The Battle of the Caroline Sea

The Battle of the Caroline Sea, sometimes referred to by certain sailors as the Battle of Iron Giants, was a major naval battle that occured in the Pacific Ocean between the Imperial Japanese Navy and a combined Allied fleet consisting of British, German, and French warships, directed by an over AFEC command. It was one of the only naval encounters in the war where two opposing sides of battleships and cruisers openly engaged each other without the presence of aircraft or aircraft carriers.

The battle took place on April 3rd and April 4th of 1942, barely half a month after The Battle of the Celebes Sea, and give or take two months before the decisive 'Battle of the Philippine Sea. 'The engagement in the Caroline Sea being a purely battleship and cruiser affair was the result of war constraints placed on both sides; the great damage inflicted on the carrier fleets of Britain, Germany, and Japan in the Celebes Sea in particular left the British carriers either depleted of aircraft or badly damaged, with the same going for the Japanese carriers that survived the battle, while Germany had one of it's carriers, the SMS Graf Zeppelin in the battle. All of the aircraft carriers that France had were tied down supporting French manoeuvres in Indochina, while all of Britain's carriers were busy being repaired or were busy defending Malaysia, Burma, and the Dutch East Indies. Japanese carriers were being equally engaged in other theatres, with the rest being prepared for the anticipated offensive in June.

Therefore, on April 1st, Japan decided to once again test the strength of the Allied fleet by attacking the continuously strained pacific supply lines between North America and the Allied holdings in the Pacific. American naval power, though significant, remained stretched thin defending the Philippines, Hawaii, and its shipping lanes, still recovering from its mauling while at anchor in Honolulu. Japan targeted a major supply column travelling from California to the Dutch East Indies, carrying precious oil, weapons, equipment, and food to preserve and maintain American and Allied forces holding onto the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. A massive IJN naval force was scrambled, comprising of 8 Battleships, 12 cruisers, and 28 destroyers, and was ordered to intercept the convoy, sink or capture its cargo, and annihilate the American warships defending it. If successful, the loss of the convoy could have threatened to break the resolve of the Allied defenders in the Pacific, particularly those in the Philippines.

The Allies however suspected this attack, courtesy of Chinese intelligence that leaked a hint of a Japanese surface fleet embarking for the Pacific. With British and French carriers tied down, the Allies scrambled a fleet of comparable size. The Allied fleet consisted of the German battleships SMS Gneisenau, SMS Scharnhorst, and the SMS Tirpitz, which had the distinction of being the largest and most heavily armed battleship in the arsenal of the Allied powers. The fleet also consisted of the three most modern British battleships HMS King George V, HMS Prince of Wales, and the HMS Duke of York, as well as the ageing HMS Rodney. Finally, the French top-of-the-line battleships Jean Bart and Richelieu rounded out the Allied fleet.

The two fleets searched for each other for most of April 1st and April 2nd, a tedious task without the aid of surveillance aircraft. The Allied fleet set itself on a course to the convoy, hoping to intercept the IJN before it could reach it. Surely enough, on April 3rd, the SMS Gneisenau, which lead the vanguard of the Allied fleet, spotted the Japanese fleet as the two fleets neared the convoy. Almost immediately, Gneisenau fired a salvo at the approaching Japanese ships, instantly turning a Destroyer into a blazing pyre. The battle quickly became a mess of chaos as shells flew across the water. The thunderous, deafening sound of barrages and salvos fired out of 17 battleships and 25 cruisers had a psychological impact on the crews of both sides of the battle. Quickly, the air became choked with smoke as ships exploded and caught on fire. After the battle, a French sailor would later describe the battle as "If hell has an ocean, it will be re-enacting this battle for eternity".

By the end of the second day of battle, three Allied battleships (the SMS Gneisenau, HMS Rodney, and the HMS Prince of Wales) were either sunk, capsizing, or burning wrecks, while four Japanese battleships suffered a similar fate. One British cruiser was also sunk in the battle, with a second French cruiser having to be scuttled after the battle due to tremendous damage. In exchange, one Japanese cruiser was sunk in the first day of battle. Half a dozen destroyers also fell in the battle on both sides while bravely protecting their capital ships.

The Battle itself was strategically inconclusive; both sides losing more or less the same amount of tonnage and ships, as well as a similar loss of life. However, the Allied fleet managed to, with great difficulty, prevent the Japanese fleet from destroying vital Allied shipping, an overall tactical success that ensured vital supplies maintained Allied resistance in the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. To to this day, the battle remains one of the most famous naval battles of the entire war due it being one of the only engagements of two sides of battleships in the whole war. The sheer spectacle and carnage of the battle would be exaggerated by both sides.

Japanese
By April, 1942, Japan knew that it's position in the war was slowly becoming more and more precarious as the full weight of the European Allies began to be brought to bear. Though Japan earned victories in Burma and the Philippines the month before, Japan continued to fail to break the British forces holding Singapore or salvage its failing invasion of ''French Indochina. The arrival of superior Allied ground forces such as the German Tiger I's ''and arrival of European air fleets in force began to foreshadow Japan's future in the ground and air theatres of war.

Japanese strategy began to fully appreciate Japan's decisive upper hand in the naval department by April, 1942. Though the Allied submarine net continuously threatened to choke Japan, the Japanese carrier and surface fleet remained the most capable fleet in the world, superior in quality and size to the entire combined fleet of British, German, French, Dutch, and American ships. Japan decided to use this advantage and planned to destroy the Allied shipping convoys in the Pacific. In late March, a large American convoy departed from California filled with precious oil, coal, weapons, ammunition, food, and raw resources to bolster the Allied war effort in the pacific. It was protected only by a small fleet of destroyers and a handful of cruisers. Japan deemed that if it could intercept and destroy this convoy, the Allied ground resistance in places such as the Philippines would surely collapse. On April 1st, a large Japanese surface fleet commanded by Shigeyoshi Inoue was assembled to intercept and destroy this series of Allied convoys. The Japanese fleet consisted of 8 state-of-the-art battleships, the fast battleships Kongo and Hiei, and the large, powerful battleships Nagato, Mutsu, Ise, Fuso, Yamashiro, and ''Yamato. The latter ship, the Yamato, ''was the largest, most heavily armed and heavily armoured battleship in the world at the time, designed to be able to engage two or more battleships at the same time. It was the lead capital ship of the fleet. A large fleet of Cruisers and Destroyers were also attached to these battleships to round out the fleet. The fleet left port on April 1st and began its journey from Japan to the pacific, en course to intercept the Allied shipping

Allied (AFEC)
The Allies by April, 1942, on the other hand, were gaining confidence in their chances of winning the war, but continued to struggle at sea. The tenuous Battle of the Celebes Sea was a hard fought battle between the two sides that saw the Allies and Japan both lose a Light Carrier each and have a second fleet carrier heavily damaged. The Allied carrier fleet was strained at the end of the battle, the sustained casualties more grievous than those sustained by Japan, who could more readily replace and repair its lost and damaged carriers. Allied naval planning continually became more and more risky as French, British, and German admirals all agreed that scoring a decisive naval victory over Japan would prove difficult as long as Japan maintained such a much more superior surface fleet.

Nevertheless, in late March, Allied planners were forewarned by Chinese intelligence that Japan was planning another large scale naval operation barely a couple weeks after Celebes Sea. Allied planners were dismayed, worried that continuous full on engagements with the Japanese surface fleet would eventually prove to be a gamble too far. However, Chinese Intelligence was able to confirm that Japan did not attach any carriers to the naval fleet that would be conducting the operation, stating that all of Japan's carriers were too busy contesting other waters and supporting ground campaigns. The Allies nevertheless remained hesitant to meet the Japanese fleet in force, ever mindful of Japan's high quality battleships, especially the dreaded ''Yamato. ''The Allies scrambled together a fleet but did not give out the order to intercept the Japanese fleet yet.

On April 1st, the Allies learned of the intentions of the Japanese fleet. Once again, a mix of Chinese Intelligence and aircraft surveillance confirmed that the Japanese fleet was leaving for the mid-pacific. The British Admiral, Andrew Cunningham, brought out a map and tenuously tried to figure out with his fellow Allied commanders where the Japanese could be going with such a force. It was (French Admiral) that made the revelation, pointing down at the drawn in convoy routes for the Pacific, recollecting the large shipping column that left California earlier that month. The Admirals looked at each other for a second and unanimously, after a short debate, decided that the convoy had to be protected. The Allied fleet consisted of a comparable surface fleet of British, German, and French warships. The most notable were the three highly modern British Battleships HMS King George V, HMS Prince of Wales, HMS Duke of York, and the older HMS Rodney. The French battleships Richelieu and Jean Bart, both highly modern as well, accompanied the force and were considered to be the most versatile of the fleet. Finally, the German battleships SMS Gneisenau and SMS Scharnhorst also accompanied the fleet, with the German battleship SMS Tirpitz acting as the the lead ship of the fleet. The Tirpitz was the largest battleship in the entire Allied arsenal, and one of the few considered powerful enough to be able to take on the Yamato. A mix of British, German, and French cruisers and destroyers finally rounded out the fleet. The fleet met up after being scrambled on April 1st and began to sail into the mid-pacific, en route to meet the Allied convoy.

The Course of Battle
The two fleets searched for each other for most of April 2nd and early April 3rd, attempting to spot each other. The Allied fleet hoped to intercept the Japanese force before it could reach the convoy and begin inflicting damage upon the valuable cargo ships within it. Admiral Cunningham made radio contact with the convoy's lead warship, the USS Juneau, and informed its American admiral of the situation. The Americans offered to detach some of the Destroyers and a cruiser or two from the convoy detail and aid the allied fleet if needed, but Cunningham refused, saying that the Americans will need all the warships they can get should the Japanese get through his fleet. On April 3rd, around 9:15am in the morning, the two fleets spotted each other. The Allied battleship leading the vanguard, the German SMS Gneisenau, spotted Japanese warships on its horizon at 9:17am. A very foggy, very misty morning obstructed vision, however, and neither the Allied fleet nor the Japanese could confirm if the ships they spotted were just forward-scouts or the main force of each other's fleets, as the fog and mist reduced visual confirmation to only a certain range. The SMS Gneisenau was allowed to sail slightly ahead of the Allied fleet, supported by several destroyers and the British cruisers HMS Berwick and HMS Exeter, in an attempt to confirm the Japanese naval presence and catch its ships off-guard. At 9:33am, the Gneisenau came in range of a Japanese warship that was identified as a destroyer, and immediately opened fire. Half of it's salvo hit the destroyer. After the war, it would be learned that the destroyer hit was an old Great War era warship, and that the modern barrage of the Gneisenau ruthlessly decimated it, causing it capsize within seconds of impact as it's fuel, magazine compartment, and engine room all exploded in unison, killing all but three of the crew onboard as the ship was reduced to a pile of destroyed iron.

Gneisenau confirmed to the rest of the Allied fleet shortly after that they had engaged the Japanese fleet and had sunk a destroyer. Shortly after relaying this information, the Gneisenau was hit by a salvo coming out of the fog. A shell hit the Gneisenau's forward-most turret, causing a large explosion and a fire to break out on the deck, killing several crew members. Though heavily damaged, most of the guns in the turret remained mostly operational. Exeter spotted the attacker seconds later after impact, and identified the ship as the Japanese battleship Hiei as it slowly emerged out of the fog. Gneisenau slowly began to adjust its aim as the fire was attempted to be controlled, but it's captain knew his ship would be hit by one more barrage before he could fire. Exeter and an accompanying destroyer laid down covering fire in an attempt to draw Hiei's attention away from the ''Gneisenau. Unharmed, the Hiei fired a second barrage that scored a hit on the Gneisenau's ''backside. A stray shell had managed to hit the propeller blades, causing them to malfun and leave the Gneisenau dead in the water. By 9:50am, Gneisenau and Hiei were locked in a brutal battle of hailing steel and iron as they exchanged barrages and salvo's. Gneisenau being stuck dead in the water however left it at a great disadvantage, unable to manoeuvre to counter the movement of the Hiei. Both ships exchanged confirmed hits for several minutes. The Exeter continuously aided in the fight, and managed to score a hit on the Hiei's forward hull above the waterline, causing a minor leak. At 9:58am, the bulk of the Allied fleet began to catch up to the skirmish being currently fought. The French Richelieu was the first battleship to arrive to Gneisenau's aid, arriving only a couple minutes before the Japanese battleship ''Nagato. Hiei was forced to change targets to the much more dangerous Richelieu, but the French ship was the first to react, firing a savagely accurate salvo that scored a direct hit on the Hiei's'' centre hull. A stream of fuel was ignited in the explosion and a jet stream explosion ruptured upwards out of the Hiei, upheaving a part of the surface deck and killing many crew members as well as causing great damage to the control bridge. The stream of fire would continue for the next few minutes as Japanese sailors furiously attempted to control the fire. Ignited oil and fuel sprayed out of the hole and drenched much of the ships deck guns, causing great damage. To the ships luck, the Richelieu was forced to change targets to the approaching Nagato to avoid getting flanked. Though the fire was eventually contained, the Hiei suffered a severe list to post as it began to lose engine power and suffered massive flooding. The Hiei counter-flooded several compartments in an attempt to stabilize the ship, successfully managing to reduce it's list just enough to keep its guns just barely combat effective.

By this point, the two fleets were interlocked in a fierce, savage exchange of barrages and salvo's that flew across the misty battlefield. By 10:15am, the fog and mist had begun to let up as the weather improved, revealing the full fleets to each other. At 10:17am, the Allied fleet spotted the Yamato creeping up the Japanese right flank. The SMS Tirpitz, the biggest and most powerful battleship in the Allied fleet, was set on an intercept course. By 10:23am, the Japanese Hiei was now struggling to keep afloat. Though a small net of destroyers attempted to protect it, Hiei continued to gain water despite its best attempts to counter-flood, pump water, and repair holes. The Gneisenau was likewise badly damaged, unable to move and continuous shells hitting its hull threatened to inflict a grievous wound. The Exeter by this point was on fire, a shell from the Japanese battleship Nagato having caused a massive explosion that forced the Exeter to withdraw.

Notable engagements were those of the British sister battleships HMS Duke of York and HMS King Geoge V as they combated the Japanese Yamashiro and Ise, both duo's supported by a couple of destroyers. The French Jean Bart, by 10:26am, had already sunk two destroyers as it engaged the battleship ''Fuso. The British HMS Rodney, an older mid 20's era battleship, would later come to Jean Bart's aid as the Mutsu'' attempted to overpower it. Jean Bart's French compatriot, the Richelieu, was enjoying success as well as it sunk the Japanese cruiser Chikuma, which had attempted to relieve the pressure being put on the ''Hiei. Finally, the German SMS Scharnhorst and the British HMS Prince of Wales were locked in a savage duel with the Japanese Kongo and Nagato ''for most of the battle.

On 10:30am, the Gneisenau suddenly went up in a massive explosion as a salvo ruptured the ammunition hold in its second forward-most turret. This time the explosion caused the Gneisenau's hull to violently rupture, sending German sailors flying into the air and into the water. A series of smaller explosions continued to mount casualties as a deck-wide fire began to consume the ship. Within minutes of impact, the Gneisenau began to uncontrollably capsize. The barrage that forced the Gneisenau to sank came from the Japanese Yamato, which was now approaching the Allied lines rapidly. A French Destroyer luckily managed to sail up to the wreck of the Gneisenau to rescue most of its crew. At the same time, the Japanese battleship Hiei, just as its crew started to restart its engines for a retreat, was hit by a salvo from the French ''Richelieu. ''The French salvo hit and decapitated the command bridge from the ship, the explosion killing more or less all of the officers on board. The Japanese crew members panicked, the explosion causing a second fire that this time surged downwards into the ship. After a couple of minutes, the Hiei was pronounced un-salvageable, and it's officer-less crew unanimously abandoned ship as the battleship began to rapidly sink. The sinking of the Hiei emboldened the Yamato to surge forward, the Richelieu in its sights.

The SMS Tirpitz, however, equally emboldened to avenge the sinking of its German brother, the Gneisenau, began to steer towards the Yamato. The Richelieu fixed its sights on the Yamato as well, though did not dare approach in fear of being shot first, and instead covered the approach of the Tirpitz. What would ensue would be described as one of the most savage exchanges of naval gunfire as the Richelieu and the Tirpitz attempted to take on the Yamato. A surviving French sailor of the Richelieu would later drop the legendary quote of "If hell has an ocean, it will be re-enacting this battle for eternity" after witnessing the ensuing fight.

The SMS Tirpitz and Richelieu V.S. the Yamato
Later known as the most famous engagement of battleships in world history, the Yamato engaged the SMS Tirpitz and the Richelieu around 10:57am. However, prior to the first exchange of salvo's, the Yamato had managed to cause havoc on the skirmish line of Allied destroyers and cruisers protecting the capital ships. The already wounded cruiser HMS Exeter was hit on 10:42am by a shell from the Yamato, causing the Exeter to finally break.The explosion caused the Exeter to violently jacknife and split in half upwards. Most of its crew did not survive the explosion, what survivors remained being picked up by rescue boats from nearby destroyers. The Yamato then violated sensible code of conduct when it shelled a rather lightly-armed German destroyer attempting to simply rescue the Exeter's survivors. The salvo nailed the lightly-armoured destroyer in its hull, causing it flip onto its side before turning upside down, trapping large parts of its crew inside. A second destroyer, the French Casque, went up in flames as the Yamato scored a hit that exploded the poor ships fuel hold, and a third German destroyer likewise began to capsize after the Yamato scored multiple hits on its hull. By the time the Tirpitz had trained its sights on the Yamato, the Japanese battleship had sunk one cruiser, three destroyers, severely damaged the German cruiser Nurnberg, and forced several destroyers to withdraw.

The Tirpitz and the Yamato trained their sights on each other at 10:56am and opened fire a minute later, both ships scoring near-misses. The Richelieu began its approach on the Yamato at the same time, having finally thwarted a Japanese cruiser off it's side. The Yamato and the Tirpitz continued to exchange salvo's, surprisingly missing each other for the first few barrages. On the fourth salvo, the Tirpitz managed to land a shell into the Yamato's command tower, which went straight in and out of the command bridge without even exploding, falling into the water behind the ship. The commander of the Yamato, Chiaki Matsuda, said that if he was standing a few meters to the right, the shell would have probably went straight through him. Nevertheless, the hit killed a handful of the ship's officers, including Matsuda's second in command. The Yamato responded in kind and scored multiple hits onto the Tirpitz's deck, killing some of the crew and heavily damaging one of the ship's main batteries, locking it into place.

By the fifth salvo between the two ships, the Richelieu was now in range and began to open fire on the Yamato as well. The first barrage of the Richelieu hit the Yamato square on its front hull, though did not penetrate or cause serious damage. The French admiral despaired, audibly frustrated at the absurdity that was the ''Yamato. In retaliation, the Yamato focused its fifth salvo at the Richelieu. ''This salvo hit the Richelieu in its hull and penetrated into the crew compartment before exploding, killing a sizeable chunk of the ship's crew that wasn't on duty at the time. The Yamato would continue to exchange barrages with the Tirpitz and the Richelieu for the next half an hour, both sides scoring multiple hits, though none grievous.

On 11:23am, the Tirpitz managed to score a lucky hit on the Yamato's portside hull. Already softened by a previous hit, the shell penetrated the Yamato's backside and exploded inside one of the fire rooms.The explosion destroyed most of the fire room and the adjacent engine room, as well as killing many of the crew members inside. The Yamato's speed as a result drastically fell as it developed a list to port due to the loss of engine power and heavy flooding. Half of the Yamato's batteries, all of whom were aimed at the Tirpitz, could now no longer fire accurately. Realizing his situation, Matsuda ordered the Yamato to begin a retreat, and signalled for nearby cruisers and destroyers to come to his aid. The Yamato managed to fire the other half of its turrets and scored a hit on the Richelieu, sending the ships forward deck upheaving into the air in a fury of splinters, wood, and iron. The hit had punctured the main magazine compartment that fed the Richelieu's two forward batteries, and as a result the explosion seriously disfigured the Richelieu's front deck and rendered its two main turrets inoperable. All of its eight 15inch guns were now out of service. Having lost its main battery, and suffering a massive fire that threatened to go out of control, the battleship began a quick retreat to avoid being sunk.

With the withdrawal of the Richelieu, the Tirpitz and the Yamato were now left in a one on one duel. The Tirpitz however held the upper-hand, having suffered no serious damage as of yet while the Yamato was suffering a leak, reduced speed, and a list to port.