My group fought the scenario featured in SITREP #15 (Oct 99), minus the subs, but with an extra row of mines to compensate. Good fun, but very bloody. San Francisco Chronicle: USN Destroys Japanese Fleet! In a dramatic battle in the South Pacific, a small American force held off a much larger Japanese naval force that attempted to interrupt Operation Skyhook, the landings near Pala Passage. According to Navy sources, the Japanese lost four cruisers, eleven destroyers and had one of their super battleships damaged. US losses were not announced, but were summed up by the spokesman as "We gave better than we got." Admiral Nimitz put down the paper and looked across the desk at his Public Affairs Officer, Commander Allen Bell, a Hollywood public relations flack doing his “war effort” in uniform as a reserve officer. “With victories like Pala Passage, commander, this war will be going on for years.” Nimitz picked up the After Action Report, prepared by the commander of Gamble, the sole surviving US ship from the battle. The report read like a novel, and Nimitz could see the battle forming in his mind's eye .... The Japanese fleet sailing through the predawn murk, crashing through the minefield, explosions briefly lighting surrounding ships as mines are detonated. The rooster tails plumes from the PTs as they raced about torpedoing ships, tracers lancing out like fiery fingers trying to snare the valiant men in their wooden boats. The battle sounds die quickly as the small boats are destroyed, but here and there fires burn as ships again explode as the torpedoes find their marks. A new sound is heard to the south ... the roar of a dozen engines at full power: B-25s racing low over the water, armed with torpedoes. They head for the cruisers, and two more hits are scored! Avoiding intense flak, the planes retire toward the friendly forces steaming into battle. There they encounter enemy float planes, and down two before returning to base to reload. Now it is the destroyers' turn, as they race in from the flanks, trading shells and torpedoes with their counterparts, striving to break the screen and destroy the cruisers and battleship. Some penetrate, but the cost is high ... very high. Too far ahead of the cruisers for effective support, they are disabled and sunk, one by one. The valiant Monnsen, disabled but still fighting, takes down three enemy destroyers before she disappears under a hail of cruiser fire. The cruisers joined in as the range closed, and soon were putting the final touches on the handiwork of the PTs, destroyers and mines. However, as their Japanese cruiser counterparts were sliding to a halt under punishment of the heavy US guns, the massive guns of Yamato came into play, and an American victory disappeared in less than 15 minutes. The armor of the cruisers was no match for the battleship. Louisville felt the lash first, gutted by multiple salvos. She ran aground outside of the main channel, allowing her crew time to escape before she sank by the stern, sliding into the deep waters of Pala Passage. Indianapolis was finishing off Suzuya when the battleship chose its next victim. A few salvos was all it took to turn the treaty cruiser into a shattered wreck. Nashville started maneuvering evasively to throw off the gunner’s aim, but to no avail. Yamato destroyed her as easily as the other two cruisers. As the sun rose higher, Gamble’s skipper watched the battle unfold from a cove on the north shore. At the end, one lone Japanese destroyer, followed by Yamato, plowed through the detritus of war, friend and foe alike. As they disappeared to the east, towards the landing beaches, Gamble started rescue operations, which continued for two days, aided by submarines and Catalinas, and some of the surviving landing craft. The Marines were subjected to an hour-long bombardment, killing 96 men and wounding a further 162. The returning B-25s interrupted the ordeal by putting two torpedoes into the behemoth, and she sailed away, down by the bow, headed towards Truk. Gamble made shuttle runs between the beachhead and the survivors, eventually saving over a thousand men from horrible fates. The butcher's bill was high, but the Marines and sailors ashore held the vital airfield site. Another battle of attrition had begun. Two heavy cruisers, a light cruiser and eight destroyers gone. More than 500 men dead or missing. "Better than the opening at Guadalcanal" Nimitz thought to himself, remembering the debacle of Savo. "At least we came out slightly ahead". He picked up the next folder on his desk, listing ships arriving in his command, mentally slotting vessels into the empty berths ... BT Back to The Naval Sitrep #21 Table of Contents Back to Naval Sitrep List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by Larry Bond and Clash of Arms. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history and related articles are available at http://www.magweb.com