The Guadalcanal Landings
As the largest invasion fleet assembled so far in the war approached Guadalcanal to begin the landing operations, the first order of business for VAdm Frank J. Fletcher’s Task Force 61 was to clear the […]
History
The Guadalcanal Campaign
Kido Butai’s defeat at the Battle of Midway meant that American positions in the Central Pacific, including Hawaii, were now secure. US Navy Commander in Chief Admiral Ernest J. King now felt that the time […]
The Career of the I-25 – Part Two
When I-25 arrived at her berth in Yokosuka harbour, her pilot, Nobuo Fujita, was surprised to receive orders to report to Naval General Headquarters in Tokyo. At first he feared that he was to be […]
The Career of the I-25 – Part One
Several navies experimented with submarine-launched aircraft, but few embraced the practice as whole-heartedly as the Japanese. Throughout the 1920s several experimental aircraft were developed, and submarines modified with water-tight compartments to carry them, before the […]
The Kiska Blitz
For the Japanese, the only bright spot in the disastrous MI-AL Operation was the capture of the tiny Aleutian Islands of Kiska and Attu – the only pieces of American territory to fall into enemy […]
Darwin, Summer 1942
As war waged across the Pacific, one relative backwater saw renewed battle as a veteran Japanese air group duelled with a rookie American unit in the skies of northern Australia. Following the devastating raid on […]
The German Raiders Thor and Michel
After the loss of the Kormoran on November 19th, 1941, there were no German auxiliary cruisers still afloat anywhere in the Pacific or Indian oceans. Keen to put pressure on the Royal Navy and force it to defend […]
The Battle of Midway: Mikuma’s Nightmare
When word of the American attack in the Kido Butai, and the subsequent destruction of the Kaga, Akagi and Soryu, made its way back to Admiral Yamamoto aboard his flagship Yamato, he was stunned. Information […]
The Battle of Midway: Death of the Hiryū
Just before noon, and before the Japanese began their attacks on her, the Yorktown had launched a search mission consisting of 10 SBD Dauntlesses. After almost three hours one of these aircraft came across the […]
The Battle of Midway: Yorktown Succumbs
The vicious dive-bombing attack by the American SBDs on three of Kido Butai’s carriers had left the Japanese reeling, but not completely out of the fight. One carrier, Hiryū, remained intact having manoeuvred away from […]