"At 0130 ceased zigzagging, fleet course changing right to 335˚ and fleet and standard speed changing to 18 knots to commence approach for pre-dawn launching of aircraft for second day of air strikes."
No rest for the weary.
As dawn approached with "heavy squalls prevailing and visibility being reduced to less than 5000 yards," direction from above delayed the fighter sweep and first strike until further notice.
A little more than an hour and a half prior to local sunrise Princeton and her Air Group received orders that strike targets had been shifted from Moen to Dublon Island "with fighters making occasional sweeps over all air strips."
In his seminal work The Command of the Air, published in 1921, Italian General Giulio Douhet, wrote:
The purpose of aerial warfare is the conquest of the command of the air. Having the command of the air, aerial forces should direct their offensives against surface objectives with the intention of crushing the material and moral resistance of the enemy.
And so, from the time men first decided to make aircraft into weapons...
...delivering bombs accurately has been the ultimate challenge. Today we have satellite-based GPS and airborne datalink communications that can put a bomb through a specific corner of a specific window on a specific floor of a specific building. In 1944 we had a machine and a man and that man's eyeballs.
The journey to getting a bomb on a specific spot is essentially a navigation problem, and whether you're a civilian trying to find a restaurant in an unfamiliar town or a military pilot trying to attack fuel storage tank on a coral atoll, the problem is best approached by going from big to small. With this in mind, the mapping nerds did their best to give aviators every tool available, including photo perspectives depicting target approaches from different headings.
Big...
...to small.
From a position 90 miles almost due south of Truk, Princeton launched 4 VT and 8 VF for ASP and CAP at 0728. At the same time, the Task Force Commander detached USS Portland, USS Louisville and USS Canberra on a shore bombardment mission against SATAWAN and NOMOI ISLANDS 160 nautical miles to the southeast.
The U.S. Navy is unique in that, unlike the other military branches, it operates in three distinct realms: on, above, and below sea level. Today the Japanese would experience two thirds of the Navy’s triad.
The Action Report describes "unfavorable flying conditions at dawn" which "delayed scheduled flights for 1 1/2 hours" and noted that "PRINCETON planes formed parts of the second and fourth strikes against Truk of four strikes made by Task Group 58.3 during the day."
The launch of 8 Hellcats and 5 Avengers on the first strike was completed at 1007, but almost immediately 2 Avengers returned for "forced landings," which is 1944 vernacular for the inability, usually due to an aircraft malfunction, to continue on the assigned mission. In my day we called an aircraft that launched and recovered on the same cycle a "yoyo" — it goes right up, and it comes right down.
As flight operations proceeded, the seemingly inevitable distractions occurred as well.
- "At 0916 forward gyro-compass follow-up system out of commission due to casualty to tube socket as a result of overheating." The system was restored by 1100.
- "At 1125 an unidentified aircraft was reported bearing 000˚, distant 50 miles from this Task Group; this plane faded from the screen at 1129."
- "At 1126 an enemy submarine was reported, bearing 300˚, distant 15 miles from this Task Group. Two destroyers from Task Group 58.2 were ordered to develop contact and attack."
The first strike aircraft recovered at 1230, its 8 fighters and 3 bombers having delivered 18 500 pound bombs, 17 of which impacted Anti-Aircraft positions and storage buildings in what was called "Dublon Town." (the Action Report records one F6F bomb as "lost in water")
Southwest corner of Dublon Town, April 1944. Smoke rising after bombing attack on Dublon Island, Truk Atoll in the Carolines by carrier based planes. Catalog #: 80-G-45465
Copyright Owner: National Archives
It is apparent from the War Diary and the Action Report that Japanese resistance was robust. At 1405 TG 58.3, Rear Admiral Reeves, directed destroyers USS Dyson and USS Charles F. Ausburne to proceed to attempt rescue of personnel reported downed in the water near the target area. Getting wind of this development, minutes later ComTaskForce 58, Vice Admiral Mitscher, ordered TG 58.3 not to send any destroyers within range of heavy shore batteries.
As this situation was developing, Princeton was launching 8 fighters and 5 bombers for her second, and final, strike mission of the day. It appears that aircraft reliability was becoming an issue as, similar to the morning strike, one fighter and one bomber returned for forced landings due to engine trouble.
The second strike, according to the Action Report, “encountered a heavy overcast over the target, and planes letting down through it bombed the first suitable targets on either Dublon or Moen Islands. Buildings were hit in Dublon Town and on the northeast tip of Moen. The runway and dispersal areas of Moen airfield were hit and also strafed.” Two Hellcats dropped their single 500 pounders on "hangar and installations" at grid coordinate BC11-12, while the remaining fighter dropped its bomb "on radio station KL10-11...scoring near miss." The effectiveness of all 12 500 pounders dropped by the bombers were reported as “unobserved.”
Japanese airfield at northwest tip of Moen Island, 1944.
At 1620, "following the motions and order of flagship, half-masted colors in mourning for the death of the Honorable Frank KNOX, Secretary of the Navy, news of whose passing was received in an ALNAV this date." Secretary Knox wore the uniform in three wars and his service to America, linked above, is impressive.
At 1624, undoubtedly unaware of the recent half-masting, one of the Avengers crashed into barrier: pilot and crew uninjured.
The last launch of the day was added to the schedule based on intelligence indicating the presence of enemy aircraft in the vicinity. 8 CAP fighters and 4 ASP bombers were airborne by 1716. A prudent decision since the enemy did show up, but in the end meaningless.
After a very long and busy day, the War Diary describes what happened less than an hour before sunset:
"At 1904 unidentified aircraft was reported closing to 20 miles, bearing 285˚ from this vessel. At 1914 an enemy fighter type aircraft appeared suddenly from the clouds on a bearing of 280˚ from this vessel at an altitude of approximately 12,000 feet and made a glide bombing run on the USS LEXINGTON, dropping a single bomb which landed well astern...No ships opened fire on the plane before or during the attack, possibly because there were many friendly aircraft in the immediate vicinity. ... At 1915 went to General Quarters."
That experienced, well-oiled and battle-hardened machine we have described in previous posts? Notsomuch on this particular afternoon.
While the War Diary is essentially a running historical commentary, the Action Report is specifically designed as a resource used to provide lessons learned and whose goal is to make the entire organization and effort better. As such, it provides a bit more explanation regarding why an enemy aircraft was able to make its way unmolested through the Destroyer screen and the airborne fighter CAP, and drop a bomb in the middle of the largest Naval Task Force ever to sail on any of the world's oceans. Under Captain Buracker's signature, it reads:
As Task Force 58 was retiring from Truk on the late afternoon of 30 April, several bogies appeared on the radar screen in the vicinity of Truk Atoll. At 1809 a single bogey was picked up bearing 310˚, distance 69 miles and closing. At the time the PRINCETON had an 8-plane CAP in the air. One VF division at 13,000 feet was vectored to intercept, and a merged plot was obtained at 26 miles, bearing 306˚, but no visual intercept was made. Subsequently, it became evident that the bogey's altitude was approximately 20,000 feet. It is believed the bogey sighted this division of VF, as evasive action to the south was taken, followed by a very rapid closing of the Task Group. The plane dropped a bomb astern of the USS LEXINGTON, from approximately 4,000 feet. USS PRINCETON did not warn the second CAP division, which was orbiting base at 10,000 feet, of the bogey's approach. Task Group 58.3 was not warned of the bogey's proximity, although CIC's on all the CV's and CVL's were fully aware of the situation and had exchanged information freely over secondary TBS. USS LEXINGTON opened fire on the plane after the bomb was dropped, but did not inform friendly planes in the vicinity of its intention before firing.
Following this paragraph was a list of recommendations designed to prevent such a potentially disastrous episode from recurring.
To me, however, the most important takeaway is what this After Action process says about the health of the entire Task Force. In my day we called it the "command climate." Captain Buracker was obviously confident enough to criticize his own ship's performance, and that of other units, without fear of retribution because the understood goal was to make the entire force better able accomplish the ultimate mission: Defeating the enemy and getting all these young men back to their cities, towns, factories, farms, families and friends.
I would ask that readers try and keep this brief episode in mind as we reach the end of Princeton's war cruise several months hence.
Simultaneously with the drama above the Task Force was drama on and below the waterline. 12 minutes after General Quarters was set Enterprise launched two night fighters — VF(N)— to cover "rescue operations by friendly submarine at target area." A good friend and fellow history nerd has pointed out to me recently that the friendly submarine mentioned occasionally in the War Diary is USS Tang and, my goodness, what a war record she had.
USS Tang (SS-306) at Pearl Harbor with 22 carrier based fliers rescued during Truk Atoll attack operations on 29-30 April 1944. Credit: CINCPACFLT
The two VF(N) launched by Enterprise at 1930 were recovered two hours later and reported that "the rescue submarine had successfully accomplished rescue mission."
At 2040 General Quarters was secured as a particularly chaotic day came to a close. There's a saying that is oft-repeated and that, to be perfectly honest, I've never much liked: I'd rather be lucky than good.
On this day, Princeton and the entire Task Force had been a bit of both.
Editorial Comment:
In September 1941, three months prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, Navy Secretary Knox addressed the American Legion. His remarks included the following statement:
We now know how futile it is to place our trust in written promises to forsake war...Promises to keep the peace are just so much worthless paper to be scrapped when some ruthless, acquisitive leaders of greedy, warlike people feel so disposed...In such a world as that of today, sea power for America is more vital, more essential, than ever before in its history.
For those paying attention, a number that is entirely too small, the free countries of the world are facing a threat not at all dissimilar — and perhaps more serious — than that of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere of 80+ years ago.
While not as extensive geographically as Japan's military expansion into the Pacific, the People's Republic of China is attempting to claim — with it's "nine dash line" claim — sovereignty over essentially the entirety of the South China Sea, a body of water that carries an estimated 30% of the world's shipping, 20% of which is US trade. Its seabed is believed to hold vast energy reserves. Its fisheries are among the most important on the globe.
Like the Japanese empire's occupation of remote and uninhabited atolls, communist China is building and militarizing outposts in the South China Sea in an attempt to bully its way into hegemony over the region. And right now, the South China Sea is at least equal to, and arguably far more important than, Japan's Pacific empire was in 1940.
The aptly named Mischief Reef, Spratly Islands and it's evolution from 2012 to 2016, courtesy of the PRC:
America is undeniably a maritime nation. 80% of the world's commerce travels on the earth's oceans. 90% of America's trade tonnage is moved by ship. Our very survival depends on maintaining freedom of the seas.
Mark Twain is reputed to have said that history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes. By refusing to respond to a direct threat America is, Ostrich-like, failing to acknowledge what anyone with a cursory knowledge of human nature and human conflict understands.
Weakness is provocative.
Power abhors a vacuum.
Decline is a choice.
We could use more Frank Knox's, and far fewer power and money-addicted publicity whores, in our nation's capitol.
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