Japanese Attack on Dutch Harbor! June 3, 1942
Snapshot:
"Aleutian Tigers" Wednesday July 9th
Special Events Arena
Hostile activities will begin at 10:00 pm EDT, (please show early for assignments).
Operations: This frame will simulate the IJN June 4th attack on Dutch Harbor.
Walk-ons are welcome and open to all.
Please read the MOTD for setup details.
Setup CM: Skyfoxx
Design by: Nefarious
Interested in CO'ing for the US or IJN forces? Contact me here for advance orders:
rlflynn@alltel.net Historical Background:
The Aleutian Islands stretch more than 1000 miles into the Pacific Ocean. They are cold, rocky, and sparsely populated. As a diversion for the invasion of Midway, a Japanese force under a small air umbrella formed by the light carriers Junyo and Ryujo occupied two islands (Attu and Kiska) far out in the Aleutians - and raided Dutch Harbor, the only sizable American military outpost in the Aleutians. This was meant to attract US attention, ships and supplies and leave Midway open to attack.
On the afternoon of 2 June a US naval patrol plane spotted the approaching enemy fleet, reporting its location as 800 miles southwest of Dutch Harbor. US command was placed on full alert. Shortly thereafter bad weather set in, and no further sightings of the fleet were made that day.
Early the next morning, despite dense fog and rough seas, the IJN carriers launched some of their aircraft to attack Dutch Harbor. About half reached their objective. The rest either became lost in the fog and darkness and crashed into the sea or returned to their carriers. In all, seventeen planes found the naval base, the first arriving at 0545. As the Japanese pilots looked for targets to engage, they came under intense antiaircraft fire, they quickly released their bombs, made a cursory strafing run, and left to return to their carriers. As a result of their haste they did little damage to the base.
The next day the Japanese returned to Dutch Harbor. This time the enemy pilots were better organized and better prepared. U.S. forces at Fort Mears had met the first attack on June 3, with antiaircraft and small arms fire, but on June 4, the Aleutian Tigers (eight P-40s), engaged the Japanese planes in aerial dogfights. The U.S. planes were launched from Cape Field at Fort Glenn, a secret airbase on neighboring Umnak Island. The Japanese had thought the nearest airfield was on Kodiak, and Cape Field, disguised as a cannery complex, had remained undetected. The surprise aerial counter-attack destroyed four Val dive bombers and one Zero.
The attacks by Vals and Kates and Zero fighters inflicted minimum damage. Eighty-six Army and Navy personnel were killed and eleven aircraft were destroyed. A number of buildings and fuel tanks were also demolished and a barracks ship, the Northwestern, was damaged.
One notable outcome of this combat was that a Zero was shot down after the pilot was hit. It landed inverted in a bog with minimal damage. After a few months, the Zero was recovered, brought to the United States and tested, revealing a few interesting weaknesses that were funneled back to US pilots in the Pacific.
