"Victory in the war is achieved not by a separate class of ships, but by a balanced fleet, which, in essence, was demonstrated by the Americans, who fused battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and submarines into an invincible war machine.", - the author of the previous article thoughtfully finished. You can also add that being rich and healthy is certainly better than being poor and sick.
The Yankees' fleet was not "balanced", but inadequately huge. One hundred heavy cruisers and battleships, 40 fast aircraft carriers, 800 destroyers, each of which was larger and more advanced than any of its foreign peers.
The ocean moaned from the American squadrons. But the magnificent variety of surface ships did not change the main postulate of naval warfare. Submarines jumped ahead in terms of performance. The undisputed leaders in the number of Japanese ships and vessels sunk, participants in daring operations to neutralize the Imperial Navy. Fighters always, under any conditions and balance of forces in the allocated square.
Submarines forward!
The author could not deny himself the pleasure of publishing this wonderful diagram. The minimum gap between deck aviation in terms of the tonnage of sunk ships is due to the nature of the choice of targets. For example, naval aviators account for the sinking of incapacitated aircraft carriers and reserve battleships of the 4th category, during a raid on the Kure naval base (July 1945). When in their destruction all military sense has already disappeared.
The heroes-submariners got each trophy in hot battles with the enemy. The boats waited for their targets in the straits and searched on the high seas. When each of the Japanese ships that broke through could pose a real threat to the American fleet. And it was necessary to do everything to stop the enemy on the way.
If you change the criteria and take for comparison the number of sunken warships, then the ratio will be even worse. A hundred and a half American submarines destroyed 201 warships, ranging in size from a patrol boat to an aircraft carrier strike! The closest rival, carrier-based aviation, lagged behind the submariners by 40 points.
Among the high-profile trophies of the submarines are the high-speed battleship Kongo, four heavy aircraft carriers - Shokaku, Taiho, Unryu and the legendary Shinano, three heavy and ten light cruisers, 50 destroyers and escort destroyers.
As for the merchant fleet, there is a pure pogrom, 4, 9 million tons. Oil, coal, ore, machinery, uniforms, food and ammunition. Everything flew to the bottom, upon meeting with small evil “fish”.
The deckhouse of the submarine "Flasher", which sent the cruiser "Oi" to the bottom, four tankers and 16 transports with a total tonnage of 100,231 brt.
Despite the obvious numbers, there is a different view of the results of submarine operations in the Pacific theater of operations. The boats very successfully (to say the least) cut the enemy's sea communications, but during major defensive and offensive operations they were completely helpless.
The military successes of submariners in the strategic plan were rarely of great importance. The valiant knights of the deep sea “failed” all important tasks, failing to achieve the expected results.
The unsuccessful actions of American submarines at the beginning of the war, which failed to delay the Japanese offensive in the Philippines, were cited as evidence. As a result, 29 submarines based on the island. Luzon had only three victories: a destroyer and a pair of transport ships. Plus the ineffectual defeat of the Sanyo Maru seaplane carrier by an unexploded torpedo.
But before expressing stormy criticism, it is worth remembering what the vaunted American aircraft and surface ships were doing at this time. The answer is nothing. They lay prone. Throughout the theater of operations, from Pearl Harbor to Java.
So, against the background of their colleagues, the actions of the submariners look like a kind of achievement. Were able to inflict at least some damage on the enemy.
As for the magnitude of the damage, a couple of conditions intervened. Firstly, at the beginning of the war, the US Navy experienced a clear shortage of modern submarines. The only "Getou" that entered service had not yet managed to arrive in the combat zone. And what was based on Luzon was outright junk built in the 1920s. And it would be naive to expect victory from the submariners in such conditions, despite the fact that they were opposed by three serious convoys with powerful PLO-guards, where for every Japanese transport with a landing party there were three escort ships.
There have been tragicomic cases. In January 1945, as many as 25 American submarines deployed along the entire route of the Japanese convoy were unable to intercept the battleship Hyuga with military cargo.
Japanese submariners receive similar reproaches. A screen of 13 submarines failed to stop the American aircraft carriers at Midway. True, what is the fault of the submariners themselves? The Americans cracked the Japanese naval code JN-25 and bypassed the dangerous area in advance.
Well, failures happened to everyone. In the battle at Midway, the air wings of two aircraft carriers were unable to destroy the damaged cruiser Mogami with her nose torn off. The "wounded animal" left and later did a lot of troubles.
An example of the more successful use of submarines was the events of October 23, 1944. That night, the strike force of Admiral Takeo Kurita (10 heavy cruisers and 5 battleships, accompanied by a dozen destroyers) ran into an American submarine barrier near Palawan. With the greed of hungry piranhas, the boats "Darter" and "Day" pounced on their prey. TKR "Atago" and "Maya" died on the spot. The torpedoed "Takao" was forced to interrupt participation in the operation and, accompanied by two destroyers, return to Singapore.
The nighttime pogrom had much more serious consequences. In addition to the discovery of the third Japanese detachment, which American intelligence knew nothing about, and a significant weakening of its strike potential, the Darter submarine, by chance, sank the flagship (cruiser Atago), which caused swimming in the night sea and demoralization of the entire squadron headquarters. incl. Admiral Kurita himself.
Despite the presence of the Yankee aviation group of 1,200 aircraft, Kurita's compound continued to roam the war zone. By the morning of October 25, cruisers and battleships broke through into the American landing zone in Leyte Gulf, destroyed the last screen of escort aircraft carriers, but when only a few miles remained to the target, Admiral Kurita unexpectedly turned back. As he later admitted, he lost his nerves, he was not in the best shape after a night bathing at Palawan.
Another interesting episode is noted on June 5, 1942. The submarine Tambor was in the path of the cruisers Suzuya, Kumano, Mogami and Mikuma, which were in full swing. Convinced of the presence of an underwater predator, the Japanese laid down such a steep evasive maneuver that the Mogami and Mikuma rammed each other. This was how the artillery bombardment operation was disrupted. Midway.
The newest aircraft carrier "Taiho" did not even manage to reach the combat zone (destroyed in its first cruise by the boat "Albacore" in June 1944).
A similar fate befell the Shokaku and Shinano. The largest sunk ship in maritime history. Destroyed by submarine Archerfish.
I wonder why and why "Archerfish" was off the coast of Japan? The answer is that there was an evacuation point. The submarines supported the bombing of Japanese cities, enhancing the morale of the Superfortresses' crews. The strategic aviation pilots knew that if they crashed over the ocean, they would still be rescued.
On September 2, 1944, the Finback submarine took over the S. O. S. from the downed plane. After four hours of unsuccessful searches, the submariners nevertheless found and pulled the lanky pilot out of the water. The rescued person's name was George Herbert Bush.
And already a completely mystical incident occurred with the Japanese submarine I-58. While patrolling east of the Philippines, the boat crossed course with the American cruiser Indianapolis. The attack did not take place the first time. The boat sank the cruiser on the way back. But, alas, too late - "Indianapolis" managed to deliver a bomb to Tinian for Nagasaki.
In the death of Indianapolis, there is not only mysticism, but also a harsh calculation. The calendar was July 30, 1945. There were three weeks before Japan's surrender. The sea and air were under the complete control of the Americans. But, Japanese submarines continued to operate there. Taking advantage of the uncertainty of the aquatic environment, boats are able to pass where no other ship will pass. And to fight with the most unfavorable balance of forces, while achieving success.
In addition to fulfilling their "slaughter" tasks, Japanese submarines were used to carry out courier transportations on the Brest-Tokyo route. This is how the Messerschmitts and samples of German engines came to Japan.
The crew of the Japanese submarine I-8 in the harbor of Brest
In general, the use of submarines in the Pacific theater of operations confirmed all the results of the submarine war in the Atlantic:
a) submarines turned out to be the most victorious type of naval weapon (maximum number of victories, fact);
b) submarines turned out to be the most effective type of naval weapons (the best ratio of costs and results achieved without taking into account indirect damage - costs for anti-submarine defense and economic costs of the enemy associated with the formation of convoys);
c) with all this, the submarine fleet remained the most underdeveloped component of the US Navy, which received the least attention and resources.
Yes, submarines are not designed for linear squadron combat. They are not able to defeat the enemy in an instant. They have their own tactics, much more skillful and sophisticated in their cruelty. To suck out all the forces of the enemy fleet - so that by the time of the general engagement only bits of its former might remain.
It remains to add that modern admirals took into account the mistakes of their predecessors and made certain conclusions. Currently, the number of nuclear submarines in the US Navy (72 units) exceeds the number of missile destroyers.
"Kavela", which sank the aircraft carrier "Shokaku"
This material is a response to A. Kolobov's article "The Role of Aircraft Carriers and Submarines in the War in the Pacific".
