Sōkai Kessen - Decisive Battle of the Blue Seas

15. Incursion of the Raiders

The 1st Raiding Unit under the Yamato, continuing its voyage towards Truk, spotted Admiral Halsey's American surface gun battle group at 23:14 on the 14th. At this moment, the 1st Raiding Unit had transitioned its fleet formation from daytime ring formation to nighttime attack formation in preparation for a night battle against the enemy fleet. From an aerial perspective, the formation consisted of a triple-line arrangement with a center and two wings. In other words, the battleship fleet, including Yamato, Musashi, Nagato, and Mutsu, was positioned in the center, while cruisers and destroyers were positioned on the wings. In a sense, this marked the first opportunity for the Imperial Japanese Navy to adopt the attack formation envisaged in pre-war gradual intercept operations.

The moon on this day was approximately twenty-two days old, with a crescent moon hanging in the night sky over the South Seas. The first ones to spot the enemy presence were the No. 22 radars on the flagship Haguro of the 5th Cruiser Division, responsible for the fleet's left flank, and on the flagship Yahagi of the 2nd Destroyer Squadron.

"Bearing 70 degrees, distance 270 (27.000 meters) confirmed!"

"The Americans have finally shown themselves."

Upon hearing the report from the radar room on the night battle bridge of the light cruiser Yahagi, Rear Admiral Mikio Hayakawa, commander of the 2nd Destroyer Squadron, muttered with a confident tone.

"It's been a year since the Solomons."

He had faced the British Royal Navy as the captain of the Yamashiro in the Indian Ocean, and this encounter marked the first confrontation with the US Navy since the Fourth Battle of the Solomons.

"It seems that even Yamato has detected the enemy fleet! They have ordered each ship to launch spotter planes."

"Captain, let's launch ours as well."

"Sir!"

Hayakawa issued the order to Captain Matake Yoshimura of the Yahagi. Shortly thereafter, two E13A reconnaissance seaplanes were launched from the ship's catapult.

Nevertheless, the fact that even Yamato, positioned tens of thousands of meters behind Yahagi, could detect the enemy fleet was impressive. Once again, Hayakawa was struck by the capabilities of the No. 33 radar installed on the Yamato. In fact, the No. 33 radar on the Yamato had displayed the enemy presence on the PPI scope at a distance of approximately 36.000 meters. Furthermore, over an hour earlier, the H8K flying boats of the 802nd Naval Air Group had successfully established night contact with the US surface fleet. By the time each ship detected the US fleet using radar, all personnel in the 1st Raiding Unit were in combat readiness.

"Orders to attack have been issued from the Yamato to our fleet and the 4th and 5th Cruiser Divisions!"

"Alright, Captain! Let's go!"

"Understood! Navigator, set the speed to 30 knots!"

"Yes, sir! Setting the speed to 30 knots!"

At this time, the left wing of the 1st Raiding Unit consisted of the Haguro, Myōkō, Yahagi, Shimakaze, Kuroshio, Kagerō, Shiranui, and Kasumi in that order. These eight vessels simultaneously began their charge, creating white crests in the waves. Simultaneously, on the opposite right flank, the vessels of the 4th Cruiser Division and below also began their charge. Here, the Atago, Takao, Maya, Chōkai, Umikaze, Kawakaze, and Suzukaze formed a single-column formation (note: The four vessels of the 31st Destroyer Division formed the direct escort for the main battleship force).