The Pacific War refers to the war between the U.S.-led Allied forces and Japan during World War II, including the Sino-Japanese War. In this and subsequent series of articles, we will focus on a series of naval battles in the Pacific, including their impact, and what history can learn from today.
In December 1941, during the first naval battle in the Pacific, the Japanese sunk two British capital ships by air. During the Battle of Java in late February and early March 1942, the Allied fleet was again defeated. The Japanese achieved absolute maritime superiority in Southeast Asia, occupying large areas of territory and seas. (Earlier: The British Navy has always been the hegemon of the seas, but why did it lose to Japan in the Malay Naval Battle?) ）
The remaining warships of the British fleet were forced to retreat to Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. In order to prevent the Japanese from continuing westward into the Indian Ocean, the British army drew 3 light aircraft carriers and 5 warships from the British Home Fleet and drove into the Indian Ocean to assist in defense.
The news of the British fleet reinforcements disturbed Japan. Although the British fleet was reinforced only to defend the Indian Ocean, japan felt that Indonesia, an important strategic production site, could be threatened. The Japanese front was too long, and the main forces of the U.S. Navy were seeking a counterattack in the Pacific. Before the decisive battle with the Americans in the Pacific, the Japanese believed that they needed to take the lead in clearing the British fleet in the Indian Ocean, solve their worries, and also support the attack on Burma. So, in March 1942, the Japanese sent a large number of aircraft carriers to the Indian Ocean.
This article introduces the Indian Ocean air raids of the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet, which is the third naval battle in the Pacific War.
Deployment of both sides
On March 26, 1942, the Japanese sent six aircraft carriers, including Akagi, Ryūsū, Wyvern, Soryu, Shōzuru, and Tsurutsuru, with a massive fleet of 350 carrier-based aircraft, into the Indian Ocean.
The commander of the British fleet received intelligence that the Japanese Navy had moved and was expected to launch an airstrike on April 1 or 2. The disparity in power was so great that the British wisely decided to move part of their fleet to the Maldives, including the aircraft carriers Indomitable and Fearsome.
The Japanese did not grasp the transfer of the British fleet and still believed that the main force of the British fleet was on the island of Sri Lanka. The island of Sri Lanka was indeed a key point in the Indian Ocean, and the initial target chosen by the Japanese army was not wrong.
In addition, the British actually prepared for the worst of the Japanese landing in Sri Lanka, and even prepared in advance for the destruction of airfields and ports.
The first air raid
The first Japanese air raid was not sri Lanka, but the first to attack the coast of the Bay of Bengal, sinking a total of 23 British ships.
The British had expected a Japanese air raid on Sri Lanka, but a few days later, it did not happen, so the aircraft carrier HMS Athletic returned to Sri Lankan ports, along with 2 other heavy cruisers, HMS Cornwall, HMS Dorset, and the Australian destroyer Vampire.
On the night of April 4, the Royal Canadian Air Force's Catalina seaplane patrolled 400 miles south of Sri Lanka, spotted the Japanese fleet, and immediately sent out intelligence on the location of the Japanese fleet, but failed to evade the Zero fighters taken off by the Japanese aircraft carriers, and the Canadian pilot was martyred.
When the British received the news, they immediately let all the battleships leave the harbor to avoid japanese air raids.
But it should have been too far away, and the Japanese aircraft carriers did not attack Sri Lanka that day.
Second air raid
The next day, April 5, the Japanese dispatched 125 aircraft, including 36 dive bombers and 53 attack aircraft, escorted by 36 Zero fighters, to attack Sri Lanka.
The British Air Force did not receive any warning. Japanese aircraft attacked British naval bases, sinking the auxiliary cruisers HMS Extor and the old destroyer HMS Tenados in the harbor, Japanese aircraft were shot down by heavy anti-aircraft guns (the Japanese only admitted to being shot down 5), and the British Air Force lost at least 27 aircraft.
200 miles southwest of Sri Lanka, Japanese reconnaissance planes spotted the British cruisers Cornwall and Dorset, which had left the port early, and subsequently sank the two cruisers, killing 424 people.
Above: The British heavy cruiser Cornwall was under Japanese air raids and was burning and sinking.
Third air raid
At 7 a.m. on April 9, 1942, the Japanese again attacked another port in Sri Lanka. The British had also let the carrier Athletic and the convoy leave the harbor a day earlier, but they were spotted when they were preparing to return. The carrier aircraft of the Athletic god left at that time, the Japanese air raid hit 40 times, the aircraft carrier Athletic was sunk, and 307 people were killed. Two frigates were also sunk.
Above: The British aircraft carrier HMS Athletic was sunk in the Indian Ocean by Japanese carrier-based aircraft.
The British Air Force lost at least 8 Hurricane fighters and 1 carrier-based fighter. The Japanese lost 5 bombers and 6 fighters, 1 of which committed suicide and attacked the British fuel depot.
Fortunately, the other 2 British carriers moved to the Maldives ahead of schedule. The Japanese received no intelligence, no air raids on the Maldives, and no total annihilation of the British fleet.
The Japanese aircraft carriers exerted air superiority, leaving the British powerless to fight back.
Although the Japanese army had absolute air and sea superiority and could control the Indian Ocean, it had no plans to land in Sri Lanka, and the battle line was too long.
The Japanese retreated on their own
On April 18, 1942, 16 American bombers led by Doolittle took off from the aircraft carrier and bombed Tokyo and other places in Japan. It was the first U.S. airstrike on the Japanese mainland during World War II. Although the airstrikes caused only minor damage, they strongly stimulated the Japanese High Command.
American bombers flew near the Imperial Palace in Japan, which was considered an insult to the esteemed Emperor of the Japanese, who had to defend the mainland and try to deal with the U.S. Pacific Fleet as soon as possible. The Japanese carrier fleet in the Indian Ocean was quickly recalled in preparation for a decisive battle at Midway.
The strategic significance of the U.S. airstrike on Tokyo at all costs, and anyone with insight at the time knew that the Tokyo airstrike was an insult to Japan, and the Japanese army had to return to defense, which would change the entire war situation.
After the Japanese threat to the Indian Ocean was lifted, the U.S. Air Force used India as a base and soon opened the Hump Route in April 1942, and until August 1945, it airlifted a total of 650,000 tons of various types of war materials for China. More than 500 aircraft crashed on the Hump route, including C-46 and C-47,468 U.S. and 46 Chinese crew members, totaling more than 1,500. The valuable materials provided by the United States effectively maintained the Chinese War of Resistance and supported the strategic counteroffensive on the Chinese battlefield.
Impact
In the face of the Japanese's powerful aircraft carrier fleet, although the British also had light aircraft carriers, they wisely chose to avoid the battle, and the aircraft carrier war did not take place in the Indian Ocean.
Although the Japanese aircraft carrier-based aircraft threatened the Indian Ocean, it had been shown that the Japanese army could not fight on the two fronts of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The long front had led to signs of the end of the Japanese army, but the Japanese at the time apparently did not realize this.
Beginning with the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 8, 1941, the victory of the offensive in Southeast Asia within a few months made Japan extremely optimistic, and it did not expect that the war situation would soon be reversed. At that time, the U.S. army was preparing to fight on the Eurasian front and win a comprehensive victory, but the Japanese army did not really realize the danger.
The Japanese were planning the Battle of Midway and preparing to crush the U.S. Pacific Fleet in one fell swoop, but it unexpectedly became a turning point in the Pacific War.
In the first few naval battles of the Pacific War, the Japanese army gave full play to its air superiority and achieved tactical victories, but it was the beginning of the overall strategic failure. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and took the initiative to go to war with the U.S. military, with the goal of ensuring the implementation of the southward expansion plan. Japan selected its strongest opponent and gradually lengthened its front, and Japan's blind expansion determined the final defeat from the very beginning.
If you're still not done, if you want to know the before and after of this naval battle, you can watch "Burning Oceans 1941-1942", a book that takes a detailed and in-depth look at the Pacific War, mainly describing the two battles of Pearl Harbor and Midway. After reading it, I was very emotional, war is really a terrible practice of rationality and fanaticism, never let down the vigilance against Japanese militants ↓↓↓
Burning Oceans 1941-1942 ¥86.8 Buy
Related reading: Japan won the Battle of Java and gained sea supremacy, why can it still not resist the Allied counterattack?
Why did Japan dare to attack the United States? Who gave the Japanese "stud" courage?
The first aircraft carrier battle: how funny can the carrier-based aircraft be in the era of not being able to identify the enemy and us?
U.S.-Japan Aircraft Carrier Showdown: The level of Japanese pilots is higher than that of U.S. pilots?