"Sounds like someone is having fun," I comment listening to the excited chatter over the radio from Roon.

"I glad someone is," Kaga replies dryly, "Its near impossible to get in through their air defence."

"Anything I can do to help?" I ask, looking back from my viewing position.

"Think you can steer the ship?" Kaga asks, "It'll free my attention so I can focus on the air group."

"Can do," I answer stepping back inside and taking up position at the controls.

"Just keep us clear of their guns and turn us into the wind when I call for it," Kaga instructs.

As I adjust course slightly to stay out of range from the enemy, I scan across the battlefield to where the heaviest concentration of action is taking place. As I watch on, a group of dive bombers streak down through the smoke screen heading directly at one of the enemy carriers.

In an instant a bright blue flash surrounds the enemy carrier and the attacking aircraft vanish in a bright burst of flame.

"This is insanity!" Kaga shouts in frustration, "Every time!"

"Try a torpedo attack," I suggest.

"I get the same result," Kaga snaps in frustration.

'I suggest withdrawing the air attacks for a moment,' I hear Amagi call over the radio, 'We need to reorganise our plan of attack.'

"Is anyone having any success?" I ask picking up the radio.

'None of our aerial strikes are landing,' Amagi reports, 'Roon does appear to be having some effect on their left flank. She has separated several the smaller ships away from the main formation and is taking them on.'

Scanning in the direction of the enemies left flank, I spy the mini battle Amagi is talking about. Just outside the cover of the main enemy fleet, Roon is engaged in a one on six battle, with the smaller enemy ships attempting to circle around and attack from her blindside as she engages another of the group.

"Kaga, do you have any dive bombers ready to strike?" I ask.

"I need another minute to reload," Kaga replies, "Check with Akagi."

Keying the radio once more, "Akagi, do you have any dive bombers ready for a strike?"

'I have three up in the air,' Akagi answers, 'But I don't see an opening to get at their carriers.'

"Forget the carriers for the moment," I say, "Do you see the group circling around Roon?"

'What a perfect target,' Akagi croons menacingly, 'They aren't paying any attention to the skies.'

"Exactly," I comment.

In the skies overhead, a trio of Val's break away from the aerial engagement raging above the enemy fleet and climb up through a small bank of clouds to cover their approach. As I watch on, Roon fires another barrage at close range on one of the small escorts that had darted in too close.

On the far side of this battle within a battle, another escort attempts to sneak in closer, only to be met a spread of torpedos that had been launched to counter this attack. The enemy escort hastily changing course to avoid, however numerous tell-tale impact splashes signal at least three good hits along the length of the vessel.

In the confusion, another of the escorts attempts to turn in underneath Roon's main guns, only to have Akagi's dive bombers unload their payloads at point blank range before climbing back into the cloud cover and safety from any return fire.

As the smoke rises clear from Akagi's victim, its apparent that the enemy vessel is out of the fight. I can visibly see several fires raging the length of the ship and most of the upper super structure is such a badly twisted mass it is barely recognisable as having once been part of a fully functioning ship.

On the far side of the skirmish, the vessel that Roon had managed to strike with a spread of torpedos had rolled over and was rapidly sinking stern first into the Pacific.

"I'm ready to launch another strike group," I overhear Kaga call out.

With a quick check of the wind indicator flying from a post near the bow, I turn the ship into the wind. Outside I hear the roar of engines as a dozen Val dive bombers rapidly line up and race along the length of the flightdeck before climbing for the skies.

'Incoming aircraft!' Pensacola calls over the radio.

Beneath my feet I feel the engines several decks below power up as Kaga increases speed. Scanning the skies, I quickly spy the incoming threat and make a hasty direction change to cross under the incoming aircraft's flightpath to disrupt their attack run.

Keeping a constant watch on the aircraft now circling just beyond the effective range of Kaga's Anti-Aircraft guns, I begin to make rapid course changes in an attempt to discourage the enemy from launching a strike against us.

Over the radio I hear Bogue call out, 'I have fighters heading in your direction Captain.'

Continuing to scan the skies above the Kaga, I spy the small squadron of fighters Bogue had launched. As I watched on the enemy bombers scatter in numerous directions away from the Kaga.

Taking this opening I change course once again. Overhead I can faintly hear the rattle of machine gun fire over the roar of the engines from the attacking fighters. With another rapid scan of the ocean, I spy the battlecruiser Amagi closing in on our position of a reverse parallel course, with all her anti-air guns hammering away.

"Break to Port!" Kaga calls out.

Rapidly turning the wheel, the ship rolls heavily into the turn. Outside flaming debris from numerous enemy aircraft rains down around the ship, with several large pieces splashing down narrowly missing. From behind the ship, I hear the roar of large calibre guns. Mere moments later I feel the reverberations from the gun fire as the shockwave spreads out.

Looking in the direction of the enemy fleet, I observe several blue flashes as the rounds that Amagi had fired impact with whatever shield the enemy appeared to be using to deflect our attacks. However at least one round had managed to find a gap in this armour as an explosion erupts on the deck of one of the carriers, hurling debris in all directions and causing a massive fire to break out sending a huge smoke column skywards.

"So, they are not entirely invincible," I comment aloud.

Another scan across the battlefield reveals that Roon has managed to disable the final enemy ship from the mini battle group that broken away from the main fleet. Looking through my binoculars, I notice that numerous sections of her ship bear the scars of battle with evidence of several small fires from high explosive shells marking the hull.

Picking up the radio I call out, "Roon, are you still able to fight?"

'Of course,' I hear Roon giggle over the radio, 'This is just starting to become fun.'

Shaking my head in astonishment that anyone could find this situation to be fun I keyed the radio once more, "Great. Think you can lure a couple of the heavier escorts away from the front formation?"

'Anything for you Captain,' Roon replies sweetly.

"What are you planning?" Kaga asks.

"On being unpredictable," I answer.


From my position at the helm of the Kaga, I studied the response from the enemy fleet as Roon charged head-long towards the left flank of the formation, before turning away to retreat out of effective gun range.

On the fourth such feint, as Roon turned away she fired a wide spaced broadside, before cutting back under the smoke cloud and charged across the face of the formation.

"Kaga, try an attack run now whilst they are distracted." I instruct.

I only hear the start of Kaga's reply, before the deafening report of Amagi's main guns echoes across the waves.

In the distance, I observe that at least one of the enemy Roon had fired upon was ablaze, and as I scan across the formation watching Roon's progress, several dive bombers streak down out of the clouds ahead of her charge, before dropping their payloads and climbing away.

With the enemy distracted by the jet-black coloured cruiser charging across their bows, the enemy had for the moment at least forgotten the potential of an aerial threat, and several impact explosions ripped through the right side of the enemy formation.

The most telling strike however was from a pair of low flying bombers who had managed to get a clear run on the carrier Amagi had struck earlier. As both of their torpedos struck home simultaneously with such explosive force, the ship momentarily lifted clear of the water before crashing back down broken in half.

"Well that sure was effective," I comment quietly.

"Indeed," Kaga agrees stepping forward, "They will learn from that however. It will not work a second time."

Keying the radio, "Can I get a status report on the lead element of the enemy forces?"

'They are down to three active carriers,' I hear Amagi reply, 'And it appears that they still have four of their heavy cruisers, six light cruisers and a lone destroyer.'

"And the second formation," I ask, "Are they still sitting back?"

'For the moment,' Amagi replies, 'Although the distance between the two fleets is growing.'

'What now?' I hear Akagi ask over the radio, 'They've stopped paying attention to Roon and are harassing our fighters and bombers again.'

"Try to keep their attention on your aircraft," I reply, "It's possible we might find an opening elsewhere."


"This isn't working," Kaga comments aloud.

"You're right," I reply, "All we have achieved over the last thirty minutes is widening the distance between the two fleets and fallen back closer to Midway."

Turning away from the helm, I step back to the chart table in the hope that somewhere in the various notes hastily scribbled down on the chart an answer to breaking through the enemy formation will emerge.

Finding no inspiration or theories in the notes, I turn my attention back to the enemy fleet, who appear to be content to stand off at a distance, despite the numerous feints and probing attacks from Roon.

"I'm out of ideas," I comment aloud.

'Aircraft! Twelve o'clock!' I hear Pensacola shout a warning over the radio.

A quick glance skywards out through the forward bridge window, I spy a small group of the enemy aircraft streaking out through some low-lying clouds straight for the ship. "Kaga! Evasive manoeuvres!" I call out, knowing I am too far from the helm to react in time.

As I say this, I start to move towards the helm out of instinct. Just beyond, I can see Kaga standing there, seemingly frozen in place, "Kaga turn us away!" I call out again.

No response.

Another quick glance out through the window, I can see the lead aircraft are already pulling up from their dives, having released their payloads which at this distance appear like tiny specks of light falling at an alarming rate towards the deck.

Realizing it is far too late to evade the incoming assault, my focus switches to survival, sprinting past the helm, I crash heavily into Kaga who is still standing motionlessly staring in wide-eyed horror at the incoming bombers, unceremoniously throwing her to the deck crashing down on top of her as the first bomb smashes through the leading edge of the deck, before exploding on impact with one of the numerous structural beams supporting the flight deck.

Mere moments after the initial explosion, a second and then a third rip through the ship as more bombs hit the mark.

Groggily rolling over to lie flat on my back, I take a deep breath and start to cough violently. Slowly regaining my feet, I look firstly out through the shattered bridge windows to find the leading third of the flight deck either ablaze, twisted open like a tin can, or in the case of the forward elevator, completely missing.

A scan along the length of the deck reveals numerous fires raging unchecked.

Crouching back down, I gently shake Kaga by the shoulder. After a moment her eyes slowly open, "What happened?" she utters softly.

"Worry about that later," I comment, "Are you okay?"

"I've felt better," Kaga replies weakly.

Holding out a hand, I help her to her feet, "Any chance you can control these fires?" I ask.

"I don't know," Kaga admits, "But I'll try."

"Good enough for now," I say scanning the ruin of the bridge around us. Finding the radio under a pile of glass, I pick it up, "Can anyone hear me?"

'You're alive!' I hear Akagi exclaim in reply.

"I think so," I reply with a small laugh, "Sure hurts like I am."

'I'm coming over,' Akagi says.

"No stay there," I instruct, "We need cover right now. Kaga is trying to get the fires under control."

'I've got you covered Captain,' I hear Arizona say in reply.

Behind me, over the background noise of the raging fires and continued gun fire as the girls renewed their attempt to break down the enemy fleet, I hear the faint chime of a phone.

Staggering deeper into the bridge over the piles of debris, I finally locate the satellite phone under what remained of the chart table. Answering the still buzzing phone, "Hello?" I ask.

'Captain. About time you answered. I was getting worried.' I hear a familiar voice on the other end say.

"Albert?" I ask in disbelief.

'Yes Captain,' Albert replies, 'Finally caught up with you.'

"What do you mean caught up with us?" I ask still in shock, "Shouldn't you be in Europe?"

'We left weeks ago,' Albert explains, 'Made contact with the rest of the team yesterday, and figured you'd need some reinforcements.'

"I could use a lot of things right now Albert," I admit, "But I am not sure how you can be of help right now. Besides, you could still be hours away from my position."

'We are within sight of your fleet Captain,' Albert answers, 'Can't say one of your ships looks in good shape given all those fires.'

Over the radio I hear Amagi call out, 'We have an incoming contact from the rear of the formation. It appears to be a lone destroyer.'

Climbing back forward through the wreckage of the bridge and stepping out onto the largely undamaged starboard wing, "That wouldn't be you on that destroyer would it, Albert?" I ask, almost knowing the answer before I finish speaking.

'Yes Captain,' Albert answers, 'I assume you will be aboard one of the larger cruisers I can see.'

"No Albert," I reply, "I am aboard the ship that's currently ablaze.'

Picking up the radio, "Stand down Amagi. The destroyer is friendly. Or at the least someone aboard it is."


Under the screening protection of both Arizona and Pensacola and being informed that Kaga was able to contain the worst of the fires, and despite the fact the ship was all but dead in the water we were in no immediate danger of sinking, I remained out on the starboard wing of the island to watch the approach of a lone destroyer flying a similar flag atop the forward mast as Prinz Eugen did.

As the destroyer closed to within hailing distance, I spy Albert standing outside the bridge next to a young woman, noticeably shorter than Albert who wears a determined look on her face.

"I really hope the help you brought is more than a lone destroyer," I call down, "Because right now we need a miracle."

"I can't promise any miracles Captain," Albert calls up in reply, "But I can promise more help."

"Sounds good," I answer, "Where is this extra help?"

"Already making its way through the enemy lines," the young woman replies confidently.

Looking to both in turn, waiting for further explanation to this comment. From behind Kaga calls out to me, "Akagi is reporting a new contact has just emerged in the midst of the enemy fleet."

"What does that even mean?" I query aloud to myself, stepping back on the bridge and walking over to where Kaga stands. Following the direction of her pointed hand, I reach for a pair of binoculars that had somehow remained unscathed from the attack.

Focusing the lenses, I was finally able to see exactly what Akagi had meant by that message. Floating just behind the remaining screen of escorts of the enemy fleet, floated a submarine.

As I watched on in silent wonder at this strange turn of events, from the conning tower a lone figure stood up having it would seem just moments before climbed from within the sub.

Even at this distance there was no mistaking the black officer's hat on their head, or the long blonde hair flying freely in the rising sea breeze. In a bright blue flash of light, the lone figure, now sported a full complement of guns attached via their rigging.

Turning the figure took aim at the nearest of the remaining carriers, and opened fire. At such close range hitting the target was a given, the resulting destruction from the impact a full broadside to the exposed hull of the enemy carrier however.

When the smoke finally began to disperse, aside from a burning oil slick where the ship once floated, nothing else remained.

'Take Cover!' I hear over the radio.

Instinctively ducking behind a bulkhead, I hear the drumming of numerous chunks of shrapnel raining down both on the ship and harmlessly into the ocean either side.

"What the hell!" I exclaim.

"Fuel or ammunition storage," Kaga comments, "Maybe even both."

Peering cautiously around the doorway after a moment, the sea where the carrier once floated was still ablaze, however the enemy fleet no longer held any sense of order, several of them where now scattered and coming under increased fire from Roon on the left and Prinz Eugen from the right who had taken advantage of the confusion.

A third carrier was now listing so far to starboard it was only a matter of minutes before it capsized, and the fourth was fully ablaze and sinking by the stern.

With the main element of the enemy formation now incapable of fighting, the remaining escorts who had managed to evade the constant barrage of fire from the two German cruisers, turned tail and retreated to the safety afforded by the second fleet, who had taken the opportunity to close the distance.

Over the radio, I hear Amagi instruct, 'Form up. We need to regroup.'

Turning to Kaga I ask, "How are you going with containing those fires?"

"I have all but one under control," Kaga replies, "I have almost got the fire in the parts storage bays out. And I will be able to divert my attention to the other critical compartments once that is taken care of."

Nodding my head to show I understood the gravity of the situation, I picked up the radio, "Amagi, Kaga will be out of the fight. We still have several fires we need to extinguish."

'Understood Captain,' Amagi replies, 'We will proceed with the next phase without you.'


Watching the opening gambit of Amagi's plan from the remains of the bridge as the Kaga drifted idly on the low swells of the Pacific, it was very clear that the enemy were quick studies. As the attempts to lure out some of the escorts away from the main body of the fleet failed to elicit any reaction.

Overhead the air groups from Akagi and Bouge also found little success as once again, whatever protective shielding the enemy was in possession of rendered the next to useless, as although a handful of bombs managed to find their way through the shields, they would hit targets that posed the least direct threat.

The only attacks that from this distance seemed to be having any effect, appeared to be from the submarine I had earlier observed when it had surfaced. After Bismarck had stepped off the boat and skated out to join the rest of the surface fleet, the sub had rapidly dived back below the surface.

The only sign that it was still in the area was the occasional water geyser indicating the impact of a torpedo strike. None of these hits, had so far broken up the enemy formation, who continued to hold their positions as they continued to stalk the fleet.

'Incoming aircraft!' I hear Pensacola warn over the radio.

"From where?" I ask.

'The are coming in from the North-East,' Pensacola replies, 'They appear to be heading straight for the other fleet.'

Scanning the skies, I eventually catch a glimpse of the incoming aircraft, "I don't recognize them," I comment turning to Kaga.

"From this distance, I can not be certain," she replies.

Turning back to watch the incoming aircraft, the formation breaks off into three smaller groups. As they race overhead, I catch sight of a white star on a blue background on the underside of both wings of the closest aircraft as it screams overhead, only a few metres above the Kaga.

'They are American!' I hear Arizona call over the radio.

"But from where?" I ask again still watching on as the squadron closes the distance on the enemy fleet before releasing their payload of torpedos and breaking away.

'More incoming!' Pensacola calls out, 'Dive bombers!'

From above the distance fleet through the clouds over three dozen aircraft streak down in a steep dive. Just as quickly as they had appeared from above the clouds, they released multiple bombs that were attached below the airframes, before sharply pulling out of their dives and racing back for the cover of the clouds.

Still in a state of stunned disbelief at the rapid turn of events, I could only look on in amazement as the surprise nature of the appearance of an entire air group over the battlefield had clearly caught the enemy fleet off guard as well. As nearly every bomb and torpedo broke through the shield that had hindered our earlier efforts.

Chaos erupted within the ranks of the enemy as bombs exploded as they crashed through the decks of aircraft carriers and cruisers alike, combined with the devastating effect of the torpedos that had been launched from almost point-blank range.

With a blinding brilliant flash of light, the battle was over.

All that remained were numerous burning wrecks, listing dangerously threatening to capsize.

Only one vessel from the enemy fleet appeared to be unscathed from the encounter. Drifting aimlessly on the calm ocean swell, whilst around it the remnants of a fleet burned and sank to the bottom.

Picking up the radio, "Gather up anything of use from the wreckage." I instruct.

'There's not much left,' Eugen points out.

"Anything is better than nothing," I comment, "And it does appear that they left us an entire ship to salvage."