December 7, 1941. The Day Japan Attacked the Panama Canal
- Thread starter YYJ
- Start date
That sounds reasonable - it's easier to be brave in the heat of the moment, but a few days or weeks in a difficult situation allows time for reflection - including: we did our job and did it well so we don't need to do more now.
There's really nothing for either side to learn with regards to the Chitose raid that would have a bearing on the outcome at Wake Island.
Prior to late 1942, going into 1943, no.
Prior to Midway, the Japanese didn't loose many ships, and most of what they did loose was close enough to other ships, or near enough to Japanese held land, that this wasn't an issue, or the loss was due to a submarine so deep in Japanese controlled territory that the crews of the subs didn't take a lot of unnecessary risks.
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It looks like the Lt. Commander Takeda and the IJN in this timeline would only have to wait 83 years and the Canal would become inoperable all by itself.
They should have harnessed the River Dragon’s powers to drought out the canal
I have just been looking at some of the history of Japanese military attitude to surrender in the war. I mean I knew it, but I did not grok how extreme their resistance to surrender was. Consequently I have come back to rewrite the last chapter. This, and I played with the times of Trenton's final chase of Chitose. Slowing Trenton down drew out the chase later into the afternoon, but did not change the outcome. I am choosing to post the rewritten part in its entirety, rather than editing the original.
It was a good bit of work, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I hope you feel inspired to do more in future.
Revision: After Action Report Dec ll
United States Navy
Office of Naval Intelligence
After Action Report
Battle of Galapagos Islands and events in the Pacific Defensive Area
December 7-12, 1941
…continued.
Dec 11
0515 hours. The day began with clear skies. Just before dawn, HIJMS Chitose, steaming at 20 knots and now 1,495 miles west of the Galapagos, launched four F1M Pete float planes. The aircraft were loaded with a pair of Number 6 – 63 kilogram bombs each, and the remaining five airworthy aircraft were armed and prepared. In the hangar, mechanics worked frantically to repair the last aircraft that had been damaged by splinters from the B-17’s near miss.
0515 hours. Just before dawn, USS Trenton, steaming at 25 knots and now 1,575 nautical miles west of the Galapagos, launched her SOC-3 Seagull float planes to scout. Trenton had been following Gar’s position reports, and there was now a mere 80 nautical miles between the ships with Trenton to the west of Chitose. Both ships went to General Quarters.
USS Gar remained on the surface until 0620 hours, when the presence of a loitering Japanese floatplane caused her to dive.
The aircraft almost immediately made contact. The airborne planes could each see the other warship when they reached altitude, and radioed home their reports. A pair of Petes quickly shot down one of Trenton’s Seagulls. The other American spotter plane retreated to the east.
0545 Chitose turned to the north, and accelerated to her maximum speed of 28 knots. Trenton chased the Japanese ship, coming up to her own practical top speed of 33 knots. A first wave of four Petes made a bombing run on Trenton, into the teeth of the American anti-aircraft broadside of four 3 inch guns, supplemented by four .50 caliber machineguns on the foremast top and four more on the roof of the after superstructure. The 3”/50 caliber guns had full ready ammunition bins and laid down, between them, a barrage of 80 shells per minute out to 14,000 yards. One Pete fell in flames before getting near the cruiser, and two were driven off. The final floatplane pressed the attack and almost struck the wireless antenna as it passed over top of the cruiser. One 63 kilo bomb exploded in the sea well past the cruiser, the other struck the empty starboard aircraft catapult and burst. The 29 kilogram high explosive charge wrecked the catapult, started a small fire, killed two sailors and wounded five. The floatplane was immediately shot down as it passed over Trenton, and cartwheeled into the sea.
Captain Arthur Struble of Trenton, in a later interview said “We heard of the Bismark’s anti-aircraft guns having difficulty tracking the Royal Navy Swordfish torpedo bombers, because their deflection calculators could not deal with aircraft that slow. We didn’t have that problem, because our equipment was so old.”
0550 Chitose had launched all of her aircraft now, and the floatplanes circled as they formed up a second wave with the two planes that had aborted their bombing runs and five more fresh planes. Trenton swerved side to side as the attackers lined up. The Japanese pilots dove into the teeth of a fierce barrage. This time, two aircraft were shot down before they could drop their bombs. One, trailing a long tail of flames, apparently attempted to crash into the cruiser, but fell just short in the sea. As the remaining float planes closed, .50 caliber machineguns opened up from the superstructure and foremast. The Japanese fired back on Trenton with their machineguns. Ten bombs were dropped. Three hit. One struck the armour belt, and made a black smudge on three inches of Bethlehem Steel plate. One struck in the midst of the gun crew for the forward-most port 3 inch anti-aircraft gun, and caused horrible casualties all down the row of guns. Trenton’s anti-aircraft battery was not equipped with gun shields or armoured tubs. The last bomb exploded on the after deck beside the rear turret and jammed it in traverse. The turret filled with smoke. The gunners inside, fearing a fire, threw half a dozen propellant charges out the turret side door, and directly into the sea, the cruiser being so wet aft at full speed that waves were washing the deck. The explosion of this bomb buckled the after deck and caused flooding problems later. One floatplane fell to .50 caliber fire and another to the starboard 3 inch battery as they flew past.
Three Petes remained flying, and seemed determined to sacrifice themselves to save their carrier. They returned to strafe Trenton, attempting to take her end-on, to avoid the broadside 3 inch battery. This was partially successful, helped by the port anti-aircraft battery crews being mostly dead, wounded, or stunned by the bomb impact. Trenton turned to unmask her starboard battery, but the fire was ragged, and the barrage spread widely across the sky. As the floatplanes made their first strafing pass, the .50 caliber machineguns on the foretop fired at the floatplanes at ranges that got as close as ten feet. Gunners later reported being able to see the rivets on the underside of the wings as the planes roared overhead. After the first pass, one Pete trailed a ribbon of smoke. As the flight turned for a second pass, the smoking aircraft stalled, and fell into the sea. The remaining pair of planes made a second, then a third strafing run. On the third pass, one of the floatplanes struck the aircraft handling crane, and spun into the ocean. The last aircraft had run out of ammunition for its forward guns. The observer fired the tail gun at Trenton, until the plane drew out of range.
0600 Trenton’s one remaining SOC Seagull had stood off to the east while the floatplane swarm had attacked, and now radioed that they could clearly see Chitose to the north west at a range in the order of 75 nautical miles. Trenton corrected course to follow, at 33 knots, and stood down in order to evacuate the wounded to sick bay. The weather was clear, with occasional high cloud. A stern chase ensued. With Chitose steaming at 28 knots and Trenton making 33, the distance between ships closed at a rate of five nautical miles per hour. Chitose made several evasive course changes, but with Trenton’s seaplane observing, the cruiser stayed glued to the seaplane carrier’s tail.
0615 Chitose’s one remaining float plane attempted to attack Trenton’s aircraft, first with the observer’s machinegun, then by ramming. The fire by both back seat observers was inaccurate, and the Japanese plane, having already expended most of its ammunition, ran out first. The more agile F1M Pete attempted to ram the SOC-3 head-on. The American pilot poured fire from his fixed .30 cal. machinegun into the attacker, then dove away at the last minute. The Pete did not manoeuvre in kind, and missed the Seagull, the crew reported later, by mere feet. The American aircrew later speculated that the Japanese pilot had been hit. The observer emptied the last of his ammunition into the F1M as it passed overhead, and managed to hit the Japanese plane dozens of times. The Japanese float plane fell, trailing smoke, into the sea.
1050 Fire control officers on Trenton’s foretop watched Chitose slowly appear over the horizon. The ship’s officers were pleased to find themselves in the exact type of engagement that the cruiser had been designed for at the end of World War One. Trenton had one twin 6 inch turret fore and aft, and an obsolete double stacked casemate of 6 inch guns on each corner of the upper deck. The upshot of this was that Trenton could fire six guns from her main armament directly ahead in a stern chase, as she was right now.
USS Gar surfaced, and followed behind the action, rescuing the crew of Trenton’s crashed float plane and, later, making POWs of the crews of two of Chitose’s downed aircraft.
1220 Trenton opened fire with her forward turret, at a range of 25,000 yards. The turret guns were capable of 30 degrees of elevation. The casemate guns were only able to elevate to 20 degrees, enabling a maximum range of 21,000 yards, so for now the casemated guns remained silent. The SOC-3 spotter plane corrected the fall of shot, but the range was still extreme, and no hits were registered. Trenton ceased fire after ten salvoes.
1335 Trenton opened fire again, with all six forward guns, at a range of 20,000 yards.
1341 Trenton scored her first hit. A 105 pound SP Common shell struck the roof of the hangar, penetrated before exploding, and destroyed the damaged floatplane under repair.
1349 Trenton landed a hit on Chitose’s afterdeck, damaging the port rear catapult and aircraft crane.
1356 The range had dropped to 13,000 yards, or 7.5 nautical miles. Trenton began, with the help of the spotter aircraft, to land regular hits on Chitose. Within a minute an armour piecing shell struck and burst one of the boilers, a shell penetrated the base of the funnel and exploded in the depth of the bridge structure cutting electrical power, a shell hit an empty auxiliary fuel oil tank in the hangar, causing a fire. Chitose flooded her aircraft weaponry magazine.
1358 Chitose’s captain chose to fight, and turned his ship sharply to the west, unmasking the pair of 12.7cm dual purpose gun turrets on her foredeck. The guns were initially able to fire 14 rounds per minute, per barrel, and raised an impressive wall of splashes, most of which fell or burst short of Trenton. At 13,000 yards, Chitose was firing at near maximum range, and suffered from dispersal problems. For Trenton’s main battery, 13,000 yards was medium range. Trenton’s spotter plane moved further east, careful to stay out of range of the Japanese AA fire, but was still able to correct the fall of shot because of its altitude.
1359 Trenton turned to match Chitose’s course, and slowed to match her speed. With her aft turret out of action, Trenton’s broadside of five 6 inch guns was actually one barrel less than she could manage head-on. The cruiser continued to methodically fire 6 rounds per minute from each of the five barrels that could train. Some splinters from Japanese shells hit the ship. A 12.7cm high-explosive shell hit the side of the hull forward, detonating on impact, causing little damage. A second shell hit the aft deckhouse, just ahead of the aft turret and destroyed target towing equipment, spraying the aft superstructure with shell splinters. The Japanese AA shells being used were fitted with anti-aircraft timed fuses, set to maximum range. Those that hit burst on impact and so did not penetrate into the cruiser’s vitals. Trenton steered several points to port, attempting to open up the range beyond that of Chitose’s guns. Trenton’s anti-aircraft gunners and other non-essential personnel were ordered to clear the deck.
1400 A shell from Trenton passed clean through Chitose’s bow, without exploding. Another shell burst on the main deck and destroyed a pair of ship’s boats. One penetrated into the machinery spaces. Then a shell struck the aviation gasoline storage tank in Chitose’s hangar causing a massive fireball.
1401 The volatile aviation gasoline burned off fairly quickly, but secondary fires had started in dozens of places in Chitose’s hangar and hull. The carrier continued to manoeuvre and fight, scoring several more hits on Trenton, while also receiving hits herself. The Japanese gunfire slackened to around 8 rounds per barrel, and the ship slowed several knots, as damage to boilers and machinery took effect. Smoke rose from multiple points along the ship.
1403 A shell from Trenton penetrated into the Chitose’s B turret shell handling room and detonated the ready ammunition there, wrecking the turret and spraying the crew of A turret with fragments. After this, A turret only managed sporadic fire, from a single barrel. Trenton continued to land hits, mostly along Chitose’s tall and unarmoured sides, although some hits struck at or below the waterline. The carrier became more and more obscured by smoke, from numerous fires on board.
1405 Chitose turned away, now moving at only twelve knots. Trenton closed, her gunnery accuracy affected by the intervening smoke, and at 1140, Trenton ceased fire.
1411 Trenton moved upwind of Chitose and regained visual contact with the burning seaplane carrier at a range of 9000 yards. Chitose had slowed to 8 knots, and had a list of 5 degrees to port. Both warships opened fire on each other at the same time, with shooting being accurate at close range. After Trenton’s third salvo, Chitose’s remaining 12.7 cm gun turret burned out in a spectacular ammunition fire. Chitose had slowed to 8 knots, and had a list of 5 degrees to port.
1413 A twin 25mm anti-aircraft machinegun mounted on the aircraft hangar roof opened fire on Trenton at a range of 7500 yards. Trenton fired three Mark 11 torpedoes from her starboard tubes. Two struck the carrier and exploded. One torpedo hit just aft of the aircraft hanger, opening her engine room to the sea and the other hit below the funnel, flooding the forward boiler room. Trenton ceased fire. At this point the carrier’s list increased rapidly, and the ship completely lost way. The dark smoke from internal fires became mixed with white steam as seawater rushed into the ship.
1433 Chitose capsized. Trenton closed to 500 yards and began rescue operations. These efforts were made more difficult by the fact that most of Trenton’s boats had been damaged by strafing or shell fragments. Eventually some boats and rafts were successfully launched.
Trenton’s crew was then by turns mystified and horrified as many of the Japanese survivors either refused rescue or attempted to swim away in the direction of the open Pacific. Japanese crewmen who had walked up the carrier’s sides as the ship capsized remained standing on the ship’s keel as it slipped beneath the waves and made no effort to get clear and indeed gave a last cheer for the Emperor as the water closed over them.
Captain Arthur Struble described an incident he witnessed from Trenton’s bridge. “I was watching through binoculars as one of our boats approached a gaggle of Jap(anese sailor)s floating in life jackets. As Mess Attendant First Class Hereford Lee reached out to pull one survivor aboard, the Jap(anese sailor) produced a knife and took a stab at him. That was a mistake for the knife wielding Jap(anese sailor), as Lee was Trenton’s welterweight boxing champion, and he punched his assailant unconscious, then dragged him into the boat. ‘Dear God’, I said to my XO, who was standing beside me. ‘What is the rest of this war going to look like?’”
A few of Chitose’s survivors chose life, and pulled themselves up cargo nets that had been thrown over the cruiser’s side. Some voluntarily climbed into Trenton’s rescue boats, and others floating in life jackets were wrestled into the boats by force majeure. Ultimately 39 of the seaplane carrier’s crew of around 600 were rescued, among them the civilian torpedo technicians from the Mitsubishi factory, but her captain and all her officers went down with the ship. Trenton suffered 15 dead and 35 wounded in the engagement, the majority from her port 3 inch anti-aircraft crews that had been caught in the blast from a seaplane’s bomb.
Trenton’s remaining SOC-3 Seagull landed, but the cruiser was unable to recover the aircraft because of damage to the crane. Once the aircrew was brought aboard the plane was scuttled. Trenton headed east towards the Canal at 12 knots, conserving fuel. Later that afternoon, the submarine tender USS Fulton arrived, escorted by the destroyers Borie, J Fred Talbot and Tattnall. The cruiser performed a refueling at sea at dead slow in calm weather, while the destroyers kept submarine watch. The submarine USS Gar rendezvoused with the growing flotilla, and put the rescued airmen aboard Trenton, then resumed her course to San Diego.
1445 hours. USS Erie, patrolling just to the west of the Galapagos was stalked and torpedoed by the submarine I-2, killing 7 of her crew. Erie managed to run aground on Narborough Island before sinking in shallow water, but the ship was severely damaged by the torpedo attack and a resulting fuel oil fire, and was a total loss.
1512 hours. I-2 was spotted and depth charged by a PBY-5 aircraft of VP-52. The submarine survived the attack with minor damage, and left the area following receipt of orders to patrol off San Diego. I-5 joined I-2 a week later. The Japanese submarines spotted several US Navy ships coming and going in late December and early January 1942, but did not manage to get in position for torpedo attacks, and eventually returned to the Japanese Marshall Islands.
Dec 12
A PBY-5 aircraft of VP-52, flying out of the Galapagos Islands rescued and made POWs of a F1M Pete aircrew, and an hour later rescued the 6 surviving crew of a PBY-3 of VP-32. Both aircrew had been floating in rafts for 4 days.
Office of Naval Intelligence
After Action Report
Battle of Galapagos Islands and events in the Pacific Defensive Area
December 7-12, 1941
…continued.
Dec 11
0515 hours. The day began with clear skies. Just before dawn, HIJMS Chitose, steaming at 20 knots and now 1,495 miles west of the Galapagos, launched four F1M Pete float planes. The aircraft were loaded with a pair of Number 6 – 63 kilogram bombs each, and the remaining five airworthy aircraft were armed and prepared. In the hangar, mechanics worked frantically to repair the last aircraft that had been damaged by splinters from the B-17’s near miss.
0515 hours. Just before dawn, USS Trenton, steaming at 25 knots and now 1,575 nautical miles west of the Galapagos, launched her SOC-3 Seagull float planes to scout. Trenton had been following Gar’s position reports, and there was now a mere 80 nautical miles between the ships with Trenton to the west of Chitose. Both ships went to General Quarters.
USS Gar remained on the surface until 0620 hours, when the presence of a loitering Japanese floatplane caused her to dive.
The aircraft almost immediately made contact. The airborne planes could each see the other warship when they reached altitude, and radioed home their reports. A pair of Petes quickly shot down one of Trenton’s Seagulls. The other American spotter plane retreated to the east.
0545 Chitose turned to the north, and accelerated to her maximum speed of 28 knots. Trenton chased the Japanese ship, coming up to her own practical top speed of 33 knots. A first wave of four Petes made a bombing run on Trenton, into the teeth of the American anti-aircraft broadside of four 3 inch guns, supplemented by four .50 caliber machineguns on the foremast top and four more on the roof of the after superstructure. The 3”/50 caliber guns had full ready ammunition bins and laid down, between them, a barrage of 80 shells per minute out to 14,000 yards. One Pete fell in flames before getting near the cruiser, and two were driven off. The final floatplane pressed the attack and almost struck the wireless antenna as it passed over top of the cruiser. One 63 kilo bomb exploded in the sea well past the cruiser, the other struck the empty starboard aircraft catapult and burst. The 29 kilogram high explosive charge wrecked the catapult, started a small fire, killed two sailors and wounded five. The floatplane was immediately shot down as it passed over Trenton, and cartwheeled into the sea.
Captain Arthur Struble of Trenton, in a later interview said “We heard of the Bismark’s anti-aircraft guns having difficulty tracking the Royal Navy Swordfish torpedo bombers, because their deflection calculators could not deal with aircraft that slow. We didn’t have that problem, because our equipment was so old.”
0550 Chitose had launched all of her aircraft now, and the floatplanes circled as they formed up a second wave with the two planes that had aborted their bombing runs and five more fresh planes. Trenton swerved side to side as the attackers lined up. The Japanese pilots dove into the teeth of a fierce barrage. This time, two aircraft were shot down before they could drop their bombs. One, trailing a long tail of flames, apparently attempted to crash into the cruiser, but fell just short in the sea. As the remaining float planes closed, .50 caliber machineguns opened up from the superstructure and foremast. The Japanese fired back on Trenton with their machineguns. Ten bombs were dropped. Three hit. One struck the armour belt, and made a black smudge on three inches of Bethlehem Steel plate. One struck in the midst of the gun crew for the forward-most port 3 inch anti-aircraft gun, and caused horrible casualties all down the row of guns. Trenton’s anti-aircraft battery was not equipped with gun shields or armoured tubs. The last bomb exploded on the after deck beside the rear turret and jammed it in traverse. The turret filled with smoke. The gunners inside, fearing a fire, threw half a dozen propellant charges out the turret side door, and directly into the sea, the cruiser being so wet aft at full speed that waves were washing the deck. The explosion of this bomb buckled the after deck and caused flooding problems later. One floatplane fell to .50 caliber fire and another to the starboard 3 inch battery as they flew past.
Three Petes remained flying, and seemed determined to sacrifice themselves to save their carrier. They returned to strafe Trenton, attempting to take her end-on, to avoid the broadside 3 inch battery. This was partially successful, helped by the port anti-aircraft battery crews being mostly dead, wounded, or stunned by the bomb impact. Trenton turned to unmask her starboard battery, but the fire was ragged, and the barrage spread widely across the sky. As the floatplanes made their first strafing pass, the .50 caliber machineguns on the foretop fired at the floatplanes at ranges that got as close as ten feet. Gunners later reported being able to see the rivets on the underside of the wings as the planes roared overhead. After the first pass, one Pete trailed a ribbon of smoke. As the flight turned for a second pass, the smoking aircraft stalled, and fell into the sea. The remaining pair of planes made a second, then a third strafing run. On the third pass, one of the floatplanes struck the aircraft handling crane, and spun into the ocean. The last aircraft had run out of ammunition for its forward guns. The observer fired the tail gun at Trenton, until the plane drew out of range.
0600 Trenton’s one remaining SOC Seagull had stood off to the east while the floatplane swarm had attacked, and now radioed that they could clearly see Chitose to the north west at a range in the order of 75 nautical miles. Trenton corrected course to follow, at 33 knots, and stood down in order to evacuate the wounded to sick bay. The weather was clear, with occasional high cloud. A stern chase ensued. With Chitose steaming at 28 knots and Trenton making 33, the distance between ships closed at a rate of five nautical miles per hour. Chitose made several evasive course changes, but with Trenton’s seaplane observing, the cruiser stayed glued to the seaplane carrier’s tail.
0615 Chitose’s one remaining float plane attempted to attack Trenton’s aircraft, first with the observer’s machinegun, then by ramming. The fire by both back seat observers was inaccurate, and the Japanese plane, having already expended most of its ammunition, ran out first. The more agile F1M Pete attempted to ram the SOC-3 head-on. The American pilot poured fire from his fixed .30 cal. machinegun into the attacker, then dove away at the last minute. The Pete did not manoeuvre in kind, and missed the Seagull, the crew reported later, by mere feet. The American aircrew later speculated that the Japanese pilot had been hit. The observer emptied the last of his ammunition into the F1M as it passed overhead, and managed to hit the Japanese plane dozens of times. The Japanese float plane fell, trailing smoke, into the sea.
1050 Fire control officers on Trenton’s foretop watched Chitose slowly appear over the horizon. The ship’s officers were pleased to find themselves in the exact type of engagement that the cruiser had been designed for at the end of World War One. Trenton had one twin 6 inch turret fore and aft, and an obsolete double stacked casemate of 6 inch guns on each corner of the upper deck. The upshot of this was that Trenton could fire six guns from her main armament directly ahead in a stern chase, as she was right now.
USS Gar surfaced, and followed behind the action, rescuing the crew of Trenton’s crashed float plane and, later, making POWs of the crews of two of Chitose’s downed aircraft.
1220 Trenton opened fire with her forward turret, at a range of 25,000 yards. The turret guns were capable of 30 degrees of elevation. The casemate guns were only able to elevate to 20 degrees, enabling a maximum range of 21,000 yards, so for now the casemated guns remained silent. The SOC-3 spotter plane corrected the fall of shot, but the range was still extreme, and no hits were registered. Trenton ceased fire after ten salvoes.
1335 Trenton opened fire again, with all six forward guns, at a range of 20,000 yards.
1341 Trenton scored her first hit. A 105 pound SP Common shell struck the roof of the hangar, penetrated before exploding, and destroyed the damaged floatplane under repair.
1349 Trenton landed a hit on Chitose’s afterdeck, damaging the port rear catapult and aircraft crane.
1356 The range had dropped to 13,000 yards, or 7.5 nautical miles. Trenton began, with the help of the spotter aircraft, to land regular hits on Chitose. Within a minute an armour piecing shell struck and burst one of the boilers, a shell penetrated the base of the funnel and exploded in the depth of the bridge structure cutting electrical power, a shell hit an empty auxiliary fuel oil tank in the hangar, causing a fire. Chitose flooded her aircraft weaponry magazine.
1358 Chitose’s captain chose to fight, and turned his ship sharply to the west, unmasking the pair of 12.7cm dual purpose gun turrets on her foredeck. The guns were initially able to fire 14 rounds per minute, per barrel, and raised an impressive wall of splashes, most of which fell or burst short of Trenton. At 13,000 yards, Chitose was firing at near maximum range, and suffered from dispersal problems. For Trenton’s main battery, 13,000 yards was medium range. Trenton’s spotter plane moved further east, careful to stay out of range of the Japanese AA fire, but was still able to correct the fall of shot because of its altitude.
1359 Trenton turned to match Chitose’s course, and slowed to match her speed. With her aft turret out of action, Trenton’s broadside of five 6 inch guns was actually one barrel less than she could manage head-on. The cruiser continued to methodically fire 6 rounds per minute from each of the five barrels that could train. Some splinters from Japanese shells hit the ship. A 12.7cm high-explosive shell hit the side of the hull forward, detonating on impact, causing little damage. A second shell hit the aft deckhouse, just ahead of the aft turret and destroyed target towing equipment, spraying the aft superstructure with shell splinters. The Japanese AA shells being used were fitted with anti-aircraft timed fuses, set to maximum range. Those that hit burst on impact and so did not penetrate into the cruiser’s vitals. Trenton steered several points to port, attempting to open up the range beyond that of Chitose’s guns. Trenton’s anti-aircraft gunners and other non-essential personnel were ordered to clear the deck.
1400 A shell from Trenton passed clean through Chitose’s bow, without exploding. Another shell burst on the main deck and destroyed a pair of ship’s boats. One penetrated into the machinery spaces. Then a shell struck the aviation gasoline storage tank in Chitose’s hangar causing a massive fireball.
1401 The volatile aviation gasoline burned off fairly quickly, but secondary fires had started in dozens of places in Chitose’s hangar and hull. The carrier continued to manoeuvre and fight, scoring several more hits on Trenton, while also receiving hits herself. The Japanese gunfire slackened to around 8 rounds per barrel, and the ship slowed several knots, as damage to boilers and machinery took effect. Smoke rose from multiple points along the ship.
1403 A shell from Trenton penetrated into the Chitose’s B turret shell handling room and detonated the ready ammunition there, wrecking the turret and spraying the crew of A turret with fragments. After this, A turret only managed sporadic fire, from a single barrel. Trenton continued to land hits, mostly along Chitose’s tall and unarmoured sides, although some hits struck at or below the waterline. The carrier became more and more obscured by smoke, from numerous fires on board.
1405 Chitose turned away, now moving at only twelve knots. Trenton closed, her gunnery accuracy affected by the intervening smoke, and at 1140, Trenton ceased fire.
1411 Trenton moved upwind of Chitose and regained visual contact with the burning seaplane carrier at a range of 9000 yards. Chitose had slowed to 8 knots, and had a list of 5 degrees to port. Both warships opened fire on each other at the same time, with shooting being accurate at close range. After Trenton’s third salvo, Chitose’s remaining 12.7 cm gun turret burned out in a spectacular ammunition fire. Chitose had slowed to 8 knots, and had a list of 5 degrees to port.
1413 A twin 25mm anti-aircraft machinegun mounted on the aircraft hangar roof opened fire on Trenton at a range of 7500 yards. Trenton fired three Mark 11 torpedoes from her starboard tubes. Two struck the carrier and exploded. One torpedo hit just aft of the aircraft hanger, opening her engine room to the sea and the other hit below the funnel, flooding the forward boiler room. Trenton ceased fire. At this point the carrier’s list increased rapidly, and the ship completely lost way. The dark smoke from internal fires became mixed with white steam as seawater rushed into the ship.
1433 Chitose capsized. Trenton closed to 500 yards and began rescue operations. These efforts were made more difficult by the fact that most of Trenton’s boats had been damaged by strafing or shell fragments. Eventually some boats and rafts were successfully launched.
Trenton’s crew was then by turns mystified and horrified as many of the Japanese survivors either refused rescue or attempted to swim away in the direction of the open Pacific. Japanese crewmen who had walked up the carrier’s sides as the ship capsized remained standing on the ship’s keel as it slipped beneath the waves and made no effort to get clear and indeed gave a last cheer for the Emperor as the water closed over them.
Captain Arthur Struble described an incident he witnessed from Trenton’s bridge. “I was watching through binoculars as one of our boats approached a gaggle of Jap(anese sailor)s floating in life jackets. As Mess Attendant First Class Hereford Lee reached out to pull one survivor aboard, the Jap(anese sailor) produced a knife and took a stab at him. That was a mistake for the knife wielding Jap(anese sailor), as Lee was Trenton’s welterweight boxing champion, and he punched his assailant unconscious, then dragged him into the boat. ‘Dear God’, I said to my XO, who was standing beside me. ‘What is the rest of this war going to look like?’”
A few of Chitose’s survivors chose life, and pulled themselves up cargo nets that had been thrown over the cruiser’s side. Some voluntarily climbed into Trenton’s rescue boats, and others floating in life jackets were wrestled into the boats by force majeure. Ultimately 39 of the seaplane carrier’s crew of around 600 were rescued, among them the civilian torpedo technicians from the Mitsubishi factory, but her captain and all her officers went down with the ship. Trenton suffered 15 dead and 35 wounded in the engagement, the majority from her port 3 inch anti-aircraft crews that had been caught in the blast from a seaplane’s bomb.
Trenton’s remaining SOC-3 Seagull landed, but the cruiser was unable to recover the aircraft because of damage to the crane. Once the aircrew was brought aboard the plane was scuttled. Trenton headed east towards the Canal at 12 knots, conserving fuel. Later that afternoon, the submarine tender USS Fulton arrived, escorted by the destroyers Borie, J Fred Talbot and Tattnall. The cruiser performed a refueling at sea at dead slow in calm weather, while the destroyers kept submarine watch. The submarine USS Gar rendezvoused with the growing flotilla, and put the rescued airmen aboard Trenton, then resumed her course to San Diego.
1445 hours. USS Erie, patrolling just to the west of the Galapagos was stalked and torpedoed by the submarine I-2, killing 7 of her crew. Erie managed to run aground on Narborough Island before sinking in shallow water, but the ship was severely damaged by the torpedo attack and a resulting fuel oil fire, and was a total loss.
1512 hours. I-2 was spotted and depth charged by a PBY-5 aircraft of VP-52. The submarine survived the attack with minor damage, and left the area following receipt of orders to patrol off San Diego. I-5 joined I-2 a week later. The Japanese submarines spotted several US Navy ships coming and going in late December and early January 1942, but did not manage to get in position for torpedo attacks, and eventually returned to the Japanese Marshall Islands.
Dec 12
A PBY-5 aircraft of VP-52, flying out of the Galapagos Islands rescued and made POWs of a F1M Pete aircrew, and an hour later rescued the 6 surviving crew of a PBY-3 of VP-32. Both aircrew had been floating in rafts for 4 days.
Casualty Statistics
Casualties directly related to the Dec 7 attack on the Canal
US Navy
USS Trenton battle with HIJMS Chitose
15 Dead
35 wounded
USS Erie sunk by submarine HIJMS 1-2
7 Dead
18 Wounded
VP-32 3 x PBY-3 shot down by Chitose’s F1M floatplanes
12 Dead
3 Wounded
VP-52 1 x PBY-5 hit by friendly AA
3 Wounded
USAAF
24th Pursuit Squadron P-40 Pilots shot down by Mavis defensive fire
1 Dead
1 Wounded
29th Pursuit Squadron P-36 Pilots shot down by friendly AA
1 Dead
US Army
72nd Regiment Coastal Artillery AA
3 Wounded by strafing attack
US Civilians
1 Pan American Airlines DC-3 Pilot Wounded
2 Pan American Airlines S-42 Clipper Pilots Dead shot down friendly fighter
3 Pan American Airlines S-42 Clipper Passengers Dead shot down friendly fighter
United Fruit Company Sailors on SS Quirigua hit by friendly AA
1 Dead
3 Wounded
Construction Contractors working on SIP-9 Trestle Project
2 Dead
Neutral Civilians
Pan American Airlines DC-3 Passengers
3 Dead (2 Peruvians, 1 Columbian)
4 wounded
Pan American Airlines S-42 Clipper Passengers shot down friendly fighter
9 Dead (4 Panamanians, 2 Columbians, 2 British, 1 Belgian, 1 Ecuadorian,)
3 Wounded
Panamanian residents of Colon City wounded by falling AA shells
9 Wounded
Imperial Japanese Navy
HIJMS Chitose Including F1M floatplane aircrew
565 Dead
43 POW
Yokohama Air Group H6K Mavis aircrew
12 Dead
15 POW
Total American Military Casualties
36 Dead
63 Wounded
Total Japanese Military Casualties
577 Dead
58 POW
Total American Civilian Casualties
8 Dead
4 Wounded
Total Neutral Civilian Casualties.
12 Dead
16 Wounded
US Navy
USS Trenton battle with HIJMS Chitose
15 Dead
35 wounded
USS Erie sunk by submarine HIJMS 1-2
7 Dead
18 Wounded
VP-32 3 x PBY-3 shot down by Chitose’s F1M floatplanes
12 Dead
3 Wounded
VP-52 1 x PBY-5 hit by friendly AA
3 Wounded
USAAF
24th Pursuit Squadron P-40 Pilots shot down by Mavis defensive fire
1 Dead
1 Wounded
29th Pursuit Squadron P-36 Pilots shot down by friendly AA
1 Dead
US Army
72nd Regiment Coastal Artillery AA
3 Wounded by strafing attack
US Civilians
1 Pan American Airlines DC-3 Pilot Wounded
2 Pan American Airlines S-42 Clipper Pilots Dead shot down friendly fighter
3 Pan American Airlines S-42 Clipper Passengers Dead shot down friendly fighter
United Fruit Company Sailors on SS Quirigua hit by friendly AA
1 Dead
3 Wounded
Construction Contractors working on SIP-9 Trestle Project
2 Dead
Neutral Civilians
Pan American Airlines DC-3 Passengers
3 Dead (2 Peruvians, 1 Columbian)
4 wounded
Pan American Airlines S-42 Clipper Passengers shot down friendly fighter
9 Dead (4 Panamanians, 2 Columbians, 2 British, 1 Belgian, 1 Ecuadorian,)
3 Wounded
Panamanian residents of Colon City wounded by falling AA shells
9 Wounded
Imperial Japanese Navy
HIJMS Chitose Including F1M floatplane aircrew
565 Dead
43 POW
Yokohama Air Group H6K Mavis aircrew
12 Dead
15 POW
Total American Military Casualties
36 Dead
63 Wounded
Total Japanese Military Casualties
577 Dead
58 POW
Total American Civilian Casualties
8 Dead
4 Wounded
Total Neutral Civilian Casualties.
12 Dead
16 Wounded
This is quite good as a rewrite, and I do think it makes the incident look more plausible.
One thing noted through out the war was the fact that once captured the Japanese had no problems talking with the US interrogators. Civilian or Military would answer questions truthfully and to the best of what they knew explain things. The civilian torpedo experts might just tell how they were able to achieve what they did in Pearl Harbor and in the Canal Zone.