Leandros
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Sitrap September 24th 1943 – afternoon
The Kido Butai did not continue towards north-west after dark but turned around for another break-through attempt. It almost succeeded, too, as the allied divisions in pursuit took a more westerly course and missed it. But only almost. At the narrowest part of the strait it hit upon the light cruiser Perth accompanied by destroyer Walke, they had been called in from the east and had gone full blast to catch up with the action. Before the enemy had a chance to open fire what was believed to be the carrier Zuikaku received a shell hit before they passed each other in the dark. Right behind Perth and Walke was light cruiser Cleveland, she arrived from the same direction but didn’t have a chance to get off any shots before the enemy was out of sight. The allied ships turned around but the Japanese went full speed out in the open on the east side of the strait. Suddenly an allied transport, AK Flattery, popped up in the middle of the meddle but nobody bothered to take notice of her. As the enemy started to believe they were safely out of the strait a torpedo fired by SS Gunnell hit destroyer Akikaze, one of the carrier escorts. Only a little later Okikaze was hit by a torpedo, too.
From there on the enemy flotilla was not seen again until it was sighted later in the day in the Batavia approaches. Several strikes were flown from British bases in Sumatra but the weather turned bad, in the evening they were gone again.
In the mean-time light cruiser Richmond with destroyers Case and Frazier hit upon a lone tanker trying to reach the coast of Borneo. This was probably one of the tankers servicing the Kido Butai. It was promptly sunk.
The next day an even more intricate net was established to stop the enemy to get away. From the Celebes Sea two more destroyers were called in, they had already steamed full speed for a whole day and in Denpasar was, incidentally, the battleship Nevada. She had been on a bombardment mission and was out of ammo for her large guns but was otherwise well stacked up. her commander, Captain Holdbridge, reckoned that if his ship couldn’t be used to the full extent, it could operate as a decoy and cover for the other ships. He brought with him from Denpasar a destroyer and nine PT Boats. They steamed out in the early afternoon on an economic speed, the destroyer in the lead and the small PTs riding the large ship’s calm wake. He hoped to catch the enemy in the Java Sea. The PT’s could be the medicine that was needed in the dark. If necessary, he planned to fuel them from his scout planes’ fuel reservoir.
The enemy was expected to proceed east through the Java Sea. If so, he would come within reach both by the heavy bombers flying from Sumatra as well of those based in Denpasar, Macassar, Kendari and Donggala.
The game was almost ruined for the old battleship before it started, just before dark fell a formation of Kates struck out from Soerebaja and managed to put a torpedo into her. Fortunately, the damage was mainly on her propulsion machinery, her speed was reduced to 16 knots. Captain Holdbridge decided to press on.
Just after midnight the destroyers Nepal and Panther, heading west, passed Nevada and her little friends in the Java Sea. They had sprinted down from the Celebes Sea and not long after they passed Nevada they ran into the enemy formation, consisting of what was believed to be Akagi and Shokaku, with two destroyers. The surprise was total, before the enemy had a chance to respond shell hits were made on all the Japanese ships – seven on Akagi alone. And when the enemy first responded it was quite feeble, as if they were low on ammunition. That wouldn’t be so strange, they had been through several encounters the last couple of days. They achieved no hits, though. As the allied ships put some distance between themselves and the enemy, to turn around, they could see on their radar screens how the enemy formation slowed down. In RT communication with Nevada it was decided to wait and see till dawn, when Nevada and her cohorts had reached the field, too. They had a healthy respect for the enemy’s nightly torpedo work. As day broke the enemy flotilla proceeded only slowly towards east, shadowed by the two British destroyers, no flights were launched. Either the carriers were too damaged to launch their planes or they had been flown off to airfields ashore. The carriers’ escorts circled around their heavily damaged friends. The allied airfields were signalled about the enemy’s position.
The first planes to arrive were four PBY’s flying out of Denpasar. They made a lazy turn at 6.000 feet and each dropped 2 x 500 lbs bombs. Close by Shokaku, but no hits.
Next in were 12 B’24s and 3 B-25s from Oosthaven. First now the AA started, as if the PBYs hadn’t been worth firing at. The 15 bombers dropped 500 lbs bombs from 5.000 feet. The AA fire was well placed, damage was done on several of the bombers, but nothing critical. Akagi and Shokaku, however, received two or three bomb hits each. The allied ships stood off, watching the spectacle from afar. Then one B-17 and one B-24 three-ship formation, approaching lower and lower. After that Shokaku’s fires seemed to be spreading along the ship. The next raid hit Akagi – three B-24s, one hit.
Out of sight in the east HMS Victorious was attacked by 8 Kates escorted by 18 Zeros, arriving from the land-side. She was lucky to avoid the torpedoes, her Martlets’ were flying CAPs for the bombers attacking the enemy carriers.
Finally, two B-24 raids, one with 12 and one with 3 planes, ended the day’s show. Hits were observed on both enemy carriers, they were ablaze now Their two destroyer friends, however, were as sprite as ever, circling and circling. It was decided over the RT to wait till after dark and send in the PT Boats to eventually finish off the carriers.
As dark fell over the Java Sea the crews on the PT Boats, heaving in the calm sea alongside the other larger ships, could see the red glow from the fires on the horizon. No need for any intricate navigating. Just before midnight they were given the “green light” and started ahead in two divisions a mile apart on a moderate speed not to make too visual fluorescent wakes. Funny enough, as they moved closer to their target the fires didn’t seem to get larger, on the contrary, they diminished, suddenly to be gone. “They’re gone”, a laconic voice called over the RT from destroyer Nepal, the large echoes on their screens had gradually weakened but on the same spot, the two smaller ones disappearing fast towards north. For a long time, the PTs plowed through the sea, to suddenly enter an area filled with all kinds of stuff floating around. But, no people. The enemy destroyers were gone, too.
The battle of Bangka Strait was over. The score was improved, two carriers and three destroyers versus one light cruiser and a destroyer, no planes lost. Enemy planes lost was later identified as 39. Well, it wasn’t totally over. In the middle of the day a sudden airstrike was launched against the port of Johore Bahru, north of Singapore. An air patrol west of Malacca was informed of the return course of the attackers and followed them to an enemy flotilla rounding the western corner of Borneo, heading north. A battleship, a carrier, a tanker and a couple of cruisers. Obviously, the remnants of the Kido Butai. Well, another task to take care of – an enemy carrier force going north through the South China Sea. Never a dull moment!
It would have been interesting to know what had gone on in the mind of the Japanese task force commander. Were the two carriers so damaged after passing the strait that he decided to use them as diversionary decoys, so that the rest of his force should get away? Or did he reckon that splitting his force would also split the enemy’s efforts?
Now the allied force would have to start licking its wounds. Ships sunk is one thing, damaged ships can be just as bad. And there was a lot of damaged ships. There is also the question of which carriers sank in the Java Sea that day. There are seemingly different opinions on this. See the “ships sunk”-list below.
There has been a lot going on around the southern coast of Japan in these last days, too. Destroyer patrols up and down the coast are still reaping considerable harvests. Apart from that there is a steady US force build-up ashore. The mine-sweeping operation to open Tokyo port has been cancelled - too high losses inflicted by the heavy enemy coastal artillery.
Fred
Sorry - the battleship in question was not Nevada - but Indiana.
Picture: Ships sunk-list per Sept. 22nd 1943 – note the many ships sunk along the Japanese south coast.
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< Message edited by Leandros -- 2/8/2017 6:22:45 PM >
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