Sea of Fire

Chapter 19

Warrant Flying Officer Nobuo Fujita had been a very busy man of late, rightfully claiming the undisputed title of Kantai no me, the ‘Eyes of the Fleet.’ He was first called ‘the other Fujita,’ though he was no relation to the now famous Mitsuo Fujita who led the attack at Pearl Harbor. Nobuo had been in on that operation, assigned as the float plane pilot for the submarine I-25, though he had been disappointed when his plane failed to start on the eve of that momentous day. So only one Fujita claimed any laurels on the opening day of the war, but the other Fujita had been feverishly busy ever since, as if he was out to write his name in the history of these events, come what may.

The I-25 was a curious boat, with a canopy that enclosed a watertight “hangar” of sorts just forward of the conning tower. It was just big enough to house a slightly disassembled Yokosuka E14Y float plane, which was mainly used at night for search and reconnaissance operations. The sub would lurk submerged by day, creeping about at the sedate speed of eight or nine knots, but after sunset, it could surface and speed off at up to 23 knots to perform its primary role as a fleet scouting unit.

After the disappointment of Pearl Harbor, the sub tussled with shipping off the coast of Oregon before returning to Kwajalein. Then, on its second wartime patrol, it was sent to the deep South Pacific to take a look at the buildup that might be underway in Allied controlled ports. Fujita had brazenly scouted Sidney, Melbourne, Hobart, and then I-25 cruised over to have a look at New Zealand. There he carefully noted the buildup of troops arriving at Wellington and Aukland, some of the first ports to receive the new arrivals from the United States. Word then came that one final stop was to be added to the mission—Fiji.

Out on the exposed deck just after sunset, he worked with two other men to quickly get the wings mounted properly, and check the undercarriage. The engine had been running smoothly in all these recon operations, and he had every hope that his mission over Suva Bay would be routine. At that time, Fujita did not know of the big operation planned for Fiji. The stratospheric clouds of high level strategy seldom rained on his pay grade. He was simply out to conduct one of his stealthy night recon sweeps, and see what the Allies might have cooking in the harbor there.

What he saw instead that night came as quite an unexpected surprise. He had been drifting through a roll of low clouds, emerging over a wide swath of moonlit water, when he clearly saw the dark shapes of ships off his three o’clock heading. And these were not just any ships, the long flat decks and characteristic island superstructures immediately told him they were aircraft carriers—two of them, surrounded by several cruiser class ships and a gaggle of destroyers.

Nobuo Fujita had just spotted TF-11 under Admiral Fletcher, and the two carriers he was eyeing were the Yorktown and Saratoga. The latter was not yet present in Fedorov’s history. Its sister ship, the Lexington, would have taken this watch, but that ship was already deep in Davey Jones Locker. Fletcher had come in with the Yorktown as TF-17, and Saratoga was in TF-11, but now, after refueling from tankers on site, both TFs were about to unite into one battlegroup—Taffy 11.

Fujita got quite an eyeful that night, lingering just long enough to take careful note of probable ship types. He counted two carriers, at least seven cruisers, and eight destroyers before sliding away into those clouds, grateful they were there to mask his retreat to the I-25. The signal he would sent out that day would bounce from that sub, to the 4th Fleet Headquarters in Rabaul, and then to Combined Fleet Headquarters in Truk. The American carriers had been found, and Fujita had the first real feather of the war in his cap as he walked in his namesake’s shadow.

He would later do one more thing that would get him some ink in the ledger of these events. Operating off the US coast in a later patrol, Fujita would fly deep into the Cascades of Oregon, and drop a pair of incendiary bombs with the intention of starting a forest fire. That plan would fail, though the bombing raid itself would be the first, and perhaps the last aerial raid ever mounted on the Continental United States during the war. That distinction would go to Nobuo Fujita, but in the overall scheme of things, the sighting he had just made would weigh far heavier on the scales of time and fate, and for a very odd reason. A Warrant Officer on a sub that had been at sea for over a month might be one of the last people in the long chain of command to get notice of things like the order to move to Naval Code Book C, effective April 10, 1942. They didn’t have a copy of that new book yet on the I-25, so the signal Fujita would send went out using the old code, Book B.

It was a full 48 hours later before Yamamoto actually was informed of the sighting. Admiral Ugaki came in, somewhat breathless from the long climb up four decks into Yamato’s high conning section. The fleet had been assembling at Truk, with Carrier Division 5 reporting three days ago, refueling, and then immediately putting out to sea again for the first phase of the operation. Today the arrival of the newly refitted Akagi would complete the strike forces available in theater. Kaga was still back in Japan, her damage heavier than the minor hit on the Akagi, so that ship would sit the battle out in the shipyards. Tosa was to have also joined the fleet at Truk, but Admiral Nagano had been worried about the Siberians, so it was retained in home waters as well. This left four fleet carriers, and three more lighter escort carriers available for Operation FS.

“Admiral, we have a sighting report off submarine I-25. The American carriers have been spotted south of Fiji!”

Yamamoto looked up from his desk, clearly interested. “How many carriers?”

“Two definite, with a strong escort of cruisers and destroyers. It was a night sighting, so there was no word as to ship ID on the carriers.”

“That does not matter. When was the sighting made?”

“I’m afraid that’s the problem. The report is already nearly 48 hours old. It was sent from the I-25 using Code Book B, but someone had the presence of mind to find and use Book C at Rabaul when they passed it on here.”

Yamamoto considered that. “Even at only 18 knots,” he said, “this task force could be over 800 nautical miles from the reported sighting location. And while it is understandable that our submarine might not yet have the updated code books, the fact that this signal was sent in a version we know has been compromised also presents a problem. The Americans may have intercepted it, and in that case, they would know we spotted them.”

“Perhaps they are forming to oppose Operation MO,” said Ugaki.” That was Phase One of the overall Operation FS, the Port Moresby Operation. “If there is any part of our planning they might be privy to, it would be this opening move towards Port Moresby.”

“In that case,” said Yamamoto, “these carriers could have moved 800 miles west by now, right into the Coral Sea. It will be necessary to make certain Admiral Inoue has alerted Carrier Division 5. They should be entering the Coral Sea as we speak.”

“They will be more than capable of handling the situation,” said Ugaki.

“Perhaps, but here we sit with the FS Invasion group, and the newest addition to our fleet out there in the lagoon. It was my hope that Takami would be present for any engagement with the Americans. Then we might actually see if this ship can do all that it promises.”

“The Sakaguchi Detachment is ready to board transports for Noumea. We could take the fleet out in support of that mission, and it might get us into this fight,” said Ugaki, an eager light in his eye. “After we deliver our charge to Noumea, we would also be in a good position to move north when 48th Division is formed up and ready to move on Fiji. Hopefully, this business in the Coral Sea will have concluded before that, and we can proceed with the main operation.”

Yamamoto nodded, but he was not so confident. It was as if he could feel the impending shadow that fell on Japanese Naval operations at this time. The brief hour he had spent in that library aboard Takami had been very sobering.

We wanted Port Moresby, and they stopped us, he thought. I wanted Midway, and they crushed us there. We wanted Tulagi and Guadalcanal, and they took hold of us by the throat and did not let go until our breath was cut off and the last starving remnants of our forces there made that ignominious withdrawal. Three battles, three defeats, not to mention the little incident at Milne Bay, where we were stopped yet again, this time by the Australians.

Up until now, we have been virtually invincible. Yet this battle that could soon be joined in the Coral Sea begins to take on the eerie tinge of that shadow. Carrier Division 5 is alone to face two American Carriers.

“Don’t you see what is happening here?” he said with an edge of warning. “This is the battle that truculent officer spoke of in the Coral Sea. Here I sit with Akagi, and Soryu, ready to cover the movement of our support convoy to Noumea, but too far north to get into this fight. Zuiho, and Shoho are in the Shortlands supporting the Tulagi Operation, and then they were to stand as close support for the MO operation. Ryujo will be sent towards Midway as part of the ruse we have planned. Where might the other American carriers be now? This Lieutenant Commander Fukada tells me they will be no closer than Midway, at least according to what he knows.”

“Yet can I trust the shadows of these events as they were written up in those books? They have already told me things here are different from the history they claim to know. How very strange all this is now. I have decided there will be no battle of Midway this spring. So what does that mean for the remainder of the history chronicled in that library. It becomes no more than a fiction, while I sit here, about to rewrite all the events yet to come in this war. How very strange….”

“That sighting report is very stale and, if it was intercepted, the Americans will be aware that they have been located. So where would they go? That will depend on how much they really know about our operational planning. Something tells me they know about Operation MO, but do they also know of our planned move against Fiji? Our planned reinforcement of Noumea? Both operations would seem easy enough to predict.”

“There is one other thing,” said Ugaki. “Due to the presence of those carriers, the seaplane off I-25 was unable to proceed to Suva Bay as planned. So we do not have a current update on the enemy strength there. Therefore, the Army believes it is advisable to move at least two regiments of the 48th Division to Fiji in the first wave instead of only one.”

“Are they ready at Rabaul?”

“Abe’s 47th Regiment and Tanaka’s 2nd Formosa Regiment are already there. It is only a question of arranging shipping, as the transports that delivered Tanaka must return to Java for the 1st Formosa Regiment. We will have enough at Rabaul to lift one regiment as planned. The Abe detachment was scheduled to board tonight. However, I must communicate with 17th Army Headquarters to see what the requirements are to lift a second regiment.”

Yamamoto scratched his eyebrow, breathing deeply. “This operation is scheduled to begin tomorrow, and suddenly the Army changes its mind, and here we are scrambling for adequate shipping.”

“The losses off Java contributed to that,” said Ugaki. “Over a dozen transports were lost in the eruption and subsequent tsunami. We are moving additional shipping down from the Philippines, but it will take a few days. Considering that, I have an alternate plan. Should there be any delay in getting additional shipping to Rabaul, we can merely substitute the Sakaguchi detachment for that second regiment. It is here in Truk, and already scheduled for the run to Noumea. Then, as shipping becomes available, the Tanaka Detachment of the 48th Division can go to Noumea in place of Sakaguchi’s troops.”

“Will the Army agree to that?”

“This is what I will discuss with 17th Army Headquarters.”

“All these plans,” said Yamamoto. “We string them out like webs, but where is the spider I-25 spotted nearly two days ago? Soon we will have the bulk of all our available troops in theater at sea, and we do not know where those two carriers went, or even if they might remain in the waters near Fiji. If so, then we may wish to combine both 2nd and 5th Carrier Divisions before we move east.”

“A wise precaution,” said Ugaki.

“But yet we do not know if 5th Carrier Division might be engaged if the Americans do challenge Operation MO.”

“Sir, we have Takami. If their claims can be believed, then their radar and sonar should be able to locate these enemy carriers if they remain anywhere near the Fiji Islands. In my judgment, it should be safe to proceed to Fiji with the 2nd Carrier Division alone.”

“One minute you tell me it would be wise to combine our fleet carrier divisions. in the next you tell me we should leave them operating as separate groups. Admiral, which is it?”

“That is a question I might best answer in another 48 hours. By that time, the MO operation will be well underway. If the Americans have moved west to attempt to oppose us there, we should know that soon. And sir, if that is the case, then we could cover the Fiji invasion transports with a close support group build around Zuiho and Shoho in the Shortlands. That would leave our 2nd Carrier Division free to swing south behind the American carriers.”

“I see you have considered every eventuality,” said Yamamoto, “but battle has a way of creating circumstances that may not be easily remedied. Very well, if the Army agrees, then we will order the Sakaguchi Regiment to board transports tonight as well. It will support the Fiji landings as you suggest, and Tanaka’s troops can reinforce Noumea later.”

Ugaki proffered a shallow bow, and was off to see to his business with the 17th Army. Yet the unsettled nature of all these last minute developments left Yamamoto feeling a thrum of anxiety. That shadow… the loss of nerve in the attempt to take Port Moresby… that unexpected defeat of not two, but all four fleet carriers I might have sent to attack Midway…. Will the Americans take the bait we have cast into the sea regarding that objective? Where are the rest of their carriers? And what about Guadalcanal? According to those books, that is where the Americans will strike us first. Can I believe that, or is this history destined to spin off in another direction? My decisions may have everything to do with answering that, but here I sit, with knowledge that I might never have had otherwise, and I can see now that it acts as much as a poison in the brew of my deliberations as anything else.

That officer on the Takami made it all sound so certain. He would simply destroy the American carrier aircraft, and that would be that. But to do that we must first find those carriers, not only the two birds we had in hand a few days ago, but also the remainder of their mobile forces. How quickly could they turn them around and get them back out to sea? This is where our ruse in putting out all that radio traffic concerning Midway may be the key factor. If they believe it, then those remaining carriers might stay well out in the Central Pacific. In that instance, the Coral Sea is ours.

Chapter 20

Nobuo Fujita had discovered a glittering prize beneath him on the night of April 4th, 1942, but what he had failed to see was the rapid buildup of Allied forces on the primary objective of Yamamoto’s plan. All through the early months of the war, beginning with the Pensacola Convoy, there had been a steady flow of troopships and convoys departing from New York, San Francisco and San Diego. Ships like the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Monterey, Hammondsport, and Matsonia brought elements of the 32nd and 23rd Divisions, along with coastal defense battalions, AA regiments, and pursuit squadrons with crated P-39 and P-40 fighters.

Fiji was the closest friendly port to Australia, presently garrisoned by two Brigades of infantry from New Zealand, and a battalion of Fiji Commandos raised from native troops. These troops had been busy improving defenses, port facilities and extending runways on the airfields to accommodate the new tenants soon to arrive from America. The Pensacola Convoy was the first, diverted there briefly before continuing on to Australia. The next major force to come would have been designated “Poppy Force,” as Poppy was the US codename for New Caledonia. It would have carried elements that became the “Americal Division,” as that name was created by calling the unit the “American New Caledonian Division,” where it was to be posted. But in this telling of events, those troops were now being called Fantan Force, as this was the US codename for “Fortress Fiji.”

Fantan Force would see the delivery of the 132nd, 164th and 182nd Infantry Regiments, along with a patchwork of other artillery, engineer and AA units, all under the command of Brigadier General Alexander M. Patch. This odd basket of forces was soon quilted together to form a division that would get a new nickname this time around, the “Pacifica Division,” but among army regulars on the scene the unit was simply called “Patch Force.”

It was a haphazard affair, with units originating in different ports, and some showing up at the wharves without properly crating their heavy equipment. Clueless stevedores stared slack jawed at an AA regiment that arrived with all its weapons mounted and being towed by trucks. No one had told them it all had to be crated, and even if it had been, the fine art of combat loading had not yet dawned in the minds of the inexperienced cargo handling crews. So the ships would be loaded in a real jumble of crates and bins, and it was sheer chance if a unit would arrive to find any of its heavy weapons available upon landing. This was going to hamper unit effectiveness, but the sheer mass of men and equipment arriving at Suva Bay would be something the enemy had not anticipated.

The Japanese Army planners had been wise to double down on the first wave of their planned invasion of Fiji, because they were going to face some very steep odds. Even though Patch Force would be a relatively green force, fresh off the boat, it would be a full division, strongly reinforcing the two Kiwi Brigades already on the island. Those troops were scheduled to go home, but as fate would have it, the shipping was not available to move them this early. So the Japanese troops assigned to Operation FS would be outnumbered nearly three to one.

Marine units had also been assigned for Fiji, but they had been diverted to American Samoa. There, on the island of Tutuila, the US possessed one of the largest natural harbors in the Pacific at Pago Pago, which was a collapsed volcanic caldera surrounded by steep ridges that rose to lofty peaks, which the US service troops called the “Rainmaker Mountains.” The first Marine units were settling in, a Raider Battalion and a specially trained Parachute Battalion. They were awaiting stronger forces from the US, which would include the entire 1st Marine Division, four regiments strong, and reinforced by an additional regiment of the 2nd Marine Division.

Far from being a hastily mounted defensive unit to garrison these valuable island outposts, the Marines would become America’s shock troops, there to spearhead planned counteroffensives that were already being spawned in the minds of Nimitz and MacArthur. When they did come, the transports would see them loaded for bear, and planning to mount an immediate amphibious offensive. That had happened in August of 1942 in the old history, and it remained to be seen whether Vandegrift’s Marines would play a part in the drama that was about to unfold.

In Fedorov’s history, they had shipped out of Oakland on the West Coast, all bound for New Zealand, with the exception of the 7th Regiment, which would go to Pago Pago. Once in those ports, they would off load, then reload for combat operations before sailing to Fiji to rendezvous with other division elements arriving from different local ports. Yet the entire sector around Fiji was soon about to become an active combat zone, so these plans would all be drastically affected. Operation FS was going to place powerful Japanese naval forces right astride all the shipping lanes the Allies used to prepare for their first offensive operations. Instead, they were about to be thrown onto the defense in the final act of Japan’s whirlwind offensive to the south.

Yamamoto’s deliberations were very well considered, but the ruse the Japanese had planned regarding Midway would end up causing them trouble. Convinced that they had identified Midway with the code handle A.F., the Americans took the threat very seriously.

With the Halsey group just back from the Doolittle Raid, this meant they now had every reason to quickly replenish and sortie those carriers for possible action near Midway—and this is what they did. Nimitz told Halsey that he was convinced the information coming out of HYPO was accurate.

“We’ve got them by the scruff of the neck now,” he said. “So you get Enterprise and Hornet turned around and out to sea as soon as possible. Midway will be scouring the seas with every search plane we can give them.”

“What about the Coral Sea Operation?” Halsey had also been briefed on the other intelligence they had concerning a planned enemy invasion of Port Moresby.”

“Fletcher had Saratoga and Yorktown south of Fiji two days ago,” said Nimitz. The snowy haired Admiral seemed tired, as though he had been up through many long nights of late, but there was still the light of battle in his eyes. “To be honest, I strongly considered reining Fletcher in and keeping him posted right there near Fiji. Port Moresby is just to exposed. The Japanese have the entire north east coast of New Guinea, and they’ve moved fighters to Lae. They can hit Moresby from Rabaul with their bombers, and the damn place is effectively deep in the enemy camp. The Bismarck Archipelago and their airfields make that approach impossible, and now that they’ve moved into the Solomons, it’s as if they have a big wall built around the Coral sea.”

“Aw hell,” said Halsey in no uncertain terms. “It may look that way on a map, but that wall is paper thin. The same goes for their positions in the Marshalls and Gilberts. They moved in a few garrison companies, but there’s no significant air presence there now. All they have in the New Hebrides is Noumea, and for my money I’d sent Fletcher in to bust that place up.”

“Well,” said Nimitz. “Like I said, I almost pulled his chain, but I changed my mind. Moresby is too damn valuable to just let the Japs come in and take the place. If they do that, then getting up around Cape York to Darwin will be a very hazardous journey. That would mean Darwin might only be reached by sea from Perth, and even those convoys could be interdicted if the enemy builds up at Koepang on Timor. Otherwise, it’s a pretty long haul across the outback to get anything to Darwin by land. So I sent Fletcher west two days ago, though I told him to give Noumea a pass. I want to keep this movement under wraps for as long as possible.”

“Good enough,” said Halsey. “Then you damn well won’t want me sitting on my thumbs up near Midway. I say we get serious here, and take it right to the other fellow—show them we can still fight. I want to take Enterprise and Hornet right through the Marshalls and say hello along the way.”

“You’ll be spotted for sure if you do that.”

“Exactly right. Look Admiral, they’ve got something cooking, and its bigger than this Operation MO against Moresby. Hell, I’m no code and cypher man, but I can smell it. You said yourself that they’re already moving into the Solomons. That’s just as important as Moresby. If we let them get dug in there, and get airfields up and running, then that wall you spoke of earlier toughens up considerably. For now, I could punch right through it on my way to the Solomon Sea, and I’ll knock a few heads together in the Marshalls before I get there.”

“Don’t forget Truk,” Nimitz warned. “HYPO says they have good confidence that a fourth carrier slipped in there four days ago from Japan—the Akagi. That was Nagumo’s flag when they hit us at Pearl.”

“I’ve made the acquaintance,” said Halsey sourly. “So all the better. It’s time we settled the score for Pearl. I say we go right after them—sail right through their turf and raise hell. Sure, they’ll know we’re coming, and if they want to do anything about it, then bring it on.”

Nimitz gave him a long look. He had already turned Fletcher loose with orders to get up to Moresby and hit the enemy any way he could. Now he had Halsey here, chafing at the bit to get into the fight. It was going to be dangerous—risky. His carriers would be operating independently, well out of supporting range of one another. Yet if Halsey was quick enough, the two groups would be like the horns of a bull, Fletcher in the south, Halsey coming right through the Solomons, and both converging on the heart of this Operation MO.

“What if HYPO is correct and those carriers at Truk left for Midway yesterday?” He gave Halsey a searching look.

“Unless they swing well west of Wake Island I’ll find the bastards on my way to the Marshalls.”

“That’s what I’m worried about. We know they had the 5th Carrier Division at Truk last week. Now they’ve added two more fleet carriers. You know how they like to operate. They hit us with everything they had at Pearl, so what if you run into all four of those enemy carriers. You’d be outnumbered two to one.”

“Hell that doesn’t mean a thing. I was outnumbered three to one at Pearl and I still went after them there.”

“And we lost Lexington…” Nimitz didn’t mean for that to come out as it did, and he was quick to say so. “Look Bull, you did what you could at Pearl, and thank god we hurt them too—put two of their carriers in dry-dock, and that counted for a lot. But we can’t trade the Japs carrier for carrier now—not yet. I’ve had to move mountains to get hold of the Wasp and it’s due in at Pearl today.”

“Good,” said Halsey. “Sent it to Midway—and send me to shake things up down there, because those flattops could have just as easily moved south from Truk. We have no hard evidence aside from signals traffic that they’re coming for Midway.”

“HYPO says they got a good signal decode on orders for one of their light carriers to head that way—Ryujo. It could be the tip of the spear.”

“All the more reason to turn me loose. Let me get down there and see what they really have cooking.”

“And if they do swing around Wake and come at Midway from the northwest?”

“Admiral, there’s a rudder on every one of my ships out there. You tell me Yamamoto is heading for Midway and I’ll turn on a dime. With Wasp in the equation the odds will look just a good deal better, won’t they. But until we know more than this business concerning A.F., I think we should take the initiative. You sent Fletcher—now send me.”

“Alright,” said Nimitz. “Have at ‘em. What do you propose?”

“I’m going to ring the doorbell in the Marshalls—take the fight to them before they can do the same to us. If they are heading east, then it’s because they want to mix it up with our carriers. Midway does them very little good, and we’ve made the place a pretty tough nut to crack out there. I say let them come. I’ll hit their bases in the Marshalls, and that includes Kwajalein, and from their I’ll be in a perfect position to either hit Truk or swing down into the Solomons and bust up that seaplane base they’re setting up at Tulagi. I plan on moving fast, and hitting hard. Woe betide anyone who sticks his nose in my business.”

Nimitz smiled. “Admiral,” he said with a grin. “You’ve got your marching orders. We’ll be in contact when you get down south and see if we can coordinate with Fletcher. Until then, you do exactly what you just said—and hit them hard.”

Halsey nodded. “What are you going to tell the boys over at HYPO?”

“That I sent you out to look for a fresh water condenser.” Nimitz smiled.

Halsey would not fail to make good on his boast. He had Enterprise and Hornet riled up and running southwest that very day, the crews still exuberant from their daring Doolittle Raid. Now they were out to hit the enemy again, this time in the Marshalls. The Japanese had put out tentative feelers there from their primary base at Kwajalein, and sent small garrisons to Wotje, Maloelap, and Eniwetok, and they were also looking over Tarawa atoll. Halsey intended to visit a few of these island outposts and ‘ring the doorbell’ as he had put it to Nimitz, while giving his pilots and planes a tune-up in the process.

The first island to feel his bite was Wotje, which was bombed and strafed, shaking up the small detachment there and setting back their plans for an airstrip considerably. But Yamamoto had a sixth sense about the Americans. He wasn’t sure that they would believe the Midway ruse, and knew that they had been making a determined effort to move troops and supplies to Australia and other nearby bases. So he ordered a pair of watchdogs to move east from Truk to sniff out the main enemy line of communications. The small hybrid scout carriers Gozo and Mezu were tagged for the job, and they were now sailing right into the thick of the storm Halsey was bringing, his eyes dark and hard beneath those heavy bristling brows, his ceaseless energy driving hard through a light grey rain in the early morning hours of April 8th, 1942.

Chapter 21

While Nimitz and Halsey were steeling up for action, the Japanese offensive was already in motion. The 144th Regiment, now designated the South Seas Detachment, had boarded transports at a very busy and crowded harbor at Rabaul. Soon they were out into St George’s Channel and around Cape Gazelle, heading for the Solomon Sea, but they were about to meet unexpected company. The Japanese had sent a group of four destroyers ahead of the invasion group to sweep that channel, but they missed something, an undetected US Submarine, S-47, lying in wait to make a bold attack.

The boat was on station, operating out of Brisbane with SubDiv 53, and a little earlier than the old history. In that story, she had trouble with a faulty firing circuit on her number four tube, passed some tense moments being hunted by destroyers and minesweepers, got off a plaintive shot at a lone transport, which rubbed salt in the wound after it missed. The steamer simply turned about and came right at the sub, forcing the boat to dive deep. By the time they got back up to have a look around, the transport had run off, leaving a frustrated Captain and crew, with no hits, and no laurels on their first wartime patrol.

Things would be different this time around, and strangely so. S-47 had been missed in the ASW sweep, and there, right before her hungry nose, came a line of doddering transports. Four torpedoes were fired in a nice spread, and as fate would have it, the number four fish would strike home. The firing circuit had stubbornly refused to fail in this history, and that tiny little component in an old sub laid down in 1921, was going to open the hostilities and draw first blood.

It was the troop transport Aso Maru that was in the line of fate that day, and the troops she was carrying were a rather elite bunch, the Kure 4th SNLF Battalion, assigned to make the first shock attack over the beaches at Port Moresby. They were going to be very late. That number four torpedo blasted into the side of the transport, and within minutes she was shipping water and foundering in the grey dawn. The escorting destroyers were quick on the scene, but old S-47 had taken her bite, and dove deep to lie low. By the time the boat surfaced again, the rest of the convoy had moved on, but Aso Maru wasn’t going to make it to Port Moresby, diverting to Gasmata instead, with a chance the hapless ship might not even make that port safely.

Captain James White Davis could see the oil slick, a tempting path to follow to see if he might finish off his prey. But he could also see the smoke from destroyer stacks on that same horizon, and being a careful man, he elected to continue his hunt elsewhere. The finicky circuit was going to matter in spite of that, for the 4th Kure SNLF would not make it to the invasion site. Word was quickly sent to Rabaul that they were trying to reach Gasmata, but there would be no transport there for the unit to continue the operation. So the Japanese were quickly casting off lines on two more transports, with orders to get to Rabaul with all speed.

Once the convoy rounded the cape near Milne bay and entered the Coral Sea, the Japanese plan called for the Nells based at Rabaul to shed their normal torpedo armament and take on bombs to get out after the airstrip at Port Moresby. The light carriers Zuiho and Shoho would also move in to assume their close air support role, the aim being to prevent any use of that field for Allied aircraft to molest the invasion force. Major General Horii of the South Seas Detachment was already missing his naval shock troops for the planned landing, and now he was quickly briefing his officers to prepare for the attack.

The Japanese had little to fear from Allied air power at Port Moresby. There were just a few Wirraway fighters there, waiting to take a regular pounding with a morning raid by those Nells, and then an afternoon follow-up off the two light carriers. The name of the fighter came from an Aboriginal word that meant ‘Challenge’, but there was little the Wirraways could do when the A6-M2 Zeros showed up. It was basically good for an all purpose trainer, but had no business in a fight with the nimble and deadly Japanese fighters. It was even outclassed by the older A5-M1 Claudes flying off Zuiho, and that was a fairly fitting condemnation.

When dawn came on the 8th of April, the Japanese would see their invasion convoy floating paravanes off the coral reefs of Port Moresby, something that had never happened in Fedorov’s history books. Fletcher had been steaming west around Noumea, wary of the Japanese air squadrons posted there, and he was not going to reach the scene of the battle in time to stumble into what was once chronicled as the first Carrier to carrier duel of the war—the Battle of the Coral Sea. In this history, carriers had already fought each other near the Hawaiian Islands, and a second time in the New Hebrides. Coral Sea would not be fought as it once was, but better late than never, Fletcher was still on his way—and so was Bull Halsey.

TF-16 had come barreling south into the Marianas, and true to his word, Halsey had stomped on the airfield at Wotje. He was about to mount a strike against Kwajalein when Scouting 6 reported what looked like a pair of small escort carriers south near Maloelap. They were, in fact, the two hybrid scout carriers, old converted cruisers with 8-inch guns forward and a small flight deck aft for one squadron of 12 planes.

The Japanese had chosen to put 12 Zeroes on the Gozo, and Mezu was following with 12 Kate Torpedo planes. Half of the fighters were up, and three of the B5Ns were out on patrol, but they were looking in the wrong direction. Ordered to scout the primary line of communications further east, that was what Captain Sujima on the Mezu was doing. Unfortunately, Halsey was well north of his position, approaching Rongelap in the Marshalls. Both Enterprise and Hornet had planes spotted and ready for action against the fledgling Japanese base at Maloelap when that sighting report came in: two carriers, one destroyer, course 090 East, 40 miles north of Maloelap.

That was all Wade McClusky needed to hear. The word “carriers” resonated with both danger and excitement, and the Enterprise Group was quick of the deck that morning, and heading south. The six fighters of GI-Choitai-Gozo would put up a brave fight, six zeroes against 15 Wildcats escorting that strike. Pilot Warrant Officers Matsumura and Murakami would each get a kill in the fighter dual, and Murakami would slide off to make a good pass at the incoming Dauntless Dive bomber group, putting one down for the count.

Donald Runyon of VF-6 got behind one Zero and drilled it, sending the plane down with a long arc of smoke, and Flight Leader Jimmy Grey of the “Shooting Stars” would get another. There were 26 SBDs still in formation with McClusky when they broke through a puffy white cloud and saw the two carriers below. Down they went, and in spite of some rather wild defensive maneuvers made by the ships, the bombs were going to find both flight decks that morning. With so little flak coming up from the scouting group, the approach to the target was smooth and clear. Gozo would take the worst of it, with no fewer than five bomb hits amidships, just as the flight crews had finished bringing up another Shotai of three fighters.

The planes were caught in the heat and fire of the bomb explosions, with one Zero blown to pieces, a white wing careening wildly along the flight deck and cutting down two deck crewmen who were too late to the deck well to escape. One of the bombs penetrated to the hangar deck, exploding there to set off a raging fire where the last three Zeroes were being fueled. It was that fire that sealed the ship’s fate, burning right through a buckled bulkhead and setting off the ready ammo magazine for the B-turret forward. That explosion blasted through to the main magazine, and Gozo simply blew up.

Aboard Mezu, only six B5Ns had managed to take off before the strike came in, and they had climbed to join the last four Zeroes off the Gozo. That formation of ten planes looked down on the thundering explosion that claimed the scout carrier’s life, and the pilots tightened their jaws. They could see the American dive bombers pull out and head northwest, and they followed that heading, hoping to find the enemy and take just revenge. What they found instead was Lieutenant Merrill Cook’s VF-8 off the Hornet flying CAP with 15 more Wildcats. Only three of the B5Ns would get anywhere near the targets, and no hits were scored. The remaining planes, five in all, diverted to Kwajalein.

As for Mezu, that scout carrier had also taken three hits, with very bad fires, and it was desperately steering for Maloelap to try and find an anchorage before it went down. Yamamoto had sent the two scouts out to look for enemy carriers, and now he knew exactly where they were, but at great cost. Carrier Division 1, with Akagi and Soryu, were well south, the primary covering force for the convoy bringing the Sakaguchi Detachment for the Fiji invasion. Yamamoto was there aboard the Yamato, and the battlecruiser Kirishima followed in the wake of that powerful ship. Cruisers Takao and Atago were up in front with five more destroyers in a wide escort fan.

Admiral Ugaki came in with the bad news. Gozo was gone, Mezu badly damaged, and the Americans were pounding the Marshalls. “We are not too far south,” he said excitedly. “We can still turn and engage.”

“And leave the invasion group uncovered?”

“Those carriers would have to come south to threaten that convoy, and to do so they would have to get past us first.”

“How many enemy carriers were sighted?”

“Only two, with a number of cruisers and destroyers. Admiral, if we do not turn, that task force could even pose a grave threat to our main base at Truk. We have only a single squadron of nine A6Ms, and they will not be able to adequately protect that anchorage. Musashi is just sitting there collecting staff reports and signals traffic, and consider we still have a number of merchant ships anchored, and valuable facilities that cannot be compromised.”

“Yet the Americans could simply withdraw east now. This report says the last remaining planes off Mezu diverted to Kwajalein. We will lose contact, and if we go north, they could swing down and find our invasion group.”

“Truk sir. That base could be severely damaged if we do not intervene.”

“Then you consider it more valuable than the troops we are escorting now?”

“I do, sir. We must not allow this American raiding group to proceed. It must be challenged, here and now. Isn’t that what we hoped to do in the naval component of the FS plan? We have found the American carriers, and now we must go and destroy them.”

It was a very difficult decision, for if the invasion group was found and attacked, it would seriously compromise the entire Fiji invasion plan. Operation FS would not have the forces required to prosecute that battle.

“Where is Carrier Division 5?” asked Yamamoto.

“The last report had them 60 miles west of Mundo in the Solomon Sea.”

“Hara has seen nothing of those remaining enemy carriers?”

“No sir.

“And the Abe Detachment?”

“It has reached the rendezvous point off Lakatoro in the New Hebrides.”

Yamamoto thought for a moment, then decided. “I do not think this American carrier group is going to bother Truk. It is clear, however, that our ruse regarding Midway was not entirely successful. This group may have been on watch there, but it has obviously moved into the Marshalls. I believe it will now come south in our wake, because that is where I intend to take this task force. We will fulfill our primary mission and continue to cover the Sakaguchi Detachment. Remember, we still have no firm report on the location of those carriers that were spotted near Fiji. Until I do have better information, it is my decision to move our two carrier divisions into supporting range of one another. Order Hara’s 5th Carrier Division to proceed to the rendezvous point. We will make that our destination as well.”

Yamamoto saw his Chief of Staff hesitate ever so briefly, then he bowed, knowing an order when he heard one. As one last consideration, Yamamoto spoke again.

“There are 27 A6M fighters at Lae, and I do not think they will be all needed there, as our troops have already made a successful landing at Port Moresby. They report no enemy air defenses there worth mentioning. So we will move another three Shotai, nine more A6M fighters from Rabaul to Truk immediately, and you may notify the base to assume a high level of preparedness. Rabaul may then pull a squadron from Lae to replace those fighters.”

Ugaki nodded, and the die was cast. It was a decision that would soon set off a naval duel that would now crackle and pop like a string of fireworks. For far to the south, Admiral Fletcher had another difficult decision to make. The Japanese had beaten him to Port Moresby. Troops were already on the beaches there, and a small ongoing duel was underway between local shore batteries and the 6-inch guns mounted on the transports. Two enemy ships had been hit, set afire, and looked to be total losses, but most of the landing force was already ashore. Now what?

“The Aussies have a small scout group out there waiting for us, sir,” said Captain Archibald Hugh Douglas on the Saratoga, where Fletcher had planted his flag.

“I don’t think we can keep that appointment,” said Fletcher disconsolately. He had been thinking the situation over. They had reports from Catalinas that spotted four Jap carriers near the Rossell Island Group in the Lower Solomons. Four Jap carriers! That report had not been confirmed, but it was clear the enemy was moving in that direction with their main body. The report was erroneous, a mix-up where two separate planes had each reported a pair of carriers, Hara’s 5th Carrier Division. Yet once those reports reached Suva, they got stitched together by an eager clerk into four carriers.

Two carriers or four, it was intelligence that Fletcher could not ignore. He already knew where Halsey was, and that he was now turning south towards the lower Solomons with the intention of destroying the new enemy seaplane base at Tulagi.

“I think we have to turn,” said Fletcher. “We’re still two days from being any help to Port Moresby, but if I turn north by northeast now, I can move to effect a conjunction with Halsey, and between the two of us, we’ll have those four carriers in a vise.”

“Assuming they don’t have us for lunch first,” said Captain Douglas.

“I know,” said Fletcher. “It’s a risk. They’ll have interior lines and could turn one way or another and gang up on either side of our pincer operation here. But I’m gambling we can catch them before they catch us. Ever play chess Captain? The rule of thumb is to get those two Knights into action before the Bishops are developed. Well, we’re those two Knights. Halsey has the Bishops. So I’m heading right into the middle of the board where a good Knight belongs. Get the boys up on deck and come to 030, ahead full.”

Fletcher made his choice, and his move. With it, the history would now turn to a new page. It seemed there was going to be a battle in the Coral Sea after all, and he was sailing right into the thick of it.