Battering Ram of the Sea

NAVAL BATTLE OF MALAYA | Chapter 4

Seventh Fleet

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The Seventh Fleet was formerly known as the Southern Expeditionary Fleet. Among their assigned missions, the most crucial one is to support the Army's Malay operation. And, naturally, the destruction or repulsion of the Eastern Fleet is essential to achieve this goal. It is already known that the Eastern Fleet set sail from their stronghold in Singapore. Therefore, the Seventh Fleet launched reconnaissance planes to locate the Eastern Fleet. Thirty minutes before dawn, a total of ten B5N torpedo bombers took off, three each from the aircraft carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku, as well as four from the Zuihō, took off. An additional batch of the same number of aircraft launched an hour later. The commander of the 5th Carrier Division, Rear Admiral Hara, had mixed feelings of admiration and amazement at the grand display of reconnaissance aircraft, which numbered as many as twenty.

"It seems they've set up quite a surveillance net. The leader of the torpedo bomber unit was grumbling about it. We didn't anticipate them assigning six planes out of a single squadron and a total of ten for reconnaissance."

Hara's words left Vice Admiral Ozawa, the commander of the Seventh Fleet, with a wry smile. As the Southern Expeditionary Fleet changed its name to the Seventh Fleet, Ozawa had transferred his flag from the heavy cruiser Chōkai to the Shōkaku. The reason for this move was primarily that Shōkaku and Zuikaku were the only ships in the Seventh Fleet with the capability to defeat the Eastern Fleet. Furthermore, Ozawa himself wanted to take command of naval air combat at sea. While Shōkaku and Zuikaku usually formed the 5th Carrier Division under Hara's command, it was deemed necessary for Ozawa to take charge in this emergency.

On the other hand, Rear Admiral Hara, who was demoted from the top position in the 5th Carrier Division to the second position, had no particular qualms about it. If it were an ordinary Commander-in-Chief, he might have had concerns, but Ozawa was known as the most knowledgeable about naval air combat in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Although he was the commander of the 5th Carrier Division, Hara was well aware of his limited expertise in air combat. His intention was to observe Ozawa's actions closely and learn from his knowledge to apply it in future battles.

"Well, it's a common tradition in the Imperial Navy to prioritize attacks over reconnaissance. But in fleet combat, the most important thing is to find the enemy first. No matter how powerful your fists are, they won't help if you can't see your essential opponent. Besides, we can't afford to make the same mistakes as Glorious or the American air units in the Philippines."

Ozawa referred to the British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious' tragic end, having been detected by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and subsequently sunk by their cannons. Furthermore, the American base air force in the Philippines, despite having a large number of aircraft, suffered a humiliating defeat when a friendly air squadron launched from Taiwan destroyed a considerable number of their planes immediately upon the outbreak of war, while they were surprisingly unprepared despite the declaration of hostilities.

In both cases, Ozawa believed that the root cause of these failures was inadequate intelligence. To put it more bluntly, it was complacency. Negligence, even. They didn't know where their enemies were, what they were up to, or they didn't make the effort to find out. To avoid such mistakes, there was only one thing to do. Quickly locate the enemy and understand their strength and intentions. This way, you could accurately decide whether to fight or withdraw, and at the very least, you wouldn't have to worry about being caught off guard. Moreover, unlike British armored carriers, Japanese carriers did not have armored decks. In other words, they were vulnerable and could lose their combat capability with a single bomb. Ozawa shared this lesson he had learned from his time as the commander of the 1st Carrier Division.

Hara listened intently, taking Ozawa's words to heart.

At that moment, a communications staff member hurriedly entered.

"The Zuikaku's Number 3 plane has spotted a fleet heading north. It appears to be a large force with six battleships."