RetroWarTHINK 003: IJN '44: Fatal Ambush for Undisciplined Admiral Halsey
https://youtu.be/Kw4cYRQFaj8
IJN '44: Fatal Ambush for Undisciplined Admiral Halsey
How about World of Hurt?
True WW2 Naval History is dangerously--and possibly fatally presented (DISinfo) resulting in today's generation of navies in un-survivable TIN CAN ships.
One lesson from WW2 is that the Washington Naval Treaty's under 10, 000 ton ship ban creates fatal TIN CAN destroyers/light cruisers--only heavier-than-20, 000 ton heavy cruisers & above can actually withstand Precision Directed Munitions (PDM) hits--witness the HMS Warspite.
Clouding the TIN CAN ship issue are the clouds of naval aircraft from mass-produced aircraft carriers based on civilian cargo ships and long and short-range seaplanes--things we no longer have today to dominate multi-domain fights.
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) did several innovative things we lack today: long and short-range seaplanes--dive bombers & fighters operated from heavily-armored cruisers/battleships and even from submarine aircraft carriers.
Imagine the Un-Thinkable! Dumbass Halsey Gets His Fleet Sunk
As the American carrier planes returning from bombing the super battleships and begin landing & crowding flight decks with volatile gasoline and bullets and bombs--the ABCs strike with 22 x Rex seaplane fighters overhead to shoot-down Hellcats/Corsairs as 22 x Jake/Pauls dive bomb accurately the crowded flight decks setting them into seas of fire. American anti-aircraft gunners cannot fire on the IJN attackers lest they shoot down their own planes low on fuel trying to land.
Bullshit Halsey if not burned alive and dying on one of his firetrap fleet carriers by instead cowering in the Iowa class fast 40, 000 ton battleship USS New Jersey will be stunned when the Ise and Hyuga appear within 14" gun range to finish off the flaming carriers. Forced to disengage by the USS New Jersey's 16" guns, the Ise and Hyuga separate to recover their victorious seaplanes and crews.
It gets worse.
As the Navy's aircraft carrier planes & crews plop into the ocean with no place to land because we didn't think ahead to have them able to land/float on the water:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYLkVHvkKew
...the I-400 submarines launch their 6 x Aichi Seran dive PDM bombers to finish-off the flaming crap fleet carriers that fangirls hoped thru damage control could be saved.
FINIS.
The Benefits of an United States Navy Rid of the Crap Aircraft Carrier Capital Ship Delusion
The main beneficiaries of the USN getting its asses kicked by IJN ABCs would be the USN to eumulate this capability via ski jumps on the aft ends of their/our 4 x Iowa class battlesips and all heavy cruisers.
combatreform.org/battleships.htm
The USN $2B each under 10, 000 ton crapola capital ship mentality must be forever discredited and stopped as a sub-set of the 300-ship Mahanian madness.
NOTES
http://www.aeronautic.dk/Warship%20Ise.htm
First ISE's history:
Main construction for the battleship ISE was completed a Kawasaki Shipyard in Kobe in December 1917. At first, it was intended to be the third battleship in the FUSO Class series, but financial difficulties resulted, paradoxically, in commissioning being delayed long enough for newly developed improvements on the original FUSO main gun layout design to be incorporated in the new battleship. Finally commissioned in April 1918, the ISE was assigned to the first Battle Squadron of the First Fleet. The ISE had minor improvements over the next two decades of its service life, undergoing a major overhaul at Kure Navy Yard from August 1st, 1935 to May 31st, 1937 that greatly upgraded the performance and changed the appearance of the vessel. In May 1942, after Japan's into World War Two, the ISE was the first ship to test the Imperial Japanese Navy's new shipborne radar system, carrying this equipment into the battle of Midway the next month. After the IJN's disastrous loss of four carriers in that fateful battle, an emergency program of converting selected IJN vessels to have aircraft-carrying capabilities was undertaken, and the ISE was one of these ships, undergoing the conversion at Kure Navy Yard from February to August 23rd 1943. The fifth and sixth gun turrets were removed to make way for an aircraft hangar which was covered with a flight deck area, turning the ISE into a hybrid seaplane tender/battleship. After conversion was completed, the ISE was assigned to the Forth Aircraft Cerrier Squadron of the Third Fleet, taken part in the Cape Engano engagement during the battle of Leyte Gulf as part of the IJN's risky Operation Sho in the Philippine Island in October 1944. Returned to Kure after this, the ISE sat out the rest of the war there, where damage from air raids on July 24th and 28th ended up totally sinking her.
Technical specification:
Official trail displacement: 38,662 tons
length: 219.62 m
beam: 33.83 m
draught: 9.03 m
ship horse power: 80,825hp
speed : 25.31 knots
main guns 8 (4x2) 14´ = 35.6 cm
medium guns AA 16 (8x2) 12.7 cm
light guns AA 93 (31x3) 25mm
22 aircraft two catapults
crew: 1,660
Jake/Paul Dive PDM Bomber Seaplane
The first AM-22, which first got the experimental designation Navy Experimental 16-Shi Reconnaissance Seaplane and later the short designation E16A1, was completed by May 1942 and was a conventional, low-wing monoplane equipped with two floats and had the unusual (for a seaplane) feature of being equipped with dive brakes, located in the front legs of the float struts, to allow it to operate in a secondary role as a dive bomber.
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 10.833 m (35 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 12.81 m (42 ft 0 in)
Height: 4.791 m (15 ft 9 in)
Wing area: 28 m2 (300 sq ft)
Empty weight: 2,945 kg (6,493 lb)
Gross weight: 3,900 kg (8,598 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 4,553 kg (10,038 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Mitsubishi MK8D Kinsei 54 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 970 kW (1,300 hp) for take-off
895 kW (1,200 hp) at 3,000 m (9,843 ft)
820 kW (1,100 hp) at 6,200 m (20,341 ft)
Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 439 km/h (273 mph, 237 kn) at 5,500 m (18,045 ft)
Cruise speed: 333 km/h (207 mph, 180 kn) at 5,000 m (16,404 ft)
Range: 1,176 km (731 mi, 635 nmi)
Ferry range: 2,420 km (1,500 mi, 1,310 nmi)
Service ceiling: 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 10 m/s (2,000 ft/min)
Time to altitude: 3,000 m (9,843 ft) in 4 minutes 40 seconds
Wing loading: 139.3 kg/m2 (28.5 lb/sq ft)
Power/mass: 0.2491 kW/kg (0.1515 hp/lb)
Armament
Guns:
2 fixed forward-firing 20 mm (0.787 in) Type 99 Mark 2 machine guns in the wings
1 flexible rearward-firing 13 mm (0.512 in) Type 2 machine gun for the observer
Bombs:
250 kg (551 lb) of bombs
Rufe Seaplane Fighter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_A6M2-N
Design and development
The A6M2-N floatplane was developed from the Mitsubishi A6M Type 0, mainly to support amphibious operations and defend remote bases. It was based on the A6M-2 Model 11 fuselage, with a modified tail and added floats. A total of 327 were built, including the original prototype.
Operational history
The aircraft was deployed in 1942, referred to as the "Suisen 2" ("Hydro fighter type 2"), and was only utilized in defensive actions in the Aleutians and Solomon Islands operations. Such seaplanes were effective in harassing American PT boats at night. They could also drop flares to illuminate the PTs which were vulnerable to destroyer gunfire, and depended on cover of darkness.
A6M2-Ns at Attu, Alaska
The seaplane also served as an interceptor for protecting fueling depots in Balikpapan and Avon Bases (Dutch East Indies) and reinforced the Shumushu base (North Kuriles) in the same period. Such fighters served aboard seaplane carriers Kamikawa Maru in the Solomons and Kuriles areas and aboard Japanese raiders Hokoku Maru and Aikoku Maru in Indian Ocean raids. In the Aleutian Campaign this fighter engaged with RCAF Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighters and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.[citation needed] The aircraft was used for interceptor, fighter-bomber, and short reconnaissance support for amphibious landings, among other uses.
Later in the conflict the Otsu Air Group utilized the A6M2-N as an interceptor alongside Kawanishi N1K1 Kyofu ("Rex") aircraft based in Biwa lake in the Honshū area.
The last A6M2-N in military service was a single example recovered by the French forces in Indochina after the end of World War II. It crashed shortly after being overhauled.[1]
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 10.1 m (33 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
Height: 4.3 m (14 ft 1 in)
Wing area: 22.44 m2 (241.5 sq ft)
Empty weight: 1,912 kg (4,215 lb)
Gross weight: 2,460 kg (5,423 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 2,880 kg (6,349 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Nakajima NK1C Sakae 12 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 700 kW (940 hp) for take-off
950 hp (708 kW) at 4,200 m (13,780 ft)
Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed metal propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 435 km/h (270 mph, 235 kn) at 5,000 m (16,404 ft)
Cruise speed: 296 km/h (184 mph, 160 kn)
Range: 1,148 km (713 mi, 620 nmi)
Ferry range: 1,783 km (1,108 mi, 963 nmi)
Service ceiling: 10,000 m (33,000 ft)
Time to altitude: 5,000 m (16,404 ft) in 6 minutes 43 seconds
Armament
Guns:
2 × 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Type 97 machine guns in forward fuselage
2 × 20mm (0.787 in) Type 99 Mark 2 machine guns in the outer wings
Bombs: 2 × 60 kg (132 lb) bombs
Rex Seaplane Fighter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawanishi_N1K
The Kawanishi N1K Kyōfū (強風 "Strong Wind", Allied reporting name "Rex") is an Imperial Japanese Navy floatplane fighter.
The Shiden Kai possessed heavy armament as well as surprisingly good maneuverability, due to a mercury switch that automatically extended the flaps during turns. These "combat" flaps created more lift, thereby allowing tighter turns. Unlike the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the Shiden Kai could compete against the best late-war Allied fighters, such as the F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair, and P-51 Mustang.[7]
Kawanishi's N1K was originally built as a single pontoon floatplane fighter to support forward offensive operations where no airstrips were available, but by 1943 when the aircraft entered service, Japan was firmly on the defensive and there was no longer a need for a fighter to fulfill this role. It was powered by the Mitsubishi MK4C Kasei 13 14-cylinder radial engine.
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 8.885 m (29 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
Height: 4.06 m (13 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 23.5 m2 (253 sq ft)
Airfoil: LB620515-6075[29]
Empty weight: 2,897 kg (6,387 lb)
Gross weight: 3,900 kg (8,598 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 4,321 kg (9,526 lb)
Fuel capacity: 477 l (126 US gal; 105 imp gal) internal + 323 l (85 US gal; 71 imp gal) drop tank ; maximum 800 l (210 US gal; 180 imp gal)
Powerplant: 1 × Nakajima NK9H Homare 21 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 1,473 kW (1,975 hp) at sea level
1,223 kW (1,640 hp) at 2,164 m (7,100 ft) Normal
1,398 kW (1,875 hp) at 1,798 m (5,900 ft) Military with methanol/water injection
1,249 kW (1,675 hp) at 5,980 m (19,620 ft) Military with methanol/water injection
1,529 kW (2,050 hp) at 762 m (2,500 ft) War Emergency with methanol/water injection
Propellers: 4-bladed, 2.987 m (9 ft 9.6 in) diameter constant-speed propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 571 km/h (355 mph, 308 kn) at 3,500 kg (7,717 lb) at sea level
656 km/h (408 mph; 354 kn) at 6,096 m (20,000 ft)
Range: 1,078 km (670 mi, 582 nmi) at 272 km/h (169 mph; 147 kn) at 457 m (1,500 ft)
813 km (505 mi; 439 nmi) at 75% Vmaxat 391 km/h (243 mph; 211 kn) at 457 m (1,500 ft)
Ferry range: 1,746 km (1,085 mi, 943 nmi) maximum with drop tank at 269 km/h (167 mph; 145 kn) at 457 m (1,500 ft)
1,078 km (670 mi; 582 nmi) at 75% Vmax at 381.5 km/h (237.1 mph; 206.0 kn) at 457 m (1,500 ft)
Service ceiling: 12,009 m (39,400 ft)
Rate of climb: 19.7 m/s (3,880 ft/min) at 3,500 kg (7,717 lb) at sea level
4,065 ft/min at 3,500 kg (7,717 lb) at 1,798 m (5,900 ft)
Time to altitude: 3,048 m (10,000 ft) in 2 minutes 36 seconds
6,096 m (20,000 ft) in 5 minutes 36 seconds
Wing loading: 166 kg/m2 (34 lb/sq ft)
Power/mass: 0.38 kW/kg (0.23 hp/lb)
Armament
Guns:
4× 20 mm Type 99 Mark 2 machine guns in the wings.[30]
Bombs:
2× 250 kg (551 lb) bombs
or
1× 323 l (85 U.S. gal; 71 imp gal) drop tank
NEW I400 CGI Art!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxyk84t4Q8w
Aichi Seran PDM -Torpedo Bomber
From the late 1920s, the Imperial Japanese Navy had developed a doctrine of operating floatplanes from submarines to search for targets.[2] In December 1941, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, proposed constructing a large fleet of submarine aircraft carriers (also designated STo or sen-toku — special submarine) whose purpose was to mount aerial attacks against American coastal cities. The submarines would surface to launch their aircraft by catapult, submerge to avoid detection, then surface again to retrieve the aircrews who would ditch their planes nearby. By June 1942, the plan was to build a fleet of eighteen such subs. This was later cut to nine, then five and finally just three as Japan's wartime fortunes declined.[3][4]
To equip the submarine aircraft carriers, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service requested that Aichi design a folding attack aircraft with a range of 1,500 km (810 nmi) and a speed of 555 km/h (300 kn). Aichi was already manufacturing under license, the D4Y1 Suisei (Judy), a relatively small single-engined carrier dive bomber with exceptionally clean lines and high performance. Detailed engineering studies commenced in an effort to modify the Suisei for use aboard the I-400 submarines but the difficulties in doing so were eventually judged insurmountable and a completely new design was initiated.[5]
Aichi's final design, designated AM-24 by Aichi and given the military designation M6A1, was a two-seat, low-winged monoplane powered by a 1,050 kW (1,410 hp) Aichi AE1P Atsuta 30 engine (a licence-built copy of the Daimler-Benz DB 601 liquid-cooled V12 engine). The original specification dispensed with a traditional undercarriage but it was later decided to fit the aircraft with detachable twin floats to increase its versatility. If conditions permitted, these would allow the aircraft to alight next to the submarine, be recovered by crane and then re-used. The floats could be jettisoned in flight to increase performance or left off altogether for one-way missions.[6] The Seiran's wings rotated 90 degrees and folded hydraulically against the aircraft's fuselage (with the tail also folding down) to allow for storage within the submarine's 3.5 m (11 ft) diameter cylindrical hangar. Armament was a single 850 kg (1,870 lb) torpedo or an equivalent weight in bombs. One 13 mm (0.51 in) Type 2 machine gun was mounted on a flexible mounting for use by the observer.[7][8][9]
As finalised, each I-400 class submarine had an enlarged watertight hangar capable of accommodating up to three M6A1s. The Seirans were to be launched from a 26 m (85 ft) compressed-air catapult mounted on the forward deck. A well-trained crew of four men could roll a Seiran out of its hangar on a collapsible catapult carriage, attach the plane's pontoons and have it readied for flight in approximately 7 minutes.[1]
In order to shorten the launching process and eliminate the need for time-consuming engine warm-ups, the Seirans were to be catapulted from a cold start. This necessitated heating the engine oil for each plane to approximately 60 °C (140 °F) in a separate chamber and pumping it, as well as hot water, through the engine just prior to launch while the planes were still in the hangar. In this way, the aircraft's engine would be at or near normal operating temperature immediately upon getting airborne. The idea was borrowed from the Germans who planned on using a similar launch method for the aircraft of their unfinished carrier Graf Zeppelin.[10][11]
The first of eight prototype Seirans was completed in October 1943, commencing flight testing in November that year. A problem with overbalance of the auxiliary wings was eventually solved by raising the height of the tail fin. Further testing was sufficiently successful for production to start in early 1944. In order to aid pilot conversion to the Seiran, two examples of a land based trainer version fitted with a retractable undercarriage were built. These were given the designation M6A1-K Nanzan ("Southern Mountain"). Besides the difference in landing gear, the vertical stabilizer's top portion, which was foldable on the Seiran, was removed.[12][13]
Operational history
The first production examples of the Seiran were completed in October 1944. Deliveries were slowed by an earthquake near Nagoya on 7 December 1944, and by an American air-raid on 12 March 1945.[12] Construction of the STo submarines was stopped in March 1945, after two submarine aircraft carriers had been completed and a third finished as a fuel tanker. These were supplemented by two smaller Type AM submarines, originally designed as command submarines carrying reconnaissance floatplanes, but capable of carrying two Seirans.[14][15] Owing to the reduced carrier submarine force, production of the Seiran was halted, with a total of 28 completed (including the prototypes and the M6A1-Ks).[13][16]
The new submarines and aircraft were assigned to the 1st Submarine Flotilla, comprising the two STo submarines, the I-400 and the flagship I-401, each carrying three Seirans together with two type AMs, the I-13 and I-14. The 1st Submarine Flotilla commenced training with the Seirans in January 1945, the crews gradually learning how to handle the submarines and aircraft. Launching all three Seirans took longer than expected: 30 minutes if floats were fitted, although this could be reduced to 14.5 minutes if the floats were not used.[16]
The first mission of the Seiran squadron, which was named the Shinryuu Tokubetsukougeki-tai (神龍特別攻撃隊, meaning "God-Dragon Special Attack Squad") [17] was to be a surprise air strike on the Gatun locks of the Panama Canal, to cut the main supply line for U.S. forces in the Pacific. When the force was finally ready to set off on their mission against Panama, Japan's increasingly desperate situation led to a change in plan, with the target for the attack, called Operation Hikari (Splendour), being switched to the American base at Ulithi Atoll where forces, including aircraft carriers, were massing in preparation for attacks on the Japanese Home Islands. The flotilla departed Japan on 23 July 1945 and proceeded towards Ulithi. On 16 August, the flagship I-401 received a radio message from headquarters, informing them of Japan's surrender and ordering them to return to Japan.[18][19][20] All six Seirans on board the two submarines, having been disguised for the operation as American planes in violation of the laws of war,[10] were catapulted into the sea with their wings and stabilizers folded (for the I-401) or pushed overboard (for the I-400) to prevent capture.[21]
Survivors[edit]
A single M6A1 has been preserved and resides in the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. It is located in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Chantilly, Virginia near Dulles International Airport. The Seiran was surrendered to an American occupation contingent by Lt Kazuo Akatsuka of the Imperial Japanese Navy, who ferried it from Fukuyama to Yokosuka. The U.S. Navy donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in November 1962. Restoration work on the Seiran began in June 1989 and was completed in February 2000.[23]
Specifications (M6A1)
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 11.64 m (38 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 12.262 m (40 ft 3 in)
Height: 4.58 m (15 ft 0 in)
Wing area: 27 m2 (290 sq ft)
Empty weight: 3,301 kg (7,277 lb)
Gross weight: 4,040 kg (8,907 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 4,445 kg (9,800 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Aichi AE1P Atsuta 30 or Atsuta 31 V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston engine, 1,000 kW (1,400 hp) for take-off
999 kW (1,340 hp) at 1,700 m (5,577 ft)
962 kW (1,290 hp) at 5,000 m (16,404 ft)
Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 474 km/h (295 mph, 256 kn) at 5,200 m (17,060 ft)
Cruise speed: 296 km/h (184 mph, 160 kn) at 3,000 m (9,843 ft)
Range: 1,188 km (738 mi, 641 nmi)
Service ceiling: 9,900 m (32,500 ft)
Time to altitude: 3,000 m (9,843 ft) in 5 minutes 48 seconds
Wing loading: 149.6 kg/m2 (30.6 lb/sq ft)
Power/mass: 0.3574 kW/kg (0.2174 hp/lb)
Armament
Guns: 1× 13 mm cabin-mounted Type 2 machine gun
Bombs:
1× Type 91 torpedo or
2× 250 kg (551 lb) or 1× 850 kg (1,874 lb) bombs
The Sinking of the German BattleCruiser Scharnhorst: Imagine if she were an AIRCRAFT Battle Cruiser (ABC)
The Life and Death of the Scharnhorst - BBC 1971
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_LVS-u26no
Air-dropped seamines AHEAD of its path damaged her and wrecked the cruiser Gneisenau.
Imagine if instead the Scharnhorst were an AIRCRAFT Battle Cruiser (ABC) as we illustrate in our KRIEGS '46 proposal...she could have been sinking enemy ships by air-delivered seamines from safe stand-offs....
Comments
Post a Comment