Chapter IV - Operation Serenity, Part 2
RPS Pensacola
West Philippine Sea
May 22, 1936
It wasn't often that admiral were outright smiling, not even in an inherently emotional land like the Philippines. However with this kind of fun, how can Vice Admiral Andrada not be happy? In a bid to increase proficiency, drive up recruitment rates and keep the Japs or anyone who wants to mess with the Filipinos on their toes, High Admiral Nuval gave the fleet an order it didn't want to refuse.
Operation Serenity was officially a training exercise. What made it so unprecedented was that virtually the entire fleet was present. There were newspaper correspondents on board most of the ships. Live ammunition was loaded aboard the ships in the great naval bases in Manila and Subic Bays. It was supposed to be like the real thing, or as real as the Admiralty could make it.
Vice Admiral Andrada sat in the bridge of his flagship, the former-US Navy, now-Philippine Navy man of war RPS Pensacola. She steamed in column formation along with RPS Houston, RPS Chicago, RPS Marblehead, RPS Trenton, RPS Memphis along with a screen of destroyers. Today, there would be live fire training on hulks scheduled to be scrapped. Foremost among them was the venerable armored cruiser
Rochester.
Simultaneously, Langley's flyers would be somewhere west of Subic, getting pilots through the paces of landing and taking off from a moving slab of steel in the middle of nowhere.
He snorted. Planes were one thing, planes at sea were something else. How the heck could those tiny things sink this ship?
He gave an order, "Flags, signal ships "Turn to port and bring main batteries to bear on starboard targets""
"With pleasure sir."
As he felt the 4 turrets of his flagship angle to starboard, he felt a chill. No, planes would remain very expensive scouts, mere toys to men with guns as big as these.
As he sat in his chair, 8 inch, 6 inch, 5 inch and even 3 inch shells arced toward the row of targets.
Half an hour later, he called for a status report.
"All training barges sunk and sinking. However target Rochester still not sunk."
The Admiral was disappointed. That was rectified quickly. "Focus fire on the Rochester." All ships answered in the affirmative.
Ten short minutes later, the Rochester was observed to sink more or less evenly in relatively shallow water.
The second part of the exercise was a bit more sobering. For Serenity II, the fleet was split into two parts. Blue Force, commanded by Andrada and composed of Pensacola, Houston, Chicago, Trenton and Marblehead along with most of the destroyers would be defending against Red Force, which would be attempting to land on Battle Island, an island used by the navy for practice purposes, located west of Palawan, in the Kalayaan archipelago. Red Force, composed of Langley and Memphis would be covering troop transports and providing gunfire support.
All the umpires were of the opinion that Blue Force would certainly prevail, with them having an easier objective and more firepower. Shame it wasn't the case.
Rear Admiral Alcaraz was roused from his sleep. He checked the clock mounted on the bulkhead, 5:15. He was approached by a yeoman. As he was handed a cup of the finest Barako coffee, he was handed a sheaf of papers. "Comm traffic from the last watch sir."
"Thank you. Position check?"
The navigator answered "We're around 5 minutes from Point Gesture." The admiral nodded.
Up on the flight deck, crews were doing final checks on their planes. Virtually the entire air complement of the Langley would be sent up, with the 9 scout bombers of VS-1, sent up an
hour earlier to search for Andrada's marauding battlewagons.
Leaving 2 fighters as a CAP (Blue may not have bombers of their own, but we train as we fight, as the CAG said), 9 SB-1s[1] of VB-1, 9 T-1s[2] of VT-1 and 7 F-1s of VF-1 would be coming for them.
"Admiral, it's time."
"Launch. Turn us into the wind flank speed"
As one, the scout bomber pilots raced to their planes. In minutes all 9 were in the air. They were aided by the SOC amphibians onboard Memphis, covering an area seaward of the intended landing zone.
Andrada's squadron was located by a Seagull off Memphis. Moments after, Langley launched her massed air group and the scout bombers regrouped with them.
What followed could only be described as a massacre. With complete surprise and no defenses, Langley's bombers simulated the complete destruction of Andrada's force, the troop transports safely invading Battle Island and with the carrier's air wing even helping with softening up the ground before invasion.
As Alcaraz read after-action reports, he thought about his fine warship, and how, in a year or more he'd command one befitting his homeland, homegrown, home built. Large, larger than Langley, certainly. Something to look forward to indeed. With enough carriers, he can form the forces he'd been lobbying for, with enough force to bring Poseidon himself down on anyone who trifled with them.
Several days later, lobbyists would approach the senate and propose increasing further the military's budget, with the navy obviously getting the lion's share. Analysts have deduced that this was a reaction to the perceived vulnerability of the Home Islands. It was noted by PM Quezon that the Filipinos were finally becoming more aware of their role in keeping the peace.
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Writing many years later, (Cmdr.) Jose Nakpil, who had been one of the flyers off Langley in 1936, would rightly state that Langley's exploits during Operation Serenity II marked the first step in the development of the Carrier Task Forces which would be so effective in the Pacific. This operation convinced naval aviators – and some gun club admirals, such as Vice Admiral Andrada – that task forces built around carriers would be of importance in the future of naval warfare.”
“The most important conclusion drawn from the Langley attack was the impossibility of stopping a determined air attack once it was launched. Unfortunately, in the years to come, this lesson would be forgotten, by certain members of the so-called Gun Club—the men who grew up worshipping battleships and were unwavering in their faith in the supremacy of the big gun. Evident to Alcaraz and to the carrier commanders who followed in his footsteps, was the reality that in any future engagement involving aircraft carriers at sea, the first carrier to locate and bomb the other would determine the outcome.”
Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Walsh, PN "GAMBLER: The Story of the Philippine Navy in World War II"
Footage from the observers' cameras were later used as stock footage into a renowned film, Helldivers. Set during the roaring 20s, it featured a love triangle between two pilots and a nurse from the base hospital, lots of air combat and camaraderie among pilots. After a devastating sneak by a cunning foe, the pilots on their own initiative locate and destroy the enemy forces. The film was a resounding success, with many praising the realistic visuals and the wonderfully written love triangle story arc [3]. With Navy recruitment booths right outside the theaters, young Filipinos and exiles[4] flocked in droves to the "fun" and "easygoing" lifestyle of naval aviators. The Navy would certainly have no problems with its expansion program now.
[1]OTL SBC Helldiver
[2]OTL BT-1
[3]VERY tongue-in-cheek
[4]Americans exiled from their homeland due to the Communist regime