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[mike@themclaughlins.us]

Am doing a solitaire Pearl Harbor attack to help learn the system. Didn’t “fly” the air formations just presumed I could get the aircraft into the actual historical positioning.

Starting with the torpedo assault. I used the actual targets of each torpedo. Research indicated 48 Kates were assigned to the torpedo role and of those 8 aborted or didn’t launch.

Historical results for the remaining 40-torpedo launches were:

 

• CL9 Raleigh**       1/2 (hit/launched)
• AG16 Utah**        2/6
• CL50 Helena**      1/5 (Ogala sunk by the blast off of the torpedo that struck Helena)
• CL8 Detroit**                   0/1
• AV8 Tangier**                  0/1 
• BB44 California        2/3
• BB37 Oklahoma        8/12 (some Japanese sources claim 10, some US say 6 hits)
• BB48 West Virginia    7/9
• BB36 Nevada       1/1

 

That's 22 hits out of 40 torpedoes. Damage assessment immediately following the attack stated Arizona was struck by one possibly two torpedoes. Most recent and accepted assessments believe the seven 1,750lb bomb hits and near misses did all the damage and there were no torpedo strikes against the ship.

 

** The Raleigh, Utah, Helena, Detroit, and Tangier strikes were launching into the sun. This impaired the pilot’s ability to ID ships and created targeting challenges. Hence the lower hit ratios.

 

This was my starting point. I rolled for each grouping of three (or less) using the aerial torpedo attack process (for example 4 groups of three vs Oklahoma and a singular torpedo vs Nevada).

 

Using Oklahoma as an example. She capsized quickly and as a result was not targeted or hit by any bombs. So, it’s a great way to isolate the torpedoes. Did I run this correctly:

 

1. divided the planes into four groups of 3 planes each;
2. On the Tactical Air Ops sheet, consulted with the Torpedo CRT;
3. Used the far left Aerial column to get the DIW row.
4. Ran across to the column labeled 3 in the white circle. (BTW what’s the Black circled three all about?)
5. The resulting cross indicates a hit on a roll of 1-8.
   1. 9-12 is a miss
   2. 8 is a singular hit and that it for the air grouping of three.
   3. 1-7 is potential for additional hits necessitating an additional roll.
      1. This time 8-12 is a miss
      2. 7 yields a second it with no further potential
      3. 1-6 allows for another roll which requires a 6 or less for the third hit

 

Each of these hits is applied against the Mine & Torpedo Damage table immediately to the left.

 

Oklahoma has BA/BB armor. Crossing under that column with the die roll line indicates damage inflicted per torpedo hit. Aerial & 18” torpedoes (both apply here but don’t think we ¼ the result) only cause ½ hull per hull hit. Is this an odd/even die roll per hit or do you accumulate the fractions and THEN even/odd for the remainder?

 

In the event, the first three torpedoes sealed Oklahoma’s fate. The first torpedo hit her at 7:56; she was on her side by 8:08. In game terms, barring a fire, you need to an roll 8-9 successively for each of four torpedo strikes. It’s hard to sink her with the Hull hits halved.  

 

The Pearl Harbor raid is unique. At Taranto the Italians were at war and so were the Japanese at Truk. The US Navy didn’t know it was at war (Peacetime Sunday crews, AA unpreparedness including ammo locked away and open doors to watertight compartments). This absolutely contributed to the IJN’s results.

 

I think it’s a bit much to expect the standard “wartime rules” to replicate events from a singular peacetime day out of a conflict that spanned 1939-1945. Has anyone come up with mods to this scenario specifically? I was thinking :

 

• Not halving the hull hits (USN unpreparedness); and/or
• Adding adding one to the Mine/Torpedo Damage roll, (expert pilot/crew ratings) and/or
• Subtracting one from the Torpedo CRT for the same reason.

 

Then it occurred to me….Maybe I’m not doing the attack correctly? Hence this lengthy ‘grade my process’.

 

Thanks in advance for any responses,

 

Mike