The Sinking of the Maryland
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The American offense got off to a rough start. Delayed timetables and confusion in orders saw the three fleets set out at different times. William Daniel Leahy set out first, taking the Southern wing into the South West Pacific Basin, and driving towards the besieged British in Australia. The Southern most fleet of the Japanese navy had been begun striking a heavy blow to English and Australian shipping in the South Pacific, and had managed to drive Anglo forces ever backwards. Baron Abo Kiyokazu, an Admiral of the Japanese Imperial Navy, had been a key commander in the raids against the Philippines, and was orchestrating the Japanese assaults on the South-Pacific Islands. His crowning achievement was the overnight raid which drove the British off the Solomon Islands. With the North relatively secured, Baron Kiyokazu turned his eyes on the true prize, Australia.
Raiding would only be a deterrent, the Japanese wanted to secure and occupy the major port cities of Australia and New Zealand. Rather than making a direct assault on the Southern ports, having fought the British out of the North without much difficulty, Baron Kiyokazu designed a pincer movement, first taking New Zealand, and then striking into Australia from two directions. This would cut the southern ports off from American and British supplies, so if their resistance was too strong, they would be taken out by attrition. But before anything could begin, New Zealand had to be captured. The Americans, knowing that New Zealand was a large, useful, base they could use to drive towards Manila, moved quickly. Admiral Leahy docked his heaviest ships in the straight between the two islands of New Zealand, with the purpose of guarding the Wellington. He divided the rest of his fleet and sent it with two purposes. A southern thrust was tasked with linking up with Australian ships south of the islands, while a northern force was sent to harass Japanese supply lines in their approach.
The Battle of New Zealand
The Japanese rushed full on and hoped to crash into the American fleet from three angles. The Central thrust was supposed to blow through the American fleet, and meet up with the Northern force before driving the Americans back. However, the same inconsistencies which plagued the American general plan plagued the specific Japanese strategy. The Northern American force delayed the Japanese significantly, and allowed the Americans to regroup near Wellington. Meanwhile the Southern Japanese force over-extended and was too far away to aid in the assault. The result was an American strongpoint against a weakened, confused, Japanese force. The Japanese fleet crashed into the American wall, and was repelled with devastating losses. By the time Japanese reinforcements arrived, the Americans had turned to face them. The first major battle went to the Americans, but not without cost.
In the closing minutes of the engagement, a Japanese submarine managed to fire off a torpedo into the side of the
USS Maryland. The damage was too severe, and the
Maryland was abandoned by all hands. That was the only major vessel lost in the battle for the Americans, while the Japanese lost 2 Battleships and countless smaller vessels. Baron Kiyokazu retreated in shambles, and abandoned his gains in much of Northern Australia. Instead, he turned his attention on securing a defensive position in the Philippines. It was clear that barring a disastrous mistake, Admiral Leahy was in control of the Southern edge of the Pacific Ocean. In the following Weeks the Americans would drive the Japanese back further and retake many of the major island chains in the South Pacific. The first of the three assaults on Japan was successful.
The American North-Pacific Fleet, commanded by Raymond Ames Spruance, made his way north towards the British controlled Aleutian Islands. The islands were a constant scene of skirmish, both on land and sea, for control of the North. So far, the British were winning. Successful battles against the Russians had left the British Aleutian Islands Defense well tested, a stark contrast to the green Japanese attackers (more experienced troops being used for more important missions). With the arrival of Admiral Spruance and the Americans, the tide was turned for good. The Japanese withdrew, or fought to the death, on many of the Islands, and allowed the American fleet to work its way closer and closer to the Kural Islands. Spruance, regarding the lack of resistance as a sign of Japanese inferiority, continued to press on without awaiting new orders. He had been tasked with threatening the Kurals, and that was what he was going to do; heedless of the fact that the Japanese Navy had regrouped to the South, and was awaiting the central thrust of the American Fleet at Midway.
Admiral Leahy, victor of the battle of New Zealand