Introduction

South China Sea, Task Force 38’s bold carrier rampage in Formosa, Luzon, and Indochina is a recent release from Osprey Publishing LTD.  Part of the series Air Campaign, authored by Mark Lardas and illustrated by Irene Cano Rodríguez, this 96-page softcover book is available in PDF, eBook and Mobi formats, and catalogued with Osprey’s short code ACM 36.  The paperback has the ISBN of 9781472853080.

Prior to the invasion of the Philippines in October, 1944, Admiral Halsey plan to support the invasion was to attrit Japanese air power over Okinawa and Formosa.  Those actions lasted several days and devastated Japanese air power but did not destroy it.  Now facing another invasion along the Philippines, and fearful of savage attacks, Halsey conducted Operation Gratitude, a greatly expanded operation.   Osprey describes this subject thusly:

As 1945 opened, Japan was fighting defensively everywhere. As the Allies drew closer to the Home Islands, risks of Japanese air and sea attack on the US Navy carrier force increased. US forces wanted to take the island of Luzon which provided a base for Japanese aircraft from Formosa (Taiwan) and Indochina, and from where attacks could easily be devastating for the invasion fleet. US Naval Intelligence also believed Japanese battleships Ise and Hyuga were operating out of Cam Ranh Bay. A fast carrier sweep through the South China Sea was a potential answer with the bonus that it would strike the main nautical highway for cargo from Japan's conquests in Southeast Asia.

Task Force 38 would spend the better part of two weeks marauding through the South China Sea during Operation Gratitude, a month-long sweep of the area, which launched air strikes into harbors in Indochina, the Chinese coast and Formosa, while targeting shipping in the high-traffic nautical highway. By the time the Task Force exited the South China Sea, over 300,000 tons of enemy shipping and dozens of Japanese warships had been sunk. With follow-up air strikes against Japanese harbors and airfields in Formosa and the Ryukyu Islands, the success of the sweep was unprecedented.

This telling of the Gratitude undertaking of the Pacific War amazes me.   It should be inspirational for modelers.   Read on and you will understand why.

Content

South China Sea 1945 is presented through 96 pages, including front and back material.

INTRODUCTION

CHRONOLOGY

ATTACKER'S CAPABILITIES

- Task Force 38 at the height of its power

DEFENDER'S CAPABILITIES

-The Japanese in the South China Sea

CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES

-Japan's critical sea route

THE CAMPAIGN

- Into the South China Sea

AFTERMATH AND ANALYSIS

FURTHER READING

INDEX

Halsey’s October attacks were successful although the Japanese drew blood, too.  Operation Gratitude was a serious move by a US Navy fully confident in their mission, objectives,and the power of its almost 1,000 aircraft.   

Attacker's Capabilities and Defender's Capabilities reveal why USN was ready to not only sail into the teeth of the tiger but to camp out there; presenting a short description of USN’s aerial one-two punch, we are treated to concise descriptions of the capabilities of the F4F/FM Wildcat, F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair fighters, and SB2C, and TBF/TBM bombers.  Even the Vought OS2U gets some love.  Japanese aircraft described to varying degrees are the ubiquitous A6M Zero series, Ki-43 “Oscar”, Ki-44 “Tojo”, Ki-45 “Nick”, Ki-61 “Tony”, Ki-84 “Frank”,  Ki-102, J1N “Irving”, “Francis”, D4Y “Judy”, and even “Nate” and “Claude”.  Ships and aircraft were useless once the bullets, bombs, fuel, and food and water were exhausted, and Facilities and Infrastructure presents an eye-opening account of America’s secret weapon – logistics.   Weapons and Tactics describe what each ship and aircraft packed for war, including  the gunsights, radars, and directors that gave USN the advantage of putting ordnance on target.  Do you know of USN’s “Tom Cat” picket destroyers?  I did not until this book.  Of the Japanese the author describes why this area was critical to their war. It also covers the effectiveness of their weapons and addresses why, in defense, they were often lackluster.

Campaign Objectives presented some surprises for me.  Strangling Japan economically was the main objective but USN was still respectful of the remnants of Japanese air and naval assets (which sank aircraft carrier USS Ommaney Bay), and thus sought to destroy heavy fleet units that survived the Battle of Leyte Gulf.  It was also to prove that carrier airpower –the “Big Blue Blanket” - could beat land-based airpower, and show that no part of Japan’s possessions within their range were safe from USN.  On the Japanese side, their goal was to survive. The author offers insight to the rivalry of the Japanese Army and Navy, and how it contributed to their mutual assured defeat, and the abject lack of coordination and imagination of their high command.

Having lain that groundwork, we launch into seven sections of the 45-page chapter The Campaign.  Like other chapters this includes short history lessons to present perspective, with the first six pages covering from pre-war to the Allied losses through early 1942, a result of which the South China Sea became a Japanese lake.  We also learn of the historical influence of pre-war European colonies and administrations.  The combat descriptions show why USN was correct to be respectful about the Japanese as some attacks suffered unsustainable loss ratios to Japanese defenses.  Even the weather was an enemy by grounding USN aircraft but allowing Japan’s most effective weapon – Kamikazes - to effectively sortie.   Eventually, Task Force 38 (TF38) composed a destructive crescendo the Japanese could not counter. 

It is interesting how Halsey shuffled ships between the combat forces and resupply bases, a topic often overlooked.  Several pages narrate the cat-and-mouse moves to catch and destroy Japan’s hybrid battleship/aircraft carriers Ise and Hyuga.  I am happy to see the subject of carrier-based night fighters covered so well.  Several other interesting situations are recounted, such as the exasperation of torpedo-bomber pilots attacking Japanese ships in shallow waters.  One humorous anecdote is when Halsey switched two destroyers between Task Groups (TG) and one of the captains asked why:

He sent USS Hailey to TG30.8 and took USS Trathen from TG30.8, sending it TG38.2. The move puzzled Hailey’s captain, who sent a dispatch to Halsey asking what deficiency had led to the switch from a fast carrier group escort to guarding auxiliaries.   Halsey quickly replied, “Relax Com Third Fleet still loves you. Wanted to give 30.8 a radar jammer.”

Aftermath and Analysis delivers an account of the operations including distances sailed, tons and numbers of ships sunk, aircraft destroyed, and other scores.  Japanese successes against USN are also discussed.  It also includes the surprising fact that USN targeted and sank some European warships.  The benefit of night-carrier capability and maturity of USN tactics are recounted.  Surviving aircraft and ships is a particularly interesting section.

Constructive Criticism

One oddity of this book is the use of a photo of an US Army Air Force (USAAF) bomber on the title page, even though USAAF is only mentioned seven times in the book.  One grainy photograph is mislabeled - it shows an Independence-class light carrier in heavy seas, captioned as an Essex-class fleet carrier.  Another faux pas slipped by the editors, which noted two Ki-27s exist and yet three sentences later wrote, “No Ki-27s are known to exist.”  Perhaps they meant the Ki-21?  Regardless, those errors do not take away from the content of the book. 

Photos, Artwork, Graphics

Modelers should find inspiration for subjects, good source material for research, and ideas for dioramas.  Osprey uses many photographs to support the text (I did not count them), plus bird’s-eye 3D views, battlescenes, and original artwork.  Most are wartime black-and-white photos although the author includes a few color photos.  Several vintage maps are included as photographic reproductions although not all are listed below in Maps.  Most of the photos have been used in other publications although perhaps a quarter of the photos are new to me.  Several of those are bomb damage assessment images exposed during strikes.  Some of the images are small but probably due to the necessity of cropping and sizing the pertinent scenes.    Each is explained with a caption of varying depth.

Artwork and graphics include the following.

1.     The theory and practice of mast-top bombing illustrated through four phases.

2.     Airfield attack techniques: illustrating USN’sthree basic tactics for attacking airfields.

3.     Night action: two-page Battlescene of a F6F nightfighter killing a Japanese transport.

4.     The Destruction of Convoy Hi-86: 3D illustration of an air attack keyed to seven events.

5.     Navy night bombers at Kiirun Harbor: 3D illustration of an air attack keyed to seven events.

 Maps

1.     Wartime map of Ulithi Atoll.

2.     Reproduction of map Japan’s major convoy routes.

3.     Strategic Overview showing Japanese and Allied areas of  control in 1942, December 1944, and Allied and Japanese bases in January 1945; spanning from Russia to India to Australia and east to New Caledonia.

4.     South China Sea showing Japan’s convoy routes.

5.     The Planned Mission: South China Sea keyed to nine events.

6.     Luzon Airstrikes: January 6 and 7.

7.     The Mission Executed: map of TF38’s attacks under cover of a typhoon, keyed to 21 events.

8.     Wartime map of Mako Island, a Japanese naval anchorage at Boko-Retto in the Pescadores.

Conclusion

Osprey offers us another worthwhile book about the Pacific carrier war with South China Sea 1945.  Modelers interested in the subjects will find good source material, references, and modeling inspiration.   I find the short expose about USN nightfighter operations gratifying.  I knew nothing about Operation Gratitude and find the content informative and captivating.  There are a few errors in the text but I do not believe they will adversely affect the understanding of the reader, and recommend this book.

Please remember to mention to Osprey and retailers that you saw this product here - on Model Shipwrights.