Whirlwind - Barrett Tillman [103]
The Kure Blitz
On July 24, McCain’s aviators began a two-day blitz against Kure Naval Base. The operation included sweeps of airfields around Nagoya and Osaka, though aerial opposition generally was light.
The Americans had to shoot their way into Kure on the 24th, but the fighter sweep preceding the bombers did its job. Hellcats from San Jacinto and Corsairs off Bennington tangled with two dozen of Captain Minoru Genda’s elite “flying circus,” downing six Georges while losing four Hellcats or Corsairs. In a nose-to-nose shootout, rookie Corsair pilot Lieutenant (jg) Robert M. Applegate traded gunfire with Ensign Kaneyoshi Muto, hero of the dogfight over Atsugi back in February. Both fighters went down but the twenty-three-year-old Oregonian slew “the toughest dogfighter in the Imperial Navy” and lived to tell the tale.
The main events occurred in Kure Harbor, whose prime targets included the hermaphrodite battleships Ise and Hyuga, both modified with aft aircraft decks. Bull Halsey nursed a grudge against the sisters, which had eluded him at Leyte Gulf and again in the South China Sea. But on the morning of July 24, Ise was rocked by three bombs on the flight deck, main deck, and number three turret. More planes inflicted further damage later in the day.
Even the fighters attacked warships. In the morning, diving through flak below 3,000 feet, Hancock’s Hellcats scored three observed hits: two on Ise and another on the cruiser Aoba. In the afternoon strike Lieutenant Robert Klinger’s four-plane division dropped aluminum strips to foil Japanese radar, then attacked with bombs. They went after the new carriers Amagi and Katsuragi, claiming a 1,000-pounder on the latter’s fantail. Actually it exploded in a gun tub, killing a thirteen-man antiaircraft crew.
At noon the blue airplanes were back, thirty going for the battleship Ise. A direct hit on the bridge killed Captain Kakuro Mutaguchi, who received the customary posthumous promotion to rear admiral. Throughout the day Ise took at least five direct hits, leaving fifty dead. The antiaircraft officer, Lieutenant Commander Isamu Morooka, was appointed acting CO—probably the most junior officer ever to command a battleship.
Ise settled by the bow, but damage repairmen began a long fight against the rising water. Three days later she had achieved an even keel again, and plans were made to tow her to dry dock.
In more than seven hours of air operations, battleship Hyuga was targeted repeatedly. The crew reckoned that as many as 200 bombs were aimed at her, with ten hits on the old veteran. Some of the heaviest blows were struck by Ticonderoga dive bombers.
The mission started poorly. Lieutenant Commander Franz Kanaga led a dozen Helldivers, each bearing an asymmetric load of underwing bombs and fuel tanks. On takeoff one plane lurched into the water, the crew lost. The others proceeded as planned.
Coordinating with Ticonderoga’s Avengers, her bombing squadron nosed into steep dives over Hyuga. Amid blistering flak, Lieutenant H. Paul Brehm closed his dive brakes to reduce his exposure to AA gunners. Ahead of him Lieutenant (jg) E. L. Vaughn crashed alongside the target. Undeterred, Brehm pressed as low as he dared, toggled his bombs, and hauled the stick into his stomach. He blacked out in the high-g pullout, recovering level flight so low that he felt the explosion of his bomb on the stern.
Returning to the task force low on fuel, in poor weather, Brehm and two other pilots made water landings. They were rescued but the cost was high: twelve Helldivers took off; seven returned.
Hyuga’s bridge and conning tower were demolished, killing Rear Admiral Kiyoshi Kusakawa, recalled from retirement to command the ship. The crew counted at least ten bomb hits and at least as many near misses that ripped open her seams, causing immediate flooding. Inundated with tons of water, she was run aground to prevent sinking, but the result was the same.
The carrier Amagi had been commissioned in August 1944