Post by warspite1 on Jan 11, 2024 21:36:33 GMT
This is a tantalising "what if?" for both sides.
By day the Japanese carriers would rule the Indian Ocean, especially the skies, as they proved when that sank HMS Hermes and two British 8-inch gun cruisers. But... as this documentary explains:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeGtSS-gtkk
The situation was reversed at night. Somerville had four squadrons of Swordfish or Albacores on his two carriers and several carried ASV (air to surface) radar. As soon as the sun went down the entire balance of power would reverse as the Fleet Air Arm had already proved at Taranto. At one time the two forces were playing blind man's buff and were only 120 miles apart - at night. If one side had not reversed course the radar-equipped Swordfish would have found the Japanese and it would have been game-on.
The Swordfish and Albacores were all armed with torpedoes and flares to light up the sky while the Japanese had no dedicated naval night fighters and no radar assisted AA.
Midway could have happened several months earlier.
Barry
By day the Japanese carriers would rule the Indian Ocean, especially the skies, as they proved when that sank HMS Hermes and two British 8-inch gun cruisers. But... as this documentary explains:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeGtSS-gtkk
The situation was reversed at night. Somerville had four squadrons of Swordfish or Albacores on his two carriers and several carried ASV (air to surface) radar. As soon as the sun went down the entire balance of power would reverse as the Fleet Air Arm had already proved at Taranto. At one time the two forces were playing blind man's buff and were only 120 miles apart - at night. If one side had not reversed course the radar-equipped Swordfish would have found the Japanese and it would have been game-on.
The Swordfish and Albacores were all armed with torpedoes and flares to light up the sky while the Japanese had no dedicated naval night fighters and no radar assisted AA.
Midway could have happened several months earlier.
Barry
