P-39's, zeros, etc.

I am glad someone is doing some research in this area as early operations
have long been ignored. I think the contribution of P-39's in holding the
line early in the war has long been ignored. I am not sure what you want
with your question. Obviously the reports are taken from different points
of view and the perceptions are shrouded by the fog of war which includes
memory being confused by adrenalin rush and fatigue. I am sure a lot of
what I write, if not all, you are already aware of.

Before I start, I had an opportunity to compare accounts of one engagement
of P-39's that was described by Saburo Sakai in Samurai but was also
mentioned in US reports. I will give you this info before I discuss yours
to illustrate the difficulty of reliability of reports. Your friend is
welcome to the information:

Here is the comment in Samurai:

"[on april 30] the Allies returned our next strafing attack with a
beautifully executed run by twelve P-39's against our airfield [Lae] and
heavily damaged nine bombers and three fighters. We caught the Airacobras
on their withdrawl and shot down two without losses on our part,.....neither
Nishizawa nor I was able to bring down a plane." Samuri, page 113-114.

I realize that in many ways Caiden has been discredited, however, the fact
of this engagement has been confirmed by the following:

"The very first combat mission of the Airacobra was flown by the 8th Pursuit
Groups 35 and 36th group on April 30, 1942....
"The official V fighter Command Victory Records devote a single line to that
mission: "" Greene, George B., Jr. Major, 1 zero, 15:07L, Salamaua 35th
Squadron".

"The officical report by Lt. Col. Boyd D. Wagner [I assume this is the
famous Buzz Wagner] dated May 4, 1942, tells a different story:

"On Friday, April 30th, 13 P-39D's [and odd number--your report also
mentions an odd number of P-39's, there must have been such a need for a/c
in combat that standard operating procedure must have been ignored] took
off from Port Moresby
on a ground strafing mission against Lae Airdrome, 180 miles. Approach was
made on Lae from 50 miles out from sea to avoid detection. When about 20
miles out 4 planes were sent ahead to engage the Japanese security patrol
over Lae Drome.
Top cover drew enemy security patrol off to the East of the drome and no
resistance by air was encountered during the strafing. A line of 13 to 15
bombers were strafed on a sea approach in a three-three plane element.
[interesting that the US planes were flying in three plane elements,
assumedly this was planned from the start of the mission to maybe cover the
airfield the breadth of three planes?] The planes in each element were
disposed in echelon right [ in Samurai, the strafing run was described as
beautiful--did Caiden have access to US reports or was this really out of
Sakais memory or perhaps his notes?]. Our strafing planes were then were
attacked from above by several zero fighters. Belly tanks were dropped
immediately [note that the aircraft attacked the field with their vulnerable
belly tanks still on and apparently not at full throttle!] and throttles
opened. Our formation began to pull away from the zeros when the last 4
P-39's in formation engaged in combat with three zeros [this was probably a
japanese "element" with a leader and two wingmen]. In the meantime more
Zeros appeared and it is estimated there were 12-13 altogether. The P-39's
were hopelessly outnumbered so the entire formation [nine aircraft?]
turned back and a terrific dogfight ensued. As a result of this low
altitude dogfight four zeros and three P-39's were shot down. [!] All
P-39's going down had been hit in the cooling system as a glycol spray could
be seen streaming out behind while all zeros shot down went down burning.
All three P-39 pilots were safe upon landing, either bailing out or crash
landing on the beach." Squadron Signal, P-39 In Action.

Interesting perspective. Japs claim 2 P-39's with no losses. P-39's
claim four zeros with three losses. Both sides agree as to the success of
the strafing attack.

So many times hits were recorded and turned out to be misses. Even when
fire and smoke was reported.

Damage to vessels did not always leave oil slicks or debris. I would say it
was highly unlikely that the vessel attacked was sunk.

It is certainly a possibility that these were the same vessels that were
attacked on three different occassions.

The P-39's could have been engaged and the A-24's not even known about it.
The fact that the zeros were reported in numbers divisible by three is
interesting. At this time zeros flew in groups of three, not in the pairs
or finger four formations. There would be a single lead pilot with two
wingmen.

Due to the A-24's on the deck, the P-39's might not have been aware of their
problems after the attack.

The missed rendevous between the P-39's and the B-25's was pretty typical of
the period.

The report of the zeros not engaging is not surprizing. It is even
possible that the zeros were under orders not to engage with enemy aircraft,
or they might have mistaken the B-25's for their own bombers.

Even if they recognized that the B-25's were hostile and chose not to
engage, this is not the first time that zero pilots had shown off in front
of the enemy.

Zeros were handicapped as most had their radios removed.

The zeros the P-39's reported that did not engage may not even had seen the
P-39's.


My guess is that the the officer would credit one 1500 ton ship damaged,
5-11 barges damaged. In all possibility, there were only six vessels
engaged from the start to the finish.

Al



----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Mark"
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.military
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2003 1:13 PM
Subject: P-39s, Zeros & A-24s


Little item from my friend doing P-39 research:

7 P-39s escort 7 A-24s on an anti-shipping strike to Buna summer 1942.
Flying
at 9,000 feet, 3 Zeros going the opposite direction at 11,000 feet spot
them
and peel off in an attack. Descending dogfight ensues until Zeros break
off at
4,000 feet. P-39 pilots make no claims, report no losses among themselves
or
A-24s, which they catch up to as they make their bomb runs on a convoy of
one
large and four small vessels escorted by one warship which they identify
as a
destroyer. The flight home is uneventful, with no further enemy contact.
They
confirm one bomb hit on the large ship, which seems to inflict no serious
damage, and six broad misses.
A-24s do not report any interception by Zeros on the way to the target and
mention no dogfight. Report attacking one 1,500 ton-class cargo ship in a
convoy of four 100-ton class coastal vessels and one subchaser escort. AA
fire
downs one A-24 during the dive. This plane releases its bomb as it spins
out
of control and crashes into the sea. No parachutes. It's bomb falls far
from
the convoy. Five bombs bracket the large cargo vessel in a close pattern
and
one strikes the ship amidships. This ship is left on fire, dead in the
water,
heeled over and in a sinking condition. As they recover from their dives,
the
A-24s are hit by Zeros. Two are shot down immediately, crashing in flames
into
sea. Two more survive long enough to make it to the beach where they
crash
land and the crews are observed to escape into the bush. A fifth is badly
damaged but manages to make it to an emergency strip where it crash lands.
Only one returns home.
The next day 4 B-25s go out to bomb the convoy but find no sign of it.
Nor do
they see any debris or oil slick in the area of the A-24 attack. They
were to
have a P-39 escort but it never shows up. They are intercepted by 6 Zeros
which circle them, then fly parallel to them for a few minutes performing
slow
rolls before departing without making any attempt to attack. The B-25s
sweep up
the Buna coast until they spot 6 beached barges being unloaded. They bomb
and
strafe these, destroying them and the cargo offloaded onto the beach.
They
report moderate AA fire, with one B-25 being holed several times and the
bombardier and co-pilot wounded. There is no fighter opposition.
The 6 P-39s dispatched as escorts report the B-25s are not at the
rendevous
point so they proceed on a sweep of the Buna coastal area, discover
Japanese
unloading 5 barges and strafe them, leaving all burning. They also strafe
supplies stacked on the beach and tents observed under trees just inland
from
the beach, making repeated passes until expending all their ammunition.
There
is no anti-aircraft fire. As they are departing they observe 9 Zeros
patrolling the beach at 6,000 feet but these make no aggressive moves and
maintain altitude.

If you were an intelligence officer evaluating these reports, what would
you
make of them?


Chris Mark