US attack on troop convoy fails

During April 1942 the US became increasingly concerned by intelligence reports of a lareg troop buildup in the Marshall Islands. Following the US recapture of Wake Island, the Japanese Empire seemed to be preparing for the next big strike at American posessions in the eastern Pacific. The most likely target was Midway, and to disrupt the Japanese while the US prepared to defend their island bases, a task force was sent to attack the troop convoys now arriving regularly at Kwajalein Atoll.

Because the US fleet was still recovering from the events of Pearl Harbour, and new vessels were still undergoing construction or undergoing sea trials, the Japanese still enjoyed naval superiority in the Pacific. Despite the retaking of Wake Island the US forces were vulnerable, and British reinforcements would not arrive until May at the earliest.

The US admiral Chester Nimitz sent the carrier Saratoga, escorted by a flotilla of destroyers, as well as four Gato submarines to the area. The Saratoga soon found a large convoy of five troopships, escorted by a powerful Japanese fleet which included an aircraft carrier and two battleships. Saratoga and her escorts launched an attack wave of dauntless and devastators, while the Japanese similarly launched an aerial attack on the small US task force. The US carrier turned away under the cover of a smoke screen, while the Japanese and American fighters duelled in the air.

The Japanese and US bombing runs were ineffective, with the US pilots suffering at the hands of combined heavy anti-aircraft fire. Few made it back to the carrier after discovering the devastator torpedo bombers were particularly slow and vulnerable to AA fire. Only one torpedo found a target, the Japanese battleship Ise, and this did minor damage. An attack from two US destroyers on the Japanese carrier came to nothing, the Japanese battleships eaasily sinking the US escorts at long range before they could make a torpedo run.

The US did enjoy more success with their submarines, who had been radioed the positions of the Japanese convoy. Four submarines converged on the Japanese, managing to sink two enemy troopships and damaging the Japanese carrier before a determined attack by destroyers forced them away from the convoy. One Gato class vessel was sunk by the destroyers, but one of the Japanese escorts was also lost. The destroyer action bought time for the convoy however, and the remaining three troopships, crammed with Japanese soldiers, were able to get away from the slow moving submarines.
The US had inflicted some damage on the troop buildup but they had been unable to strike a critical blow. Now the US forces in the pacific waited for the next blow to fall.

Battle for Wake Island

Between the 10th and 12th of February 1942 the much awaited allied counter attack in the Pacific finally took place at Wake Island, which the US high command had decided to retake as a prelude to greater operations and a test of the resolve of their Japanese enemy.

The main landing force was protected by three battlegroups. To the north the battleship New York provided cover for the American flanks while the Yorktown formed the heart of the southern force. The main force of US carriers and battleships never saw action and the landing proceeded to plan on the 10th of February. Taken by surprise by the landings, the Japanese chanced upon the Yorktown with routine patrols, and launched an attack immediately.

A carrier battle developed to the north of the island even as the US forces landed on Wake. The Shokaku launched waves of bombers before retiring in the face of US aircraft bearing down on her, eventually disappearing over the horizon and out of range of the bombers. This also meant death for the Japanese pilots, but they pressed home their attacks with vigour, damaging the Yorktown badly and sinking the cruiser New Orleans.

The US pilots, robbed of their chance to sink a flattop did manage to sing the Japanese cruiser Aoba, but the result of the initial battle was a tactical victory to their enemy. Many Japanese pilots, forced to ditch, were picked up by Japanese destroyers once the US fleet had withdrawn to lick their wounds. Admiral Spruance was concerned, but the landings continued as no major Japanese had yet taken place.

During the night of the 12th however, the Japanese attacked again, this time with the super-battleship Musashi and the battleship Kongo. However the night action favoured the Americans, whose use of radar proved the decisive factor, as well as the presence of two US submarines in the area, who managed to inflict some damage to the Musashi, possibly influencing the Japanese commander to withdraw.

Between the battleships, who barely fired a shot at each other, a furious destroyer battle took place which quickly involved the cruiser Brooklyn. Both sides suffered horrendous casualties in their destroyer fleets, both losing eight escort vessels, and the American cruiser was sunk during the action, the Japanese torpedoes proving deadly. Repeated American torpedo attacks on the Kongo, along with a few salvoes from New York severely damaged the Kongo, and with the Musashi losing A turret out of action and suffering damage below her waterline, the Japanese withdrew. The landings on Wake continued unmolested, and the Japanese committed no more forces to the battle. By the end of February Wake had been retaken, the first step in what the allies hoped would be a fight back in the Pacific.

Graf Spee driven off!

During February of 1942 the British faced increasing air and submarine attacks from axis forces off the south western approaches of the British Isles. In response the admiralty ordered that shipping approaching the UK was escorted at all times. By this time the allies had still not employed full convoy operations on their atlantic operations, because up until now, although the u-boat threat had always been there, the axis had never truly committed to "total" war. Now with the US involved, the gloves came off.

On 23rd February the German navy and air force combined their efforts in combing the western approaches. In a daring move the Admiral Graf Spee, who had narrowly avoided destruction in 1939, now put to sea to search for convoys, while in the skies near Brittany Stuka dive bombers were scrambled as a pair of merchantmen, escorted by a British cruiser and trio of destroyers. The Graf Spee homed in on her targets, but the Luftwaffe got their first. They bombed both merchant vessels but were harrassed by the British escorts and failed to concentrate their attacks. Bombs hit both merchant vessels, but the Germans lost a number of aircraft. By the time the pocket battleship arrived the Stukas were out of ammunition and heading home.In an effort to protect her charges the light cruiser Persephone charged the Graf Spee while the destroyers were defending the merchantmen from air attack. She suffered minor damage and scored a couple of minor hits on the far larger German vessel, before turning away behind a smoke screen. The Graf Spee was now in range of the merchant vessels, but with the aircraft heading back to base, the British turned their torpedo armed destroyers towards the german surface raider, approaching the Graf Spee at speed from behind the Persephone's smoke screen. Unwilling to risk his ship, captain Langsdorff turned for Brest as soon as he saw the destroyers approaching, and the British never completed their attack run. The British press made much of the German pocket battleship being "scared off" by three destroyers, but their victory was more a propaganda coup than anything material.