Ndeni or his own ship.

“Get out of there!” said Halsey, hopping mad. “Some sly son-of-a-bitch is out there fighting from arm’s length. The only way we can get after him is to close the range and get inside. I’m coming about to get back in this thing. You get Enterprise down near Efate at once. They want to hit the transports there, so that’s where I’m taking my group. Join me by 09:00 tomorrow.”

Halsey wanted to put one more face card in his hand by adding the Enterprise to his task force, then he believed he would have the cards to go raging after the Japanese, just as he had stopped their 1st Carrier Division earlier. The stricken Wasp was given a destroyer escort and ordered to Suva, limping along at just 8 knots, a thick column of smoke clearly marking her position. If Hara had come east, he could have finished the ship off easily, but instead he went further south, behind New Caledonia, eventually spotted by planes off Shiloh and Antietam. They were still bravely standing watch over that fleet of eight APDs offloading the 8th Marine Regiment at Efate.

Hansen would have been better off to simply withdraw, because the punch that Hara would now threw at Efate was simply too much for those light escort carriers to defend against. It was led by 31 Zeroes, more planes than Hansen had between his two carriers, for Antietam was already wounded, finally getting temporary flight deck plates down to enable operations again. Halsey was hastening west, but he would not get there in time to prevent what happened next.

Behind those Zeroes came a massive formation of 55 Vals, finally getting into the action with the range to reach the scene. Yet there was a reason Hara had been able to jab so successfully from extreme long range. Yamamoto had given him virtually every torpedo bomber then available in the South Pacific, all the planes off Akagi, and those of Kaga and Soryu as well. They were crowded on the decks of Tosa and Taiho, their engines sputtering to life and soon taking off to follow the dive bombers in. 88 B5Ns and another 24 B6Ns would come as the main second wave of the attack, and all the planes except the Jills were carrying bombs, intending to pound the American ground troops as well as the transport fleet.

That sent over 160 strike planes in, and 26 of them would put their ordnance on a ship. They were all stationery targets, though the two scout carriers already had up steam and were racing out of Mele Bay, they would not escape. Shiloh would take four hits, Antietam another five, and neither ship would survive those heavy 1000 pound blows.

In the middle of the battle, Captain Hansen sent out a frantic plea, right in the clear: “Where is Halsey, we need support! Where is Halsey?” He was still over 300 miles to the east, steaming at full speed. Four more bombs would hit the cruiser Saint Louis before it ended, starting raging fires. A torpedo would also strike cruiser Cleveland, and another four fish would sink the AP Wharton. Eight more bombs would smash the Harris and Zelin. This time, however, Hara was just a day late, for all the ground troops had gone over the netting and made it safely ashore that night, though many supplies were lost on those three APDs.

Admiral Hara’s little reign of terror had been a stunning success. He had hit Ndeni, sent Vicksburg and Gettysburg back to friendly ports with damage, found Spruance first and mortally wounded the Wasp, then smashed the landing force, sinking two light escort carriers, the brave defenders that had been America’s first light of hope with their little victory escorting the Pensacola Convoy against the French Pacific Fleet. In his mind, he had just avenged the deaths of Gozo and Mezu when Halsey caught them alone the previous year.

When Admiral Decoux got the news, he grinned ear-to-ear, and took out a bottle of the best wine he could find in the hidden larder at that plantation. He knew his fight here was not over, and it would likely not end well, but he was going to enjoy his last hours in nominal command of the New Hebrides Command while he could.

For his part, Hara now had a sighting report out of Luganville that informed him of Halsey’s rapid approach. Four enemy fleet carriers had been spotted, the new ships that had so bedeviled Nagumo’s 1st Carrier Division. He briefly considered whether he should remain on station and confront them, then remembered Admiral Yamamoto’s eyes as he asked him that last question. “Kong… now I put what is left of the fleet in your hands. Be cautious, but realize also that we must kill our enemy, not merely dissuade him from engaging us. Yet we cannot afford more losses. Can you do this? Can you win without losing?”

Hara made his decision. He had already won. Now he would make sure that he would not lose. As soon as his planes were recovered, he gave the order to turn northeast, heading out into the wide deep blue of the Coral Sea under a near full moon. The following morning Halsey’s heavy carrier group would reach the vicinity of Efate, but find no enemy to strike.

Hara would meet the oiler Toho Maru in the Coral sea to refuel his thirsty destroyers before continuing on to Rabaul. It was one of the most skillful defensive actions of the entire war, for which Hara would receive the grateful thanks of Admiral Yamamoto. The Second Battle of the New Hebrides would be a resounding Japanese victory, putting enough damage on the American fleet to make up for the wounds sustained by Kaga and Soryu. Most of the pilots that saw the Wasp after it was stricken believed it could not survive such damage, but it did, if only for a while.

Sherman put most of his crew over the side picked up by the destroyers while Alwyn and Monaghan stood ASW watch. Yet they would soon be outfoxed by one of the most successful Japanese submarine commanders of the early war, Commander Matsumura aboard the I-21.

He had scored his first victory against the American oil tanker Montebello, sinking that ship just before Christmas off British Columbia. Returning to the South Pacific, the I-21 had the audacity to shell the town of Newcastle north of Sidney, then nailed the USS Porter off the Santa Cruz Islands, the SS Kalingo east of Sidney, pierced the SS Iron Knight’s armor near Twofold Bay, and finally sunk the Starr King Liberty Ship near Port Macquarie. Cdr Matsumura would go on to racked up 44,000 tons, and now he was going to add two more ships and another 21,000 tons by first putting a torpedo into the Destroyer Aylwin, and then putting three more into the Wasp, right under the noses of that ASW patrol. The Monaghan made a furious counterattack, putting a couple depth charges close enough to rattle the sub and cause a few leaks, but Matsumura smiled, knowing he would evade and live to fight again.

Wasp went down four hours later, and Halsey was incensed. Just as it seemed he had gotten the advantage on his enemy, the Japanese got up off the deck with this daring and skillful sortie by King Kong Hara. “Damn,” he said under his breath to Captain Duncan on the Essex. “We thought we had them beat, and then we stuck our hand right into the beehive. It’s no surprise we got stung, and losing the Wasp was the worst thing that could have happened today. I should have kept Spruance in tight with me, and I let him slip off north to screen the landings. Thank God Enterprise took nothing but a scratch on the chin.”

“Vicksburg is headed for Pearl,” said Duncan. “Ziggy had the two CVLs out for a test run and he linked up to escort that ship safely home. But the damage to Gettysburg was bad enough to get her looking for any port in a storm. She went to Suva Bay. As for Hansen’s group, he’s alive, but both of those scout carriers went down in Mele Bay off Efate. All four scout carriers are out of the game.”

“A damn shame,” said Halsey. “Hansen gave us the first taste of victory in this war. That action he fought against the French did as much for morale back home as Doolittle. Now then… these four Fleet Carriers are going to get even. I’m going to pound the French on Efate so hard their heads will spin, and then, for good measure, I’m going down to bust up Noumea. Let’s see if the Japanese want to do anything about it.”

Halsey would wear that growling frown for days after, particularly when that plaintive radio call Hansen sent out hit the newspapers. He was mad about it ever after, and he would do exactly what he claimed to Efate and Noumea.

Nimitz would say he got overconfident after driving off Yamamoto and beating up the enemy 1st Carrier division. “Look what they did,” he said later. “They just got those ships to safe harbor at Rabaul, then ponied up and came right back at us. You didn’t think they’d let us just take Efate without a fight, did you?”

“Well I gave them one,” said Halsey, disgruntled and ill at ease. “Look, I know this looks bad, but when I took those two fleet carriers of theirs out of active service, that was deck and hangar space for nearly 160 planes. Alright, Spruance lost the Wasp. He went in thinking this was probably light carriers sniping at the Vicksburg group. At least we saved both those ships.”

“Getty might be down for at least two months,” said Nimitz. “Vicksburg just a couple weeks. But with Wasp, we lost carrier capacity for at least 90 planes, two dozen more with Hansen’s group, and four dozen more on those escort carriers while they’re laid up. So there’s 160 planes we won’t be hauling to sea.”

“Then call it a draw,” said Halsey. “But just you let me get at them for a rematch. You’ll see.”

Halsey was going to get that fight, and sooner than he thought.

Chapter 21

He was a man that exuded confidence, with a quick mind, equally sharp sense of humor, and eyes that glittered when he spoke. Those same eyes, and a steadiness of hand and nerve, had made him a champion marksman with both the rifle and pistol from the early age of just 16. Ten years later he would step onto the battleship New Hampshire in 1914, and lead a company of US Marines ashore at Vera Cruz, and his men were not welcome, taking sniper fire almost immediately. He sat himself down with a rifle, surveyed the distant rooftops, and within five minutes he had dispatched three enemy snipers, clearing the way for his troops to advance. Six years later that same sharpshooting skill would see him take home five gold medals in the 1920 Olympics, but not once would any man ever hear him brag about them.

His boots seemed to stick to that battleship the first time he set foot on the New Hampshire, and soon he found himself working his way up the ranks, from destroyers to cruisers, until he landed as the Executive Officer of the battleship Pennsylvania. Now he could practice that straight shooting with those big 14-inch guns, and naval gunnery became his new love. So when Nimitz decided he wanted to move Fletcher back to help square away the new carriers scheduled to arrive at Pearl, he looked around for someone to take over his battleship squadron, and found the perfect man for the job.

Now a Vice Admiral and assistant to his Chief of Staff, the man he picked was Willis Augustus Lee, a descendant of the famous Confederate General Robert E. Lee. He had always loved the Pacific, and Asia and China were a personal fascination for him. So with a famous last name that sounded Chinese, the men came to simply call him “Ching.” Now he was planting his flag on the USS Washington, Battleship Division 6, one of the three fast battleships that had moved to Pago Pago in Mid-1942 to support operations in defense of the Fijis. Lee’s division was getting new orders that day, and a new member of the club as well.

The latest arrival, heaving to at Tongatapu, was the USS Indiana, a South Dakota Class battleship that would square off his division with the thunder of its nine 16-inch Guns. Ching had those two ships, along with North Carolina and Washington, a total of 36 big guns at his disposal. It would not be long before he would get the chance to use them.

It was MacArthur that started things, restless, demanding, impatient, still sitting in Brisbane reading about the war through typed message transcripts. Krueger was doing all the fighting on Fiji, and Big Mac had been pondering how and when to reinforce him, waiting on Halsey to clear out the waters around the islands and provide him with adequate cover. It was 1500 nautical miles from Brisbane to Suva by the most direct route, but that was cut right in the middle by the sword like island of New Caledonia. The Japanese outpost at Noumea was right at the half way mark, and with enemy planes based there, the convoy would have to detour well south, extending the sea journey to nearly 2000 nautical miles. Since many of the transports available to lift the division had a top speed of just 12 knots, that was at least a full week at sea.

MacArthur wasn’t happy. There were no more than a few destroyers and the cruiser Chester to serve as escorts, and he began bawling that the Navy was dropping the ball again. In justifiable anger, Halsey moved to a position midway between Efate and Noumea, and let both ports have it. The French battalions on Efate got a bruising, and then he ripped into the harbor at Noumea, shaking things up there so badly that Yamamoto ordered most of the idle transport and capital ships to move into the Coral Sea and attempt to avoid another such attack. Halsey could have stayed there and raised hell, effectively neutralizing Noumea with the remaining power of his carrier air wings, but MacArthur had other ideas.

“We ought to simply take the place,” he said. “We would be seven days at sea to move the 41st Division to Fiji, and I’m not entirely sure it will be needed there now. Krueger is pushing the Japanese very hard, so I still believe we should direct our next blow right at Noumea.”

“Well and good,” said Nimitz. “But we’re still fighting on Efate with the French, and the Japanese have been moving in more air power through Tulagi to Luganville on Espiritu Santo. They also landed troops on Ndeni at Malo Bay and took the airfield at Matamotu, so it’s clear they aren’t going to take our invasion at Efate lying down. They could mount a counterattack there at any time, which means Halsey has to keep carriers close by to cover them and prevent that. Now you suggest we mount an entirely new amphibious operation? We had planned to move that division to Suva on cargo ships at Brisbane, not APs. And there are still enemy planes at Noumea.”

“Halsey rattled them up a few days ago. Have him do that again. Don’t you see? He’s in the perfect position to cover my move to Noumea right now.”

“You realize we just got taken to the cleaners by the Kido Butai? We lost the Wasp, along with two small scout carriers. And both CVEs we had in theater are now heading pierside for repairs. That leaves us Halsey’s group, four fleet carriers, unless I move a couple more CVEs down from Pearl, and they’re still cutting their teeth in sea trials.”

“Well shouldn’t four fleet carriers be sufficient? The Japanese didn’t seem to want to hang around when Halsey moved on Efate. The Marines should finish up there in a few days. Now’s the time to move on Noumea. Why move the 41st Division 2000 miles to Suva when we can take Noumea with it instead? We’ve already cut it off with the landing at Efate, now it’s time for the main event. Its only 780 nautical miles from Brisbane to Noumea, just three days at sea. We’ve got the division loaded. Why not take it right to the enemy’s main support base. Once we take Noumea, they’ll have no choice but to abandon their position in the Fijis. They’ll be completely overextended.”

“True, but we could find ourselves in the same situation if we don’t plan this well. We’ll need to move Seabees, aviation support and supplies to Efate so we can get those airfields up and running. Trying to do that and also supply a full division on New Caledonia will tax the shipping we have available. We lost three good ships when the Japanese hit the landing site at Mele Bay.”

“Don’t tell me that we have to continue sitting on our thumbs in Brisbane with three divisions because the Navy can’t find adequate shipping.”

“Oh, we could find it,” said Nimitz. “But if we move too hastily it could all end up at the bottom of the Coral Sea.”

It went on like that between them for some time, MacArthur pressing for action, wanting to seize the day and knock out the main Japanese support base threatening Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. When he learned Vice Admiral Lee would now have four fast battleships, he was even more encouraged.

“Lee could stand off Noumea under Halsey’s air cover and pound the Japanese garrison to dust.”

“For a few days, then we’d have to pull them to replenish all that ammo. I need their flak defense for my carriers, so that creates another problem. And another thing—since when is the 41st Division trained to make an opposed landing assault from the sea? That’s work for our Marines.”

“Where are they then? Perhaps if you had left them on Viti Levu, we’d have the place by now.”

“1st Marine Division needed R&R, but we’ve still got them in the bullpen. In fact, we were planning to send another regiment to Efate along with those Seabees, and we’ve been looking over Luganville.”

“On Espiritu Santo? Why would you put good assault troops in there when we could take Noumea?”

“Because it puts a choke hold on the Japs in both that place and Fiji. It also gives us a perfect springboard into the Solomons.”

MacArthur shook his head. “You can’t be serious about that. You want to fight your way, one jungle ridden island after another through the Solomons? We could bypass the whole lot after we take Noumea, and then I could take back Port Moresby and start planning the push into New Britain. Rabaul is the key. After we take that, all their positions in the Solomons will fall like rotten fruit. It’s their main supply base, aside from Truk.”

“That’s what we believed, but HYPO has been picking up a hell of a lot of maritime traffic orders, with convoys all heading for the Bismarck Sea.”

“For Rabaul,” said MacArthur.

“Not exactly. The Japanese seem to be going all out to build up a base on the Admiralty Islands—Manus Island to be exact about it. There’s a fine bay at the eastern end near Lombrum, and HYPO picked out an association to the code word Momote. The island fish hooks back west to frame a good bay that can serve as an excellent anchorage. They’re already building a big airfield there.”

“Well I can’t do anything about it at the moment. That’s a little far, even for the few B-17s I still have left. Besides, with Rabaul they really don’t need another base in the Admiralty Islands.”

“We think they have a mind to use that as backup—just in case some crazy old General plans to run them out of Rabaul. From Momote they can hit all of New Britain, and a good segment of the coast of Papua New Guinea, from Wewak in the north and all the way to Finschafen. They already have a good field ay Kavieng on New Ireland, and we’ve also picked up some convoy traffic headed for Gasmata on New Britain.”

“Yes, yes, but that campaign is months away.”

“The point I’m trying to make is this—they’ve building a steel wall around the Bismarck Sea. New Britain is the real inner keep of their defense. Port Moresby is just an outlying outpost. They wanted that to get bombers in there and close the Torres Strait—part of their plan to isolate northern Australia.”

“They won’t move on Darwin,” said MacArthur. I can hold northern Australia against anything they might dare to send over. No, they’ve put most of everything they have into Viti Levu in the Fijis. That’s what makes it imperative that we cut that all off, and Noumea is the real support base, not Efate.”

“And after that?”

“Like I said earlier—Port Morseby, and a strong reinforcement for Milne Bay. Then we can knock out their airfields at Lae and other sites on New Guinea, and plan the jump to New Britain.”

“Now you know why they’re building up in the Admiralty Islands. General, do you still propose to fight your way all along the coast of New Guinea?”

“It’s the most direct route back to the Philippines, and from there to Formosa. That campaign cuts off all their occupied territory in the Dutch East Indies, and even isolates Singapore, Malaya, and French Indochina.”

“Yes, but with the bulk of all the Japanese Southern Army in your way. That’s a long, hard slog, any way you look at it. They’ll fight hard for New Guinea, and harder for the Philippines.”

“Admiral, do you still propose to bypass those objectives and go island hopping?”

“From the Gilberts to the Marshalls to the Marianas. They only have a few significant bases we’d need to take, Tarawa, Eniwetok, Peleliu, Saipan and Guam. Once we get that last one back, we’ve also cut everything off, including the Philippines. The idea is to get airfields on those islands so we can start bombing the hell out of them in Tokyo. Jimmy Doolittle was just ringing the doorbell. Soon we’ll have a bomber with much better range and hitting power than your B-17s. That’s what will win this war. Besides, suppose you do spend the next year or two fighting your way to Formosa. That puts you 1300 to 1500 miles from the heartland of Japan. General, we already have an opportunity to set up shop that close to Japan.”

“Where? Guam? Saipan? It could take you a year or more to get there too.”

“No, we already have the place—at least our Ally to the north says so—Sakhalin Island. This Karpov fellow has the whole northern half of the island, and as close to Tokyo as you would be two years from now on Formosa.”

MacArthur took a long drag on his pipe. “Sakhalin Island.” He made a dismissible move of his head. “It’s socked in by low clouds and bad weather 70 percent of the time, and frozen solid right now.”

“But it will thaw. This new bomber will be an all-weather capable aircraft, or so I’m told.”

“Admiral, here we’ve gone and laid out alternate plans for the whole damn war. We can’t look that far ahead, and need to focus on what is right under our noses—Noumea. That’s the place to start. I intend to go directly to the Joint Chief’s with this, even to the President if I have to.”

“I expect that’s where things will end up,” said Nimitz. “Look, I have no objection to running your plan through those channels. I’ll raise it with King when I get back to Pearl, and he can take it right to Marshall.”

“And while the two of them sit around jaw boning about it like we are, the Japanese will be busy reinforcing all these positions in the New Hebrides and New Caledonia. We caught them by surprise on Efate. They didn’t expect we would go on the offensive this soon. right now they only have a single regiment on New Caledonia, and we have a chance to take the place by storm. To answer your earlier question, I’ve had the 41st Division training to make an assault like this for the last six months. They’re ready. Now’s the time—at Noumea.”

As would happen more than once in the war, MacArthur would get his way, and the Navy would suffer the consequences. Now, instead of moving north to cover Efate and pound Luganville, Halsey would have to move south to look after those transports out of Brisbane. He let Nimitz know what he thought in no uncertain terms.

“Here I am, right in the middle of a fight with the bully on the block, and someone taps my shoulder and says I have to run off and rescue my sister! This is just plain stupid. We don’t even have Fiji cleared yet. We ought to finish one thing before we do another, particularly after losing all those flight decks a few days ago like we did.”

“It’s MacArthur,” said Nimitz. “King agreed with you, but Mac went right over his head to the President, and flat out demanded that his operation be given the go ahead. You know what he actually said? ‘If you want me to lead, then someone had better damn well follow.’ Can you believe that?”

“Alright,” said Halsey. “I was going to stay north of Noumea, but now I’ll have to take TF-11 south. If I do go, I’ll want the big boys with me. Those fast battleships are good in tight with my carriers. Who’s riding the stallions this time?”

“With Fletcher moved to Pearl, I was thinking of turning them over to Lee. Indiana is arriving at Tongatapu to square off that battleship division.”

“Misery loves company,” said Halsey. “Bring Lee in, but I’ll still want him on a leash as I move south. Something tells me things will get worse before they get better in all of this. I just wish MacArthur wasn’t calling the tune, because I’m the one who’s got to be out there on the dance floor.”

“Pick a rose for your partner,” said Nimitz, “then hold on tight, thorns and all.”

“Yeah? Well, ROSE was the code name for Efate, and it may end up becoming a black rose if we don’t look after it. This business has us working at cross purposes. What’s the code name for Noumea?”

“WHITE POPPY,” said Nimitz.

The irony of that was not lost on either of them, for they already had that rose in hand, and MacArthur wanted something else.