Wake Island 1941 by Jim Moran

Author:Jim Moran
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Wake Island 1941
ISBN: 9781849089432
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Published: 2011-08-17T16:00:00+00:00

The IJN destroyer Hayate. This ship was fired upon by Battery L and subsequently exploded and sank with no survivors. It was the first Japanese surface craft to be sunk by US Naval forces in World War II. (Government of Japan)

BATTERY L SINKS THE HAYATE, EARLY DAWN, DECEMBER 11, 1941 (pp. 54–55)

The scene depicts a Battery L coastal-defense gun, under the command of Lt. McAlister, firing on the Japanese destroyer Hayate. Three successive hits caused the ship to explode and sink with all hands in two minutes. The gun crew in their sandbagged emplacements can be seen reloading the gun (1), whilst the gun captain (2)checks their results through his field glasses, his communications operator at his side (3). Local brush has been used to camouflage the gun emplacement. Other Japanese ships can be seen making a hasty retreat (4).

The Japanese invasion force had been detected offshore of the south of Wake proper and Wilkes in the early hours of December 11. Realising, correctly, that his 5in. guns were outmatched by the Japanese cruisers’ and destroyers’ guns, Devereux gave orders that no guns were to be uncovered or open fire until he gave the order. Requests to illuminate the enemy ships with searchlights were also refused.

With dawn fully up and with a large proportion of the Japanese invasion fleet well within range of his 5in. guns, Devereux gave the order to open fire, with devastating results for the Japanese fleet; all three batteries on Wilkes, Wake proper, and Peale scored hits on cruisers, destroyers, and transports. This caused Kajioka to signal for the landing force to be recovered and the invasion force to retire back to base. As they did so, they were harassed by VMF-211’s Wildcats, which resulted in more damage to ships, including the loss of the destroyer Kisaragi to “Hammering Hank” Elrod’s bombs; it sank with the loss of all hands.

Rear Admiral Kajioka’s invasion force had suffered badly from the Marine coastal guns (after the surrender of Wake the Japanese interrogated the Marine officers, wanting to know what had happened to the 8in. guns they had suffered from on the December 11 invasion attempt), with the loss of the Hayate and the Kisaragi as well as damage to the Yubari (Kajioka’s flagship), Oite, Tenryu, Tatsuta, Patrol Boat 33, and the transport Konga Maru.

The invasion force limped back to base at Kwajalein, where, to his surprise, Kajioka was not relieved of his command but was instead given much more support in ships, ground-support aircraft (from the carriers Hiryu and Soryu), and landing-force troops.

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