Matrix Games Forums

 Forums  Register  Login  Photo Gallery  Member List  Search  Calendars  FAQ 

My Profile  Inbox  Address Book  My Subscription  My Forums  Log Out

RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land

 
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest
Users viewing this topic: none
  Printable Version
All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> World in Flames >> RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land Page: <<   < prev  71 72 [73] 74 75   next >   >>
Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/6/2011 7:41:10 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		Thanks as ever Extraneous

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to Extraneous)
Post #: 2161
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/13/2011 7:46:47 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		4th in the Guadalcanal series; its the carrier Ryujo and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons.

[4337 Ryujo]
.B Engine(s) output: 66,270 hp
.B Top Speed: 29 knots
.B Main armament: 8 x 5-inch (127mm), 22 x 25mm guns
.B Aircraft: 48 (Operational Maximum 37)
.B Displacement (full load): 13,650 tons
.B Thickest armour: Light plating only
.P By 1929, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) had three aircraft carriers
completed: Akagi, Kaga and the experimental Hosho. Under the terms of the 1922
Washington Naval Treaty this left just 30,000 tons available for further aircraft
carrier construction.
.P The IJN's desire for three more carriers meant that they would need to cram a
lot of carrier onto a very limited displacement, and what followed next was
perhaps predictably, a rather unsuccessful design.
.P The brief for Ryujo was to use just 8,000 tons of the remaining allowance and
yet achieve a fast, aircraft carrier that was capable of carrying forty-eight
aircraft. The result was a ship that was highly unstable, and Ryujo required much
work after completion to rectify this inherent instability.
.P Her original design allowed for just a single hangar, but the desire for forty
-eight aircraft meant that a second hangar was belatedly built into the design;
adding greatly to the stability problems mentioned above.
.P Ryujo's hangars were served by two lifts, although one of the lifts was
sufficiently small so as to make it practically unusable. In keeping with
standard practice, no catapult was fitted to assist take-off, but six arrester
wires were available to bring her aircraft down safely. Operationally, the
designed number of aircraft proved too much to handle, and thirty seven aircraft
was considered optimal.
.P Defensive armament was to have been six twin 5-inch anti-aircraft (AA) guns,
but this was reduced to four due to the need to reduce top weight. Close-range AA
weaponry came courtesy of twenty-two 25mm guns.
.P Ryujo had no island structure; the bridge being sited below the forward edge
of the flight deck. At the time of her completion she had sufficient top speed to
operate with IJN's battlefleet, but by the time of the Second World War, 29 knots
had become inadequate for a frontline carrier.
.P Armoured protection was negligible; just light plating being fitted to protect
the machinery and magazine spaces.
.P Ryujo means Prancing Dragon in English.
.P At the outbreak of war in December 1941 Ryujo was part of the 4th Carrier
Division (CarDiv). Operating from Palau, she was a key component in the Japanese
attack on the Philippines (see Amphibious Counter 4435 and Transport Counter
4443). The opening moves of this operation began on the first day of the Pacific
War, and Ryujo's aircraft launched an air strike against Davao that day. Later
that month Ryujo was part of the covering force for the landings by the 15th and
16th Infantry Divisions at Davao, on the large Philippine island of Mindanao.
.P On the 22nd December Ryujo took part in the invasion of Jolo, a small island
halfway between Mindanao and Sarawak. Ryujo was part of the escorting force for
the nine transports that carried men of the 56th Brigade to the island, which was
important as the Japanese intended to use it to base their 23rd Naval Air
Flotilla for the assault on the Dutch East Indies.
.P With the initial landings on the Philippines having been successfully
undertaken, the Japanese sought to finish off the British and Commonwealth forces
in Malaya and Singapore. To aid this operation, Ryujo was deployed in the South
China Sea as part of a covering force protecting the supply convoys to Thailand
and Malaya. Just about everything at this stage of the war went smoothly for the
Japanese and their opponents were falling back everywhere in the face of such
determined opposition. Neither the Philippines nor Malaya were secured before the
Japanese started to look further south; the oil resources of the Dutch East
Indies (NEI).
.P The invasion of the NEI had begun in the eastern islands of the Dutch colony
in December. By the middle of February 1942, the Japanese turned their attention
to the large island of Sumatra, located west of the Malayan peninsular. The first
target was Palembang, on the southeast coast. An invasion convoy set out from
Camranh Bay on the 9th February (see Transport Counter 4447). Ryujo was part of
the covering force for this convoy. As the invasion fleet approached Sumatra,
they came across Allied evacuation convoys and Ryujo's aircraft were used
alongside land based bombers to attack the Allied shipping. Many Allied vessels
were sunk or damaged during these actions.
.P In a vain attempt to stop the Japanese invasion of Sumatra the Allies
despatched a cruiser and destroyer force to intercept the Japanese fleet, but
once again Ryujo's aircraft were extensively used to beat off the Allied ships.
Having found the enemy on the morning of the 14th, Ryujo again launched her
aircraft to attack the Allied ships. Although no Allied warships were sunk in
this engagement, the intensity of the air attacks forced the Allied vessels to
withdraw.
.P For the invasion of Java, at the end of February 1942, the Japanese used two
invasion forces. Ryujo provided air cover to the Western Force that was
responsible for landing troops east and west of Batavia, the capital (see
Amphibious Counter 4439). On the 1st March, her aircraft were used to sink the
American destroyer USS Pope. Pope had been one of the two destroyer escorts to
the British heavy cruiser Exeter along with HMS Encounter, and had escaped after
the two British ships had been sunk by overwhelming forces (see Myoko).
.P After the operations against Java, Ryujo was deployed with the Malay Force to
provide air cover for the invasion of northern Sumatra on the 12th March. She
then provided cover for the operation to reinforce units in Burma and for the
assault against the Andaman Islands two weeks later (see Kashii).
.P During early April, the IJN launched a raid in the Indian Ocean using five of
the six carriers of the 1st Air Fleet. The intention was to destroy the Royal
Navy's Eastern Fleet at anchor in Colombo, but the main portion of that fleet was
hundreds of miles to the west and the raid had only limited effect. Ryujo was
part of Second Fleet for this operation and she led attacks on enemy shipping in
the Bay of Bengal (see Hiryu).
.P Ryujo's next operation was AL, the attack on the Aleutian Islands in the
Northern Pacific. For this operation, that was timed to coincide with the attack
on Midway Island at the start of June 1942, she was part of the Second Carrier
Striking Force, commanded by Rear-Admiral Kakuji Kakuta. Although the Aleutian
islands of Attu and Kiska were occupied by the Japanese, the operation proved
nothing more than an unnecessary dilution of resources from the main task at
hand; the destruction of the American carrier fleet, and at Midway the IJN was to
lose four of their fleet carriers (see ASW Carrier Counter 4430).
.P After the reverse at Midway, the IJN was reorganised. The 3rd Fleet, which now
contained the main carrier force, was placed under the command of Vice-Admiral
Chuichi Nagumo and consisted of the 1st Carrier Squadron: Shokaku, Zuikaku and
Zuiho; the 2nd Carrier Squadron: Junyo, Hiyo and Ryujo; the battleships Hiei and
Kirishima; the heavy cruisers Chikuma, Kumano, Suzuya and Tone; the light cruiser
Nagara and the 10th Destroyer Flotilla.
.P On the 7th August the Americans invaded the island of Guadalcanal in the
Solomons chain. Apart from a naval victory at Savo Island (see Kako) the Japanese
response to the invasion was poor. They underestimated the strength of the
American presence on the island. They were also wrong about how quickly the
Americans could get an airstrip, one that the Japanese had themselves almost
completed prior to the invasion, finished and in working order. As a consequence,
by mid-August, the Americans had established themselves on the island and had air
superiority in the local area. By day, the waters around Guadalcanal were a no-go
area to the Japanese. But the recognition of this American air superiority only
came about as a result of the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, fought on the 24th
August 1942, largely as a result of a Japanese attempt to get a substantial troop
convoy to Guadalcanal.
.P The convoy set out from Truk on the 16th August carrying 1,500 men and their
supplies aboard three transports. They were escorted by the light cruiser Jintsu,
flagship of Rear-Admiral Raizo Tanaka, and ten destroyers.
.P Knowing that there were a number of American carriers operating southeast of
the Solomons, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander of the Combined Fleet, still
desperately hoped for the "decisive battle" that would win the war for the
Japanese. He agreed to deploy a large number of warships in the Eastern Solomons,
centred around the fleet carriers Zuikaku and Shokaku, in the hope of fighting
such a battle. He was in theory also responsible for the safety of Tanaka's
convoy, although in practice, this element of the operation was very low
priority.
.P The forces deployed were: Third Fleet's Main Body consisting of the carriers
Shokaku (flagship of Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo), Zuikaku, and ten destroyers.
Operating ahead of the carriers was the Vanguard Force under Rear-Admiral Hiroaki
Abe aboard the battleship Hiei with sister ship Kirishima; the heavy cruisers
Kumano, Suzuya and Chikuma; and four destroyers. To guard against a threat to
Nagumo's carriers from the east, the Second Fleet, commanded by Vice-Admiral
Nobutake Kondo, was deployed on the left flank of the Main Body. Kondo had the
heavy cruisers Atago, Haguro, Maya, Myoko and Takao; the light cruiser Yura, the
Seaplane carrier Chitose and six destroyers to hand. Last but not least, to
protect Tanaka's convoy, the IJN deployed the Detached Carrier Striking Force,
commanded by Rear-Admiral Chuichi Hara. Hara had just Ryujo, the heavy cruiser
Tone and two destroyers for this purpose. Ryujo was equipped with twenty-four
Zero fighters and nine Kate torpedo-bombers.
.P For once, the American intelligence network failed them and they had no idea
of the whereabouts of Nagumo's carriers as they entered the Eastern Solomons. The
failure to locate the carriers led to a potentially disastrous decision; thinking
they must still be at anchor in Truk, Rear-Admiral Frank Fletcher allowed one of
his three carriers to leave the Solomons for refuelling. This meant that when the
battle came, the US Navy would actually have around twenty fewer carrier aircraft
available. Fletcher's force for the Battle of the Eastern Solomons was as
follows: the carriers Enterprise and Saratoga, the battleship North Carolina, the
heavy cruisers Minneapolis, New Orleans and Portland, the light cruiser Atlanta
and eleven destroyers.
.P Generally poor weather in the region meant that it was not until late in the
afternoon of the 23rd August that Tanaka's convoy was sighted by American patrol
planes. This poor weather came to the Japanese aid as aircraft flown from
Saratoga failed to locate the convoy and had to return to the airfield at
Guadalcanal.
.P Early on the morning of the 24th both sides launched search aircraft, while
Saratoga's aircraft returned to the carrier after their enforced overnight stay
on Guadalcanal. The Americans found three of the Japanese forces, although
Nagumo's carrier force was not spotted. The Japanese reconnaissance planes on the
other hand were completely unsuccessful.
.P However, it was only in the early afternoon that Fletcher ordered an air
strike against Ryujo as he waited for further proof that Japanese flat-tops
really were in the area. It was only after the order was given and aircraft were
on their way to Ryujo that Fletcher then received reports that Zuikaku and
Shokaku were in the Eastern Solomnons.
.P At around 1520hrs aircraft from Saratoga found Ryujo. With only limited
fighter cover, and few ships around her to mount an adequate AA defence, Ryujo
was doomed. Numerous bomb and torpedo hits ensured there was no chance of saving
the carrier and she was later to sink along with 120 of her officers and crew. By
the time of the attack, Ryujo had already launched twenty-one aircraft to attack
the airstrip on Guadalcanal. This operation, designed to try and keep the
American island-based planes from attacking Tanaka's convoy, caused little damage
however. By the time the surviving aircraft returned to where Ryujo had once
been, there was no choice available to the pilots other than to ditch in the sea.
.P While Ryujo fought her doomed battle for survival, the Japanese had at last
found Enterprise. From the decks of the two fleet carriers two waves of aircraft
were launched; the first numbering thirty-seven and the second thirty-six. The
Japanese attackers were picked up by the enemy's radar and fifty-three Wildcat
fighters were put into the sky to meet them. Still twenty miles from the
carriers, a fierce battle ensued as the Americans sought to beat off the
attacking aircraft before they could reach the ships. Many of the Japanese
attackers got through and launched strikes on Enterprise and North Carolina, but
no attacks were launched against Saratoga as so many Japanese aircraft were shot
down before even reaching the American ships. Enterprise was hit by three bombs
and was badly damaged. However, excellent work by her crew meant that she was
never in danger of being sunk and she would live to fight another day. North
Carolina suffered just one near miss and was only lightly damaged in the attack.
.P The Americans, having sunk one carrier and inflicted the loss of seventy-five
aircraft of all types on the IJN and Army air forces, withdrew that evening after
launching one more attack on the Japanese warships. Little damage was done,
however there was to be more agony in store for Japanese the next day.
.P Not realising they had failed to neutralize American airpower on Guadalcanal
the day before, and thinking the battle had been more successful than it actually
was, Tanaka continued south toward Guadalcanal with his convoy. Early on the
morning of the 25th the Japanese ships were spotted by an American patrol plane
and Wildcats and Dauntless dive-bombers were sent to intercept. The first target
was Tanaka's flagship, Jintsu, which was hit twice by bombs. Tanaka switched his
flag to the destroyer Kagero and ordered Jintsu to sail north to safety. The
transport Kinryu Maru was the next victim, and she was set ablaze by a single
bomb. The destroyer Mutsuki went to her assistance but in so doing became a
target for an attack by a B-17 bomber later that morning. A single bomb struck
her engine room and she sank with the loss of 40 men. After fellow destroyer
Mochizuki had picked up survivors from the two ships Kinryu Maru was scuttled.
The remaining transports and their escorts retreated north; the reinforcements
so desperately needed on Guadalcanal would not be delivered this time around, and
Japanese attempts to get troops to the island would grow ever more desperate in
the months to come (see Jintsu).

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 2162
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/13/2011 11:44:05 PM   
Extraneous

 

Posts: 1810
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline 		[4337 Ryujo]
.B Engine(s) output: 66,270 hp
.B Top Speed: 29 knots
.B Main armament: 8 x 5-inch (127mm), 22 x 25mm guns
.B Aircraft: 48 (Operational Maximum 37)
.B Displacement (full load): 13,650 tons
.B Thickest armour: Light plating only
.P By 1929, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) had three aircraft carriers
completed: Akagi, Kaga and the experimental Hosho. Under the terms of the 1922
Washington Naval Treaty this left just 30,000 tons available for further aircraft
carrier construction.
.P The IJN's desire for three more carriers meant that they would need to cram a
lot of carrier onto a very limited displacement, and what followed next was
perhaps predictably, a rather unsuccessful design.
.P The brief for Ryujo was to use just 8,000 tons of the remaining allowance and
yet achieve a fast, aircraft carrier that was capable of carrying forty-eight
aircraft. The result was a ship that was highly unstable, and Ryujo required much
work after completion to rectify this inherent instability.
.P Her original design allowed for just a single hangar, but the desire for forty
-eight aircraft meant that a second hangar was belatedly built into the design;
adding greatly to the stability problems mentioned above.
.P Ryujo's hangars were served by two lifts, although one of the lifts was
sufficiently small so as to make it practically unusable. In keeping with
standard practice, no catapult was fitted to assist take-off, but six arrester
wires were available to bring her aircraft down safely. Operationally, the
designed number of aircraft proved too much to handle, and thirty-seven aircraft
was considered optimal.
.P Defensive armament was to have been six twin 5-inch anti-aircraft (AA) guns,
but this was reduced to four due to the need to reduce top weight. Close-range AA
weaponry came courtesy of twenty-two 25mm guns.
.P Ryujo had no island structure; the bridge being sited below the forward edge
of the flight deck. At the time of her completion she had sufficient top speed to
operate with IJN's battlefleet, but by the time of the Second World War, 29 knots
had become inadequate for a frontline carrier.
.P Armoured protection was negligible; just light plating being fitted to protect
the machinery and magazine spaces.
.P Ryujo means Prancing Dragon in English.
.P At the outbreak of war in December 1941 Ryujo was part of the 4th Carrier
Division (CarDiv). Operating from Palau, she was a key component in the Japanese
attack on the Philippines (see Amphibious Counter 4435 and Transport Counter
4443). The opening moves of this operation began on the first day of the Pacific
War, and Ryujo's aircraft launched an air strike against Davao that day. Later
that month Ryujo was part of the covering force for the landings by the 15th and
16th Infantry Divisions at Davao, on the large Philippine island of Mindanao.
.P On the 22nd December Ryujo took part in the invasion of Jolo, a small island
halfway between Mindanao and Sarawak. Ryujo was part of the escorting force for
the nine transports that carried men of the 56th Brigade to the island, which was
important as the Japanese intended to use it to base their 23rd Naval Air
Flotilla for the assault on the Dutch East Indies.
.P With the initial landings on the Philippines having been successfully
undertaken, the Japanese sought to finish off the British and Commonwealth forces
in Malaya and Singapore. To aid this operation, Ryujo was deployed in the South
China Sea as part of a covering force protecting the supply convoys to Thailand
and Malaya. Just about everything at this stage of the war went smoothly for the
Japanese and their opponents were falling back everywhere in the face of such
determined opposition. Neither the Philippines nor Malaya were secured before the
Japanese started to look further south; the oil resources of the Dutch East
Indies (NEI).
.P The invasion of the NEI had begun in the eastern islands of the Dutch colony
in December. By the middle of February 1942, the Japanese turned their attention
to the large island of Sumatra, located west of the Malayan peninsular. The first
target was Palembang, on the southeast coast. An invasion convoy set out from
Camranh Bay on the 9th February (see Transport Counter 4447). Ryujo was part of
the covering force for this convoy. As the invasion fleet approached Sumatra,
they came across Allied evacuation convoys and Ryujo's aircraft were used
alongside land based bombers to attack the Allied shipping. Many Allied vessels
were sunk or damaged during these actions.
.P In a vain attempt to stop the Japanese invasion of Sumatra the Allies
despatched a cruiser and destroyer force to intercept the Japanese fleet, but
once again Ryujo's aircraft were extensively used to beat off the Allied ships.
Having found the enemy on the morning of the 14th, Ryujo again launched her
aircraft to attack the Allied ships. Although no Allied warships were sunk in
this engagement, the intensity of the air attacks forced the Allied vessels to
withdraw.
.P For the invasion of Java, at the end of February 1942, the Japanese used two
invasion forces. Ryujo provided air cover to the Western Force that was
responsible for landing troops east and west of Batavia, the capital (see
Amphibious Counter 4439). On the 1st March, her aircraft were used to sink the
American destroyer USS Pope. Destroyers USS Pope and HMS Encounter had
been escorting the damaged heavy cruiser HMS Exeter when the British ships
were sunk at the Second battle of the Java Sea (see Myoko).
.P After the operations against Java, Ryujo was deployed with the Malay Force to
provide air cover for the invasion of northern Sumatra on the 12th March. She
then provided cover for the operation to reinforce units in Burma and for the
assault against the Andaman Islands two weeks later (see Kashii).
.P During early April, the IJN launched a raid in the Indian Ocean using five of
the six carriers of the 1st Air Fleet. The intention was to destroy the Royal
Navy's Eastern Fleet at anchor in Colombo, but the main portion of that fleet was
hundreds of miles to the west and the raid had only limited effect. Ryujo was
part of Second Fleet for this operation and she led attacks on enemy shipping in
the Bay of Bengal (see Hiryu).
.P Ryujo's next operation was AL, the attack on the Aleutian Islands in the
Northern Pacific. For this operation, that was timed to coincide with the attack
on Midway Island at the start of June 1942, she was part of the Second Carrier
Striking Force, commanded by Rear-Admiral Kakuji Kakuta. Although the Japanese
occupied the Aleutian islands of Attu and Kiska, the operation proved
nothing more than an unnecessary dilution of resources from the main task at
hand; the destruction of the American carrier fleet, and at Midway the IJN was to
lose four of their fleet carriers (see ASW Carrier Counter 4430).
.P After the reverse at Midway, the IJN was reorganised. The 3rd Fleet, which now
contained the main carrier force, was placed under the command of Vice-Admiral
Chuichi Nagumo and consisted of the 1st Carrier Squadron: Shokaku, Zuikaku and
Zuiho; the 2nd Carrier Squadron: Junyo, Hiyo and Ryujo; the battleships Hiei and
Kirishima; the heavy cruisers Chikuma, Kumano, Suzuya and Tone; the light cruiser
Nagara and the 10th Destroyer Flotilla.
.P On the 7th August the Americans invaded the island of Guadalcanal in the
Solomons chain. Apart from a naval victory at Savo Island (see Kako) the Japanese
response to the invasion was poor. They underestimated the strength of the
American presence on the island. They were also wrong about how quickly the
Americans could get an airstrip, one that the Japanese had themselves almost
completed prior to the invasion, finished and in working order. As a consequence,
by mid-August, the Americans had established themselves on the island and had air
superiority in the local area. By day, the waters around Guadalcanal were a no-go
area to the Japanese. But the recognition of this American air superiority only
came about as a result of the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, fought on the 24th
August 1942, largely as a result of a Japanese attempt to get a substantial troop
convoy to Guadalcanal.
.P The convoy set out from Truk on the 16th August carrying 1,500 men and their
supplies aboard three transports. The light cruiser Jintsu, flagship of
Rear-Admiral Raizo Tanaka, and ten destroyers escorted them.
.P Knowing that there were a number of American carriers operating southeast of
the Solomons, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander of the Combined Fleet, still
desperately hoped for the "decisive battle" that would win the war for the
Japanese. He agreed to deploy a large number of warships in the Eastern Solomons,
centred around the fleet carriers Zuikaku and Shokaku, in the hope of fighting
such a battle. He was in theory also responsible for the safety of Tanaka's
convoy, although in practice, this element of the operation was very low
priority.
.P The forces deployed were: Third Fleet's Main Body consisting of the carriers
Shokaku (flagship of Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo), Zuikaku, and ten destroyers.
Operating ahead of the carriers was the Vanguard Force under Rear-Admiral Hiroaki
Abe aboard the battleship Hiei with sister ship Kirishima; the heavy cruisers
Kumano, Suzuya and Chikuma; and four destroyers. To guard against a threat to
Nagumo's carriers from the east, the Second Fleet, commanded by Vice-Admiral
Nobutake Kondo, was deployed on the left flank of the Main Body. Kondo had the
heavy cruisers Atago, Haguro, Maya, Myoko and Takao; the light cruiser Yura, the
Seaplane carrier Chitose and six destroyers to hand. Last but not least, to
protect Tanaka's convoy, the IJN deployed the Detached Carrier Striking Force,
commanded by Rear-Admiral Chuichi Hara. Hara had just Ryujo, the heavy cruiser
Tone and two destroyers for this purpose. Ryujo was equipped with twenty-four
Zero fighters and nine Kate torpedo-bombers.
.P For once, the American intelligence network failed them and they had no idea
of the whereabouts of Nagumo's carriers as they entered the Eastern Solomons. The
failure to locate the carriers led to a potentially disastrous decision; thinking
they must still be at anchor in Truk, Rear-Admiral Frank Fletcher allowed one of
his three carriers to leave the Solomons for refuelling. This meant that when the
battle came, the US Navy would actually have around twenty fewer carrier aircraft
available. Fletcher's force for the Battle of the Eastern Solomons was as
follows: the carriers Enterprise and Saratoga, the battleship North Carolina, the
heavy cruisers Minneapolis, New Orleans and Portland, the light cruiser Atlanta
and eleven destroyers.
.P Generally poor weather in the region meant that it was not until late in the
afternoon of the 23rd August that Tanaka's convoy was sighted by American patrol
planes. This poor weather came to the Japanese aid as aircraft flown from
Saratoga failed to locate the convoy and had to return to the airfield at
Guadalcanal.
.P Early on the morning of the 24th both sides launched search aircraft, while
Saratoga's aircraft returned to the carrier after their enforced overnight stay
on Guadalcanal. The Americans found three of the Japanese forces, although
Nagumo's carrier force was not spotted. The Japanese reconnaissance planes on the
other hand were completely unsuccessful.
.P However, it was only in the early afternoon that Fletcher ordered an air
strike against Ryujo as he waited for further proof that Japanese flat-tops
really were in the area. It was only after the order was given and aircraft were
on their way to Ryujo that Fletcher then received reports that Zuikaku and
Shokaku were in the Eastern Solomnons.
.P At around 1520hrs aircraft from Saratoga found Ryujo. With only limited
fighter cover, and few ships around her to mount an adequate AA defence, Ryujo
was doomed. Numerous bomb and torpedo hits ensured there was no chance of saving
the carrier and she was later to sink along with 120 of her officers and crew. By
the time of the attack, Ryujo had already launched twenty-one aircraft to attack
the airstrip on Guadalcanal. This operation, designed to try and keep the
American island-based planes from attacking Tanaka's convoy, caused little damage
however. By the time the surviving aircraft returned to where Ryujo had once
been, there was no choice available to the pilots other than to ditch in the sea.
.P While Ryujo fought her doomed battle for survival, the Japanese had at last
found Enterprise. From the decks of the two fleet carriers two waves of aircraft
were launched; the first numbering thirty-seven and the second thirty-six. The
Japanese attackers were picked up by the enemy's radar and fifty-three Wildcat
fighters were put into the sky to meet them. Still twenty miles from the
carriers, a fierce battle ensued as the Americans sought to beat off the
attacking aircraft before they could reach the ships. Many of the Japanese
attackers got through and launched strikes on Enterprise and North Carolina, but
no attacks were launched against Saratoga as so many Japanese aircraft were shot
down before even reaching the American ships. Enterprise was hit by three bombs
and was badly damaged. However, excellent work by her crew meant that she was
never in danger of being sunk and she would live to fight another day. North
Carolina suffered just one near miss and was only lightly damaged in the attack.
.P The Americans, having sunk one carrier and inflicted the loss of seventy-five
aircraft of all types on the IJN and Army air forces, withdrew that evening after
launching one more attack on the Japanese warships. Little damage was done,
however there was to be more agony in store for Japanese the next day.
.P Not realising they had failed to neutralize American airpower on Guadalcanal
the day before, and thinking the battle had been more successful than it actually
was, Tanaka continued south toward Guadalcanal with his convoy. Early on the
morning of the 25th an American patrol plane spotted the Japanese ships
and Wildcats and Dauntless dive-bombers were sent to intercept. The first target
was Tanaka's flagship, Jintsu, which was hit twice by bombs. Tanaka switched his
flag to the destroyer Kagero and ordered Jintsu to sail north to safety. The
transport Kinryu Maru was the next victim, and she was set ablaze by a single
bomb. The destroyer Mutsuki went to her assistance but in so doing became a
target for an attack by a B-17 bomber later that morning. A single bomb struck
her engine room and she sank with the loss of 40 men. After fellow destroyer
Mochizuki had picked up survivors from the two ships Kinryu Maru was scuttled.
The remaining transports and their escorts retreated north; the reinforcements
so desperately needed on Guadalcanal would not be delivered this time around, and
Japanese attempts to get troops to the island would grow ever more desperate in
the months to come (see Jintsu).



April 10, 1941 ~ Flagship of 4th Carrier Division, 1st Air Fleet

Defensive armament was to have been been six twin 5-inch anti-aircraft (AA) guns,
but this was reduced to four due to the need to reduce top weight.
Close-range AA weaponry came courtesy of twenty-two 25mm guns.

Wikipedia
Armament:
8 × 127 mm (5 in) guns,
4 × 25 mm anti-aircraft guns,
24 × 13 mm machine guns

Nihon Kaigun (Combined Fleet)
Armament:
8 x 5"/40
4 x 25mm/60
24 x 13mm/76

World War II Database
Armament:
8x100mm
4x25mm
24x13mm

My Post#: 592

CVL Ryûjô ("Prancing Dragon") (1933-1942) ex-tender Taigei

Displacement: 12,732 tons Dimensions: 167 x 20.32 x 5.56 meters. Propulsion: Steam turbines, 6 boilers, 2 shafts, 65,000 hp (48.5 MW) Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h) Range: 10,000 nautical miles at 14 knots (19,000 km at 26 km/h) Complement: 924. Armament: 8 x 5 inch (127mm) AA guns (in dual mounts), 4 x 25mm AA guns, 24 x 13mm AA guns. Aircraft: 38

Ryûjô was laid down in 1929, launched in 1931 and commissioned in 1933. She first saw action in the Second Sino-Japanese War supporting land operations of the Japanese Army in China. Where her aircraft complement consisted of 27 aircraft. During World War II, she was the flagship of Carrier Division 4. In 1941 she supported several landings in the Philippines. In 1942 she supported the conquest of Malaya and attacked the Allied forces around Java. She was part of the Indian Ocean raid during April her and her escort were credited with the sinking of 23 merchant ships. She was part of the Northern Force that attached the Aleutians where one of her Mutsubishi A6M Zero's crashed. The intelligence gained from this crash helped the United States to develop the F6F Hellcat.

During the Battle of the Eastern Solomon’s she was sunk by U.S. carrier aircraft with a loss of 120 of the crew.



_____________________________

University of Science Music and Culture (USMC) class of 71 and 72 ~ Extraneous (AKA Mziln)

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 2163
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/14/2011 7:01:41 AM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Extraneous

Defensive armament was to have been been six twin 5-inch anti-aircraft (AA) guns,
but this was reduced to four due to the need to reduce top weight.
Close-range AA weaponry came courtesy of twenty-two 25mm guns.

Wikipedia
Armament:
8 × 127 mm (5 in) guns,
4 × 25 mm anti-aircraft guns,
24 × 13 mm machine guns

Warspite1

I thought the need to add the word twin after four was superfluous, but it seems not, so I will add twin; hence the 8 x 5-inch.

My source states she began with two twin 25mm as per the above, but six triple 25mm were added at the start of the war - thus 22 x 25mm. I will clarify this too.


_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to Extraneous)
Post #: 2164
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/14/2011 5:44:10 PM   
Extraneous

 

Posts: 1810
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline 		Patrice (Post #: 593) please note as I posted (Post #: 594) the names are being edited.

_____________________________

University of Science Music and Culture (USMC) class of 71 and 72 ~ Extraneous (AKA Mziln)

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 2165
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/19/2011 7:36:22 AM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		Please see USS Wasp - one of the major US warships that saw action in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

[4054 Wasp]
.B Engine(s) output: 70,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 29.5 knots
.B Main armament: 8 x 5-inch (127mm), 16 x 1.1-inch (28mm) guns
.B Aircraft: 70 (in 1942)
.B Displacement (full load): 18,450 tons
.B Thickest armour: 2-inch (belt)
.P The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 had given the United States Navy (USN)
an allowance of 69,000 tons to build new aircraft carriers. The original plan was
for five ships, totalling 13,800 each, the first of which would be USS Ranger.
However, even before Ranger had been completed, it was realised that she was too
small, too lightly armoured and too slow to be an effective carrier.
.P This realisation led to the construction of two, larger, Yorktown-class
carriers, displacing 19,800 tons each. The Yorktowns proved to be far more useful
ships. The only problem was that after their construction, the USN only had
14,000 tons of allowance left to use on a fourth carrier. As a consequence this
next carrier was designed as an "improved" Ranger-class, that incorporated as
many features from the Yorktowns as was possible given the tonnage constraints.
.P Wasp was fitted with a full length flight-deck, and like the Yorktowns, she
had three catapults fitted to assist aircraft take-off, with one of these mounted
in the hangar deck. She had eight arrester wires to assist aircraft landing.
.P She had one large hangar, capable of carrying seventy-six aircraft, although
a slightly reduced number was typically carried during her final months in the
Pacific. This hangar was served by two lifts.
.P Defensive weaponry was improved when compared to Ranger, with eight 5-inch
dual-purpose guns supported by four, quadruple 1.1-inch close-range anti-aircraft
(AA) guns. The latter weapons were to be removed and she received both 40mm and
20mm guns prior to her sinking in 1942.
.P The lack of tonnage available meant there was little that could be done to
rectify Ranger's lack of armour protection. Wasp had just a 2-inch belt for
vertical protection and 1.25-inch armour protecting the hangar area. She was also
protected against torpedo attack through extensive compartmentalisation.
.P Her top speed, at 29.5 knots, was the same as Ranger.
.P Wasp, named after the insect, was a common name in the USN and the Continental
navy before it. Wasp was first used for a schooner that fought in the Continental
navy at the time of the War of Independence.
.P USS Wasp was completed in April 1940 and was initially stationed on the East
Coast of the United States.
.P From May 1941 Wasp was based at the new American naval base in Bermuda as part
of the Central Atlantic Neutrality Patrol. Although not officially at war with
Germany, by mid-1941 the United States were becoming ever more belligerent in
their defence of merchant shipping in the Atlantic, and at this time, Wasp
usually operated in company with a heavy cruiser and two or more destroyers while
undertaking neutrality patrols.
.P Then, in July of that year, the Americans agreed to take-over the garrisoning
of Iceland from the British. Wasp was part of a task force sent to the island to
undertake this operation (see Quincy).
.P Wasp returned to Bermuda the following month and took part in a search for
German surface raiders, supposedly operating in the Central Atlantic. A number of
US warships were put to sea but the report proved to be false.
.P Wasp was to spend the remaining months before the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor switching back and forth between Bermuda and the North Atlantic. She was
sent to Iceland in September in response to reports that the German battleship
Tirpitz was about to make a sortie into the North Atlantic, although once again,
this proved not to be the case.
.P December 7th 1941. When the Japanese attacked the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl
Harbor, Wasp was in Bermuda. Shortly after the attack, Germany declared war on
the United States and thus the die was cast. The United States was now fully
involved in both the war in the Atlantic and the Pacific. Wasp remained on the
East Coast.
.P Having agreed to adopt a "Germany First" approach to defeating the Axis, the
Americans quickly began to send troops and supplies to the United Kingdom. In
January 1942 Wasp was part of the initial escort for troop convoy AT10, along
with the battleship Texas and the cruisers Tuscaloosa and Wichita. This convoy
brought almost 4,000 troops from the 34th Mountain Division to the UK.
.P In March, while heading to the naval base at Norfolk, Virginia, Wasp collided
with the destroyer USS Stack but fortunately Wasp suffered only minimal damage.
Repair work was carried out and Wasp then joined the small but powerful Task
Force (TF) 39 (later TF99) that was sent to the British main anchorage at Scapa
Flow, north of Scotland (see USS Washington). TF99 was created to supplement the
British Home Fleet in order to strengthen the escorts covering the convoys being
sent to the Soviet Union.
.P However, when she arrived in the United Kingdom, Wasp suddenly found herself
being prepared for a very different operation. The British-owned Mediterranean
island of Malta had been under Axis air attack since Italy declared war on the
British and French in June 1940. By April 1942 supplies of all kinds, not least
fighter aircraft, were in short supply on the island; in fact, Malta's fighter
defences were almost exhausted. The Royal Navy had been reinforcing Malta with
aircraft flown from its aircraft carriers, but for a variety of reasons there
were no Royal Navy carriers available at this time. After a personal appeal for
assistance from the British Prime Minister to the American President, the USN
made the Wasp available for a ferry mission.
.P Wasp embarked forty-seven Royal Air Force Spitfire fighters and sailed for the
Mediterranean on the 14th April. She was escorted by the battlecruiser HMS Renown
and four British and two US destroyers for this operation; code-named Calendar.
These ships were joined by the AA cruisers Cairo and Charybdis at Gibraltar, and
together, they sailed east into the Western Mediterranean. They reached the
flying-off point on the 20th and the aircraft took-off from Wasp's flight-deck.
All but one Spitfire made it safely to Malta.
.P Such was the intensity of the Axis air offensive that, within less than one
week, only six of the newly arrived Spitfires remained operational. As a result,
the same force was used for a follow-up operation; Bowery, at the end of April.
Wasp, which had returned to the UK after Calendar, embarked a further fifty
Spitfires on the 29th and sailed for Gibraltar once again. Here the small British
carrier Eagle, embarked a further seventeen aircraft. The aircraft were flown off
on the 9th May, with four aircraft failing to make it safely to Malta. Upon
return of the fleet at Gibraltar, Wasp was escorted by Renown back to the UK.
.P Meanwhile, in the Pacific, the USN lost the carrier Lexington at the Battle
of the Coral Sea in May, and Yorktown at Midway a month later. As a result, Wasp
was badly needed in the Pacific. She returned to the US for a refit, following
which she became part of TF18 along with the battleship North Carolina, the
heavy cruisers Quincy, San Francisco, Vincennes; the light cruiser San Juan, and
six destroyers. TF18 was commanded by Rear-Admiral Leigh Noyes who flew his flag
in Wasp.
.P Wasp's time in the Pacific was to be brief. Following the successful battle of
Midway, in which four Japanese fleet carriers were sunk, the Americans brought
forward their plans to take the war back to Japan. At the start of August Wasp
was part of the covering force for the invasion fleet sent to capture the Solomon
Islands of Guadalcanal and Tulagi (see Transport Counter 4247). But the
successful landings on these islands was just the start of a six-month campaign
that ultimately saw the Japanese retreat from the Solomons having suffered
unsustainable losses in men, ships and aircraft.
.P While the numerous battles for Guadalcanal were being fought on the ground, in
the air, and at sea, Wasp remained in the Solomons area along with the carriers
Saratoga and Enterprise. These carriers' aircraft helped to ensure the safe
arrival of reinforcements and supplies to Guadalcanal.
.P Meanwhile Admiral Isoruko Yamamoto, the Commander of the Japanese Combined
Fleet continued in his efforts to bring the USN to the "decisive battle". In late
August, the battle of the Eastern Solomons pitted three Japanese carriers against
two American. But Wasp was not to take part in the battle. American intelligence
and reconnaissance had failed to pick up the presence of the Japanese carriers
and Noyes was ordered to sail to the rear to re-fuel just as the battle was about
to start. She therefore missed the encounter; a battle that saw the light carrier
Ryujo sunk and USS Enterprise badly damaged.
.P The end for Wasp came less than a month later. On the 15th September she was
providing air cover for a troop convoy heading to Guadalcanal when she was found
by the Japanese submarine I-19. I-19 fired six torpedoes and two of these struck
Wasp's starboard side, causing fires to rage throughout the ship very quickly.
Less than an hour after the torpedoes struck, the order to abandon ship was
given. Wasp however, burning furiously, remained afloat. She was scuttled later
that evening. 173 officers and men were killed and over 400 wounded.

< Message edited by warspite1 -- 11/19/2011 10:22:31 PM >

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to Extraneous)
Post #: 2166
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/20/2011 9:11:18 AM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		TEST - How weird. I posted the Wasp write-up yesterday, but although it showed up, the last post was showing as Extraneous' from a few days ago...... Oh well sorted now.

< Message edited by warspite1 -- 11/20/2011 9:12:39 AM >

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 2167
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/21/2011 8:32:24 AM   
Extraneous

 

Posts: 1810
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline 		[4054 Wasp]
.B Engine(s) output: 70,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 29.5 knots
.B Main armament: 8 x 5-inch (127mm), 16 x 1.1-inch (28mm) guns
.B Aircraft: 70 (in 1942)
.B Displacement (full load): 18,450 tons
.B Thickest armour: 2-inch (belt)
.P The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 had given the United States Navy (USN)
an allowance of 69,000 tons to build new aircraft carriers. The original plan was
for five ships, totalling 13,800 each, the first of which would be USS Ranger.
However, even before Ranger had been completed, it was realised that she was too
small, too lightly armoured and too slow to be an effective carrier.
.P This realisation led to the construction of two, larger, Yorktown-class
carriers, displacing 19,800 tons each. The Yorktowns proved to be far more useful
ships. The only problem was that after their construction, the USN only had
14,000 tons of allowance left to use on a fourth carrier. As a consequence this
next carrier was designed as an "improved" Ranger-class that incorporated as
many features from the Yorktowns as was possible given the tonnage constraints.
.P Wasp was fitted with a full length flight-deck, and like the Yorktowns, she
had three catapults fitted to assist aircraft take-off, with one of these mounted
in the hangar deck. She had eight arrester wires to assist aircraft landing.
.P She had one large hangar, capable of carrying seventy-six aircraft, although
a slightly reduced number was typically carried during her final months in the
Pacific. This hangar was served by two lifts.
.P Defensive weaponry was improved when compared to Ranger, with eight 5-inch
dual-purpose guns supported by four, quadruple 1.1-inch close-range anti-aircraft
(AA) guns. The latter weapons were to be removed and she received both 40mm and
20mm guns prior to her sinking in 1942.
.P The lack of tonnage available meant there was little that could be done to
rectify Ranger's lack of armour protection. Wasp had just a 2-inch belt for
vertical protection and 1.25-inch armour protecting the hangar area. She was also
protected against torpedo attack through extensive compartmentalisation.
.P Her top speed, at 29.5 knots, was the same as Ranger.
.P Wasp, named after the insect, was a common name in the USN and the Continental
navy before it. Wasp was first used for a schooner that fought in the Continental
navy at the time of the War of Independence.
.P USS Wasp was completed in April 1940 and was initially stationed on the East
Coast of the United States.
.P From May 1941 Wasp was based at the new American naval base in Bermuda as part
of the Central Atlantic Neutrality Patrol. Although not officially at war with
Germany, by mid-1941 the United States were becoming ever more belligerent in
their defence of merchant shipping in the Atlantic, and at this time, Wasp
usually operated in company with a heavy cruiser and two or more destroyers while
undertaking neutrality patrols.
.P Then, in July of that year, the Americans agreed to take-over the garrisoning
of Iceland from the British. Wasp was part of a task force sent to the island to
undertake this operation (see Quincy).
.P Wasp returned to Bermuda the following month and took part in a search for
German surface raiders, supposedly operating in the Central Atlantic. A number of
US warships were put to sea but the report proved to be false.
.P Wasp was to spend the remaining months before the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor switching back and forth between Bermuda and the North Atlantic. She was
sent to Iceland in September in response to reports that the German battleship
Tirpitz was about to make a sortie into the North Atlantic, although once again,
this proved not to be the case.
.P December 7th 1941. When the Japanese attacked the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl
Harbor, Wasp was in Bermuda. Shortly after the attack, Germany declared war on
the United States and thus the die was cast. The United States was now fully
involved in both the war in the Atlantic and the Pacific. Wasp remained on the
East Coast.
.P Having agreed to adopt a "Germany First" approach to defeating the Axis, the
Americans quickly began to send troops and supplies to the United Kingdom. In
January 1942 Wasp was part of the initial escort for troop convoy AT10, along
with the battleship Texas and the cruisers Tuscaloosa and Wichita. This convoy
brought almost 4,000 troops from the 34th Mountain Division to the UK.
.P In March, while heading to the naval base at Norfolk, Virginia, Wasp collided
with the destroyer USS Stack but fortunately Wasp suffered only minimal damage.
Repair work was carried out and Wasp then joined the small but powerful Task
Force (TF) 39 (later TF99) that was sent to the British main anchorage at Scapa
Flow, north of Scotland (see USS Washington). TF99 was created to supplement the
British Home Fleet in order to strengthen the escorts covering the convoys being
sent to the Soviet Union.
.P However, when she arrived in the United Kingdom, Wasp suddenly found herself
being prepared for a very different operation. The British-owned Mediterranean
island of Malta had been under Axis air attack since Italy declared war on the
British and French in June 1940. By April 1942 supplies of all kinds, not least
fighter aircraft were in short supply on the island; in fact, Malta's fighter
defences were almost exhausted. The Royal Navy had been reinforcing Malta with
aircraft flown from its aircraft carriers, but for a variety of reasons there
were no Royal Navy carriers available at this time. After a personal appeal for
assistance from the British Prime Minister to the American President, the USN
made the Wasp available for a ferry mission.
.P Wasp embarked forty-seven Royal Air Force Spitfire fighters and sailed for the
Mediterranean on the 14th April. She was escorted by the battlecruiser HMS Renown
and four British and two US destroyers for this operation; code-named Calendar.
The AA Light cruisers Cairo and Charybdis joined these ships at Gibraltar, and
together, they sailed east into the Western Mediterranean. They reached the
flying-off point on the 20th and the aircraft took-off from Wasp's flight deck.
All but one Spitfire made it safely to Malta.
.P Such was the intensity of the Axis air offensive that, within less than one
week, only six of the newly arrived Spitfires remained operational. As a result,
the same force was used for a follow-up operation; Bowery, at the end of April.
Wasp, which had returned to the UK after Calendar, embarked a further fifty
Spitfires on the 29th and sailed for Gibraltar once again. Here the small British
carrier Eagle, embarked a further seventeen aircraft. The aircraft were flown off
on the 9th May, with four aircraft failing to make it safely to Malta. Upon
return of the fleet at Gibraltar, Wasp was escorted by Renown back to the UK.
.P Meanwhile, in the Pacific, the USN lost the carrier Lexington at the Battle
of the Coral Sea in May, and Yorktown at Midway a month later. As a result, Wasp
was badly needed in the Pacific. She returned to the US for a refit, following
which she became part of TF18 along with the battleship North Carolina, the
heavy cruisers Quincy, San Francisco, Vincennes; the light cruiser San Juan, and
six destroyers. Rear-Admiral Leigh Noyes who flew his flag in Wasp commanded
TF18.
.P Wasp's time in the Pacific was to be brief. Following the successful battle of
Midway, in which four Japanese fleet carriers were sunk, the Americans brought
forward their plans to take the war back to Japan. At the start of August Wasp
was part of the covering force for the invasion fleet sent to capture the Solomon
Islands of Guadalcanal and Tulagi (see Transport Counter 4247). But the
successful landings on these islands was just the start of a six-month campaign
that ultimately saw the Japanese retreat from the Solomons having suffered
unsustainable losses in men, ships and aircraft.
.P While the numerous battles for Guadalcanal were being fought on the ground, in
the air, and at sea, Wasp remained in the Solomons area along with the carriers
Saratoga and Enterprise. These carriers' aircraft helped to ensure the safe
arrival of reinforcements and supplies to Guadalcanal.
.P Meanwhile Admiral Isoruko Yamamoto, the Commander of the Japanese Combined
Fleet continued in his efforts to bring the USN to the "decisive battle". In late
August, the battle of the Eastern Solomons pitted three Japanese carriers against
two American. But Wasp was not to take part in the battle. American intelligence
and reconnaissance had failed to pick up the presence of the Japanese carriers
and Noyes was ordered to sail to the rear to re-fuel just as the battle was about
to start. She therefore missed the encounter; a battle that saw the light carrier
Ryujo sunk and USS Enterprise badly damaged.
.P The end for Wasp came less than a month later. On the 15th September she was
providing air cover for a troop convoy heading to Guadalcanal when the Japanese
submarine I-19 found her. I-19 fired six torpedoes and two of these struck
Wasp's starboard side, causing fires to rage throughout the ship very quickly.
Less than an hour after the torpedoes struck, the order to abandon ship was
given. Wasp however, burning furiously, remained afloat. She was scuttled later
that evening. 173 officers and men were killed and over 400 wounded.


_____________________________

University of Science Music and Culture (USMC) class of 71 and 72 ~ Extraneous (AKA Mziln)

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 2168
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/22/2011 1:50:58 AM   
brian brian

 

Posts: 3191
Joined: 11/16/2005
Status: offline 		I've never heard of a 34th Mountain Division....I hope there is something on that in the write-up for the hypothetical US MTN corps ... ?

(in reply to Extraneous)
Post #: 2169
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/22/2011 2:37:10 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: brian brian

I've never heard of a 34th Mountain Division....I hope there is something on that in the write-up for the hypothetical US MTN corps ... ?

There is no 34th mountain division in the game for any country. Do you have the number correct?

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to brian brian)
Post #: 2170
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/22/2011 2:46:42 AM   
brian brian

 

Posts: 3191
Joined: 11/16/2005
Status: offline 		from the Wasp write-up:

January 1942 Wasp was part of the initial escort for troop convoy AT10, along
with the battleship Texas and the cruisers Tuscaloosa and Wichita. This convoy
brought almost 4,000 troops from the 34th Mountain Division to the UK.


I thought the 10th Mountain was the first such division for the US Army, and was formed during the war, i.e. after January '42.... ???

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 2171
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/22/2011 2:49:27 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: brian brian

from the Wasp write-up:

January 1942 Wasp was part of the initial escort for troop convoy AT10, along
with the battleship Texas and the cruisers Tuscaloosa and Wichita. This convoy
brought almost 4,000 troops from the 34th Mountain Division to the UK.


I thought the 10th Mountain was the first such division for the US Army, and was formed during the war, i.e. after January '42.... ???

WIF FE has/identifies very few divisions by name. Those are the only ones which we are considering for unit writeups. Sorry.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to brian brian)
Post #: 2172
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/22/2011 3:23:56 AM   
brian brian

 

Posts: 3191
Joined: 11/16/2005
Status: offline 		I am more interested to just know about this other division, it doesn't have to be in the game. It kind of jumps out at you in the write-up, and I think I wouldn't be the only reader, thinking.....huh? And then start by looking at the US land unit write-ups in their wonderful new wargame they just purchased...

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 2173
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/22/2011 6:53:15 AM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: brian brian

I've never heard of a 34th Mountain Division....I hope there is something on that in the write-up for the hypothetical US MTN corps ... ?
Warspite1

It looks like the division should be the 34th Infantry, not Mountain. According to wiki the 34th came to the UK in Jan 42 so this fits.

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to brian brian)
Post #: 2174
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/22/2011 8:30:17 AM   
Extraneous

 

Posts: 1810
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline 		Arnold Hague Convoy Database: Convoy AT.10 departed NYC on 15 January 1942 arrives Londonderry on 27 January 1942.

34th Mountain Division should be 34th Infantry Division

In common with other U.S. Army divisions the 34th was reorganised from a square to a triangular division before seeing combat. The division's three infantry regiments became the 133rd, 135th, and 168th Infantry Regiments.

The first contingent embarked at Brooklyn on 14 January 1942 and sailed from New York the next day. The initial group of 4,508 stepped ashore at 12:15 hrs on 26 January 1942 at Dufferin Quay, Belfast commanded by Major-General Russell P. Hartle. They were met by a delegation including the Governor General (Duke of Abercorn), the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (John Miller Andrews), the Commander of British Troops in Ulster (General G. E. W. Franklyn), and the Secretary of State for Air (Sir Archibald Sinclair).



_____________________________

University of Science Music and Culture (USMC) class of 71 and 72 ~ Extraneous (AKA Mziln)

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 2175
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/29/2011 12:49:12 AM   
brian brian

 

Posts: 3191
Joined: 11/16/2005
Status: offline 		speaking of MTN divisions, on the Yahoo list this week I learned that there are 2 5th Mountain Divisions in the German Force Pool; the 2nd one appeared on the Asia in Flames counter-sheet I think. The second one is the glider / air-landing division. I had never noticed they both used the number "5". So I'm curious, what did MWiF do about this odd little fact? I'm not sure what to do about it with my cardboard counters. Should the second one be used only? Or should the Germans get both?

(in reply to Extraneous)
Post #: 2176
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/29/2011 7:16:36 AM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: brian brian

speaking of MTN divisions, on the Yahoo list this week I learned that there are 2 5th Mountain Divisions in the German Force Pool; the 2nd one appeared on the Asia in Flames counter-sheet I think. The second one is the glider / air-landing division. I had never noticed they both used the number "5". So I'm curious, what did MWiF do about this odd little fact? I'm not sure what to do about it with my cardboard counters. Should the second one be used only? Or should the Germans get both?
Warspite1

One is 5th Mountain and the other is 5th SS Mountain so yes you get both as these are different units.

I can't see that one is air-landing - they both have the regular Mountain symbol. Maybe I have an old counter set?


< Message edited by warspite1 -- 11/29/2011 7:21:20 AM >

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to brian brian)
Post #: 2177
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/29/2011 7:29:26 AM   
Froonp


Posts: 7995
Joined: 10/21/2003
From: Marseilles, France
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1

quote:

ORIGINAL: brian brian

speaking of MTN divisions, on the Yahoo list this week I learned that there are 2 5th Mountain Divisions in the German Force Pool; the 2nd one appeared on the Asia in Flames counter-sheet I think. The second one is the glider / air-landing division. I had never noticed they both used the number "5". So I'm curious, what did MWiF do about this odd little fact? I'm not sure what to do about it with my cardboard counters. Should the second one be used only? Or should the Germans get both?
Warspite1

One is 5th Mountain and the other is 5th SS Mountain so yes you get both as these are different units.

I can't see that one is air-landing - they both have the regular Mountain symbol. Maybe I have an old counter set?


There is a 5 MTN DIV, a 5 AIR LANDING DIV, and a 6 SS MTN DIV. There is no 5 SS MTN DIV.





Attachment (1)

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 2178
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/29/2011 7:31:25 AM   
Froonp


Posts: 7995
Joined: 10/21/2003
From: Marseilles, France
Status: offline 		5 AIR LANDING





Attachment (1)

(in reply to Froonp)
Post #: 2179
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/29/2011 7:32:51 AM   
Froonp


Posts: 7995
Joined: 10/21/2003
From: Marseilles, France
Status: offline 		5 MTN




Attachment (1)

(in reply to Froonp)
Post #: 2180
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/29/2011 7:33:35 AM   
Froonp


Posts: 7995
Joined: 10/21/2003
From: Marseilles, France
Status: offline 		6 SS MTN




Attachment (1)

(in reply to Froonp)
Post #: 2181
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/29/2011 3:01:25 PM   
Extraneous

 

Posts: 1810
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline 		Just a quick rough outline.

5th Mountain Division (5th Gebirgs Division) was established in the Austrian Tirol in October 1940, out of regiments taken from the 1st Gebirgs Division and the 10th Infanterie Division.

Nicknames: Gamsbock-Division (Mountain Goat Division), Sumpfjäger Division (Swamp Hunter Division)

Its first actions were in the 1941 Balkans Campaigns:
04/06/41- 04/30/41 The Battle of Greece (Aka: Operation Mary, Operation Marita, German: Unternehmen Marita)
05/20/41- 06/01/41 The Battle of Crete (Aka: Operation Mercury, Operation Merkur, German: Unternehmen Merkur) where it was used in an air-landing role

In November, it returned to Germany for rehabilitation.

April 1942 it was deployed to the Eastern Front, where it joined Army Group North on the Volkhov Front.
April 1943 it was redeployed to Italy. It fought out the remainder of the war in Italy and the Western Alps, and surrendered to the Americans near Turin in May 1945.

Commanders
11/01/40 - 02/10/44 General der Gebirgstruppe Julius Ringel
02/10/44 - 01/18/45 Generalleutnant Max Schrank
01/18/45 - 05/08/45 Generalmajor Hans Steets

Units
85th Gebirgsjäger-Regiment
100th Gebirgsjäger-Regiment
95th Aufklärungs-Battalion
95th Panzerjäger-Battalion
73th leichte Flak Batterie (Luftwaffe)
95th Gebirgs-Artillerie-Regiment; I. - IV. Abteilung
95th Gebirgs-Pionier-Battalion
95th Nachrichten-Battalion
95th Nachschubtruppen



_____________________________

University of Science Music and Culture (USMC) class of 71 and 72 ~ Extraneous (AKA Mziln)

(in reply to Froonp)
Post #: 2182
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 11/29/2011 7:47:51 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Froonp

quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1

quote:

ORIGINAL: brian brian

speaking of MTN divisions, on the Yahoo list this week I learned that there are 2 5th Mountain Divisions in the German Force Pool; the 2nd one appeared on the Asia in Flames counter-sheet I think. The second one is the glider / air-landing division. I had never noticed they both used the number "5". So I'm curious, what did MWiF do about this odd little fact? I'm not sure what to do about it with my cardboard counters. Should the second one be used only? Or should the Germans get both?
Warspite1

One is 5th Mountain and the other is 5th SS Mountain so yes you get both as these are different units.

I can't see that one is air-landing - they both have the regular Mountain symbol. Maybe I have an old counter set?


There is a 5 MTN DIV, a 5 AIR LANDING DIV, and a 6 SS MTN DIV. There is no 5 SS MTN DIV.




Warspite1

Indeed, the 5th SS Mountain is a Corps not a Division - apologies.


_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to Froonp)
Post #: 2183
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 12/17/2011 11:15:08 PM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		More Guadalcanal action - and a very sad story


[4180 Juneau - by Robert Jenkins]
.B Engine Output: 75,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 32.5 Knots
.B Main Armament: 16 x 5-inch (127mm), 16 x 1.1-inch (28mm) guns
.B Displacement (full load): 8,340 tons
.B Thickest Armour: 3.75-inch (belt)
.P The Atlantas were a class of eleven light cruisers built for the United
States Navy (USN) between 1940 and 1946. The last three ships of the class were
not completed until well after the Second World War had finished and as a result,
World In Flames allows the US player to build the first eight ships of the class
only.
.P These ships were the smallest cruisers to serve with the USN during the war,
being twenty-five foot shorter than the much earlier Omahas; the ships they were
designed to replace. The first four were completed to a slightly different design
to the second group of four (see below).
.P In accordance with the 1936 London Naval Treaty, they were designed to a 6,000
ton restriction, although they actually came in slightly over this.
.P The class was designed to work with destroyers and as a result the main
armament was required to overcome enemy ships of this type. The gun chosen came
in the form of an excellent development of the USN's existing 5-inch gun; the
type 38. This dual-purpose gun gave the class an excellent anti-aircraft (AA)
capability. The guns were fitted in no less than eight twin turrets, six forward,
six aft and two in the waist. Note - only the first four ships were fitted with
the waist guns as the later ships were provided with additional close-range AA
guns instead. For the first four ships AA weaponry was originally four quadruple
1.1-inch guns and eight 20mm.
.P The armoured protection was significantly lighter than that fitted to the
Brooklyns - the previous light cruiser class - although this is not surprising
given the 4,000 ton weight differential.
.P Their 75,000 hp gave a top speed in line with all contemporary US cruisers but
was slightly less than the designed speed of 34 knots.
.P In line with naming convention, the class were named after large cities in the
United States.
.P USS Juneau was completed in February 1942, two months after the Japanese
surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II.
She was initially deployed on the Atlantic seaboard. After undergoing trials and
crew work-up, she was ordered to the West Indies, where she monitored the
movements of Vichy French ships that were holed up in the islands of Martinique
and Guadeloupe.
.P Juneau returned to the dockyard for minor work and was then used on patrol and
escort duty in both the North Atlantic and the Caribbean. However, her time on
the Eastern Seaboard came to a close towards the end of August 1942; her presence
was desperately needed in the southwest Pacific.
.P On the 9th August, US Marines from the 1st Marine Division had landed on two
of the Solomon Islands; Tulagi and Guadalcanal (see Transport Counter 4247). The
subsequent fighting - on land, sea and air - for the right to own the latter
island was to last six months, and would cost both the Americans and the Japanese
thousands of lives, hundreds of aircraft and a great many ships. USS Juneau was
one of the ships that would find their ultimate resting place in the waters that
surrounded the Solomon Islands. Her loss also provided World War II with one of
its more tragic episodes.
.P All that was in the future however. Having reached the Pacific, Juneau was
ordered to join Task Force (TF) 18, which she did on the 10th September. TF18,
which was centred around the carrier Wasp, was deployed south of Guadalcanal with
three objectives: to supplement the small number of aircraft based on Guadalcanal
itself; to provide protection for American troop and supply convoys to the
island; and to stop the Japanese fleet from intervening in the waters around the
Solomons.
.P But, just five days after joining up with Wasp, the carrier was sunk by
torpedoes fired from the Japanese submarine I-19. Juneau was ordered immediately
to join TF17, to provide protection for the carrier USS Hornet. Sadly, at the end
of October, in what was Juneau's first major battle, Hornet was sunk too; this
time to enemy air attack. The battle, known as the Battle of the Santa Cruz
Islands, was on paper, a Japanese victory, but the large cost to the Japanese
Navy in terms of experienced pilots was one they could ill-afford, and would cost
them dearly in operations in and around Guadalcanal in the coming weeks.
.P Juneau's last operation took place in the middle of November, in a battle that
became known as the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The fight for Guadalcanal
was reaching its climax. By November, the Japanese were about to make their final
all out attempt to capture the island.
.P Before any fresh offensive could be launched, the Japanese troops on the
island needed reinforcing. A large convoy, containing eleven transports, put to
sea with its close escort on the 11th November and sailed for Guadalcanal. The
Japanese intended to use two fast battleships - Hiei and Kirishima - for the
first time in the confined waters north of Guadalcanal. The plan was to use the
battleships to shell the American airfield on the island in the early hours of
the 13th November, and so render the airstrip inoperable. With no interference
from American aircraft, the transports would be left in peace to unload their
valuable cargo. Rear-Admiral Hiroaki Abe flew his flag in Hiei, and the two
battleships were escorted by the light cruiser Nagara and six destroyers. Also
available to Abe were four destroyers that would be used to sweep ahead of his
bombardment force, and three more that would be used to patrol the area whilst
the battleships were busy rendering Henderson airfield (named after one of the
American Marine heroes from the Battle of Midway) hors de combat.
.P The Americans themselves planned to run two convoy operations to Guadalcanal
at around the same time. In support of these operations a Task Group (TG) 67.4
was gathered together from two smaller TG's. This task group, commanded by
Rear-Admiral Daniel Callaghan consisted of the heavy cruisers Portland and San
Francisco (Flagship); the light cruisers Atlanta, Helena and Juneau; and the
destroyers Aaron Ward, Barton, Cushing, Fletcher, Laffey, Monssen, O'Bannon and
Sterett.
.P The odds, based on the number of ships, the calibre of guns and number of
torpedoes available, were heavily stacked in the favour of the Imperial Japanese
Navy. However, a couple of factors combined to ensure that this advantage would
be wasted. Firstly, the Japanese ships sailed through an extremely heavy rain
shower that caused the Japanese commander to decide to postpone the bombardment.
He ordered a reversal of course, but then later changed his mind. In the poor
weather conditions, these course changes caused confusion in the positioning of
Abe's ships. Secondly, the battleships were not armed with armour-piercing shells
as Abe expected no opposition on his way to bombard Henderson airfield.
.P For Callaghan, there was no such drama, and his ships, sailed northwest in
relatively calm seas. The American admiral placed four destroyers in line astern
at the head of the formation; Cushing followed by Laffey, then Sterett and
O'Bannon. At the rear of the column were Aaron Ward, Barton, Monssen and
Fletcher. Sandwiched between the two groups of four destroyers were the cruisers:
Atlanta, San Francisco, Portland, Helena and Juneau. Unfortunately, none of the
five ships equipped with the most up-to-date radar were placed at the head of the
column, negating what should have been a key advantage in the coming battle.
.P When the two fleets came across each other just before 0130hrs on the morning
of the 13th, the range was just 1,000 yards between the closest ships. The
position of the Japanese ships was essentially as follows: the destroyers
Harusame and Yudachi were some distance ahead of the main force; behind them came
Nagara, Hiei and Kirishima. To starboard, between the cruiser and Hiei were the
destroyers Inazuma, Akatsuki and Ikazuchi. To the port side of the battleships
were the destroyers Yukikaze, Amatsukaze and Terezuki. Meanwhile, the final three
destroyers Samidare, Murasame and Asagumo were behind Kirishima and were
initially sailing northeast, away from the main fleet.
.P The American column turned to port and headed straight for the Japanese fleet.
So, when firing began at 0148hrs, the battle very quickly developed into a free
for all at very close-range. Trying to record what happened that morning to each
ship is almost impossible and the writer would refer any reader to the excellent
account contained within Richard B Frank's Guadalcanal. Suffice to say that in
the intensity and confusion of battle both sides suffered heavy losses. The
battle lasted less than three quarters of an hour, but in that time there were
numerous incidents of friendly fire accidents.
.P At the head of the American line, Cushing was an early casualty (although she
only sank later that day) as was Laffey, which blew up as she sank; both were
victim to shells from multiple enemy ships. Both Sterett and O'Bannon were able
eventually to withdraw despite taking varying degrees of punishment during the
engagement.
.P Atlanta had Rear-Admiral Norman Scott aboard. He was Callaghan's second in
command and had been the victor at the Battle of Cape Esperance just a month
before. At one point Atlanta was pummelled by shells from San Francisco. Atlanta
was turned into a fireball and Scott was killed. The cruiser sank long after the
battle had ended, despite heroic efforts to save her. San Francisco herself
received hit after hit from Hiei's 14-inch guns and was lucky to survive.
However, despite losing Callaghan and most of the senior officers, San Francisco
remained in the fight during the whole battle.
.P Portland too was badly damaged, but despite receiving a hit from a long-lance
torpedo on her starboard side, she remained afloat. Helena was the least mauled
of the US cruisers that morning, having been hit less than half a dozen times.
Last but not least of the cruisers came Juneau. she took little part in the
battle having also been badly damaged by a torpedo early on.
.P Of the four destroyers that brought up the rear, Aaron Ward survived a number
of hits from either Hiei or Kirishima. Barton was hit by two torpedoes that
caused her to break in two and sink in a ball of fire with heavy loss of life.
Monssen too became a mass of flames as a result of almost forty shell hits and
she sank later that morning. Fletcher was the only American ship to escape any
damage in the chaos.
.P For the Japanese, the damage was less severe, with the destroyers Akatsuki
and Yudachi sunk: the former blew up in the heat of the battle, while the
latter's drifting hulk was sunk by Portland sometime after the battle. Fellow
destroyers Amatsukaze, Ikazuchi and Murasame were damaged. But the biggest loss
to the Japanese was that of the seriously damaged Hiei later that morning. In
the thick of the action from the start, she had taken countless 5, 6 and 8-inch
shell hits, although it was damage from American torpedoes that was to seal her
fate.
.P Unable to steer properly and with her speed down to single digits, Hiei was
a magnet for American aircraft from Guadalcanal, from the carrier Enterprise,
and even long range B-17's, as she tried in vain to get to safety during the
daylight hours. She sank later that evening after numerous bomb and torpedo
strikes.
.P USS Juneau meanwhile, having survived the torpedo hit, was sailing at reduced
speed with many of the other damaged warships and heading for Espiritu Santu. But
just after 1100hrs that morning, she was struck by another torpedo - this time
from submarine I-26. The effect of the torpedo hit was cataclysmic; Juneau blew-
up and disappeared beneath the waves in seconds.
.P Aboard Juneau since she commissioned, were five brothers from Waterloo, Iowa:
George, Francis, Joseph, Madison and Albert Sullivan. Four of the brothers are
believed to have died instantly while the fifth, George, was one of the 100 or
so initial survivors that found themselves in the water after Juneau had gone
down. Sadly, the decision was taken not to stop to pick up survivors and before
these men could be rescued - - a combination of shark attack, exhaustion, thirst
etc - meant that most of these men would die. Just ten men who survived the
initial sinking were rescued; George Sullivan was not amongst them.
.P In tribute to the five Sullivan brothers, a destroyer, commissioned in 1943,
was named USS The Sullivans. She was the first US warship to be named after more
than one person. Juneau's loss of life - 683 officers and crew - was the largest
suffered by an Amercian ship of her size in World War II.

< Message edited by warspite1 -- 12/17/2011 11:20:13 PM >

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 2184
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 12/18/2011 5:38:48 AM   
Extraneous

 

Posts: 1810
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline 		More Guadalcanal action - and a very sad story

[4180 Juneau - by Robert Jenkins]
.B Engine Output: 75,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 32.5 Knots
.B Main Armament: eight dual 5-inch (127mm) gun mounts (16x 5-inch guns), 16 x 1.1-inch (28mm) guns in quad mounts

The Atlanta class were the only class of U.S. Navy cruisers in World War II to be armed with torpedoes tubes (8x 21-inch (533mm) torpedo tubes in two quad launchers)

.B Displacement (full load): 8,340 tons
.B Thickest Armour: 3.75-inch (belt)
.P The Atlanta class consisted of eleven light cruisers built for the United
States Navy (USN) between 1940 and 1946. The last three ships of the class were
not completed until well after the Second World War had finished and as a result,
World In Flames allows the US player to build the first eight ships of the class
only.
.P These ships were the smallest cruisers to serve with the USN during the war,
being twenty-five foot shorter than the much earlier Omaha’s; the ships they were
designed to replace. The first four were completed to a slightly different design
to the second group of four (see below).
.P In accordance with the 1936 London Naval Treaty, they were designed to a 6,000
ton restriction, although they actually came in slightly over this.
.P

The Atlanta class was designed as fast scout cruisers, flotilla leaders, and later proved to be effective anti-aircraft cruisers. The main armament selected for the class came in the form of the U.S. Navy's existing Mark 12 dual-purpose 5"/38 calibre (127mm) gun. Which provided excellent anti-aircraft (AA) protection as well as the ability to overcome enemy destroyers.

The guns were fitted in no less than eight twin turrets, six forward,
six aft and two in the waist. Note - only the first four ships were fitted with
the waist guns as the later ships were provided with additional close-range AA
guns instead. For the first four ships AA weaponry was originally four quadruple
1.1-inch guns and eight 20mm.
.P The armour protection was significantly lighter than that fitted to the
Brooklyn’s - the previous light cruiser class - although this is not surprising
given the 4,000 ton weight differential.
.P Their 75,000 hp gave a top speed in line with all contemporary US cruisers but
was slightly less than the designed speed of 34 knots.
.P In line with naming convention, the class were named after large cities in the
United States.
.P USS Juneau was completed in February 1942, two months after the Japanese
surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II.
She was initially deployed on the Atlantic seaboard. After undergoing trials and
crew work-up, she was ordered to the West Indies, where she monitored the
movements of Vichy French ships that were holed up in the islands of Martinique
and Guadeloupe.
.P Juneau returned to the dockyard for minor work and was then used on patrol and
escort duty in both the North Atlantic and the Caribbean. However, her time on
the Eastern Seaboard came to a close towards the end of August 1942; her presence
was desperately needed in the southwest Pacific.
.P On the 9th August, US Marines from the 1st Marine Division had landed on two
of the Solomon Islands; Tulagi and Guadalcanal (see Transport Counter 4247). The
subsequent fighting - on land, sea and air - for the right to own the latter
island was to last six months, and would cost both the Americans and the Japanese
thousands of lives, hundreds of aircraft and a great many ships. USS Juneau was
one of the ships that would find their ultimate resting place in the waters that
surrounded the Solomon Islands. Her loss also provided World War II with one of
its more tragic episodes.
.P All that was in the future however. Having reached the Pacific, Juneau was
ordered to join Task Force (TF) 18, which she did on the 10th September. TF18,
which was centred around the carrier Wasp, was deployed south of Guadalcanal with
three objectives: to supplement the small number of aircraft based on Guadalcanal
itself; to provide protection for American troop and supply convoys to the
island; and to stop the Japanese fleet from intervening in the waters around the
Solomon Islands.
.P But, just five days after joining up with Wasp, the carrier was sunk by
torpedoes fired from the Japanese submarine I-19. Juneau was ordered immediately
to join TF17, to provide protection for the carrier USS Hornet. Sadly, at the end
of October, in what was Juneau's first major battle, Hornet was sunk too; this
time to enemy air attack. The battle, known as the Battle of the Santa Cruz
Islands, was on paper, a Japanese victory, but the large cost to the Japanese
Navy in terms of experienced pilots was one they could ill-afford, and would cost
them dearly in operations in and around Guadalcanal in the coming weeks.
.P Juneau's last operation took place in the middle of November, in a battle that
became known as the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The fight for Guadalcanal
was reaching its climax. By November, the Japanese were about to make their final
all out attempt to capture the island.
.P Before any fresh offensive could be launched, the Japanese troops on the
island needed reinforcing. A large convoy, containing eleven transports, put to
sea with its close escort on the 11th November and sailed for Guadalcanal. The
Japanese intended to use two fast battleships - Hiei and Kirishima - for the
first time in the confined waters north of Guadalcanal. The plan was to use the
battleships to shell the American airfield on the island in the early hours of
the 13th November, and so render the airstrip inoperable. With no interference
from American aircraft, the transports would be left in peace to unload their
valuable cargo. Rear-Admiral Hiroaki Abe flew his flag in Hiei, the light cruiser
Nagara and six destroyers escorted the two battleships. Also available to Abe
were four destroyers that would be used to sweep ahead of his
bombardment force, and three more that would be used to patrol the area whilst
the battleships were busy rendering Henderson airfield (named after one of the
American Marine heroes from the Battle of Midway) hors de combat.
.P The Americans themselves planned to run two convoy operations to Guadalcanal
at around the same time. In support of these operations a Task Group (TG) 67.4
was gathered together from two smaller TG's. This task group, commanded by
Rear-Admiral Daniel Callaghan consisted of the heavy cruisers Portland and San
Francisco (Flagship); the light cruisers Atlanta, Helena and Juneau; and the
destroyers Aaron Ward, Barton, Cushing, Fletcher, Laffey, Monssen, O'Bannon and
Sterett.
.P The odds, based on the number of ships, the calibre of guns and number of
torpedoes available, were heavily stacked in the favour of the Imperial Japanese
Navy. However, a couple of factors combined to ensure that this advantage would
be wasted. Firstly, the Japanese ships sailed through an extremely heavy rain
shower that caused the Japanese commander to decide to postpone the bombardment.
He ordered a reversal of course, but then later changed his mind. In the poor
weather conditions, these course changes caused confusion in the positioning of
Abe's ships. Secondly, the battleships were not armed with armour-piercing shells
as Abe expected no opposition on his way to bombard Henderson airfield.
.P For Callaghan, there was no such drama, and his ships, sailed northwest in
relatively calm seas. The American admiral placed four destroyers in line astern
at the head of the formation; Cushing followed by Laffey, then Sterett and
O'Bannon. At the rear of the column were Aaron Ward, Barton, Monssen and
Fletcher. Sandwiched between the two groups of four destroyers were the cruisers:
Atlanta, San Francisco, Portland, Helena and Juneau. Unfortunately, none of the
five ships equipped with the most up-to-date radar were placed at the head of the
column, negating what should have been a key advantage in the coming battle.
.P When the two fleets came across each other just before 0130hrs on the morning
of the 13th, the range was just 1,000 yards between the closest ships. The
position of the Japanese ships was essentially as follows: the destroyers
Harusame and Yudachi were some distance ahead of the main force; behind them came
Nagara, Hiei and Kirishima. To starboard, between the cruiser and Hiei were the
destroyers Inazuma, Akatsuki and Ikazuchi. To the port side of the battleships
were the destroyers Yukikaze, Amatsukaze and Terezuki. Meanwhile, the final three
destroyers Samidare, Murasame and Asagumo were behind Kirishima and were
initially sailing northeast, away from the main fleet.
.P The American column turned to port and headed straight for the Japanese fleet.
So, when firing began at 0148hrs, the battle very quickly developed into a free
for all at very close-range. Trying to record what happened that morning to each
ship is almost impossible and the writer would refer any reader to the excellent
account contained within Richard B Frank's Guadalcanal. Suffice to say that in
the intensity and confusion of battle both sides suffered heavy losses. The
battle lasted less than three quarters of an hour, but in that time there were
numerous incidents of friendly fire accidents.
.P At the head of the American line, Cushing was an early casualty (although she
only sank later that day) as was Laffey, which blew up as she sank; both were
victim to shells from multiple enemy ships. Both Sterett and O'Bannon were able
eventually to withdraw despite taking varying degrees of punishment during the
engagement.
.P Atlanta had Rear-Admiral Norman Scott aboard. He was Callaghan's second in
command and had been the victor at the Battle of Cape Esperance just a month
before. At one point Atlanta was pummeled by shells from San Francisco. Atlanta
was turned into a fireball and Scott was killed. The cruiser sank long after the
battle had ended, despite heroic efforts to save her. San Francisco herself
received hit after hit from Hiei's 14-inch guns and was lucky to survive.
However, despite losing Callaghan and most of the senior officers, San Francisco
remained in the fight during the whole battle.
.P Portland too was badly damaged, but despite receiving a hit from a long-lance
torpedo on her starboard side, she remained afloat. Helena was the least mauled
of the US cruisers that morning, having been hit less than half a dozen times.
Last but not least of the cruisers came Juneau. she took little part in the
battle having also been badly damaged by a torpedo early on.
.P Of the four destroyers that brought up the rear, Aaron Ward survived a number
of hits from either Hiei or Kirishima. Barton was hit by two torpedoes that
caused her to break in two and sink in a ball of fire with heavy loss of life.
Monssen too became a mass of flames as a result of almost forty shell hits and
she sank later that morning. Fletcher was the only American ship to escape any
damage in the chaos.
.P For the Japanese, the damage was less severe, with the destroyers Akatsuki
and Yudachi sunk: the former blew up in the heat of the battle, while the
latter's drifting hulk was sunk by Portland sometime after the battle. Fellow
destroyers Amatsukaze, Ikazuchi and Murasame were damaged. But the biggest loss
to the Japanese was that of the seriously damaged Hiei later that morning. In
the thick of the action from the start, she had taken countless 5, 6 and 8-inch
shell hits, although it was damage from American torpedoes that was to seal her
fate.
.P Unable to steer properly and with her speed down to single digits, Hiei was
a magnet for American aircraft from Guadalcanal, from the carrier Enterprise,
and even long range B-17's, as she tried in vain to get to safety during the
daylight hours. She sank later that evening after numerous bomb and torpedo
strikes.
.P USS Juneau meanwhile, having survived the torpedo hit, was sailing at reduced
speed with many of the other damaged warships and heading for Espiritu Santu. But
just after 1100hrs that morning, she was struck by another torpedo - this time
from submarine I-26. The effect of the torpedo hit was cataclysmic; Juneau blew-
up and disappeared beneath the waves in seconds.
.P Aboard Juneau since she commissioned, were five brothers from Waterloo, Iowa:
George, Francis, Joseph, Madison and Albert Sullivan. Four of the brothers are
believed to have died instantly while the fifth, George, was one of the 100 or
so initial survivors that found themselves in the water after Juneau had gone
down. Sadly, the decision was taken not to stop to pick up survivors and before
these men could be rescued - - a combination of shark attack, exhaustion, thirst
etc - meant that most of these men would die. Just ten men who survived the
initial sinking were rescued; George Sullivan was not amongst them.
.P In tribute to the five Sullivan brothers, the Fletcher class destroyer USS The Sullivan’s (DD-537), was commissioned in 1943.
She was the first US warship to be named after more
than one person. Juneau's loss of life - 683 officers and crew - was the largest
suffered by an American ship of her size in World War II.



quote:

Note: They were also known as the Atlanta-Oakland class. The Oakland and later ships of the class were designed as Flagships with additional space for a flag officer and his staff but the additional space was used for additional crew necessary to man anti-aircraft weapons and electronics. They also had their two "wing" mounts of dual 5-inch guns replaced with 8x 40mm/56 cal anti-aircraft guns.

USS Oakland (CL-95)
USS Reno (CL-96)
USS Flint (CL-97)
USS Tucson (CL-98)


Note: The Fighting Sullivans (movie 1944)


< Message edited by Extraneous -- 12/18/2011 6:25:44 AM >

_____________________________

University of Science Music and Culture (USMC) class of 71 and 72 ~ Extraneous (AKA Mziln)

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 2185
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 12/18/2011 9:18:35 AM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		Extraneous thanks. I have incorporated the spelling changes and also the reference to the Atlantas AA usefulness. The fact that The Sullivans was a Fletcher class ship was also a useful addition. However, for consistency the technical detail needs to remain as is - otherwise I will need to change all 1,000+ counters. I think you went a little mad with the apostrophes too - not required for multiple ships or brothers!

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to Extraneous)
Post #: 2186
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 12/24/2011 7:27:56 AM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline 		Please see a final example of a US ASW Escort counter.

[4215 ASW Escort]
.P These ASW counters are only used if playing with the Convoy In Flames optional
rule. The counters do not represent any specific individual convoy or any
particular ships, but are designed to represent convoy escort groups. They have
mixed values reflecting the fact that the make-up of an escort group could differ
from one convoy to the next. Examples of the main ship types that were used in
the convoy escort role during the Second World War are: escort carriers,
destroyers, destroyer escorts, corvettes, sloops and trawlers. As can be seen, a
wide variety of ship type was used in the defence of convoys.
.P In the years following the end of the First World War, the United States Navy
(USN) neglected the subject of trade protection. As a continental power, the need
for defending merchant shipping was perhaps not seen as being as important as the
ability to field a strong surface fleet; after all, it was argued, such a fleet
would sweep the oceans clear of any enemy shipping.
.P As a result of this thinking, at the time that the United States was thrust
into World War II, courtesy of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and Hitler's
subsequent declaration of war in December 1941, the USN was unprepared for large
scale trade protection operations.
.P This shortcoming was still in evidence despite the fact that elements of the
USN had been employed on convoy defence duty since the start of the war in
Europe. On the 4th September 1939 President Roosevelt ordered the setting up of a
"Neutrality Patrol", under which USN ships were initially tasked with tracking
and reporting the movements of belligerent naval vessels in the Atlantic Ocean.
As time went on however, and with the USA still neutral, USN ships took part in
convoy escort operations as far eastward as Iceland.
.P The escorts were ostensibly to protect American shipping, but in actual fact,
stretched US neutrality to the limit, and indeed led to the loss of the destroyer
Reuben James to a German U-boat in October 1941.
.P Fortunately for the Americans, when war came in the Pacific, the Japanese were
not in any position to take advantage of the USN's unpreparedness. The IJN
submarine service proved a largely impotent force, and in any case, the Japanese
high command simply did not appreciate the value of attacking the Allied shipping
that took troops and supplies from the US to Australia and numerous Pacific
islands; strongpoints from which the Americans and their Allies would launch
their comeback against the Japanese.
.P Sadly, in the North Atlantic, the USN were punished more severely. German
U-boats inflicted many months of pain on Allied merchant shipping sailing along
the US East Coast before the USN got on top of the situation.
.P During this second "Happy Time" for the German U-boat crews, they were able to
take advantage of the US decision not to mount convoys in those waters. However,
a combination of US industrial strength and capable administrators and naval
personnel, meant that before long the Germans were on the back foot once more.
.P During 1942/43, wave after wave of escort carriers, destroyer escorts and
patrol frigates were built in US shipyards. Merchant shipping not only benefited
from an ever increasing number of escort vessels, but also from the increased
effectiveness of those escorts, as better anti-aircraft (AA) and anti-submarine
(ASW) capability was developed.
.P Convoy protection work was extremely tough, hazardous work but had none of the
glamour that was associated with the carriers and battleships of the fleet. But
the work was vital, and thanks to the bravery and sacrifice of those sailors and
airmen that undertook these operations, thousands of essential troop and supply
movements were completed, enabling the Allies to take the war to the enemy on
both sides of the world.
.P Note, the date on the back of these ASW and ASW Carrier counters do not relate
in any meaningful way to actual build dates for the ships that took undertook the
convoy escort role during World War II. The counter date should therefore be
ignored. These ASW counters are also used to tell some of the more important, non
-convoy related, episodes of the war that involved these smaller vessels.
.P This write-up looks at the Clemson and Wickes-class destroyers that were
converted for use as fast destroyer transports (APD) and specifically the USS
Little.
.B Name: USS Little
.B Engine(s) Output: 13,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 24 knots
.B Main Armament: 3 x 3-inch (76.2mm), 7 x 20mm guns
.B Displacement (full load): 1,793 tons
.B Cargo: 4 x Landing Craft and 147 troops
.B Thickest Armour: N/a
.P USS Little began life as one of one hundred and eleven "flush-deck" Wickes-
class destroyers. She was built for the USN at the end of the First World War and
was commissioned in April 1918.
.P She was converted to a destroyer transport (see below) in 1940 and the
technical details above reflect how she appeared during her short life in World
War II. As part of the conversion process, Little had two boilers removed (and
the front two of her four stacks with them). This reduced speed to around 24
knots, but the space saved was used to accommodate 147 troops.
.P Her main armament was reduced from the original four, 4-inch guns to three,
3-inch, dual-purpose weapons. Seven 20mm guns were fitted for close-range AA
defence, and on surviving ships, two 40mm guns were added later in the war.
.P Amidships, four large davits were erected that housed one Landing Craft
Personnel (LCP) each. These four landing craft were used to land troops on
hostile shores. In 1941 the basic landing craft was upgraded to a Landing Craft
Personnel (Ramped) (LCP(R)). As the name suggests, this boat had the added
feature of a ramp at the front for easier debarking of troops.
.P USS Little was named after George Little, a naval officer who served with the
Continental Navy during the American War of Independence.
.P When one reads about the United States Marine Corps, landing three divisions
on Iwo Jima in June 1944, it is difficult to believe that just a few years
before, the Corps, and its amphibious equipment were just a fraction of the size
they were to become. Incredibly, when war in Europe came in September 1939, there
were no specialised ships in service in the USN that could transport Marines to
a hostile shore and provide gunfire support in so-doing.
.P It was as late as 1938 that an old "flush-decker", USS Manley, was taken out
of mothballs and converted for use by the Marines. Landing exercises were carried
out and these were considered such a success that Manley was re-designated APD-1
- AP = transport and D = destroyer - and five of her sisters were quickly
earmarked for similar conversion. All six vessels - Colhoun, Gregory, Little,
Manley, McKean and Stringham - were ready by the time of Pearl Harbor in December
1941, and the USN quickly set about further conversions.
.P A total of thirty-two "flush-deckers" were converted to APD's between 1939 and
1944; nine were lost, including four of the first six. They were used almost
exclusively in the Pacific theatre.
.P USS Little was commissioned into the USN as APD-4 in November 1940. She took
part in numerous exercises from the time of her commissioning to August 1942
when, as Flagship of Transport Division 12, she took part in the invasion of
Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
.P Following the stunning success at Midway, in which four fleet carriers of the
Imperial Japanese Navy were sunk, the United States brought forward plans to take
the war back to the Japanese. The area chosen to begin the fight-back was in the
Solomon Islands, located in the southwest Pacific, northwest of Australia. On the
island of Guadalcanal, which the Japanese had occupied in May 1942, the Japanese
were building an airfield. The intention was to use this island as a base from
which they could a) protect their flanks for the conquest of New Guinea, and b)
launch their drive against other island chains in that region in order to cut the
USA off from Australia.
.P As part of this operation - code-named Watchtower - American Marines assaulted
both Guadalcanal (see Transport Counter 4247) and the small island group to the
north, centred on the island of Tulagi. The invasions took place on the 7th
August 1942. On the larger island surprise was achieved and the few Japanese
troops and construction workers on the island fled inland. However on Tulagi the
Japanese put up some resistance.
.P For the Tulagi attack the Americans deployed the following forces:
Transport Group Yoke: Four large transports (Neville, Heywood, President Jackson
and Zeilin) and four APD's (Little (Flagship of Lt-Commander Gus B Lofberg Jr),
McKean, Gregory and Colhoun). For fire support the three battalions of Marines
employed for this part of the operation could count upon the ships of Task Group
62.4 which consisted of the light cruiser San Juan and the destroyers Monssen and
Buchanan. Finally, three aircraft carriers, commanded by Rear-Admiral Frank
Fletcher, were available to provide assistance to both the attack on the islands
and to ensure cover against the expected counter-attack from Japanese aircraft
based in Rabaul further north.
.P The attack on Tulagi involved five separate attacks on not only Tulagi itself,
but also the neighbouring islands of Tanambogo and Gavatu to the east, and the
large island of Florida to the north. Two unopposed landings were made against
the latter island in order to cover the flanks of the attacks on the three
smaller islands. There were around 1,500 Japanese troops based on the smaller
islands, and they put up a spirited fight. However, as was a sign of things to
come, very few of the Japanese troops surrendered. American losses were just one
hundred and twenty.
.P With Tulagi and the surrounding area secured, all eyes became focused on
Guadalcanal, for it was on that island that the Japanese - recognising the
importance of the almost completed airfield - would choose to fight back. The
fighting would last almost exactly six months before the island was finally
secured by American forces.
.P USS Little would not survive to see that happen, however she was fully
involved in the consolidation of the American position on Guadalcanal. With the
airfield controlled by the Marines and almost finished, the first aircraft would
shortly be arriving on Guadalcanal. On the 15th August, Little and three of her
fellow APD's, brought vital supplies that would be needed once the first aircraft
started landing on the airstrip. In addition to personnel, they brought fuel,
bombs and spare parts. Little returned five days later to offload more supplies.
.P On the 30th August Little was operating with Colhoun, escorting a supply ship
that was unloading her cargo on Guadalcanal when Japanese bombers appeared
overhead. Despite attacking from high altitude, Colhoun took a direct hit and she
quickly sank, although Little was undamaged.
.P However, Little's time was almost up. In the early hours of the 5th September
she and Gregory were returning from an operation to investigate a possible
Japanese landing on Savo Island, northeast of Guadalcanal. That morning three
Japanese destroyers were off Guadalcanal bombarding American positions. Little's
commander decided to investigate gun flashes in the distance. Unfortunately for
the two little American vessels, at the same time an American patrol aircraft -
which was also trying to identify the source of the firing - set off illumination
flares.
.P The flares lit the area up like a Christmas tree and the Japanese look-outs
spotted Little and Gregory. All three ships turned their main guns away from
their original target and switched to the APD's. Given the disparity in armament,
it was no contest. The two US ships were soon ablaze and the order to abandon
ship had to be given. Both commanders were to die in the engagement.
.P Fortunately, and no doubt aided by their proximity to the American owned
shoreline, just thirty-three sailors were killed from the two ships.

_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 2187
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 12/24/2011 8:18:21 AM   
JeffroK


Posts: 6391
Joined: 1/26/2005
Status: offline 		From Juneau
The class was designed to work with destroyers and as a result the main
armament was required to overcome enemy ships of this type. The gun chosen came
in the form of an excellent development of the USN's existing 5-inch gun; the
type 38. This dual-purpose gun gave the class an excellent anti-aircraft (AA)
capability. The guns were fitted in no less than eight twin turrets, six forward,
six aft and two in the waist.

Should the last sentence be (as the conversation is about turrets)
The guns were fitted in no less than eight twin turrets, three forward,
three aft and two in the waist.


_____________________________

Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum

(in reply to warspite1)
Post #: 2188
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 12/24/2011 1:02:18 PM   
Extraneous

 

Posts: 1810
Joined: 6/14/2008
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: JeffK

From Juneau
The class was designed to work with destroyers and as a result the main
armament was required to overcome enemy ships of this type. The gun chosen came
in the form of an excellent development of the USN's existing 5-inch gun; the
type 38. This dual-purpose gun gave the class an excellent anti-aircraft (AA)
capability. The guns were fitted in no less than eight twin turrets, six forward,
six aft and two in the waist.

Should the last sentence be (as the conversation is about turrets)
The guns were fitted in no less than eight twin turrets, three forward,
three aft and two in the waist.



Good catch Jeff


[4215 ASW Escort]
.P These ASW counters are only used if playing with the Convoy In Flames optional
rule. The counters do not represent any specific individual convoy or any
particular ships, but are designed to represent convoy escort groups. They have
mixed values reflecting the fact that the make-up of an escort group could differ
from one convoy to the next. Examples of the main ship types that were used in
the convoy escort role during the Second World War are: escort carriers,
destroyers, destroyer escorts, corvettes, sloops and trawlers. As can be seen, a
wide variety of ship type was used in the defence of convoys.
.P In the years following the end of the First World War, the United States Navy
(USN) neglected the subject of trade protection. As a continental power, the need
for defending merchant shipping was perhaps not seen as being as important as the
ability to field a strong surface fleet; after all, it was argued, such a fleet
would sweep the oceans clear of any enemy shipping.
.P As a result of this thinking, at the time that the United States was thrust
into World War II, courtesy of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and Hitler's
subsequent declaration of war in December 1941, the USN was unprepared for large
scale trade protection operations.
.P This shortcoming was still in evidence despite the fact that elements of the
USN had been employed on convoy defence duty since the start of the war in
Europe. On the 4th September 1939 President Roosevelt ordered the setting up of a
"Neutrality Patrol", under which USN ships were initially tasked with tracking
and reporting the movements of belligerent naval vessels in the Atlantic Ocean.
As time went on however, and with the USA still neutral, USN ships took part in
convoy escort operations as far eastward as Iceland.
.P The escorts were ostensibly to protect American shipping, but in actual fact,
stretched US neutrality to the limit, and indeed led to the loss of the destroyer
Reuben James to a German U-boat in October 1941.
.P Fortunately for the Americans, when war came in the Pacific, the Japanese were
not in any position to take advantage of the USN's unpreparedness. The IJN
submarine service proved a largely impotent force, and in any case, the Japanese
high command simply did not appreciate the value of attacking the Allied shipping
that took troops and supplies from the US to Australia and numerous Pacific
islands; strongpoints from which the Americans and their Allies would launch
their comeback against the Japanese.
.P Sadly, in the North Atlantic, the USN were punished more severely. German
U-boats inflicted many months of pain on Allied merchant shipping sailing along
the US East Coast before the USN got on top of the situation.
.P During this second "Happy Time" for the German U-boat crews, they were able to
take advantage of the US decision not to mount convoys in those waters. However,
a combination of US industrial strength and capable administrators and naval
personnel, meant that before long the Germans were on the back foot once more.
.P During 1942/43, wave after wave of escort carriers, destroyer escorts and
patrol frigates were built in US shipyards. Merchant shipping not only benefited
from an ever increasing number of escort vessels, but also from the increased
effectiveness of those escorts, as better anti-aircraft (AA) and anti-submarine
(ASW) capability was developed.
.P Convoy protection work was extremely tough, hazardous work but had none of the
glamour that was associated with the carriers and battleships of the fleet. But
the work was vital, and thanks to the bravery and sacrifice of those sailors and
airmen that undertook these operations, thousands of essential troop and supply
movements were completed, enabling the Allies to take the war to the enemy on
both sides of the world.
.P Note, the date on the back of these ASW and ASW Carrier counters do not relate
in any meaningful way to actual build dates for the ships that took undertook the
convoy escort role during World War II. The counter date should therefore be
ignored. These ASW counters are also used to tell some of the more important, non
-convoy related, episodes of the war that involved these smaller vessels.
.P This write-up looks at the Clemson and Wickes class destroyers that were
converted for use as fast destroyer transports (APD) and specifically the USS
Little.
.B Name: USS Little
.B Engine(s) Output: 13,000 hp
.B Top Speed: 24 knots
.B Main Armament: 3 x 3-inch (76.2mm), 7 x 20mm guns
.B Displacement (full load): 1,793 tons
.B Cargo: 4 x Landing Craft and 147 troops
.B Thickest Armour: N/a
.P USS Little began life as one of one hundred and eleven "flush-deck" Wickes
class destroyers. She was built for the USN at the end of the First World War and
was commissioned in April 1918.
.P She was converted to a destroyer transport (see below) in 1940 and the
technical details above reflect how she appeared during her short life in World
War II. As part of the conversion process, Little had two boilers removed (and
the front two of her four stacks with them). This reduced speed to around 24
knots, but the space saved was used to accommodate 147 troops.
.P Her main armament was reduced from the original four, 4-inch guns to three,
3-inch, dual-purpose weapons. Seven 20mm guns were fitted for close-range AA
defence, and on surviving ships; two 40mm guns were added later in the war.
.P Amidships, four large davits were erected that housed one Landing Craft
Personnel (LCP) each. These four landing craft were used to land troops on
hostile shores. In 1941 the basic landing craft was upgraded to a Landing Craft
Personnel (Ramped) (LCP(R)). As the name suggests, this boat had the added
feature of a ramp at the front for easier debarking of troops.
.P USS Little was named after George Little, a naval officer who served with the
Continental Navy during the American War of Independence.
.P When one reads about the United States Marine Corps, landing three divisions
on Iwo Jima in June 1944, it is difficult to believe that just a few years
before, the Corps, and its amphibious equipment were just a fraction of the size
they were to become. Incredibly, when war in Europe came in September 1939, there
were no specialised ships in service in the USN that could transport Marines to
a hostile shore and provide gunfire support in so doing.
.P It was as late as 1938 that an old "flush-decker", USS Manley, was taken out
of mothballs and converted for use by the Marines. Landing exercises were carried
out and these were considered such a success that Manley was re-designated APD-1
- AP = transport and D = destroyer - and five of her sisters were quickly
earmarked for similar conversion. All six vessels - Colhoun, Gregory, Little,
Manley, McKean and Stringham - were ready by the time of Pearl Harbor in December
1941, and the USN quickly set about further conversions.
.P A total of thirty-two "flush-deckers" were converted to APD's between 1939 and
1944; nine were lost, including four of the first six. They were used almost
exclusively in the Pacific theatre.
.P USS Little was commissioned into the USN as APD-4 in November 1940. She took
part in numerous exercises from the time of her commissioning to August 1942
when, as Flagship of Transport Division 12, she took part in the invasion of
Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
.P Following the stunning success at Midway, in which four fleet carriers of the
Imperial Japanese Navy were sunk, the United States brought forward plans to take
the war back to the Japanese. The area chosen to begin the fight-back was in the
Solomon Islands, located in the southwest Pacific, northwest of Australia. On the
island of Guadalcanal, which the Japanese had occupied in May 1942, the Japanese
were building an airfield. The intention was to use this island as a base from
which they could a) protect their flanks for the conquest of New Guinea, and b)
launch their drive against other island chains in that region in order to cut the
USA off from Australia.
.P As part of this operation - code-named Watchtower - American Marines assaulted
both Guadalcanal (see Transport Counter 4247) and the small island group to the
north, centred on the island of Tulagi. The invasions took place on the 7th
August 1942. On the larger island surprise was achieved and the few Japanese
troops and construction workers on the island fled inland. However on Tulagi the
Japanese put up some resistance.
.P For the Tulagi attack the Americans deployed the following forces:
Transport Group Yoke: Four large transports (Neville, Heywood, President Jackson
and Zeilin) and four APD's (Little (Flagship of Lt-Commander Gus B Lofberg Jr.),
McKean, Gregory and Colhoun). For fire support the three battalions of Marines
employed for this part of the operation could count upon the ships of Task Group
62.4, which consisted of the light cruiser San Juan, and the destroyers Monssen and
Buchanan. Finally, three aircraft carriers, commanded by Rear-Admiral Frank
Fletcher, were available to provide assistance to both the attack on the islands
and to ensure cover against the expected counter-attack from Japanese aircraft
based in Rabaul further north.
.P The attack on Tulagi involved five separate attacks on not only Tulagi itself,
but also the neighbouring islands of Tanambogo and Gavatu to the east, and the
large island of Florida to the north. Two unopposed landings were made against
the latter island in order to cover the flanks of the attacks on the three
smaller islands. There were around 1,500 Japanese troops based on the smaller
islands, and they put up a spirited fight. However, as was a sign of things to
come, very few of the Japanese troops surrendered. American losses were just one
hundred and twenty.
.P With Tulagi and the surrounding area secured, all eyes became focused on
Guadalcanal, for it was on that island that the Japanese - recognising the
importance of the almost completed airfield - would choose to fight back. The
fighting would last almost exactly six months before American forces finally
secured the island.
.P USS Little would not survive to see that happen, however she was fully
involved in the consolidation of the American position on Guadalcanal. With the
airfield controlled by the Marines and almost finished, the first aircraft would
shortly be arriving on Guadalcanal. On the 15th August, Little and three of her
fellow APD's, brought vital supplies that would be needed once the first aircraft
started landing on the airstrip. In addition to personnel, they brought fuel,
bombs and spare parts. Little returned five days later to offload more supplies.
.P On the 30th August Little was operating with Colhoun, escorting a supply ship
that was unloading her cargo on Guadalcanal when Japanese bombers appeared
overhead. Despite attacking from high altitude, Colhoun took a direct hit and she
quickly sank, although Little was undamaged.
.P However, Little's time was almost up. In the early hours of the 5th September
she and Gregory were returning from an operation to investigate a possible
Japanese landing on Savo Island, northeast of Guadalcanal. That morning three
Japanese destroyers were off Guadalcanal bombarding American positions. Little's
commander decided to investigate gun flashes in the distance. Unfortunately for
the two little American vessels, at the same time an American patrol aircraft -
which was also trying to identify the source of the firing - set off illumination
flares.
.P The flares lit the area up like a Christmas tree and the Japanese look-outs
spotted Little and Gregory. All three ships turned their main guns away from
their original target and switched to the APD's. Given the disparity in armament,
it was no contest. The two US ships were soon ablaze and the order to abandon
ship had to be given. Both commanders were to die in the engagement.
.P Fortunately, and no doubt aided by their proximity to the American owned
shoreline, just thirty-three sailors were killed from the two ships.


< Message edited by Extraneous -- 12/25/2011 1:11:29 AM >

_____________________________

University of Science Music and Culture (USMC) class of 71 and 72 ~ Extraneous (AKA Mziln)

(in reply to JeffroK)
Post #: 2189
RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land - 12/25/2011 11:39:21 AM   
warspite1


Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: JeffK

From Juneau
The class was designed to work with destroyers and as a result the main
armament was required to overcome enemy ships of this type. The gun chosen came
in the form of an excellent development of the USN's existing 5-inch gun; the
type 38. This dual-purpose gun gave the class an excellent anti-aircraft (AA)
capability. The guns were fitted in no less than eight twin turrets, six forward,
six aft and two in the waist.

Should the last sentence be (as the conversation is about turrets)
The guns were fitted in no less than eight twin turrets, three forward,
three aft and two in the waist.

Warspite1

Took a couple of reads before I got this, but I think you are right JeffK so thank-you - I will incoporate the change .


_____________________________

England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805



(in reply to JeffroK)
Post #: 2190
Page:   <<   < prev  71 72 [73] 74 75   next >   >>
All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> World in Flames >> RE: Unit Descriptions: Air, Naval, Land Page: <<   < prev  71 72 [73] 74 75   next >   >>
Jump to:





New Messages No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages Locked w/o New Messages
 Post New Thread
 Reply to Message
 Post New Poll
 Submit Vote
 Delete My Own Post
 Delete My Own Thread
 Rate Posts


Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI

2.313