Moila Point - 18 April 1943

by MK Schwartz

Background: Early on April 18, 1943, at 7:45 AM, a G4M1 Betty bomber carrying Japanese Admiral Isuruko Yamamoto, commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy, was approaching Ballale off southern Bouganville for a scheduled 8 o'clock inspection visit of units on that island. While descending for landing, the flight was suddenly attacked by 2 P-38s of the 339th Fighter Squadron. How had they known to be at that point at that time, so far beyond the usual patrol limit?

Major John Mitchell, commander of the 339th, had worked out a million-to-one interception based on a message alerting Ballale of the Admiral's impending visit that was intercepted, decrypted, interpreted, and passed on to Admiral Mitscher, who took it Guadalcanal. Mitchell's plan worked (see following mission), putting 16 P-38Gs off the southwest corner of Bougainville (Moila Point) just as the Admiral's plane arrived. 12 flew top cover against an expected escort of up to 50 A6M3 Zeros from nearby Kahili or Buin airfields (they did not show). A flight of four were assigned the task of shooting down the Admiral's bomber.

When the attacking flight spotted the Japanese aircraft, they were faced with two bombers and a small fighter escort. The lead pair (Capt. Tom Lanphier and 1Lt Rex Barber) bore right in at maximum acceleration. Captain Lanphier turned away from the lead bomber and scatter one flight of the escort, while Barber turned after the lead bomber. The second pair lead, Lt Besby Holmes, could not get his large 310-gal drop tank to jettison, so he circled until the tank dropped off. His wingman, Lt. Ray Hine, went with him. After the tank finally dropped off, Holmes and Hine rejoined the action.

Can you stop Yammamoto?

Map: Blue Sky. Column 35 is the shore, with thick jungle starting immediately to the north. The jungle, being made of very tall trees, takes up altitude 0.1, making the minimum 0.2 to avoid a crash.

Set Up: Place the lead G4M2 Betty in hex 2815 facing SE, wings level, at speed 3.5, and altitude 2.0, with the second one in its rear arc, 1D10+3 hexes away (4-13), facing SE, at the same speed and altitude. Set up the Zeros as a two fixed formations (the Japanese still fought in vics): the leader of one vic within 6 hexes left of the lead Betty, wings level, facing SE, speed 4.0, altitude 3.8. Place the leader of the second vic within 6 hexes in the right rear arc of the trailing bomber, facing SE, speed 4.0, altitude 4.2.

Place two P-38G Lightnings in hexes 1119 and 1020, facing NNE, wings level, altitude 2.8, speed 5.0. The second pair of Lightnings enters on turn 6 along the south edge (10 column) of the board anywhere east of 1015.

All aircraft begin flying level.

Game Length: 20 game turns.

Notes:

1. The Japanese player notes down which G4M1 Betty is carrying Admiral Yamamoto. This will be revealed at the end of the scenario.
   
2. In order to lighten their load, the bombers carried only limited ammo for their guns. There are no spare magazines. The Zero pilots decided against carrying radios in order to save fuel.
   
3. The USAAF pilots are all Regulars. Both Japanese bomber crews are Regulars. The Japanese escort are all Regulars.
   
4. The Lockheed P-38G ADC is available from Uncle Ted's ADC Collection. The G4M1 ADC is available from Uncle Ted's ADC Collection.
5. The A6M3 Zero ADC was published in Air Power #45.
   
   

Aftermath

The US pilots flew nearly to the end of their fuel limit, and had a mere 10 minutes wait time available. However, Yamamoto's party was on time.

What happens next is a bit confusing, and prone to conflicting claims:

• Captain Lanphier claimed to have charged one vic of zeros, shooting one down, then looped back and caught the lead bomber over the jungle at a right angle, shooting off a wing just as two Zeros came at him. He flew on and lost them in the dust over Kahili airfield.
• Lt. Barber claims to have made two passes at the bomber, and seen it dive toward the jungle, but it witness the actual crash, then turned back to attack the second bomber. He was being shot at by the other vic of zeros when Holmes and Hine appeared.
• Holmes, finally free of the drop tank, and Hine came to Barber's aid by holding off the other escort flight (Holmes claimed two) and helped him against the second bomber, which crashed into the sea.
• Ray Hine did not return; his was the only P-38 lost in the action (although Barber's P-38 had 42 holes in it, as well as debris from one of the bombers). Ray Hine was last seen flying over the ocean with smoke coming from one engine.

The Japanese report no fighter losses, but such over-reporting is not a surprise.

Both bombers were indeed shot down. Admiral Isoruko Yammamoto died. The Japanese had lost the naval officer that had planned and led the attack on Pearl Harbor just 16 months before. Many historians believe that his loss ended any hopes by the Japanese of winning the war.

If you are curious about the history of this mission and the investigations that have attempted to confirm what happened, visit the Second Yamamoto Mission Association's web site.

Mission to Moila Point: 18-Apr-43

Background: Early on April 18, 1943, at 7:45 AM, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto's plane with a 6 Zero escort, was approaching Ballale in southern Bouganville for a scheduled 8 o'clock inspection of units on that island. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, he was attacked by P-38s from the 339th Squadron. Before his escorts could react, Yamamoto's aircraft started to burn and crashed into the jungle. The Japanese had lost the naval officer that had planned and led the attack on Pearl Harbor just 16 months before. Many historians believe that his loss ended any hopes by the Japanese of winning the war.

For the twin engine Lightnings, Ballale was almost two hours flying time from Guadalcanal and within 10 minutes of the limit of their range. They wouldn't be able to hang around very long waiting for their target. Their route was selected to keep them out of sight or radar detection of land, and was flown at 50 ft above the water. In addition, Admiral Yamamoto was flying from his headquarters on Rabaul only 1 1/2 hours from Ballale, so the P-38s left Henderson field on Guadalcanal 30 minutes BEFORE Admiral Yamamoto took off!

In a postwar interview, Major Mitchell said:

"At the time, I figured the odds at about a thousand to one taht we could make a successful intercept at that distance. Today, after years of thinking about it, I'd make that a million to one."

Mission Orders:

• US - Destroy the bombers at all costs.
• IJN - Escort Adm. Yamamoto to Ballale.

Special Rules:

1. When checking for interceptions, use the actual number of aircraft.
2. The actual bomber carrying Yammamoto is noted before the mission starts and is only revealed at the end of play.
3. The A6M3 Zeros of the original escort do not have radios as tehy do in the scenario version. The bombers have one magazine for each defensive gun.
4. The Japanese may be reinforced before, during, or after an interception, from the fighter air field at Kahili, where some 75 Zeros were based, a few minutes from the intercept point. Maj. Mitchell assumed the Japanese would send a sizable escort, as the US forces on Guadalcanal had for Secretary of the Navy Knox when he visited in February, and planned his attack accoringly. This rule allows for the possibility.

   The Japanese player rolls D10s to determine:

   • the size of an escort
   • where and when the escort appears
   • escort's altitude
     

   Roll 1D10	Escort is	Escort Appears	Escort Altitude
   1-4	No escort	Meet bombers before P-38s. Form up in vics within 6 hexes and 1000 ft. of the bombers. No altitude check.	Lead Bomber altitude +/- 300 ft.
   5-6	3 Zeros	Enter within 10 hexes of the NE corner of the board on Turn 1D3.	3000 ft +/- 300 ft.
   7-8	9 Zeros	Enter within 10 hexes of the NE corner of the board on Turn 2+1D3.	Same height as highest P-38 or less.
   9-10	18 Zeros, (two waves of 9)	Enter within 10 hexes of the NE corner of the board on Turn 5+1D3.	1500 ft above highest P-38

   Note the rolls and bring on the escort when appropriate during the combat phase. If the escort had already joined the bomber, remember to modify the Operational phase spotting roll if necessary.

5. Due to the entirely unexpected nature of the USAAF attack, the Japanese receive an additional +2 modifier for trying to spot the attackers.
6. The USAAF must fly the entire mission until box 24 at .1 altitude to ensure keeping out of sight of land.

Notes:

• The P-38Gs start with 1x165-gal fuel tank and 1x310-gal tank each.
• The Lockheed P-38G ADC is available from Uncle Ted's ADC Collection. The G4M1 ADC is available from Uncle Ted's ADC Collection.
• The A6M3 Zero ADC was published in Air Power #45.
• The historic mission was flown as follows:

  Leg #	Compass	Miles	Time
  1	265°	183 miles	55 min
  2	290°	88 miles	27 min
  3	305°	125 miles	38 min
  4	020°	16 miles	5 min + 16 min loiter ing
  5	090°	69 miles	21 min (Go to Kahili airfield to strafe if no intercept).

  
  

Variants:

1. No compression: 18 P-38G vs. 6 A6M3 (+ any escort), 2 G4M1.
2. Alternate escort determination: allow the Japanese player to select the size of additional escort by paying Victory Points equal to the Victory point cost of the number of Zeros +1 each. For example, 3 Zeros of additional escort would equal (9+1) x 3=30 points subtracted from the Japanese score before combat begins. Additional escorts must be bought in groups of 3. Additional escorts appear as determined in Special Rule 4 above.