Operation Ten-Go Wave 2

Posted on Mon Apr 18th, 2011 @ 6:16pm by Ensign Bok

Mission: Episode 2.1 - "Unanswered Questions"
Location: Holodeck

Just because most of the fighters had been cleared did not mean the danger was gone. Yamato by itself had 162 anti-aircraft guns plus with its larger guns could throw up flak. Flak was essentially an artillery round fit with a fuse set to go off at a certain elevation. The first proximity fuses had been built by famed physicist James Van Allen.

The SB2C dive bombers they were flying were plagued with problems that in order to fix the Curtis company's modifications added weight which made the vehicle sluggish, especially in landing. Despite all the problems the SB2C had a fine combat record the last two years of the war due to the training of its crews.

Naval units of the time centered their defenses around their major ships. The Yamato would be at the center of a defensive ring of ships. Bok's crew would begin by attacking the outer defensive wall to leave a gap which would make it easier to get to the main prize. The most outer ring was destroyers. The destroyers were not able to put up much fire against aircraft by themselves, however they did add to the cumulative effect. The main job of destroyers was protection against submarines. Despite their limited value in defense against the planes, they would give Bok's team a good challenge to build on.

On Bok's first run, he and his crewman dove upon three destroyers which were to the portside of the mighty battleship. Tracer bullets passed all around them. There was nothing for it but to move forward. Great puffs of black clouds exploded around them. The plane to Bok's left flamed out. He couldn't tell if it had been flak or the anti-aircraft guns. They were in position. The engines screamed as they made their dive run. Bok released his bomb. He must have been a better bombadier than a fighter pilot as his bomb dropped true upon one of the destroyers. The speed which he had dropped and the success of his bombing run were one of the most exhilarating things he had ever experienced. The feeling was short-lived when he saw that one of the zeros which had escaped their sweep was coming upon them. He flattened out of the dive trying to stay low to the sea. This would take them out of range of the anti-aircraft more quickly but would leave them vulnerable to the enemy fighter. His rear gunner would have to take care of it.

Bok reset in another aircraft. He wanted another run. This time they moved on to a light cruiser which served as an inner ring escort to the battleship. From here they were getting fire from not only the cruiser, but the remaining destroyers and the inner ring defense of the carriers and the Yamato.

Again bullets flew by and clouds of toxic flak exploded. Bok managed to avoid all these to drop his bomb. A near miss, but one of the others had struck true.

This would be the final run. They were going after the Yamato. The view of the fleet below were obscured by fires from other vessels. In addition to the two destroyers lost and the cruiser, the lighter carrier had been hit by several bombs. The remaining ships looked like little fishhooks on the water as they carried out their evasive maneuvers.

It was finally his turn to dive on the ship which was the pride of her country. The fire seemed even more intense here despite the fact that some of Yamato's escorts were out of the fight. Again Bok was in the steep dive. He heard the explosions of flag, the staccato of the gun, and the wind rushing past even over the roar of the engines. He smelled the cordite from the flak. He lined up as best he could on the giant ship and let go his bomb. It flew true towards the stern of the ship and nearly missed. One of the bombs found its mark, a giant fireball a sign of its destructive power.

Bok looked back. The Yamato had been weakened but was still very much in the fight. It would be the job of the torpedo planes.

tbc