097 - Crossing Cavalry Point

The Japanese Attack Corregidor

While the Japanese Navy was pressing into the south Pacific, the job of securing the central Pacific had landed on the shoulders of the Japanese Air Force and Imperial Army. In fact, Japan’s Army had seized all of the Philippines except for a tiny tadpole-shaped island named Corregidor.
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It began, of course, with nightly bombing raids, which softened Corregidor’s defensive anti-aircraft batteries. Corregidor's Malinta Tunnel, located on the western part of the island, had once been the base of Operations for both General Douglas MacArthur and Filipino President Manuel Quezon.
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Now, Corregidor held only a portion of its former glory.

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All outlying Army Barracks now lay in ruins and the inland anti-aircraft batteries had been shelled into submission. Beginning May 1^st and extending through May 5^th, nightly bombing raids pounded Corregidor near Cavalry Point, on the northeastern side of the island, near the ‘tail of the tadpole’.
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However, Corregidor’s powerful gun batteries, mounted on topside were left largely un-attacked.

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Although the anti-aircraft batteries were numerous and well-supplied, their 14 and 11–inch guns weren’t suited to defend the island. They’d originally been designed as anti-naval batteries, able to hammer targets in Manila Bay or over in Manila itself. Against the Japanese bombers, they were virtually useless. Additionally, the big guns of topside were largely able to defend against the Japanese Marine landings, less than a mile away.

Now, the Japanese Marines did just as they had back at Lingayen Gulf, raiding the northeast shores of Corregidor. 790 Japanese raided the shores and with the help of combined Air Force, Navy - and even Army attacks from Bataan – they made short work of the invasion, quickly pushing the Americans and Filipinos up the tail towards topside and the fortress of Malinta Tunnel, where many of the injured waited their fate.

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096 - The Raid on Tulagi Island

The Flanking Position

 

Before the Japanese could invade Port Moresby, they would need to secure the surrounding areas. To the north lie the treacherous Owen Stanleys, to the west lay the narrow Torres Strait and the vast stretch of sea to the Dutch East Indies. To the east, there was Tulagi Island.

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Tulagi’s central location in the Solomon Sea added a second point of attack to Port Moresby. In addition, Tulagi was known to be poorly defended.

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In fact, there were only three  machine guns on the whole island - and they all dated back to the First World War. In response to the low numbers of Allied defenders, the Japanese prepared a small task force for the Tulagi invasion.

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By the morning of May 4^th, the Japanese had begun the raid on Tulagi with a small task force that consisted of 2 destroyers, 5 minesweepers, 2 minelayers, 2 sub-chasers, and a single transport ship loaded with 500 soldiers. Meanwhile, the USS Yorktown was aware of the attack and was steaming towards Tulagi.

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By noon, the USS Yorktown had launched three air strikes to stop the invasion .Her SBD Dauntless Dive Bombers sank one destroyer and three minesweeping ships. Afterwards, the Yorktown rendezvoused with the USS Lexington and headed back to Allied ports. In the following week, the Lexington and Yorktown would face these same enemies, just as Yamamoto wanted. For now, the Japanese held onto Tulagi and established a stronger foothold in the South Pacific.

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095 - Beyond the Owen Stanleys

Operation "MO"

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With the Imperial Japanese Navy’s prolonged success in the South Pacific, Admiral Yamamoto knew it was time to push towards Australia. However, the Japanese Army was unable to cross Papua New Guinea because the island was divided by the treacherous Owen-Stanley Mountain range.

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The Japanese Air Force continued their regular bombing raids on Port Moresby from mid-March to early May with little success. Without the help of the Army and the Navy, capturing Port Moresby would be impossible. For the Japanese Army, the task was even greater, since most of the combined Allied Forces, like the Australian Army (pictured left) waited in Papua New Guinea as they prepared for the upcoming attacks.

Admiral Yamamoto and the Japanese Navy were eager for a clash of Carrier Forces in the Coral Sea. After the Kido Butai failed to locate the carriers responsible for the Doolittle Raid, they retired to their Naval Bases to prepare for “Operation MO” the combined attack on Port Moresby. A Naval victory would equal domination in the Pacific.
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For the Imperial Japanese Navy, the time to strike at the heart of the American Forces was now.

094 - Kitty Hawks and Never Hawks

Australia's Most valuable Plane

Prime Minister Curtin (right) with General MacArthur (l.)

Every bombing of Port Moresby established Imperial Japanese’s position at Australia’s doorstep. However, as the attacks on Darwin Harbor and Northern Australia had proven in late March, the Royal Australian Air Force was woefully inadequate. In addition, it was also evidence of Britain and America’s “Germany First” policy when it came to their involvement the Pacific War. When Singapore fell in February, Australian Prime Minister John Curtin requested better planes from Winston Churchill. In a simple telegram, Churchill replied “Hitler Comes First.”

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Still, Churchill used the Australian Air Force’s most skilled pilots for the aerial war over North Africa, Prime Minister Curtin was left with a meager Air Force at best. His fleet consisted mostly of the outdated Whirraways. Additionally, the Avro Ansons, a 1930s fighter bomber capable of 188 MPH maximum airspeed, as slow as Japan’s slow “Nell” Heavy Bombers.

In a telegram to American President Franklin Roosevelt, Curtin asked for P-40 Kitty Hawks, like the RAAF pilots used in North Africa. Roosevelt asked who would fly these planes. The Prime Minister replied, “You send me the planes and I’ll worry about filling them with able pilots.”

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Unfortunately, the wait was long. The planes were in the process of being shipped to the Dutch East Indies, when it was captured by the Japanese. The RAAF Pilots began to call the planes “Never Hawks” as they waited. Still, Churchill wanted the Kitty Hawks diverted to Burma, but Curtin demanded they be delivered to Australia and Roosevelt agreed. With only a single week of training, RAAF pilots engaged Japanese planes over Port Moresby throughout March, April, and May.

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092 - War Paint: Camouflage at Sea

Protecting the Fleet

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Just as the Army and Marines made extensive use of varied greens, olive drabs, tans, and blacks to conceal their position in the jungles of Southeast Asia, likewise the Navy was concerned with protecting its ships and air corps at sea and in the air.

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Ships, which had been painted in single coats of blue and dark gray at the outset of war, were quickly repainted in colors that blended in with the surrounding Pacific environment, usually light gray or white.

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Originally, the main change included a dull gray tone with a white “wave pattern” along the bow to simulate flank speed wakes. Naval engineers tested several paint schemes, including various colors of white, light and dark gray, and black. It was decided that the ships should match the sky more than waves and even at night, ships painted black were easier to spot than the dull gray drab that is common to this present day.

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Soon, a multi-color scheme was adopted with ever-changing patterns and designs. It was hoped enemy spotters would mistake the ships for waves or clouds, depending on the conditions.

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At high speeds, the timing was everything and as gunners or submarine captains spotted ships, the strange designs often fooled the spotter as to the speed, size, shape, or even the type of ship.

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