Originally Posted by EddieLyons
25 Dec 1941 22:49
132°22’E, 33°3’N.
Soundings show only 65 ft under our keel! Our charts are not the most up to date, because of Japanese secrecy in the last 20 years, but if the shallows between here and Hiroshima are like this, it might well be impossible to reach our goal and complete our mission. And I’m reluctant to use our sounder too much in case it gets picked up by enemy hydrophones. At our current speed (8 kts) on the surface, we could be at Hiroshima before dawn. Our charts, if they are reliable, show a couple of deeper areas where we could hole up submerged on silent running during daylight. A hydrophone record of shipping in and out of port would be valuable, in addition to our photo recon objective. But given the shallows and narrows we have to navigate to get there, I’m sceptical of our chances of success. Any further encounters with fishing boats, merchants or, worse, patrols, could find us in water too shallow to submerge. We’d be a very large tin fish in a very small barrel!
We have another hour-and-a-half until our next course change. I’ll consult with my XO and nav officer at that time before I decide whether to proceed or not.
26 Dec 1941 00:45
We are at 132°35’E, 33°42’N, the last reasonably deep point on our charts before we would need to proceed into the narrows and shallows for the rest of our route to Hiroshima. Weather remains calm and clear. Visibility is good. Both for us and the enemy! Bad weather would be to our advantage, but the barometer is steady.
Although we have encountered no further patrols, merchants or fishing boats, that surely cannot last. The lack of depth in the shallows, plus the lack of room for manoeuvre in the narrows, reduces our chances to remain undetected in the event of any such encounters. We would not last for very long so deep into enemy territory thereafter.
After consulting with my XO and NO, I have decided to reverse course, to make our way back out of the Inland Sea. Being able to probe this far into the heart of Japanese waters in itself provides valuable intelligence. Our fuel bunkers are over 60% full, so we have sufficient reserves to loiter in the enemy’s home waters and wreak havoc on his shipping. We’ll spend as much time as possible on the surface tonight at ahead two thirds, but will have to spend daylight hours submerged once again. Tomorrow night, under cover of darkness, we shall endeavour to pass back out through the Bungo Suido. Then we can get down to business, and hopefully bag a late Christmas present or two for the crew, to make up for the lousy Christmas Day they have just had!
02:05
Hydrophone has picked up a contact at bearing 118. Sounds like a merchant to me. Faint, but the water here is too shallow to dive for a better fix. We’ll track it as best we can.
02:25
Hydrophone contact is at 120, seemingly parallel to our course. This could get interesting …
02:45
Hydrophone contact now bearing 132. Lagging behind, so going slower than our 8 kts.
03:05
Hydrophone contact now bearing 140.
03:30
Hydrophone contact now bearing 154.
03:35
Given the contact we have been tracking, I have decided on a change of plan. At ahead two thirds on the surface, it would be conceivable to make it through the Bungo Suido before dawn. That would allow us to lie in wait for this merchant out in open water -- assuming it is headed that way, rather than to one of the ports on the western shore of the Inland Sea.
To expedite our passage, I’ve ordered ahead standard, at least for an hour or two. It’s more risky, but as long as our lookouts are alert, we should be able to avoid contacts, just like last night. Plus, now we can be confident that Bungo Suido is clear of minefields. That makes it more plausible to make the passage at a higher speed.
04:40
We are approaching our turn towards the Hoyo Strait, at 132°01’E, 33°31’N. Hydrophone has detected a warship bearing 350; not in visual range with binoculars. I have ordered us to dive to periscope depth, ahead two thirds. Course currently is 247°; after the turn we will be on 198°.
04:47
Warship hydrophone contact now bearing 348. Appears to be moving southwards, so towards the Bungo Suido. That should place us in his baffles before long. If he is heading out through the Bungo Suido, we can follow him through. If we have to remain submerged, we can’t make it through before daylight. So we would have to stay down for the next seventeen hours, until after sunset.
04:55
We have made our turn towards the Hoyo Strait.
04:57
Warship contact now bearing 018. Still heading southwards.
05:00
A quick periscope sweep shows the enemy warship within visual range, just off our starboard bow. Not enough light to attempt to identify it. It does appear to be steady on a course through the Hoyo Strait. We shall remain submerged for now, waiting for its range to increase. Then I shall reassess whether it is feasible to surface. In the meantime, my SO is tracking it, and I have ordered ahead one third to conserve battery power.
05:16
Surprise, surprise! My SO has separated out a merchant hydrophone contact on the same bearing as the warship. A quick periscope check shows that the shadow I saw previously is not the warship, but the merchant! This changes the paradigm! I’m going to surface and shadow this merchant. The warship is not a concern at present -- it is still heading away, and the merchant should provide some cover for us.
05:25
We are on the surface, ahead two thirds, course 198°. The target is off our starboard bow, heading NE into the Inland Sea. I have identified it as the Kiturin Maru, 6800 tons. This is too good an opportunity to miss! I am setting up to attack!
05:39
The target is on a course of 064°. I have turned to 138° to attack. Tube one flooded and ready.
05:41
Tube 1 fired!
05:50
Damn the torpedoes! Tube one missed, or was a dud. Whichever, it alerted the enemy crew, who caught us in a spotlight and opened fire with smallarms and 20mm cannon. So much for merchants being unarmed! I have broken off the attack, and turned north towards deeper water at flank speed, submerging to periscope depth as soon as we were on course. This will have stirred up a hornet’s nest, to be sure!
06:06
I am manoeuvering to a new attack position, this time submerged. The target is doing only 4 kts. We are at ahead standard, doing 7 kts, closing the range. I have him trapped between me and the south shore of the Inland Sea, so he has little room to do anything to escape, apart from a bit of zig-zagging.
06:16
Tubes 1 and 3 fired at 1600 to 1700 yds range. Both missed!
I’ll try once more before breaking off, and concentrating on surviving the response that’s bound to arrive!
06:27
I’ll have to have my chief engineer check out the remaining torpedoes!
Tube 2 proved to be a dud! Tube 4 missed - that was my fault; I misjudged the turning rate of the target. He manoeuvred smartly out of the way, even though I had closed to close range.
But, finally, the Tube 1 reload did the job! Set to contact influence, shallow depth and high speed, I fired at almost point blank range as he turned away. The ship exploded and sank in a couple of minutes. Our first kill of the war. Now to survive the inevitable response!
I am heading deeper into the Inland Sea, in anticipation that the enemy will expect us to try to slip out through the Bungo Suido pronto. We will lie low throughout the coming daylight hours and hope to make it through once nightfall comes again.
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