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 […]
South West Pacific
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 […]
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 […]
Submarine Reconnaissance Missions
One of the lesser known aspects of the air war in the Pacific is the extent to which the Japanese made use of submarine-launched aircraft. Although several navies had experimented with submarine aircraft carriers between […]
Coral Sea: After Action Report
Famously, the Battle of the Coral Sea was the first naval action where the opposition ships never saw each other. All of the offensive action was carried out by aircraft, particularly the carrier bombers of […]
Coral Sea: The Attack on Task Force 17
As Fletcher’s Task Force 17 was launching its strike on the MO Striking Force, RAdm Chuichi Hara was likewise sending his fliers out to hit the American carriers. The Zuikaku and Shokaku launched seven B5Ns […]
Coral Sea: The Shokaku Attack
During the night of the 7th/8th, MO Striking Force was ordered to sail closer to the MO Invasion Force in order to give it additional support following the loss of the Shoho. VAdm Takeo Takagi […]
Coral Sea: Searching for the Enemy
As part of Task Force 17, Admiral Frank J. Fletcher had been provided with a force of cruisers and destroyers from General MacArthur’s Australia-based naval contingent. These ships – the cruisers USS Chicago, HMAS Australia […]
The Sims and the Neosho
Task Force 17 was not the only carrier force to be striking the enemy on the 7th of May. The Japanese MO Striking Force, tasked with supporting the MO Invasion Force as it approached Port […]
The Action off Misima
Having completed his attack on Tulagi, Admiral Fletcher spent most of the 5th of May organising his forces and refuelling his ships, prior to the expected confrontation with the Japanese. His carriers, Yorktown and Lexington, […]