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I figure I try to get more of my Article and Essays put up. Here is another one I wrote way before I got started writing the stories I write now. I have a few more to upload as I continue writing more stories for my Tales of Heroes series. So enjoy. :)
Battles of the Pacific: The Battle of Coral Sea
The Battle of Coral Sea is often remembered in the history books as a famous battle between the Allies against the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was however easily overshadowed by the Battle of Midway. What is considered to be the first battle where surface ships where both sides never saw each other was inevitable in an age where aircraft was becoming more and more accepted by navies around the world. While historically there had been some aerial attacks from sea such as the famous "Doolittle Raid", the concept was still brand new for the United States Navy. Where the Battle of Midway is a major victory for the allies, the Battle of Coral Sea was a draw. That being said there is much to be considered when learning about the Battle of Coral Sea.
As the Japanese Empire was expanding it had to consider what direction to go. It was at the time of World War 2 expanding westward through China but it was also expanding southward into the Philippines, Burma, Malaysia, and the Dutch East Indies (Vietnam). Port Moresby was a crucial port in Papua New Guinea. Like so many ports in the Island Hopping Campaign, Port Moresby was a critical area that led to Australia, Fiji, Samoa, and New Caledonia. For the Japanese, Australia at the time represented a major area to conquer in sealing off the British Empire from the Pacific, but they had to get to their first obviously.
Chester Nimitz and Douglas MacArthur had placed high priorities to defending Port Moresby. All available Aircraft Carriers in the Pacific were to be sent but with the recent Doolittle Raid in April 18th 1942 there were some serious holdbacks. While The Doolittle Raid was a success, the price of holding oversized B-25 Bombers on the deck consumed the aircraft capacities of the USS Hornet and USS Enterprise. They had to return back to home port to resupply, refuel, and rearm. Another Carrier the USS Saratoga would have been available but it had been damaged from a torpedo attack and was undergoing repairs. Only the USS Yorktown and USS Lexington were available for the battle.
Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher was given command of the battle. It was almost a complete even sided battle. The Japanese had three Aircraft Carriers, the United States had two but at the same time both had about 150 Aircraft available. Fletcher formed two taskforces, Taskforce 11 led by the USS Lexington and Taskforce 17 led by the USS Yorktown. The Japanese on the other hand had two brand new Aircraft Carriers of their own the Shokaku and the Zuikaku, both sister ships completed near the same time. It was becoming apparent that even before the battle that this was going to become an aerial battle, as both sides were not using Battleships for the upcoming fight. The concept was that aircraft were becoming so dangerous that in enough numbers it could overwhelm the ship or bases defenses and inflict substantial damage. Battleships and Cruisers with large guns can inflict major damage as well but aircraft had a much superior range that the concept of Aircraft Carriers could not be ignored.
While the United States did play a crucial role in the Battle, another nation was involved in the Battle. The Australians perhaps the first time ever in US Naval History did joint naval operations sending two of their own warships the HMAS Australia and the HMAS Hobart to join up with the taskforces. Australia was also responsible for providing reconnaissance and bases for US Ships to restock and refuel. Their livelihood was just as much at stake if this battle was lost.
The Japanese were nothing to be laughed at when it came to the War in the Pacific. The Reisen or "Zero" their carrier fighter aircraft, were exceptionally well made and considered better than any US fighter carrier aircraft at the time. Their aerial dropped torpedoes had a high successful kill rate and are probably considered the best design in the War entirely. Japanese pilots were even considered better than most US pilots as well.
The first attack from the United States was done on May 3rd 1942 by torpedo bombers and dive bombers from the USS Yorktown. That day they managed to damage a destroyer, sink three minesweepers and four landing barges. It was not what they hoped to sink, but it was at least something. May 6th, the Japanese began to bomb Port Moresby in anticipation of capturing it. They launched an attack of their own sinking the USS Sims with the loss of 379 men. The Japanese would lose the Neosho, a tanker with some of their crew being saved.
The USS Lexington later that day did manage to find the Shoho, a small Japanese Aircraft Carrier. The Lexington launched an attack and managed to sink her using torpedoes and bombs, it was not any major success in the Battle of Coral Sea as the Japanese Navy had several Aircraft Carriers in their inventory at the time, but the US Navy took whatever victories it could.
Also that day the Japanese probably made their first real mistake of the Battle. In attempt to attack the US Aircraft Carriers, Takagi ordered 27 pilots to launch from the Carriers and destroy the US Carriers. Unfortunately, the attack was to be done during the night and in the roughest of the weather. The Japanese lost 21 aircraft with 11 of them going over the side trying to land. Most of the Japanese aircraft lost during the Battle of Coral Sea was because of this incident.
May 8th was the final day of the Battle of Coral Sea and ended with the most happening in the whole battle. It is interesting to note that the first battle in which both sides did not end up seeing each other was originally supposed to be a regular surface engagement. Both the United States and the Japanese considered engaging each other at night with surface ships to finish off one another but by then exhaustion discouraged both sides from doing it. This day would become the first Carrier vs Carrier engagement.
Both sides launched everything they had at one another to sink the opposing Aircraft Carriers. Fighters, Dive Bombers, and Torpedo Bombers were all used. Each type of aircraft had different missions at the time period. Fighter aircraft were responsible for downing enemy aircraft and stopping the bombers from reaching their targets. Dive Bombers as the name insisted would fly high in the air then do a high pitched dive and drop bombs on a target. Torpedo Bombers were responsible for dropping a torpedo at a low altitude that would zero in on an enemy ship. Torpedoes did far greater damage but dive bombers were more successful than Torpedo Bombers.
The Japanese Carriers spotted the US Aerial attack and began to make evasive maneuvers. Twenty one US Naval aircraft made their attack runs but only managed to damage the Shokaku with two bomb hits. These bomb hits killed 108 crewmembers and damaged the flight deck enough that it could not launch aircraft effectively taking it out of commission for the battle.
The USS Yorktown and Lexington on the other hand fought for their lives. The Yorktown was a purpose built Carrier meaning that it was built as it was originally designed to be an Aircraft Carrier. It was smaller and more maneuverable than the other. The Lexington on the other hand was originally intended to be a Battlecruiser but later rebuilt into a Carrier. It was bigger but harder to maneuver. The Japanese aircraft began their attack on the US Carriers. The Yorktown being more maneuverable managed to evade the Japanese Torpedoes and only took one bomb hit. The Lexington on the other hand was not so fortunate. Multiple Japanese torpedo bombers swarmed her dropping torpedoes from all sides. The torpedoes struck and began flooding the ship, the crew did everything they could but there was nothing that could be done to save her. The Captain issued an evacuation of the ship and to avoid capture the Captain ordered her escorts to finish off and sink the crippled Lexington.
The Japanese on the other hand had had enough. Fearing the loss of further landing barges and the loss of the Neosho tanker and the Shoho, the Japanese decided to turn their fleet and return back to home port. In the end Port Moresby was saved but at a cost. The United States at the time had too few Carriers available. By the time the Battle of Midway occurred a month later, it seemed that the War would sway very heavily to the Japanese as they had 6 Aircraft Carriers available and the United States had 3. At Midway 4 Japanese Carriers were sunk at the cost of 1 for the US Navy becoming an astounding victory that turned the tide of the war against the Imperial Japanese Navy.
While the victory at the Battle of Midway is important, some the Battle's success actually comes from the Battle of Coral Sea. The Japanese Codes have been broken even before the Battle of Midway and if anything, Coral Sea demonstrated that the United States enigma machines were reading everything the Japanese have been sending to each other.
Both sides did claim victory at the Battle of Coral Sea but in the long run it was more of a victory for the Allies. The United States on the other hand would lose its first Aircraft Carrier in the War in the Pacific. The Japanese was held back from conquering Port Moresby and spreading further southward. The Allies lost 69 aircraft of the 128 they had, 656 men were lost, and 3 ships were sunk. The Japanese lost 92 aircraft of the 127 they had, 966 men were lost, and 5 ships were sunk.
Coral Sea also accomplished other interesting results that affect the United States Navy today. The Battle helped serve an example of joint operations between the United States and Australian militaries. The United States and Australia are one of the few nations that have extremely close ties when it comes to military partnerships. The battle demonstrated that Aircraft Carriers were here to stay and proving to be an extremely effective weapon capable of outranging any Battleship at the time. Naval strength was now becoming measured by how many Aircraft Carriers you had instead of how many Battleships.
Sources
Trueman, (2016, August 16). The Battle of Coral Sea. Retrieved from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-two/the-pacific-war-1941-to-1945/the-battle-of-coral-sea/
Pelvin, Ric. Battle of Coral Sea, 4-8 May 1942. Retrieved from https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/coral_sea/doc
Alexander, Joseph H. (2010, Jauary 21). Trial by Fire at Coral Sea. Retrieved from http://www.historynet.com/trial-by-fire-at-coral-sea.htm
Hello, My name is CMed. With my stories being put up on Storiesonline.net one of the things that I wanted to bring into light were some of my articles that I wrote dealing with history in the Navy. I was originally going to post them for the navy itself but sadly it just never happened. Thankfully, I can go ahead and start getting them put up now in these blogs for anybody that is interested in reading them. These articles were written way before my stories and shows my interest in history. The only sad thing about posting them in these blogs is the pictures and silhouettes that I had for these articles don't get saved. Overtime I will get all these articles posted for anybody that has any interest in reading them. Consider them as early warm-ups for my books now. :)
Article 1: The Strange History of the USS William D Porter
Written by CMed July 11th, 2017
Is it possible to have a ship that is cursed with a bad crew or just have plain bad luck? Well it might have been so for the USS William D Porter (DD-579). When it comes to US Naval History the William D Porter was strewn with a weird history to it.
The USS William D Porter was commissioned on July 6th, 1943 and placed in command under Lieutenant Commander Wilfred A Walter. The Destroyer was a Fletcher Class Destroyer a common built class of destroyers much like the Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers of today. The Destroyer was named after William D Porter the foster brother of Admiral David Farragut of the United States Civil War. Porter himself served in the navy, retired in 1855, rejoined the navy in 1859, and served in the Civil War. Once commissioned, the William D Porter was placed into active service as quickly as possible like all ships in World War 2 at the time period. Unfortunately, rushing ships into service could lead to disastrous consequences.
DD-579's first incident at sea happened in November 12th of 1943. Kept under secret orders at the time, the ship was to escort the USS Iowa the new heavy hitting battleship at the time, to the Casablanca Conference. In its first underway while leaving Norfolk, its anchor was not fully raised and caught its neighboring docked ship. It ended up tearing the life railings, various equipment, life rafts, and the captain's gig. The Captain issued a formal apology and the ship continued on its underway rendezvous with the USS Iowa.
William D Porter's second incident at sea occurred the very next day once it rendezvoused with the USS Iowa and its escort. The area was dangerous and U-boat attack was quite possible. During the day a depth charge fell off it rack and into the sea. The depth charge was not properly set to safe causing it go off in the ocean. Scaring the task force all ships took immediate evasive action before DD-579 told everyone that it was an accident. Later on in the same day a wave smashed into the ship washing a crewmember overboard where he was never found again. The wave flooded the boiler room and slowed the ship down and the entire taskforce it was escorting as well. Captain Wilfred A Walter issued an apology to the Taskforce Admiral Ernest King and assured that he would better train his crew to prevent future problems.
The third incident at sea occurred the next day on November 14th. During a gunnery training exercise, the USS Iowa began firing at target balloons to demonstrate the Anti Aircraft capabilities of the ship. Captain Walter seeing the opportunity in training the crew ordered the ship to shoot the target balloons and conduct other weapons training onboard. William D Porter had torpedo tubes onboard for sinking warships or submarines. A common tactic done at the time in torpedo training was to aim the torpedo tubes at the nearest ship in mock gunnery exercises. The nearest ship was of course the USS Iowa. Little to the knowledge of the crew of both ships, one of the William D Porter's torpedo tube primers was removed. This would not hold the Torpedoes in the tubes when the triggers are pulled. During the training exercise the ship fired a live torpedo at the USS Iowa by accident.
Panic stricken, Captain Walter and the crew tried everything to worn the USS Iowa that they fired a torpedo at her. Due to the secrecy of the mission, radio silence was in place. However, a message did reach the Iowa in time that they were able to spot the incoming torpedo. The Iowa conducted a high speed turn and the torpedo detonated at its wake approximately 1000 feet away. In confusion the taskforce thought they were under attack by a submarine but Captain Walter made an immediate reply "We did it."
The USS Iowa had all the right to aim its guns at the USS William D Porter. The secret mission they were on was to transport President Franklin D Roosevelt to the Casablanca Conference. Yes, within less than three days William D Porter participated in three incidents at sea and the accidental assassination attempt of the President of the United States. FDR in horror and confusion watched as the entire scene took place. His aids had braced his wheelchair from rolling off the deck of the ship as he was originally watching the gunnery practice taking place. DD-579 was ordered to go to the U.S. Naval Station in Bermuda. There U.S. Marines placed the entire crew including Captain Walter under arrest the first time ever in US Naval History. Under trial, a crewmember was found guilty but amazingly President FDR pardoned the crew of the William D Porter claiming that inexperience was the leading cause of the incident. However the destroyer would commonly be greeted by the phrase "Don't Shot We're Republicans!" to other ships in the US Navy.
It is interesting that Captain Walter was not relieved of command and actually stayed in command of the William D Porter. He would serve onboard for another year, would command other ships, and ultimately become a Rear Admiral. After the debacle, the destroyer was assigned to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. While in port, a drunken sailor from either the ship itself or from another ship decided to fire one of the 5 Inch Guns of the Porter. The crew managed to subdue the crewmember but the gun went off and the shell landed in the base commandant's yard. Despite a party taking place there nobody was hurt except the ship's reputation even more. Some of the crew by then felt the ship was cursed with bad luck.
The crew of DD-579 started referring their ship as the "Willie D" but it would start to regain its reputation slightly in the next couple of years in the Pacific. Commander Charles M Keyes would assume command of the destroyer in the 30th of May in 1944. The ship and crew would participate in successful escort missions and protecting fleets from submarines and aircraft.
As the war was coming near an end, the Japanese began to utilize kamikaze attacks. On June 10th, 1945 a Japanese kamikaze bomber made an attack on the Porter. The ship and crew fired everything they could at the aircraft and successfully shot it down. However the bomber splashed right next to the destroyer and its bomb went off underneath the ship's keel. For at least 3 hours the crew did everything they could to save the ship but the flooding was too immense and there was nothing left to save the ship. The order was given to abandon the ship and the crew made a complete successful evacuation of the doomed Porter. Despite the bad luck of the ship's two year career, all of the ship's crew was able to abandon ship with no casualties. Some crew still felt by then that the ship was so unlucky that it had the bad luck in claiming any lives as it was going to the ocean's bottom.
It is ironic in writing this article that there are really not that many crazy stories to write about when it comes to the US Navy. This is by many counts a good thing as it shows that in a dynamic and hazardous environment there is a fundamental professionalism that takes place on US Naval Ships. It's obvious also that these crazy stories maybe not recorded at all going by the saying that "what goes on a ship stays on the ship." In my personal experience, crazy things do happen on ships but never to an extent like the William D Porter. But even in this case, DD-579 and its crew can still be celebrated in the history books and make good writing in the end.
Sources
Siggurdsson, (2013, June 10). Destroyer USS William D Porter Sunk by Already-Crashed Japanese Kamikaze. Retrieved from http://www.burnpit.us/2013/06/destroyer-uss-william-d-porter-sunk-already-crashed-japanese-kamikaze
Kit Bonner, (1994, March). The Ill-Fated USS William D Porter. Retrieved from http://www.ussiowa.org/general/html/willie_d.htm
With the advent of Ayida-Weddo and the Tales of Heroes book Part 1 of 2 been uploaded now, I have now created the Tales of the Heroes universe where history and magic are intertwined. All Tales of the Heroes books are linked together but technically don't have to be read in any particular order. Over time I will continue to make more and more books including Part 2 of 2 of the Ayida-Weddo story that is nearing completion. Future books included will be Ryujin and the Tales of Heroes book. I have commissioned artists for the book covers as well.
A sequel for Under the Influence and Warrior of Silence (Not related to this universe but part of Snekguy's Pinwheel universe) is planned.
Both my universe and Snekguy's universe use the concept of size difference relationships including human and non-human relationships.
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