The Japanese found Force Z on 10 December 1941 after both sides had searched in the wrong direction. Their force of roughly eighty-eight aircraft included about thirty-four torpedo bombers and attacked without fighter escort. The bombers had trained extensively for anti-shipping operations and reached the ships without fighters breaking up their formations. Massed torpedo attacks from opposing directions left the ships little scope to evade, even though their AA fire inflicted substantial aircraft losses and damage.
Chapter · 54:37-1:03:14
Why the historical Japanese strike overwhelmed Force Z
Eighty-eight highly trained Japanese aircraft attacked without an opposing fighter layer and saturated the ships from multiple directions.