A Divine Hand and the Divine Wind

 William A. Barr

 

William A. Barr had a business career in engineering and has published many articles and books.

Now in mid-August 2005, sixty years after the conclusion of World War II, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan has finally proclaimed his nation’s apology for its militarism and colonialism in Asia in the years prior to and during World War II. Koizumi joined Emperor Akihito who also hoped that “the horrors of war will never be repeated” as they both bowed before an altar of chrysanthemums. Since poetic, aesthetic symbols, such as Divine Wind (“Kamikaze”) and chrysanthemums (“Kikusui”) are both a part of Japan’s heroic traditions from ancient wars and were applied to their WW II suicidal tactics, one might question the apparent conflict between their peaceful declarations this day and their ceremonial Kikusui observance at the same time.

Sixty years ago the Japanese warlords were desperately aware of the tightening noose, American’s approaching armada of 2261 surface ships and thousands of bombers overhead menacing Okinawa, a part of Japan’s very archipelago. Their leaders’ use of legendary images and mystical symbols to summon heroic zeal, even suicide, among their youthful fliers was their only alternative, a desperate measure, their last resort.

In that war Japan’s ferocious attacks on Pearl Harbor, and Midway seven months later, were based on the distinct possibility of a sudden and conclusive defeat of the U.S. fleet followed by an armistice that would concede to her mastery of the Pacific and the Far East. In retrospect, that strategy came perilously close to realization. If not for amazing luck or the Hand of God in three distinct, dramatic episodes, Japan’s monumental plan might well have been completed about sixty years ago.

How close did they come? This account addresses this question.

Never before or since has any nation found itself engaged in two major wars on opposite sides of the globe at the same time as did the United States in World War II. At that point Germany and their Axis partners had Europe and North Africa at their mercy. Much of our effort and limited resources were demanded by those war theaters. Taking advantage of our lack of preparation, the fall of France, and Britain’s desperate condition, Japanese forces struck at America’s Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, hoping to destroy our sea power in one mighty blow. By unlikely circumstances, and not of our planning, our three and only Pacific-based aircraft carriers—the bulwark of our fleet and certainly the most vulnerable--were at sea on that “day of infamy” and miraculously escaped destruction.

The Japanese carrier pilots were ecstatic at their apparent success, having blasted our battleships and airfields, but the hand of fate, some say the Hand of God, intervened. Had our carriers been there that Sunday morning they would have been the primary targets and easily destroyed. All hope of eventual victory would have been crushed.

It was that close. So far—one critical escape from doom.

*****

Midway, June 4, 1942. Admiral Yamamoto visualized that by taking Midway Island, only crippled Pearl Harbor would stand between Japan’s mighty fleet and mainland North America. Victory at Midway would allow Japanese warships, airplanes, and submarines to choke off our transport of troops and supplies to Australia and the South Pacific. Yamamoto was tantalized at the possibility of making the vast Pacific a Japanese lake, a quick end to a decisive war, and mastery of all South East Asia.

Bearing down on Midway was a Japanese fleet of more than 100 ships and as many submarines, all expecting the element of surprise to be in their favor. This task force featured four of the same aircraft carriers, pilots, and planes that had rained bombs, death, and destruction on Pearl Harbor only seven months before. Many other factors favored the Japanese: in 1942 their Zeroes outperformed our F4F Wildcat fighter planes; our torpedoes were duds due to faulty detonators; Guam and Wake Island had already fallen; the Lexington had been sunk and the Yorktown badly mauled the month before in the Battle of Coral Sea; and our only remaining carriers were the Hornet and the Enterprise, with the damaged Yorktown then under frantic repair.

One small advantage favored Admiral Nimitz at the moment. We had broken the Japanese code and had surmised their intentions without their suspecting it. Nimitz deployed the Enterprise and the Hornet to ambush the invaders and boldly sent out the crippled Yorktown to rendezvous with them at prophetic “Point Luck.”

Once the enemy fleet was spotted by one of our fanned out PBY search planes, our B-17 high altitude bombers from Midway and the Hornet’s torpedo planes went hitless in the first phase. Meantime the Japanese carrier planes had devastated Midway and were returning to their carriers to refuel and rearm for a second strike. Five groups of planes from three American carriers were launched and having trouble locating each other. Up to this point in the battle, nothing had gone right for our fliers nor had the enemy been damaged. Due to an inaccurate report of the Japanese fleet position, our groups failed to locate the Japanese carriers. The Hornet dive bombers reached their range limit and had to return home in frustration. Everything that happened up to that point indicated poor surveillance, inept coordination, and futile execution by our forces.

Suddenly, in a fateful five minutes, the fortunes of the Pacific war were reversed. The Enterprise dive bombers finally sighted three of the four Japanese carriers as if the Divine Hand set their compasses. With all of their carriers decks littered with planes and bombs while refueling was under way—the Divine Hand presented us with the exact moment of Japanese extreme vulnerability.

While the Japanese fighters were at sea level shooting down our attacking torpedo bombers, our dive bombers high above found no opposition and dropped their eggs on the crowded flight decks below with spectacular effect. The Kaga and the Akagi were set on fire with multiple explosions that ripped them apart. As if by divine guidance, the dive bombers from the crippled Yorktown arrived moments later from the east and sealed the fate of the Soryu. The next day torpedo planes from the one remaining Japanese carrier, the Hiryu, were able to locate and damage the Yorktown while later that day Hornet, Enterprise, and ten refugee Yorktown dive bombers found the Hiryu and sent her to the bottom. This catastrophe forced the Japanese Mobile Force and their invasion fleet to abandon the invasion of Midway, turn tail, and run.

The Battle of Midway, which started badly, suddenly became a spectacular and fateful victory. All four Japanese carriers were sunk with all 332 planes and the same number of experienced pilots.

 The hand of fate that spared all our carriers at Pearl Harbor showed its Divine Hand again at Midway. Might this good fortune happen a third time?

After more than two years of island leaping, the time came to invade the Philippine Islands, prompting the naval Battle of Leyte Gulf: It was and is without parallel in naval history for complexity and magnitude. Lasting four days from October 23-26, 1944, it was a series of naval engagements hundreds of miles apart, of which the Battle Off Samar was the culmination.

America’s powerful invasion fleet landed a massive force on the east shore of Leyte Island on October 21. The navy’s primary responsibility was to secure and guard our beachhead and our armada of 938 supply ships and landing craft while the Japanese committed all their naval strength to destroy the invasion. Halsey and his Third Fleet, following his attack-and-destroy instincts, took the bait of Admiral Ozawa’s northern force, and sailed north toward Japan, depending on Vice-Admiral Kincaid’s Seventh Fleet to protect the beachhead. Unfortunately, Kincaid had only thin-skinned “jeep” carriers (CVEs), and a few destroyers and destroyer escorts armed and fueled for defense and off-shore support, but not for open sea engagement.

On October 25 Admiral Kurita took his Center Force, made up of four battleships, eight cruisers, and eleven destroyers, through the San Bernardino Straight and into the Pacific off Samar Island. All that stood between Kurita’s fleet and our Leyte beachhead were six l8-knot baby flat tops, three destroyers, and four destroyer escorts. Called Taffy 3, this flimsy force was commanded by Rear-Admiral Clifton Spreague.

Kurita’s warships attacked and showered Spreague’s thin-skinned carriers with armor-piercing shells that fell short or long, or, if on target, passed through their hulls. Employing thick smoke screens and dodging in and out of rain squalls, but mostly meeting head on Kurita’s huge ships, Taffy 3 launched torpedoes, fired their 5-inch guns, and kept coming. In this action, torpedoes from our destroyers sunk three Japanese heavy cruisers. When our torpedoes were seen coming toward the Yamato, the world’s largest battleship, her captain ordered a maneuver that took the Japanese behemoth ten miles away from the battle. Then 28 fighters and 31 torpedo bombers from Taffy 2, thirty miles to the south, suddenly responded to radio appeals for help. They launched torpedoes and strafed the decks until their ammunition or fuel was spent. This gave Kurita the impression that Halsey’s forces were just beyond the horizon when in fact they were six hours away. At this point, when he was close to fulfilling his mission to turn back the Philippine invasion and denying MacArthur’s solemn vow of “I shall return,” all Japanese guns fell silent. By a single command his fleet wheeled around and retreated.

Kincaid’s final report to Nimitz said:

By skillful use of smoke, the launching of daring torpedo attacks and the refusal to break off action in the face of overwhelming odds and sure losses, this intrepid little group of fighting ships accomplished one of the most heroic and gallant epics of the war. What the Japanese had planned as an American naval disaster was turned into a Japanese rout.

The Leyte invasion was saved. For the third time, the Pacific war was delivered into our hands by a miracle.

As the Pacific war played out, their Divine Wind desperation failed them, but a Divine Hand provided us with three crucial miracles leading to our complete and final victory against Japan and the defeat of the Axis in World War II. The United States emerged from that conflict as the leading world power just as we are even to this day.     *

“We should never despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times.” --George Washington