Flag Bridge, HIJMS Musashi, South China Sea
Admiral Soriva sighed and took the communication pad. He shuddered, if the existing situation wasn't bad enough, now he had this to worry him. The old escort carrier Chuyo had been ferrying some aircraft to Danang when she'd hit a mine in the main shipping channel. The Captain had tried to beach her but the damage was too bad and she'd gone down, blocking the channel completely. A minesweeper had found another mine nearby, it was an old Japanese Navy one, the serial number suggesting it had been laid back in 1941 and never swept. They must have broken loose and drifted into the channel. Anybody who believed that would believe anything. Still, it didn't matter, the port was closed until sweeping was completed.
Soriva shook his head, then went back to his chart. While he was shackled by his twelve-knot merchant ships, the Indian-Australian convoy had got out in front of him. It was more than 50 miles ahead now and pulling further away every hour. There was no way the merchant ships with Soriva could overtake it so it had to be stopped. If he took his battleship group group to flank speed, he could close on the convoy in six to eight hours time. Then he could give an ultimatum. Either they turned back or he would eliminate them with the nuclear shells he carried for his big guns.
It was an unanswerable argument and they'd have to obey. The other option was the two carriers under Admiral Idzumo behind him. There was a problem there, Shokaku and Zuikaku carried only 28 fighters and 32 bombers each. There were two Australian carriers with the task group, reportedly they carried 36 Fl IF Tigers each. The Japanese carriers didn't have the power to take them on, at best they could provide cover for the existing Japanese formations and a limited strike capability to mop up stragglers. The one good thing was that the Tigers had no strike capability, they could defend but not attack. No, the battleships were the best solution for this job. And pray that it would be over before the Americans found out. Soriva bent over the chart table again as he felt the vibration in his feet tell him Musashi had gone to flank speed.
Captain's Bridge, INS Hood, South China Sea
“Signal reads Good luck and God's Speed Sir” Captain Jim Ladone shuddered slightly, Hood, Rana and Rajput were swinging away from the convoy. Earlier, the Japanese battleship group heading the formation behind them had accelerated and started closing on the Australian-Indian convoy. The threat was obvious. Unable to overtake the fast troopships, the Japanese commander had decided to bring his battleships up and give an ultimatum. Turn back or we use our 18 inch guns. It was well-known the Japanese had nuclear shells for those guns.
There had been a quick conference and Ladone's suggestion had been accepted. He'd take the three Indian ships back to confront Yamato and Musashi. If they tried to blast past him, he'd hold them as long as he could while the convoy scattered. Then, the Australian cruisers and destroyers would try and buy more time. With luck, the convoy would be well-scattered by the time the enemy got through and most of the troopers would get clear.
“What can we do Sir? We're no match for one of those monsters, let alone two.”
“We can challenge them Number One and they will ignore our challenge. We will fight them and they will sink us. That's all there is to it.”
“Sir, there are two thousand men on this ship, We can't take them to be killed. We must save the lives of our crew.”
Ladone nearly exploded with rage, then brought himself under control. His Number One was young, still learning his business. He should be taught. However hard it would be.
“Number One, there are fifty thousand men in that convoy and we are their escort, we are responsible for them. You remember what happened on our quarterdeck only a few months ago?”
Number One nodded, he was the Number One only because the officers senior to him had died in the explosion. “We were responsible for their safety as well and we failed them. We will not fail again. But that's not what's important now. There is something much more important here.
“Number One, we're a warship, we were built to fight. Not to run away, not to hide. To fight. To bring as much harm upon the enemy as we can. The Indian Navy is a young navy, our traditions are not yet set. Today, we're going to help set them. We're going to establish a precedent that Indian warships fight. Regardless of odds, regardless of chance of winning, we fight as long as we have weapons to fight with.
“After today, every enemy who faces one of our ships will know that if a fight starts, it will be a fight to the death. And, one day, an enemy facing that choice will back off even though the odds are in their favor. More than that, once our enemies know a fight with our ships means a fight to the death, they will enter the battle scared. And then our ships will win against the odds and the more they do so, the greater will be the odds they can overcome. Today we fight, not just for the troopships under our protection but for the future. For the future ship in the same position we are in today that will live because today we choose to fight, not to run. Now ring up flank speed. We have an appointment to keep.”
Ladone looked out of his bridge over his forward 15 inch guns as he felt the vibration in his feet tell him the mighty 'Ood had gone to flank speed.
On Board USS Skipjack SSN-585, Periscope depth, South China Sea
His radio mast was up, he was in intercept position and all he needed was the position data from the Batwings. He was well away from the carriers and outside the detection arcs of their sonars. He was listening out for one minute at ten minute intervals and that was longer than he liked to have a mast up. Still, at least he wasn't emitting. That would come later. Commander Runken looked back to his plot. Two carriers in line ahead. One destroyer in the lead, one in trail, two on each side. And not one of them had the slightest idea what they were up against. Almost 90,000 tons of shipping. “Sir, burst transmission from Batwing-one.” We have the position data, they want us to start in 15 minutes..”
“Very good. Dive to 300 feet then flank speed for this position here.” Runken made a mark on the map. “We'll run out under the inversion layer then pop up to start.” Runken relaxed as the deck angled down and Skipjack vibrated as she went to flank speed.
PB5Y-1 “Batwing-One “ 60,000 feet over the South China Sea
Up here, the sky was dark blue and the PB5Ys were almost invisible against it. The radar horizon was more than 500 miles away and the radar bombing system was showing five groups of ship. The Australian convoy was well off to the west, in the center was Hood and her two destroyers with the two Japanese battleships, two cruisers and eight destroyers nearby. There was less than 30 nautical miles separating them now, the situation was about to blow wide open. Then, halfway towards the east, was the Japanese troop convoy with the Japanese carrier group on the extreme east of the screen.
If the situation did blow, Batwing-One to Batwing-Eight would take the battleship group, Batwing-Nine to Batwing-Sixteen would take the Japanese troopship convoy. The Orlans would make short work of them, that was for certain. But first....
Batwing-One accelerated as Foreman opened the throttles wide. He felt the kick in his back as Batwing-One and Batwing-Two started their long dive for the high-speed run.