“You mean you have other carriers in the pipeline?”
“Correct. We can build a carrier on one of those four hulls twice as fast as we might build a battlecruiser or battleship. Even the third of the Yamato Class hulls was converted to build a carrier under this program, the largest in the world when it is completed—Shinano. We also have several smaller carriers in the shadow fleet program, conversions from fast liners and such.”
“Will any be ready soon?”
“Not soon enough, as far as my needs are concerned. Here we are discussing how to manage a war on three fronts, and there will never be enough carriers to go around. We are fortunate that the design of Taiho was accelerated before the war, and I suppose we still have the battleship proponents to thank for the innovations in that ship. We will take your advice concerning those empty spaces around the aviation fuel bunkers, and better damage control. As for the bigger hulls now under conversion, the two ships in the Amagi Class will be the first to appear, perhaps within six to eight months if the resources can be found. We have named them Mikasa and Shirane. Much effort is being made to complete Shinano as well.”
“Interesting…. That ship was not ordered converted to a carrier until the Midway disaster,” said Fukada. “Nor was Taiho built this early. In fact, it was the need for more toughness and durability at sea that led to the ideas put into that carrier. Very strange.”
“I won a few arguments in 1940,” said Yamamoto. “That is why we even have these abandoned hulls intact for these projects. As for toughness, the side armor was already there for Mikasa and Shirane when they were laid down as battlecruisers. The armored deck idea was taken from the British when we obtained the plans for their Illustrious Class carriers. Frankly, if I had my way I would gladly trade this massive battleship we stand on now, and its sister ship Musashi, for two more fleet carriers. The loss of both Zuikaku and Shokaku has set us back a great deal. It seems I have avoided this Midway disaster you speak of, but the 5th of May in the Koro Sea was a hard day for us. Believe me, our shipyards have been very busy ever since that day.”
“Let us hope you can produce these ships in time,” said Harada.
“Alright, gentlemen, I see now what we are up against, and what you say is true, the next six to eight months will be the crucial time. If we do not prevail now, then it may not matter whether Shinano and other conversion programs like Shirane ever set sail. We still have five fleet carriers, and they have only two. Now is the time to win this war, and you can do your part in the Indian Ocean.”
“Sir, when would you want this operation to begin?”
“Not for some time. The fleet is reorganizing along the lines we have discussed. Take your ship to Davao. A tanker will be waiting off shore for you to refuel. From there you will proceed to Singapore. The ash from that volcano is still a persistent haze in that region. It has been erupting off and on for months, so have a care. The Sunda Strait is still a very dangerous place. Once you arrive, refuel again and wait for Admiral Hara’s task force. He will transmit your orders at that time.”
The meeting ended on a high note, for all present could still take some solace from their superiority in carrier numbers. But their calculus was already off, for even as they spoke, the USS Essex was slipping out to sea on her maiden voyage. It was not supposed to be commissioned until December of 1942, reaching the Pacific in July after an extensive series of sea trials. But many things in the history were askew, and the Essex program was also accelerated. The need being so great, the ship was already enroute to the Pacific, and so the four carriers Yamamoto hoped to challenge the Americans with off Fiji, might soon be facing three on the American side. Yet no one knew that when the meeting ended.
They would know it soon enough.
Part II
Operation C
“Clever archers who, designing to hit the mark which yet appears too far distant, and knowing the limits to which the strength of their bow attains, take aim much higher than the mark… to be able with the aid of so high an aim to hit the mark they wish to reach.”
Chapter 4
The plans that then developed from the meeting between Yamamoto and the officers off the Takami were clearly aimed at finding the strategy that would win the war, achieving some decisive advantage in the time frame Harada had put forward. They had six to eight months to prevent any US counteroffensive from gaining traction in 1943. With winter coming, Yamamoto ordered all his fleet carriers to leave the Home Islands and muster at Truk. He wanted them as far from the unseen raider in the Siberian north as possible. The Siberians would be opposed by the Army and air force instead, and no longer challenged at sea. All remaining carrier power would be concentrated in the South Pacific, and the Indian Ocean operation.
Now Yamamoto took stock of the forces he might have available. The 2nd Infantry Division, savaged by the eruption at Krakatoa, was slowly being rebuilt from new conscripts in Japan for anticipated operations in the south. One regiment was being built in Nasu, another at Sato, and the third at Fukushima. With the 48th Division already committed to Fiji, if the Ceylon operation should ever materialize, it would be given to the 5th Division, which was still a strong two regiment nucleus that could receive replacements and become a full triangular division, though it would never again be the powerful force it was as a square division under Yamashita. The Battle at Tengah Airfield on Singapore had killed many of its toughest veteran troops.
If necessary, General Nishimura stated that he would consider releasing one regiment of the Imperial Guards for deployment on Ceylon after it was taken, but only if the Army could not make a similar force available at Rangoon from the troops already committed to the Burma campaign.
All in all, Japan now bet its fortunes on the outcome of these crucial operations in the south. The additional land territory they might take was minimal, but the strategic windfall in being able to control the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean, and in isolating Australia from the US, would be significant if they could be achieved. Everything would be risked on achieving that outcome, but the one factor the planners were leaving out of their thinking, the sea monster they had come to call Mizuchi, would still remain a dangerous wildcard.
Yet Yamamoto was a realist, and the images he had seen in the library aboard Takami still haunted him. He was well aware that other staff officers at Imperial General Headquarters thought that even the push into the Solomons was an overextension of Japan’s military capabilities. Now, to add the Indian Ocean as an objective seemed an even greater reach. So we will simply aim higher, he thought.