by Brooke, GL1, VT-2, USN
VT-2 consisted of me (Brooke), Vladd, SA2, Gab, HB555, Have, Curval, Leigh, Klem, Witch, and Taiaha. Missing were Furzy, Jazbo, ROK, and Octavius. We were in TBM-3 Avengers, with 100% fuel and 1 torpedo each.
We took off from the Lexington and formed up with Sik and his VT-5 group. We climbed up to 20k with Sik and his guys at about 17k. There were some fighters in among us, but I don't think we had that many overall with the strike group. We got vectored to the enemy carrier that the scouts had found.
About half a sector out, we ran into a large group of Zeros (I estimate about 12 of them) at about 25k. At this point, it seemed like the fighters had gotten drawn off at some point earlier, and VT-2 was the leading group of planes in, with VT-5 right behind us, and some SBD's somewhere back of them. The Zeros attacked us and Sik's guys. I don't think they got many of VT-2 at that time, but they did break up our attack. It was too difficult to coordinate it well while under attack. I told VT-2 pilots to dive as needed and to attack as best they could -- basically at that point, it was every man for himself.
A couple of Zeros made runs on me, at least one landing enough hits to give me a fuel leak. I dove and jinked, and when clear, levelled out to keep altitude. I flew over the carrier group. At that time, there were two enemy carriers in the group, neither one on fire. Vladd and I called out that we were going for the northmost one.
I tried to move around into position, trying to get a clear patch (clear of Zeros) to approach from. I got a reasonable one and came in, although my angle was not very good. I got in close, released my torpedo, then turned hard to get the out of the firestorm of AA. I jinked as I ran, getting out of the range of the AA, but some Zeros reeled me in and killed me shortly thereafter.
I couldn't give a bomb-damage assessment at all. It is too hectic after drop. In film afterwards, I saw two torpedos miss aft of the carrier, and mine looked on target still at the time I died. I didn't get any destroyed objects, though, so there is no confirmation of the hit. Since my approach wasn't at a very good angle, even though it looked on target after drop, the most likely is that I missed. I'll be interested to see if Jordi can find out from the logs.
Gab was the only survivor from VT-2's first strike, and he had a fuel leak making it impossible to get back to the Lexington, so he ditched, and we took off as a group.
We climbed north, then found that there was a strike group behind us, so we went back to join up with them.
We had Whels with us, but that was it for fighter cover, so we coordinated with refueling fighters out of Port Moresby to rendezvous about 50 miles SE of Port Moresby. After flying for a while, there were reports of a carrier group just north of that rendezvous point and enemy Zeros, too. Command told us that carrier group was not the target and that we were to hit one farther NE of that. As the rendezvous was so close to an enemy fighter group, I called for the rendezvous to be moved farther S.
A little while after that, VT-2 came across many bogies down low, headed south. We figured it might be an enemy strike. We vectored over to check it out and found B5N's headed south with no fighter escort. I called for several in VT-2 to attack and the rest to stay over the fight with altitude (in case Zeros came in -- to CAP our pals down below). VT-2 killed all the B5N's except one, which was able to get through to the south with Leigh in pursuit. We chased south for a while until our fuel was low enough that we needed to get back on with our mission. We called Leigh back north and climbed north.
Because of this attack on the Kates, we were now separated from the rest of the strike group and the fighters, and low on fuel. I looked at the fuel and (thanks to the trusty E6B) figured that we had enough fuel to get to the enemy fleet and then back to Port Moresby (but not the Lexington), so that was our plan.
We were told to bypass one enemy task force and hit one farther NE. As we flew in, someone reported that an enemy carrier had sunk. Yes! Also, someone reported a carrier on fire in the group we were told originally to bypass, and we were ordered to attack that group instead. I triple checked all of this to make sure it is what command intended and that VT-2 was on its way to the desired enemy group.
We flew in on the enemy group, and there were no Zeros at altitude. We were coming in at about 17k. There were six or so lower (maybe 10k or lower). So, we got into position decently and more easily this time. There were two enemy task groups here, but only one carrier. This must have been the group of the reported sinking. The remaining carrier was not on fire. We got into position and went in.
It was still difficult to get coordinated, though, since we need to get our TBM's down on the deck and under about 300 mph on approach. Thus, those Zeros at 10k that I originally dismissed did become a big threat as we maneuvered into position. There were also many PT boats around firing at us. Several VT-2 were shot down, I think, getting into position.
I got into a good approach and let loose my torpedo. I have no idea whether or not it hit, and I couldn't tell much from the film. After my release, I turned and jinked to get out of all the AA. My plane took a bunch of hits, and the AA took my rudder off. I still had my vertical stabilizer, though, so I kept flying. But a couple of Zeros were able to reel me in. Again, after I was out of AA range, they were on me. I got some good hits on one with my rear gunners, but they shot my horizontal stabilizers off.
I bailed out and watched the action from the water. The enemy CV still looked fine -- no fire.
I went back to the Lexington and manned a destroyer gun for a while, helping defend against some IJN attackers in the area. Then I spawned in a PT boat and did the same, also helping to spot a torpedo aimed at the Lex and advising on direction for the Lex to turn to avoid it.
The USN sank one Japanese CV. Looking at the logs, VT-2 got 13 kills, and HB555 and Gab got objects destroyed, so I know that they did hit with torpedoes. Others, I'm not sure, as it is possible to hit the CV and not get any objects destroyed (but still do hull damage). I'm hoping Jordi can take a look and let us know -- it is good feedback.
We lost all of VT-2 on each strike, mostly by getting softened up by AA then killed by enemy Zeros reeling us in after our runs.
The TBM's can dive and jink well enough to make it about half a sector through Zeros with low losses to the TBM's. But at some point, we have to get to sea level and 200-300 mph, at which point we are sitting ducks for Zeros. The only way we will get out of that is not enough Zeros to chase all of us or enough F4F's to clear our tails. Once we get about half a sector from target going in, I'd rather have F4F's over the enemy fleet than escorting us.