[ijeremiah]

Below are some WIP views of my first map modding project.


The Sakishima islands on the southern end of the Okinawa chain. 260KM square.


Iromote island.


Looking towards Ishigaki. There were three Japanese airfields here and another three on Miyako island.

(The link is inoperative) vic09-map.jpg

(The link is inoperative) vic09-1.jpg

(The link is inoperative) vic09-2.jpg

(The link is inoperative) vic09-4.jpg

Bombs from Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Avengers explode on Nobara airstrip, Miyako.


During the Battle for Okinawa (Operation Iceberg) the four fleet carriers of the British Pacific Fleet (BPF; known to the U.S. Navy as Task Force 57) provided about twenty percent of Allied naval air power.

The British Pacific Fleet was assigned the task of preventing the Japanese using the Sakishima Islands as a staging posts for flying reinforcements from China and Formosa (Tawian) to the main Okinawa Islands. The BPF flew twice daily bombing sorties, as well as fighter sweeps, to neutralize Japanese airfields on the three main islands of Sakishima Gunto, which it did successfully from March 26th until April 10th 1945. On the 10th of April it's attention was shifted to airfields on northern Formosa. The force withdrew to San Pedro Bay for maintenance on the 23 April. Although by then a commonplace event for the U.S. Navy, this was the longest time that a Royal Naval fleet of that size had been maintained at sea.

From the 4th of May, the BPF returned to action, subduing the airfields as before, this time with naval bombardment as well as aircraft. Several kamikaze attacks caused significant damage, but since the British carriers had three inch thick armoured flight decks, they only experienced a brief interruption to their flying program.

The BPF suffered from a number of logistic and technical problems compared with the better equipped US Navy. First the Royal Navy carriers weren't designed to operate in the stifling heat of the pacific, the hanger deck lacked ventilation, making working conditions nearly impossible during the day. Secondly to operate as a USN Task Force the fleet need to be maintained at sea for extended periods, with a pattern of two days on operations followed by a day replenishing at sea.

Unlike the Americans the Royal Navy had no purpose built oilers and stores ships, instead relying on an inadequate number of converted merchant ships with mostly civilian crew. Admiral Frasier, in charge of the fleet train, performed near miracle's but their were still many occasions when the fleet needed more that a single day to refuel and this in turn led to some minor disruptions to operations as Task Group 52.1 of the USN was required to cover in the BPF's absence.

Ian

[Dixiecapt]

Bravo Sir, Looks Great! Nice to see a little more FAA Action Squeezed into the IL-2 PTO!

[fly_zo]

hi,

and welcome

nice looking map you have here

if you're interested in publishing your work please read :

(The link is inoperative)


regards,
Z

[VT-51_Razor]

Beautiful work! Can't wait to fly off the Illustrious in my trusty Avenger III against these airfields.

[ijeremiah]

Thanks for the welcome Fly_zo, I'll make sure it's submitted for publication when I'm done. Never having produced a map I can only guess at how long it will take. I've already spent over a week at it so it may be another two weeks or more if I'm not too busy with other things.

I got a lot of really useful info off this site:

http://www.adamsplanes.com/USS%20Gilbert...201945.htm

It details the crew and operations of the escort carrier USS Gilbert Island and their raids on the Sakishima islands in June 45.

I'd like some more information on the operations against Sakishima by Task Groups from T.F.58 in April and May if anyone can help.

Thanks all for your support and encouragement.

Cheers,

Ian

[fly_zo]

no pressure here m8


and thanks for the info ....

cheers
Z

[fabianfred]

you can take over the Japan/Okinawa map from me if you like....?

[Willy]

Below are some WIP views of my first map modding project.

Great news for FAA fans :!:

[RAF_Magpie]

Lookin good

Added to 'the list'

[ijeremiah]

My first airfield!

Miyara airfield on Ishigaki island.

[Willy]

Looking good

[duffys tavern]

Very nice indeed.

[CzechTexan]

Hey Jermemiah,
I'm going to love this map. I've been thinking about doing a British in the Pacific campaign forever but now it can be more realistic with your map. And it all started with a book I read long ago, CARRIER PILOT. Thanks for your efforts.

[ijeremiah]

I've been making good progress with the Sakishima islands but after some more detailed research I decided to include northern Formosa on my map. I had originally contemplated doing Formosa as a separate map after finishing this one, but I now realize that most of the kamikaze raids on the British Pacific Fleet originated from the airfields of northern Formosa.

The map now covers enough of Formosa to allow all of the Royal Navy operations while not being too big. The map measures 550Km by 300Km, with mountains of up to 4000m.

I may produce a full Formosa map in the future but it won't include the Sakishima islands.

I could really use some more reference on the northern Formosa airfield especially Shinchiku and Matsuyama.

[Baco1170]

Nice!
I love the fact that you decided to include Formosa! It gives the map lots of flexibility.
Formosa, later knonw as Taiwan.. .