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Indian Ocean raid
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==Raid== ===First moves=== [[File:GF in Indian Ocean, 1942.jpg|thumb|The Japanese strike force advancing to the Indian Ocean, 30 March. Ships shown from left to right are: ''Akagi'', ''Sōryū'', ''Hiryū'', {{ship|Japanese battleship|Hiei||2}}, {{ship|Japanese battleship|Kirishima||2}}, ''Haruna'', and {{ship|Japanese battleship|Kongō||2}}. Taken from ''Zuikaku''.]] The Japanese sailed from Staring Bay on 26 March as planned.<ref name="Boyd_367"/> Somerville sailed on 30 March in expectation of an attack on 1 April, and deployed his fleet in a patrol area {{convert|100|mi|km}} south of Ceylon.<ref name="Boyd_368">Boyd, p. 368</ref> Ceylon air defences and forces went on alert,<ref name="Stuart_2014_36">Stuart 2014, p. 36</ref> with land-based aerial reconnaissance concentrating on the southeast, where the Japanese were expected to approach to launch strikes at Colombo and Trincomalee.<ref name="Boyd_368"/> Late on 2 April, the British retired toward Port T – {{convert|600|mi|km}} southwest of Ceylon – to refuel.<ref name="Boyd_368"/> Somerville also detached various ships to resume previous commitments; the heavy cruisers {{HMS|Cornwall|56|6}} and {{HMS|Dorsetshire|40|6}} were sent to Colombo, and ''Hermes'' to Trincomalee.<ref name="Boyd_370"/> Air defences stood down, although Catalina patrols continued.<ref name="Stuart_2014_36"/> At about 16:00 on 4 April, [[PBY Catalina]] [[flying boat]] (AJ155/QL-A) from the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]]'s (RCAF) [[413 Transport and Rescue Squadron|413 Squadron]] flown by [[Squadron Leader]] [[Leonard Birchall]] spotted Nagumo's fleet {{convert|360|mi|nmi km|lk=on|abbr=on}} south-east of Ceylon<ref name="Stuart_2014_37"/><ref name="Boyd_368"/> on a course that would have entered Somerville's previous patrol area from the south.<ref name="Boyd_375">Boyd, p. 375</ref> The Catalina transmitted the sighting, but not the size of the fleet, before being shot down.<ref name="Boyd_368"/> At this time, Somerville was refuelling at Port T; Force A sailed eastward toward the Japanese upon receiving the sighting;<ref name="Boyd_370"/> Force B could not be ready until 5 April.<ref name="Roskill_26">Roskill, p. 26</ref> Catalina FV-R from [[No. 205 Squadron RAF|205 Squadron RAF]] took off at 17:45 to shadow the Japanese fleet, making its first report at 22:37 on 4 April, and a final report at 06:15 on 5 April while {{convert|110|mi|nmi km|lk=on|abbr=on}} from Ceylon. FV-R was shot down about 90 minutes after the final report.<ref name="Stuart_2014_37"/> Within an hour of QL-A's report, D'Albiac met with his subordinates to discuss an anticipated Japanese strike after dawn. 222 Group issued a warning to subordinate units before midnight, and units went on alert at 04:00 on 5 April.<ref name="Stuart_2014_37"/><ref name="Stuart_2014_38">Stuart 2014, p. 38</ref> On the morning of 5 April, six Swordfish from [[788 Naval Air Squadron]] (788 NAS) began relocating from [[China Bay Airport|China Bay]], near Trincomalee, to Colombo, in preparation for a strike on the Japanese fleet.<ref name="Stuart_2014_42">Stuart 2014, p. 42</ref> Admiral [[Geoffrey Layton]], on Ceylon, ordered ships put to sea to avoid being attacked in harbour. ''Cornwall'' and ''Dorsetshire'', which had just reached Colombo, were sent to rejoin Force A;<ref name="Roskill_26"/> they sailed late on 4 April.<ref name="Roskill_27">Roskill, p. 27</ref> ''Hermes'' sailed from Trincomalee and was ordered to hide northeast of Ceylon.<ref name="Roskill_26"/> The Japanese did not perform an aerial reconnaissance sweep along their intended course on the afternoon of 4 April, and a planned reconnaissance of Colombo harbour by cruiser floatplanes was cancelled.<ref name="Boyd_369"/> The Japanese realized surprise was lost after intercepting a signal from Colombo asking QL-A to repeat its report.<ref name="Stuart_2006_69">Stuart 2006, p. 69</ref> ===Attack on Colombo=== {{main|Easter Sunday Raid}} Japanese intelligence on the morning of 5 April 1942 indicated that British carriers were absent, and the Japanese morning air search was limited accordingly.<ref name="Tully_Yu_5"/> At dawn, Japanese aerial reconnaissance aircraft flew off to the south-west and north-west; they would fly out to a maximum of {{convert|200|mi|km}} over the next few hours. A reconnaissance Fulmar launched from Force A at 08:00 spotted one of the Japanese aircraft at the extreme edge of the south-west search area at 08:55 about {{convert|140|mi|km}} ahead of Force A.<ref name="Boyd_372">Boyd, p. 372</ref> Shortly after 06:00<ref name="Boyd_371">Boyd, p. 371</ref> Nagumo's force began launching 91 bombers and 36 fighters for the strike on Colombo.<ref name="Roskill_26"/> British early warning failed to detect and identify the incoming strike,<ref name="Stuart_2014_38-41">Stuart 2014, p. 38–41</ref> forcing British pilots to [[Scrambling (military)|scramble]] under fire when the first Japanese aircraft appeared over them at 07:45. The effective defence of the [[Ratmalana Airport|Ratmalana]] airbase by British fighters<ref name="Stuart_2014_42-43">Stuart 2014, p. 42–43</ref> left the harbour exposed. The [[armed merchant cruiser]] {{HMS|Hector|F45|6}},<ref name="Stuart_2014_43"/> the Norwegian tanker ''Soli''<ref name="Stuart_2014_47">Stuart 2014, p. 47</ref> and the old destroyer {{HMS|Tenedos|H04|6}} were sunk; three other ships were damaged. The port was damaged<ref name="Stuart_2014_43">Stuart 2014, p. 43</ref> but was not put out of action.<ref name="Roskill_26"/> 20 of the 41 British fighters that took off were destroyed.<ref name="Stuart_2014_33"/> At least one fighter was damaged and made incapable of flight while attempting to take off. The six Swordfish of 788 NAS arrived during the battle and were shot down.<ref name="Stuart_2014_42"/> The Japanese lost seven aircraft.<ref name="Stuart_2014_33"/> Nagumo changed course to west-southwest at 08:30<ref name="Boyd_371"/> – unknowingly causing the opposing fleets to steam toward one another<ref name="Boyd_373"/> – and recovered the Colombo strike from 09:45 to 10:30.<ref name="Boyd_373"/> The size of the airstrike on Colombo was Somerville's first concrete evidence that the Japanese force contained more than the two carriers he expected. Nonetheless he continued to steam toward the enemy at 18 knots. Radar-based fighter direction would allow Force A to avoid surprise attack by neutralizing shadowing Japanese aircraft.<ref name="Boyd_372"/> ===Loss of ''Dorsetshire'' and ''Cornwall''=== [[File:HMS Cornwall - 1942 - WWII.jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Cornwall|56|6}} burning and sinking on 5 April 1942]] At 10:00, an aircraft from ''Tone'' searching the southwest area spotted and began shadowing ''Dorsetshire''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s force; the aircraft reported that the cruiser was heading southwest and making 24 knots.<ref name="Boyd_373"/> The cruisers reported the shadower, but had no means to drive it off.<ref name="Roskill_27"/> Nagumo increased speed from 24 to 28 knots upon receiving the sighting. Carrier Division 5's reserve strike force was ordered rearmed with anti-ship torpedoes, replacing the high explosive bombs intended for a second strike on Colombo. The rearming encountered delays, and the strike was carried out by Carrier Division 2 instead; ''Soryu'' and ''Hiryu'' began launching dive bombers at 11:45.<ref name="Boyd_373"/> Force A radar detected the air strike on ''Dorsetshire''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s force at 13:44, putting the aircraft {{convert|34|mi|km}} to the northeast.<ref name="Boyd_372"/> ''Cornwall'' and ''Dorsetshire'' were sunk at 1400;<ref name="Boyd_374">Boyd, p. 374</ref> ultimately 424 officers and crew were lost.<ref name="Roskill_27"/> The Japanese missed an opportunity to find Force A after sinking the cruisers. The aircraft shadowing the cruisers flew another {{convert|50|mi|km}} along the cruisers' course before returning to ''Tone''. It would have detected Force A if it had flown southwest another ten minutes.<ref name="Boyd_374"/> Nagumo recovered the strike against the cruisers at 14:45.<ref name="Boyd_374"/> ===Nagumo evades Somerville=== Somerville launched four Albacores from ''Indomitable'' at 14:00 to search an arc to the northeast out to {{convert|200|mi|km}}. Nagumo's southeasterly course would have taken the Japanese fleet right through the centre of the arc. However, at 15:00 or 15:30, Nagumo changed course to the southwest. Carrier Division 2 did not immediately follow; it performed a series of kinking manoeuvres starting at 15:00 that initially took it northwest.<ref name="Boyd_374"/> Carrier Division 2 was spotted by the two northerly Albacores around 16:00. ''Hiryū'' launched [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]] fighters to intercept the scouts; one Albacore was damaged at 16:04, and the other shot down at 16:28 without reporting.<ref name="Boyd_377">Boyd, p. 377</ref> The two southernmost Albacores missed Nagumo's main body.<ref name="Boyd_374"/> Somerville did not receive the damaged Albacore's sighting report until 16:55; the report gave the position of Carrier Division 2 with reasonable accuracy, placed the Japanese {{convert|125|mi|km}} away, but contained no other data. At 17:00 he received [[signals intelligence]] (SIGINT) from Colombo reporting the Japanese course at 14:00 as southwesterly at 24 knots. Somerville ordered a course change to the southwest at 17:26, not knowing that Nagumo's main body was {{convert|120|mi|km}} away, and that Carrier Division 2 was only {{convert|100|mi|km}} away. The course change was presumably to maintain distance between a superior enemy that was believed to be still closing, or to cover Port T from attack, but it also meant the British lost an opportunity to meet the enemy; had Force A continued on its easterly course, Carrier Division 2 would have passed right in front of it at 21:00 at range of about {{convert|20|mi|km}}.<ref name="Boyd_377"/> The damaged Albacore landed at 17:45, less than a half-hour before sunset, and the crew was debriefed. There were two resulting revisions to the 16:00 sighting, which were transmitted to Somerville at 18:00 and 18:17 respectively, and differed significantly from the other and the original report. The final revision correctly identified the two carriers of Carrier Division 2 – which Somerville likely realized to be only part of the enemy force – but also claimed they were heading toward the northwest at a position {{convert|25|mi|km}} or the original sighting. The course heading conflicted with the first revision, which suggested a course toward the southeast. Late on 5 April, FECB decrypted a [[Japanese naval codes|JN 25B]] message containing Nagumo's planned movement on 6 April, but this did not aid Somerville as the transmission to the fleet was garbled. Somerville declined to launch a strike based on poor information, and opted to head northwest in pursuit. One radar-equipped aircraft was launched to search a northern arc out to {{convert|200|mi|km}}. Later, aircraft were sent to search the easterly arc. By this time it was too late to reestablish contact with the Japanese.<ref name="Boyd_379">Boyd, p. 379</ref> For the Japanese, too, there was a lost opportunity to find the British before night fell. Nagumo did not order a search for the British carriers at the appearance of British carrier-based aircraft. Search aircraft might require homing signals from the carriers to return, homing signals which the enemy could use to locate the Japanese. The Japanese continued southeast at 20 knots completely unaware of the presence of Force A.<ref name="Boyd_378">Boyd, p. 378</ref> Carrier Division 2 rejoined the main body's track at 18:00,<ref name="Boyd_376">Boyd, p. 376</ref> and caught up at 22:00 {{convert|180|mi|km}} due east of Force A.<ref name="Boyd_379"/> The Japanese circled wide to the south and then east in preparation for striking Trincomalee.<ref name="Roskill_27"/> The Japanese suspected the presence of British carriers, and on the morning of 6 April they launched a much denser<ref name="Tully_Yu_5"/> westward<ref name="Tully_Yu_6">Tully and Yu, p. 6</ref> air search, but found nothing.<ref name="Tully_Yu_5"/> Further searches on route to Trincomalee were equally unsuccessful as the British carriers were by that time far to the west.<ref name="Roskill_27"/> By 6 April, British SIGINT indicated the Japanese force contained four carriers and three battleships, a force Somerville clearly realized as beyond the Eastern Fleet's capability to engage without undue risk. The declining serviceability of his fighter force also reinforced his caution.<ref name="Boyd_380">Boyd, p. 380</ref> Even so, Somerville did not immediately withdraw or return to port. Force B rejoined early on 6 April. In the afternoon 1,122 survivors<ref name="Roskill_27"/> from ''Dorsetshire''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s force were recovered, while maintaining a look-out for the superior enemy force with all-around air reconnaissance.<ref name="Boyd_384">Boyd, p. 384</ref> Intelligence from Ceylon put the Japanese between Port T and Ceylon. Somerville cautiously arrived at Port T from the west at 11:00 on 8 April and refuelled.<ref name="Roskill_27"/> ===Attack on Trincomalee=== By 8 April, the Eastern Fleet had withdrawn and the Japanese fleet was approaching Trincomalee from the east.<ref name="Roskill_27">Roskill, p. 27</ref><ref name="Roskill_28">Roskill, p. 28</ref><ref name="Stuart_2006_72">Stuart 2006, p. 72</ref> The Japanese fleet was detected by a RAF Catalina at 15:17 on 8 April and the harbour at Trincomalee was cleared that night.<ref name="Stuart_2006_72"/> ''Hermes'', escorted by {{HMAS|Vampire|D68|6}}, was sent south along the coast.<ref name="Roskill_28"/> The Japanese air search on the morning of 9 April was limited as on 5 April, as British carriers were no longer expected.<ref name="Tully_Yu_5"/> The Japanese strike group of 132 aircraft was detected at 07:06 on 9 April by the radar of AMES 272 at a range of {{cvt|91|mi}}.<ref name="Stuart_2006_72"/><ref name="Stuart_2014_43"/> The defence sent 17 Hurricanes and six Fulmars that took off in time and inflicted the first kills of the battle when a section of Hurricanes attacked three Zeroes and shot down two.<ref name="Stuart_2006_72"/><ref name="Stuart_2014_43"/> The China Bay airbase and the port were severely bombed and the monitor {{HMS|Erebus|I02|6}} was damaged.<ref name="Stuart_2006_72"/> [[SS Sagaing|SS ''Sagaing'']], a merchant ship carrying aircraft and ammunition, was set on fire and abandoned.<ref name="rogersAU">{{cite news |last1=Rogers |first1=James |title=Huge World War II shipwreck raised from the depths in massive salvage operation |url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/huge-world-war-ii-shipwreck-raised-from-the-depths-in-massive-salvage-operation/news-story/66d058084186e582172b77f32d517bf9 |access-date=7 April 2018 |agency=news.com.au |publisher=news.com.au |date=3 April 2018}}</ref> Eight Hurricanes and a Fulmar were lost, although no serviceable fighters were lost on the ground and the Japanese lost four aircraft.<ref name="Stuart_2006_72"/><ref name="Stuart_2014_42"/> At 07:16 another Catalina from 413 Squadron RCAF spotted the Japanese fleet, but was shot down while reporting.<ref name="Stuart_2006_73"/> ===Blenheims attack the Japanese carriers=== Around 10:25, nine unescorted Blenheims from [[No. 11 Squadron RAF|11 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Stuart_2006_73"/> attacked Nagumo's force. They were not detected inbound by the [[combat air patrol]] (CAP). ''Hiryū'' spotted the aircraft but failed to relay a warning to the other ships and the attack achieved surprise.<ref name="Parshall_145">Parshall, p. 145</ref> The bombers attacked ''Akagi'' at {{cvt|11000|ft}}; the bombs fell close to the target with no hits.<ref name="Shores_1993_426">Shores 1993, p. 426–427</ref><ref name="Parshall_145"/> Four bombers were shot down over the carriers by CAP A6M2 Zeroes (two of which were claimed by [[Kaname Harada]]), and another by Japanese aircraft returning from the strike on ''Hermes''. In return, a Zero was shot down near the carriers and another in the returning strike.<ref name="Shores_1993_426"/> This was the first time a Japanese carrier force had faced a concerted air attack.<ref name="Parshall_145"/> ===Loss of ''Hermes''=== [[File:HermesSinking.jpg|thumb|''Hermes'' sinking after Japanese air attack on 9 April 1942.]] {{HMS|Hermes|95|2}} and {{HMAS|Vampire|D68|2}} were {{convert|65|mi|km}} away when Trincomalee was attacked. At 09:00 they reversed course.<ref name="Roskill_28"/> Shortly after the end of the attack on Trincomalee, an aircraft from {{ship|Japanese battleship|Haruna||2}} spotted the ships. A force of 80 [[Aichi D3A]] "Val" bombers, held in reserve on the Japanese carriers, attacked starting at 10:35.<ref name="Stuart_2006_72"/><ref name="Stuart_2006_73">Stuart 2006, p. 73</ref> Both were sunk before noon near [[Batticaloa]].<ref name="Stuart_2006_73"/><ref name="Hobbs_bac">{{cite book |last=Hobbs |first=David |year=2013 |title=British Aircraft Carriers |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |isbn=978-1-84832-138-0 |chapter=Chapter 7: Hermes}} (ebook)</ref> ''Hermes'' was lost with 307 men after being hit by over forty {{cvt|500|lb}} bombs. ''Vampire'' was lost with 8 men. The nearby [[hospital ship]] ''Vita'' rescued 600 men.<ref name="Hobbs_bac"/> The Japanese attack expanded to nearby ships. The [[Corvette#World War II|corvette]] {{HMS|Hollyhock|K64|6}} was hit by aircraft from ''Soryu'' and sunk with 53 men.<ref name="Hobbs_bac"/> Also sunk were the naval auxiliary ''Athelstone'', the tanker ''British Sergeant'', and the cargo ship ''Norviken''.<ref name="Stuart_2006_73"/> British land-based Fulmars arrived only after ''Hermes'' was sunk. Two Fulmars and four Vals were destroyed.<ref name="Stuart_2006_73"/> Nagumo disengaged after recovering the strike on ''Hermes''.<ref name="Stuart_2006_73"/>
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