Action Off Bougainville
February 20, 1942
After a disastrous couple months of war, the United States and Allies were in a dark spot in the Pacific, as the Japanese continued their expansion.Rabaul, New Britain had fallen to the Japanese in early February 1942 and the Japanese were quickly establishing a major naval and air base there, which was seen as a threat to the San Francisco-Australia sealane. Task Force 11 (Planned to be joined by the ANZAC Squadron, but was unable due to fuel oil shortage ) under Admiral WIlson Brown and centered around the carrier USS Lexington(CV-2) was assigned to strike Rabaul to safeguard the sea lanes on February 21.
Task Force 11 detected unknown aircraft on radar at 1015 on February 20, 1942 and launched a six plane Combat Air Patrol(CAP) to protect the TF. Two planes were vectored to investigate the contact.Fighting Squadron 3(VF-3) "Felix The Cat" under Lieutenant Commander John S. "Jimmy" Thach intercepted and shot down a H6K "Mavis" flying boat at 11:12, obviously flying a recon mission from Rabaul.Two other planes from the CAP downed another "Mavis" as well.A third contact was detected 80 NM out, but disappeared.
The "Mavis" had done their job though, reporting the carriers location and Japanese Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue, head of the Fourth Fleet based at Rabaul ordered an attack.A force of heavy cruisers put to sea and 17 G4M1 "Betty" bombers departed Rabaul to locate and destroy the Lexington.
Around 1542 hours, TF 11 detected unknown planes but lost contact.Contact was regained at 16:25 and multiple F4F3 Wildcat fighters under LCDR Thach were sent to intercept, downing multiple bombers.At 1649, radar detected bogies on the disengaged side of the TF, only 12 miles away and closing fast.Only two F4F's were available to protect the Lexington.Lieutenants (JG) Edward "Butch" O' Hare and Marion Dufilho flew east to intercept.
Just as prepared to attack the enemy bombers(G4M1 Bettys), "Duff" Dufilho's guns jammed, leaving O'Hare sole defender of the fleet.O 'Hare attacked, making multiple passes on the formation, downing five to become US Naval Aviation's First "Ace".O'Hare also damaged a sixth.O'Hare would be awarded the Medal of Honor for this action.
These missions recreate this historical action.
Submitted by dasuto247
February 20, 1942
After a disastrous couple months of war, the United States and Allies were in a dark spot in the Pacific, as the Japanese continued their expansion.Rabaul, New Britain had fallen to the Japanese in early February 1942 and the Japanese were quickly establishing a major naval and air base there, which was seen as a threat to the San Francisco-Australia sealane. Task Force 11 (Planned to be joined by the ANZAC Squadron, but was unable due to fuel oil shortage ) under Admiral WIlson Brown and centered around the carrier USS Lexington(CV-2) was assigned to strike Rabaul to safeguard the sea lanes on February 21.
Task Force 11 detected unknown aircraft on radar at 1015 on February 20, 1942 and launched a six plane Combat Air Patrol(CAP) to protect the TF. Two planes were vectored to investigate the contact.Fighting Squadron 3(VF-3) "Felix The Cat" under Lieutenant Commander John S. "Jimmy" Thach intercepted and shot down a H6K "Mavis" flying boat at 11:12, obviously flying a recon mission from Rabaul.Two other planes from the CAP downed another "Mavis" as well.A third contact was detected 80 NM out, but disappeared.
The "Mavis" had done their job though, reporting the carriers location and Japanese Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue, head of the Fourth Fleet based at Rabaul ordered an attack.A force of heavy cruisers put to sea and 17 G4M1 "Betty" bombers departed Rabaul to locate and destroy the Lexington.
Around 1542 hours, TF 11 detected unknown planes but lost contact.Contact was regained at 16:25 and multiple F4F3 Wildcat fighters under LCDR Thach were sent to intercept, downing multiple bombers.At 1649, radar detected bogies on the disengaged side of the TF, only 12 miles away and closing fast.Only two F4F's were available to protect the Lexington.Lieutenants (JG) Edward "Butch" O' Hare and Marion Dufilho flew east to intercept.
Just as prepared to attack the enemy bombers(G4M1 Bettys), "Duff" Dufilho's guns jammed, leaving O'Hare sole defender of the fleet.O 'Hare attacked, making multiple passes on the formation, downing five to become US Naval Aviation's First "Ace".O'Hare also damaged a sixth.O'Hare would be awarded the Medal of Honor for this action.
These missions recreate this historical action.
Submitted by dasuto247
