Cash-Loaded Fleet

Chapter 16 - Money and Escort Vessels

While Vice-Minister Yamamoto and Binta discussed topics related to the operation of aircraft carriers and the conversion of special mission ships into aircraft carriers, on the other hand, Minister Yonai had other matters on his mind. It was about the proposed mobile task force and the related personnel.

Assuming that, as Binta suggested, they were to form two mobile task forces with eight aircraft carriers, what would happen? First and foremost, they would need a top commander to lead them and a staff to support them. Since the mobile task forces are composed of two carrier divisions and the ships escorting the aircraft carriers, this is already a formidable fleet. Furthermore, the command of the fleet would be in the hands of a vice admiral serving as the commander-in-chief. In addition, the chief of staff, who is the head of the staff, would likely be a rear admiral for a fleet of this size. Also, the escort force would not be sufficient with just one destroyer squadron, so the command of this force would also be taken on by a commander who is a rear admiral. In other words, if they were to establish two mobile task forces, they would need at least six flag officers, excluding the carrier division commanders.

'During peacetime, the acquisition or expansion of flag officer positions is equivalent to wartime achievements. And if it's all six of them, that would be a great achievement.'

Many Imperial Navy officers aspire to advance in their careers. However, contrary to their aspirations, there are limited positions available. This is even more true for flag officers. The Minister of the Navy, who is the highest authority in naval personnel matters, is always troubled by this. It can also affect the motivation of officers.

However, if two mobile task forces were to be newly formed, the concerns would be significantly alleviated. This would allow two rear admirals to be promoted to vice admirals and four captains to be promoted to rear admirals. And to fill those vacancies, two captains could be promoted to rear admirals, and even four commanders could be promoted to captains. This would have a cascading effect, benefiting dozens of individuals with career advancement. Additionally, each of the two mobile task forces would require its own headquarters, so many mid-level officers who aspire to staff positions could similarly expand their opportunities.

'There is a noticeable shortage of mid-level officers like commanders and lieutenant commanders, but with this level of expansion, it should be manageable.'

While considering these thoughts, Minister Yonai contemplated the escort ships that would protect the aircraft carriers of the mobile task forces. It's not feasible to establish a mobile task force with aircraft carriers alone. They would need surface vessels to protect them.

As the primary escort for aircraft carriers, destroyers are the first that come to mind. They are lightweight and versatile workhorses for the fleet. Among them, the high-performance modern destroyers are highly regarded within the Combined Fleet. The First Fleet of the gunfire unit and the Second Fleet of the night battle unit would undoubtedly be unwilling to part with them. In this case, the only option for acquiring a large number of them would be older models like the Minekaze or Kamikaze classes, or possibly the Mutsuki-class. In any case, it's quite an issue.

At the end of the conversation between Vice-Minister Yamamoto and Binta, Minister Yonai asked the originator of the proposal for the new mobile task force about escort vessels.

"Let's create a new type of escort vessel, which can roughly be described as a destroyer with torpedoes removed and its main guns converted from horizontal guns to high-angle guns. These vessels will protect the aircraft carriers from enemy submarines and aircraft."

Both Yonai and Yamamoto easily visualized what Binta meant by these escort vessels. However, they had some doubts.

"While I understand the idea of using smaller ships to protect aircraft carriers, is it not extreme to completely remove torpedo launchers? You have to consider the possibility of unexpected encounters with enemy surface ships. It might be wise to keep at least one for self-defense," said a concerned Vice-Minister Yamamoto

Considering Yamamoto's input, Binta adjusted his proposal. "Alright, we can keep one torpedo launcher. However, we won't carry spare torpedoes. Since we know they will be exposed to enemy aircraft bombings and machine gun strafing, it's best to reduce the risk of torpedoes detonating."

With these conditions in place, Vice-Minister Yamamoto continued with more questions. "Satsutaba-san, you mentioned these escort vessels being somewhat like destroyers with high-angle guns, but what size and performance are you imagining for them?"

"In terms of size, they would be similar to the Fubuki-class destroyers. Those ships have three main gun turrets and torpedo launchers each along the ship's centerline, but in the case of the escort vessels, we'd replace them with four main gun turrets and one torpedo launcher. However, considering the need for good endurance, given their escort duty for aircraft carriers, they might end up slightly larger than the Fubuki-class. In terms of speed, they won't need to engage in close-range torpedo attacks, so 30 knots should be sufficient. That means, with modern boilers, two should be enough. We can develop engines with around 30.000 to 35.000 horsepower for them. In any case, engine manufacturing is the bottleneck for shipbuilding in our country, so we shouldn't aim for overly high horsepower."

The lack of manufacturing capability for boilers and turbines was a sore point for Japan. Although there were many in the Imperial Navy who advocated for individually excellent ships, Binta believed this was the nonsense of people who disregarded productivity and maintenance.

"Regarding other armaments besides high-angle guns and torpedoes, I believe we should consider importing and evaluating machine guns and anti-aircraft guns from various countries. Not only from major weapon-producing nations like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany but also from medium-sized nations like Switzerland and Sweden. They have developed good equipment as well. We should also prioritize anti-submarine capabilities. High-performance sonar and listening devices are essential. It would be a disaster if they were sunk by torpedoes while carrying aircraft. In any case, even if we start refining the specifications and design now, we should be able to assemble a considerable number by the time the carriers under the Circle 3 Plan are completed."

It seemed Binta was quite thirsty, as he moistened his throat with tea before continuing.

"Besides the escort vessels, I also would like to see anti-aircraft cruisers with superior anti-aircraft capabilities, equipped with seaplanes for anti-submarine patrols and pilot rescues. These should be able to achieve 30 knots as well. Ideally, we should deploy 16 escort vessels and two anti-aircraft cruisers for each mobile task force, totaling 18 ships. But realistically, this might interfere with other shipbuilding plans. So, we might have to compromise and aim for about half of that for the time being. In any case, we'll provide the funds for this."