"Good books on 1942 Indian Ocean Raid?" Topic

Just what the subject says. Are there any good books on the Japanese raid into the Indian Ocean in '42? I'd be particularly interested in information on Royal Navy strength there from December of 1941 to May of 1942. I already have Empires in the Balance by Wilmott and Bloody Shambles, but I'm hoping there's something more than a general overview out there.

i have a nice little booklet called 'Naval Warfare outside the Pacific' by M.J Bourne. published by a company called Vandering in Cumbria. gives a list of all the warships involved and British aircraft in Ceylon.

It generally makes for poor gaming, due to the disparity of forces.

You could try A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy by Paul S. Dull. It covers the situation moderately well, IIRC.
-Kle.

The best books are:

"The Most Dangerous Moment" a readily available (used paperback)

"Bloody Shambles Vol II" by Chris Shores, et al- hardbound, availability ?

The Royal Navy Blue Book on the campaign – if you have a REAl good library near you – it would be very pricey.

I could answer specific questions on aspects as I have all the British Naval and RAF reports for the Ceylon actions, and I have OBs and summaries typed up.

Mark E. Horan
mhoran "at" snet.net

Some further info here
link

though not a book, AP researches their games very thoroughly.

BuxkeyeBob;

Actually, AP research is somewhat lacking if you are like me and want everything to be correct. Their Indian ocean game is no exception in this regard.

Mark

I'll have to dig up a book I read by the observer in an Albacore at the time. Actually a very good description of the raid and the RN reaction.

Makes for a near disaster story, understanding the only British hope would have been a night strike by Albacores on the IJN.

I'm actually interested in the subject because I think an essay on it would be good for grad school applications, rather than for wargaming.

I've ordered The Most Dangerous Moment (mercifully it's really cheap in the UK, but Amazon.com wanted a small fortune for it) and Naval Warfare Outside the Pacific; I already have Bloody Shambles and A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Game-wise, I own both the Avalanche Press game and the the old White Ensign/Rising Sun from the late 90s.

Mark, do you have any more info on the Royal Navy Blue Book? ISBN or whatnot?

Also, would you be willing to e-mail what you have typed up to me? My address is eddoctorwho at yahoo dot com.

Mark
I dont want to hi-jack this thread so maybe you can give me some examples of what you find "lacking" in their research. I am curious as to what you've found that needs improvement.
e-m me at glenmwilli at msn.com

HMSR- Hope that this listing of ships for both sides helps. Source: Chronology of the war at sea Vol 1: 1939-1942
feb22-march 1 IJN subs 1-1 thru 4 and 7, I-153, 154, 158, 58 &59, I-122-124 and RO 33 & 34
Mar 8-12 Kashii, Yura, Shirakumo, Yugiri, Asagiri, Uranami, Isonami & Ayanami with transports
covering force Chokai, Kumano, Suzuya, Mikuma, Mogami, Fubuki, SHirakuma & Murakumna and Soya Maru
Mar 10-22 I62 & I64
Mar 19-22 See covering Mar 8-12 forces above plus Ryujo, Sendai and Yura (also is part of the april 5 IJN central group)
Mar 26-Apr11 IJN:
Akagi, Hiry,Sorya Zuikaku,SHokaku, Kongo, Haruna, Hiei, Kirishima, Tone, Chikuma, Abukuma, Urakaze, Tanikaze, Isokaze, Hamakaze, Kasumi, Arare, Kagero, Shiranuhi, Akigumo. I-2 thru 7.
Brits: A) Warspite, Indomitable, Formitable, Cornwall, Dorsethire, Emeralds, Enterprise, Napier, Nestor, Paladin Panther, Hotspur,Foxhound
B) Resolution, Ramillies, Royal Sovereign and Revenge, Hermes, Claedon, Dragon, Jacob Van Heemskerck, Griffin, Norman, Arrown Vampire, Decoy, Fortune, Scout, Isaac Sweers.
c) Hermes, Hollyhock (corvette), at least 2 tankers
April 2 invasion force: 46 transports, Kashii*, Hatakaze Shikinami* and Ch8. * are replaced on 4/4/42 with Hatsutaka (ML) Asakaze Harukaze and Matsukaze. Covering force: Sendai, Fubuik, Hatsuyuki, Murakumo, Shirayuki, Isonami, Uranami & Ayanami
4/5/42 Colombo attack 53 hi level, 38 DB & 36 ftrs vs 42 hurri's & fulmars & 6 swordfish. Aux. Cruiser Hector and DD Tenedos sunk.
4/25 – 5/8 1942 operation Ironclad
2 landing ships, 6 supply, 1 flt tanker & 1 hosp. ship escorted by Devonshire and 3 DD, 14th MS flot, later another convoy 5 fast AT & 3 troop transp. covering force:
Ramillies, Illustrious, Hermione, 6 DD
Joining later Indomitable, 2 DD (DD- not sure which force they are in--Anthony, Laforey, Lightnig, Pakenham, Active, Duncan, Javelin, Lookout, Inconstant, paldin, Panther.)Corvettes-Freewia, Auricula, Nigella, Fritillary, Genista, Cyclamen, Jasmine. MS-Cromer, Poole< Romeny, Cromarty, Thymen

Actually I think this "side show" has great gaming potential. IJN has 4 CV and 1 CVL vs Brit 2 CV and 1 CVL. plus Brit land based planes. or its possible that the 4 Kongos could've tangled with the 4 R class BB's. Each side split off smaller TF's which could potentially contact enemy forces. And lots of IJN subs lurking about too (they sank a goodly number of cargo ships).
Just because historically it was mainly carrier raids catching ships without fighter protection doesnt mean that you couldn't have some night or even day ship vs ship engagements.

Just found it, "Carrier Observer" by Wallace. It contains one of the simpler if not better explanations of the moves and decisions of the RN in the Indian Ocean.

It also has a rather humourous account of a RN fleet carrier stuck on a reef in the Carribean with the crew jumping on the flightdeck in time to the Royal Marine band playing 'It's a Small World After All' in an attempt to get free.

Gents;

Buckeye – sent you an email

"Carrier Observer" is a great book – I forgot to include it in my list.

Things were not as chaotic or disjointed as some would have you believe, and Somerville's chances were far better than most believe. By 1941 the RN expected to fight any carrier battle at night. Their aircraft were equipped for it, many (though not all) had ASV-II airborne RADAR which allowed them to operate at night with a high degree of success, there crews were trained for night attacks, and most importantly, the IJN had NO capability to defend against it and no night strike r search capability of their own.

The great failing was the fact that the RN had ULTRA intelligence that showed the attack coming on 1 April (IIRC) and the IJN was delayed to 5 April. When the IJN failed to show, Somerville assumed they were not coming and left the area only to find out they were there on 4 April. By adroit maneuvering, her obtained the IJN flank and almost got in range to make his night attack. When Dorsetshire & Cornwakk were sunk he knew they were near and had recon plnes out. One was lost anohter damaged, but because of a key radio failure, the aircraft that made contact could not report it until it returned and htis left Somervile steaming away from the enemy at a key moment. The night ASV-equipped search planes ended up falling just short of contact and a great what-if was neer answered. However …

…gaming this is very hard because the IJN had no idea that:

1. The RN was operating from a secret base on their SW flank and

2. That the RN had a full night search and strike capability

With any competent gamer having this knowledge, it is damn tough to game it. I have, for years, played "double-blind" flat-top games that are fully judged. I did run a game with a scenario like "Midway" where the IJN was actually fighting RN task forces – without any idea that they were doing so.

The IJN spent the key day searching all over hell for the USN carriers, finding nothing and bombing the hell out of some small ships in port and the airbase. The amazing part was the strange looks the players gave as the IJN was being recced at night when, of course, the US could not attack and neither could fight, so he merrily went on arming and ranging aircraft for the morning -- only to get royally clobbered in the early AM by torpedo and dive-bombing attacks from ASV-equipped or led strikes of Swordfish and Albacores.

Note, this was a ONE TIME deal -- once the secret was out, it could never happen again!

Mark

And his early morning CAP was where? being recced at night would be a clue to me to expect something at daybreak. All carriers carried out pre dawn launches (hours before actual dawn) so that their attacks could arrive over target shortly after dawn and thus the pilots see what they were attacking.
Your opponent doesn't sound like a real competent flat top player to me. Zero's vs. swords and albacores---can we say Midway's Torpedo 8 squadron all over again?
The night raid on taranto also required lots of flares in order for the pilots to see what they were attacking. Read To War in a Stringbag for a good description of that attack. Even with radar guidance to the target, the pilots have to see their target ships, their courses, etc to plan their attacks at night. Against anchored ships is one thing, against moving ships at night would IMO be extremely ineffective.

Radar against ships in port would be of limited effect, especially from the air, the amount of clutter from the coast, installations, harbour vessels and auxiliaries etc would significantly limit its effectiveness. However, at sea, with no background clutter to distract from the targets, it would be much more effective.

Doing a bit of research into this period and came up with a few sources not yet mentioned:

Transcripts of the the Eastern Fleet war diaries for 1942/43 are available at the Naval History Net at

link

A couple of books with a bit more detail on the RN prospective are "Fighting Admiral", a biography of Sir James Somerville by Capt Donald MacIntyre published in 1962 (no ISBN) and "Operation Pacific" by Edwin Hoyt (1990 ISBN 0 85052 264 1) which gives a good history of the RN's roles in the Far East and Pacific from Force Z right through to the BPF strikes against Japan at the end of the war.