All,
0625 local time
4 June 1942
Midway
It's 4 June 1942, the dawn of the epic "Battle of Midway," a clash of giants, three US carriers vs four Japanese carriers that proved to be the turning point of the war in the Pacific. For more information, both real-life and how I'm running this campaign, please check here:
link
Yesterday at 0900 a US Navy PBY Catalina spotted Japanese ships 500nm west southwest of Midway; B-17s from the island were dispatched but failed to hit anything. US Navy PBYs continued to shadow the Japanese surface force, and actually attacked at 0100 this morning, scoring a torpedo hit on a Japanese merchant ship. Unbeknownst to US personnel, the Japanese carrier task force, as yet still unspotted, launched its first strike group against Midway at 0430. At 0530, the PBYs spotted the Japanese carriers, and noted their strike group inbound.
At 0610 the VMF-343 "Dirt Divers" scrambled six F4F Wildcats to intercept an inbound group of six D3A "Val" dive bombers escorted by four A6M "Zeros," but were roughly handled, having three Wildcats shot down and the other three damaged, as the Japanese lost one Zero and one Val. The Japanese aerial attack caused 18/30 damage points.
So it's now 0625 and the Dirt Divers have scrambled another six F4F Wildcats to intercept an inbound group of six B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers escorted by four A6M "Zeros."
The Japanese appear serious about this…
And indeed they are.
The Flying Leathernecks are doing their part to take it to the Japanese Kates.
And some kills are scored…
But the Zeros just seem to be everywhere.
To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
link
So, those were the attacks by the Japanese carrier air groups on Midway. Just like real life, they did a lot of damage, but were unable to destroy the shore installations, which then caused their strike commander to recommend the launching of a second strike, which would have catastrophic consequences for the Japanese carriers.
But that's all in the future: for now, the Americans on Midway are attempting to strike back at their tormentors! When word of the Japanese raid was broadcast, the Americans launched all the aircraft stationed on Midway, to avoid them being destroyed on the ground. But three groups of those aircraft actually set out to attack the Japanese; the attacks were not coordinated, so the Americans ended up piecemealing them into the fight, but that's where we're headed next: Major Chandler, the squadron commander, is leading a flight of Wildcats escorting six TBF torpedo bombers going for the Japanese carriers.
V/R,
Jack
tells something about herself.
