The European Expeditionary Fleet, just before entering the Atlantic from the Mediterranean, had deployed reconnaissance and scouting planes. Regarding the scouting aircraft, there were six each from the Akagi, Kaga, and four Shōkaku-class carriers, totaling 36 Type 0 attackers, conducting a two-stage scouting operation. If the British fleet were to launch an attack, it could only happen at this timing. The decision to deploy a large number of scouting aircraft paid off in more than sufficient results.
"Discovered a fleet consisting of two aircraft carriers and four battleships."
"Discovered a fleet with two aircraft carriers and three battleships as its core."
"Discovered a mobile task force centered around three aircraft carriers and four battleships."
Upon receiving these successive reports of enemy fleet sightings, Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa of the 1st Air Fleet immediately issued attack orders. He had learned from previous battles that the battles between mobile task forces were a matter of split-second decisions.
"The three groups of enemy fleets discovered were, in order from north to south, designated as A-1, A-2, and A-3. Launch the first attack group immediately. Once that is completed, the second and third attack groups will be launched as soon as possible. Also, regarding the targets of the second attack group, the 1st Air Fleet should attack A-1, the 2nd Air Fleet should attack A-2, and the 3rd Air Fleet A-3."
While issuing a series of orders, Ozawa turned to the Intelligence Staff Officer.
"Identify the types of enemy battleships."
In response to Ozawa's concise sentence, the Intelligence Staff Officer provided only the essential information.
"Two of the four battleships in A-1 are of the Nelson-class. As for A-2, all of their battleships are equipped with two turrets in the bow and one in the stern. We currently don't have detailed reports on A-3."
Identifying the types of British battleships was relatively straightforward.
Battleships equipped with two turrets in the bow and one in the stern were either of the King George V-class or the Renown-class battlecruiser. If the turrets were in pairs at the front and rear, they belonged to either the Queen Elizabeth or Revenge-class battleships. The Nelson-class battleships had an exceptional turret arrangement with three turrets concentrated in the bow, making them unmistakable.
'It seems A-2 is a high-speed unit.'
With confidence in the deployment of British battleships through a process of elimination, Ozawa issued further orders.
"The third attack group from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Air Fleets will go for A-2."
Following Ozawa's orders, the fifteen carriers increased their speed and turned their bows upwind. First, the Zero fighters began taking off. Two squadrons from each carrier, totaling 270 Zeros, kicked up from the flight decks and ascended into the skies over the Atlantic one after another. These Zero fighters were tasked with air superiority, known as a "fighter sweep" in Western terms.
As the first attack group completed its takeoff, the planes that would participate in the second attack group were brought up to the flight deck via the elevators. The second attack group consisted of six Zero fighters and 27 Type 0 attackers on the Akagi and Kaga, and the four Shōkaku-class carriers, as well as three Zero fighters and 18 Type 0 attackers from the Hiryū, Sōryū, and the three Unryū-class carriers, totaling 303 planes. One squadron of Type 0s from each carrier was armed with bombs, while the rest were armed with torpedoes to attack British naval vessels.
The third attack group consisted of 132 planes, three Zero fighters and nine Type 0 attackers from each of the 11 regular carriers, of which all attackers were equipped with torpedoes.
Each carrier had one squadron of Zero fighters, totaling 135 aircraft, dedicated to fleet defense. Compared to the time of the Battle of Oahu, the number of fighters for combat air patrol (CAP) had significantly decreased due to the lower number of aircraft carried by British carriers. Furthermore, the aircraft being operated by the British carriers were considered second-rate, such as Swordfish and Albacore, making it unlikely that the British carriers would launch an attack against the Japanese fleet. In place of reducing the number of CAPs, they had increased the number of Zero fighters in the first attack group. This decision had greatly pleased the Zero fighter pilots.
The 270 fighter pilots, including those who had shifted from CAP duties to join the first attack group, noticed a large number of tiny specks in the sky overhead even before they spotted the British fleet. The Zero fighter pilots were unaware, but those specks were 252 Martlets launched from the seven British carriers.
More than 500 fighters, including Japanese and British planes, filled the skies over the Atlantic. The Martlets, equipped with high-performance Browning machine guns, were the first to take action. However, they also fell into confusion first.
The Martlet pilots had been informed through friendly fleet intelligence that the Japanese attack force was a massive formation of nearly 300 aircraft. In a scenario of aerial attrition warfare among numerous land-based airfields, such a large formation could be expected. However, in naval aerial combat with limited carriers and aircraft capacity, sending 300 fighters against a smaller enemy fleet was unprecedented and irrational. There is no other navy on Earth that would be crazy enough to send 300 fighter planes against a unit with a small number of carriers and a small number of planes per carrier. So, despite their overall numbers, if the enemy was a bomber formation, the advantage in aerial combat was clearly on their side. That's what the Martlet pilots were all thinking.
And their presumption was exploited. Japanese planes, showered with 12,7 mm rounds, skillfully evaded the hail of bullets. Some of the planes were hit and spewed flames, but these cases were few.
As the Zeros and Martlets clashed, both sides executed sharp maneuvers. However, the Zeros consistently managed to get behind their opponents. The Zero was nearly 500 kilograms lighter than the F4F, and it had slightly more horsepower. Naturally, the Zero surpassed the F4F not only in maneuverability but also in acceleration and rate of climb.
Having previously defeated German fighters, which had linear flight paths, in dogfights, the British pilots had now unwittingly entered the arena where the Zero excelled. The Zero pilots didn't miss the Martlets caught in this trap. Elegantly avoiding the Martlets as they charged with 12,7 mm bullets, the Zeros took their positions behind them and took them down one by one. Initially, the forces were roughly equal, but the advantage swiftly shifted in favor of the Zeros, and the gap widened with time.
When the disadvantage became conclusive, the Martlets began to retreat. Retreating was not a disgrace. Knowing you're going to lose and still continuing the fight would be the real problem.
The British pilots' decision was rational, but it didn't make much difference. The Martlets had a top speed of 520 kilometers per hour, while the Zero Model 32 reached up to 570 kilometers per hour. With a 50-kilometer-per-hour speed disadvantage, the fleeing planes had no chance against their pursuers. The pursuing Zeros continued to rain heavy-caliber machine gun rounds into the Martlets one after another. This relentless pursuit continued until the last Martlet disappeared from the view of the Zero pilots.
YOU ARE READING
Cash-Loaded Fleet
Historical Fiction「As long as you have money, you can strengthen the fleet as much as you want.」 Born with a natural inclination for gambling, or perhaps a true gambler at heart, Binta Satsutaba is drawn by his instincts to immerse himself in the tumultuous world of...
