Battle of the East China Sea, Part 2
As the strike on Formosa concluded, Halsey had his second strike take off, this one pointed at Okinawa. 320 planes were given orders to destroy as many aircraft on the island as possible. As General Ando's strike force approached the carriers, it was forced to fight both the large CAP defending them, and the fighters returning from the strike on Formosa. The force was a mixed group of aircraft, mostly Ki-21's and Ki-51's, with several other types thrown in .
As the force reached the outer destroyer screen, it was met by huge quantities of flak which added to the ever increasing loss rate. Furthermore, many of the Army pilots had no training in attacking ships, which made their aim worse than usual. Most of the attackers first hit a group of four light carriers at the vanguard of the fleet. Princeton was hit by two light bombs that jammed her elevator, and Independence was struck in her boilers by one, halving her speed. Two destroyers were sunk, as was the light cruiser Detriot. In exchange, the total number of operational aircraft on Taiwan was reduced to barely 200.
Meanwhile, Koga had ordered his own fighters to sortie South as soon as the Northern strike was spotted. Despite this, the Americans still reached Koga's attack force before Koga's fighters. Another running battle ensued, Jills and Judy's ans Betty's struggled to avoid the Hellcats. In their haste to attack the enemy bombers however, they had left their own bombers unprotected. A portion of the Zero's went after the bombers, while the more experienced pilots got ready to confront the Hellcats.
Saburo Sakai was among the fighters performing this task. He'd wanted a place on the carriers, but the brass had thought he'd be safer in a Shiden than a Zero. Sakai charged into action, using the speed and heavy guns of his George to great effect. While Sakai and the others were only able to save about two thirds of their bombers, they were able to incur more kills than they suffered. Perhaps the most impressive feat of Sakai came after these dogfights. Orders had come out telling pilots to crash into the enemy ships if they found themselves too damaged to return to base. Sakai managed to help ovee a dozen novice pilots back to Okinawa where he coached them into landing.
Okinawa's attack managed to find the Northwest portion of Halsey's fleet, composed of some of the escorts. Here some real damage was achieved, Tripoli and Wake Island were sunk, as were two destroyer escorts. Three more escort carriers were damaged punching a serious tear in Halsey's Northern flank. Casualties weren't as high at Okinawa, Koga still had 500 of the 900 planes he'd started with, plus the carriers. By now, Ugaki was just 250 miles from the center of the American fleet. Assuming he'd been spotted by now, Koga ordered Ozawa to begin moving south. What he didn't know was that in reality Ugaki wouldn't be spotted until two hours later, at 1400 on the 3rd.
As the force reached the outer destroyer screen, it was met by huge quantities of flak which added to the ever increasing loss rate. Furthermore, many of the Army pilots had no training in attacking ships, which made their aim worse than usual. Most of the attackers first hit a group of four light carriers at the vanguard of the fleet. Princeton was hit by two light bombs that jammed her elevator, and Independence was struck in her boilers by one, halving her speed. Two destroyers were sunk, as was the light cruiser Detriot. In exchange, the total number of operational aircraft on Taiwan was reduced to barely 200.
Meanwhile, Koga had ordered his own fighters to sortie South as soon as the Northern strike was spotted. Despite this, the Americans still reached Koga's attack force before Koga's fighters. Another running battle ensued, Jills and Judy's ans Betty's struggled to avoid the Hellcats. In their haste to attack the enemy bombers however, they had left their own bombers unprotected. A portion of the Zero's went after the bombers, while the more experienced pilots got ready to confront the Hellcats.
Saburo Sakai was among the fighters performing this task. He'd wanted a place on the carriers, but the brass had thought he'd be safer in a Shiden than a Zero. Sakai charged into action, using the speed and heavy guns of his George to great effect. While Sakai and the others were only able to save about two thirds of their bombers, they were able to incur more kills than they suffered. Perhaps the most impressive feat of Sakai came after these dogfights. Orders had come out telling pilots to crash into the enemy ships if they found themselves too damaged to return to base. Sakai managed to help ovee a dozen novice pilots back to Okinawa where he coached them into landing.
Okinawa's attack managed to find the Northwest portion of Halsey's fleet, composed of some of the escorts. Here some real damage was achieved, Tripoli and Wake Island were sunk, as were two destroyer escorts. Three more escort carriers were damaged punching a serious tear in Halsey's Northern flank. Casualties weren't as high at Okinawa, Koga still had 500 of the 900 planes he'd started with, plus the carriers. By now, Ugaki was just 250 miles from the center of the American fleet. Assuming he'd been spotted by now, Koga ordered Ozawa to begin moving south. What he didn't know was that in reality Ugaki wouldn't be spotted until two hours later, at 1400 on the 3rd.