At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US had a total of 7 fleet carriers of which
3 were in the Pacific Theater. Admiral Yamamoto had hoped to destroy US carriers at Pearl Harbor,
but none were to be found . While Yamamoto lamented about not destroying any US carriers,
the US began to mobilize its carriers into task forces ready to strike back
at the Japanese. This episode will be on the early American Carrier raids of the Pacific.
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Fate played a pivotal role for the USS Enterprise as she narrowly missed being
caught at Pearl Harbor on the morning of December the 7th 1941. She was however immediately brought
to the frontlines as she had sent out 18 Dauntless at dawn to scout the area and land at Ford Island.
These aircraft were caught between the attacking Japanese aircraft and anti-aircraft fire from the
ships and shore installations at Pearl Harbor. 7 Dauntless were shot down from the Japanese and
friendly fire. When Enterprise received radio messages of the attack, she made the decision
to launch an airstrike at 17:00 consisting of 6 Wildcat fighters, 18 Devastator torpedo bombers
and 6 Dauntless bombers. Unfortunately they failed to find any targets and were diverted
to Hickam Field on Oahu. On top of not finding any targets, upon entering the night sky of Oahu
the Wildcats triggered a panic fire and 3 of them were shot down, killing their pilots while
a fourth aircraft ran out of fuel and was ditched. A rough start for the Americans.
One of the first carrier operations would be the relief of Wake Island which the
Japanese began to attack on December 8th. Admiral Fletcher’s Task Force 14 centered around Saratoga
was sent to relieve Wake Island while Admiral Wilson Browns Task Force 11 centered around
Lexington would undertake a raid on the island of Jaluit in the Marshall Islands as a diversion.
However while enroute to Wake Island, at 9pm on December 22nd the US received information
indicating the presence of 2 IJN carriers and 2 battleships near Wake Island, forcing Vice Admiral
William S. Pye to cancel the relief and redirect Task Force 14 and 11 back to Pearl Harbor,
another tough break for the Americans. In the Atlantic, Yorktown and Hornet departed
from Norfolk for the Pacific via the Panama Canal. Yorktown departed on December 16th,
reaching San Diego on December 30th and became the flagship for Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher's
newly formed Task Force 17 . Hornet was on a training mission just out of Norfolk and to the
surprise of her crew was experimented by launching B-25 Michell medium bombers from her Deck.
Her crew did not know the meaning of the experiment and she would depart from Norfolk
later on March 4th enroute for the Pacific. Task Force 14 replaced Admiral Fletcher for
Rear Admiral Herbert F. Leary and was sent to patrol the vicinity of Midway on December 31st
1941. Admiral Fletcher took Task Force 17 and escorted convoys carrying marines to reinforce
American Samoa departing on January 6th. Task Force 11 commanded by Vice Admiral Wilson Brown
set off to patrol in the direction of Johnston Atoll. Task Force 8 commanded by Vice Admiral
William Halsey Jr was sent to protect convoys reinforcing American Samoa on January 11th.
After patrolling and assisting convoys out of Samoan waters, Task Force 8 and 17 were dispatched
to raid the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. Task Force 17 would strike Jaluit, Mili and Makin
while Task Force 8 would strike Kwajalein, Wotje and Taroa. Task Force 17 was screened by only
2 cruisers approaching their objectives in the predawn darkness on February 1st.
At 4:15am Yorktown launched 11 Devastators and 17 Dauntless to strike Jaluit, while 14 Dauntless set
off for Mili and Makin. Enroute to Jaluit they faced a fierce tropical thunderstorm with many
rain squalls making for poor visibility. The aircraft managed to attack a few Japanese shore
installations and shipping , but 6 aircraft failed to return from the raid as a result of extreme
weather. Simultaneously 5 Yorktown aircraft attacked Makin Atoll also under poor weather. They
managed to destroy 2 large Kawanishi “Mavis” H6K flying boats and severely damaged gunboat Nagata
Maru. The last aircraft attacked Mili Atoll, but the pilots found no real military targets. While
searching for ditched aircraft returning from the Jaluit raid, Yorktown’s destroyer escorts which
had broken off from the task force were attacked by a Mavis flying boat and asked for her help.
Yorktown launched 6 F4F Wildcat fighters to intercept. Pilots E Scott McCuskey and John
P. Adams both closed in on the enemy aircraft firing simultaneously destroying it. Yorktown
ended up losing 4 Devastators, 3 Dauntless and 1 Seagull floatplane from Louisville.
Task Force 8 had the more difficult mission as it needed to neutralize a number of airfields to
give itself the best chance of escaping without suffering enemy airstrikes. The issue Enterprise
had was she lacked enough bombers to cover all the targets and thus she was forced to allocate 2
divisions of Wildcats with bombing missions. This meant that none of the Dauntless or Devastators
would have escorts. On top of this, she still would still not have enough bombers and thus
Cruisers, Salt Lake City and Northampton would bombard Wotje whilst Chester would bombard Taroa.
At 5:00am Enterprise launched its first wave to hit Kwajalien consisting of 37 Dauntless and
9 Devastators , while 6 Wildcats went to Wotje and Tarao. As the force came over Kwajalien the
enemy began to launch A5M “Claude” fighters. The Dauntless bombed the grounded aircraft,
hangars and small buildings as Claudes intercepted them. 4 Dauntless were shot down,
2 by Claudes and 2 by Anti-Aircraft Flak. Meanwhile the 9 Devastators began to torpedo
the ships moored in the anchorage. They destroyed minelayer Tokiwa, transports Bordeaux Maru,
Yasukuni Maru and hit the cruiser Katori as she tried to escape, doing serious damage.
Simultaneously the 5 Wildcats reached Wotje and Tarao where they discovered several parked G3M
“Nell” bombers and Claude's launching to intercept them. 1 Claude was shot down as the Wildcats
strafed and bombed the airfield. The Wildcats sent word to the Enterprise to send more bombers,
thus 9 Devastators and 2 Dauntless squadrons followed up later bombing the airfields. Despite
the air attacks it was not enough to neutralize the threat and so Northampton and Salt Lake City
began to bombard Wotje, whilst Chester and a pair of destroyers bombarded Taroa. Several
Claudes tried desperately to attack the enemy and one managed to drop a small bomb on Chester
forcing the Task force to withdraw. Then 8 G3M Nells located Enterprise fleeing 100 miles away
and raced to bomb her as she launched 6 Wildcats to intercept. The Nell’s released their bombs some
as close as 30 yards away from the Enterprise, all missing. Enterprise's anti-aircraft fire
and her Wildcats took down 1 Nell before they withdrew. 15 Japanese aircraft had been destroyed,
with 3 IJN warships damaged and light to moderate damage was done to the 3 islands naval garrisons.
Task Force 8 lost 5 Dauntless, 1 Wildcat and 1 float plane from Salt Lake City.
Following the Marshall and Gilbert Raids, Task force 8 was sent back to Pearl Harbor
where Enterprise was re-assigned to Task Force 16 . Task Force 16 was directed to depart on
Valentines day of 1942 to raid Wake Island which had been occupied by Japan since December 22nd.
Task Force 16 arrived at the launch point on February 24th preparing to launch aircraft before
dawn. Enterprise launched 6 wildcats, 36 Dauntless and 9 Devastators set to reach Wake in 30 minutes.
Meanwhile Northampton, Salt Lake City, Maury and Balch had detached from the Task force
to bombard Wake. Japanese air searches detected the ships before they arrived
and 8 Nakajima E8N “Dave's” carrying small bombs attacked them hitting no targets. The
4 US ships then began to bombard Peale Island as the US aircraft arrived. The Dauntless of VB-6
bombed a seaplane base, sinking 2 H6K flying boats, hit a radio station and oil tanks. VS-6
and VT-6 together bombed wake’s airfield, hitting grounded aircraft and strafing gun positions.
1 dauntless was hit by anti-aircraft fire and forced to ditch off the islands coast,
both pilots were taken prisoner. The 2 cruisers also launched their Curtiss SOC Seagull seaplanes
which dropped small 100lb bombs on buildings on the north-west part of Wake. On their way
out the bombarding party shot at 2 patrol boats with Balch managing to sink one.
The following day Task Force 16 were ordered to raid Marcus Island situated 600 miles northwest
of Wake. Task force 16 proceeded to a point 175 miles northeast of Marcus and Enterprise launched
a strike group of 32 Dauntless with 6 Wildcats as escort. The strike force made it over the island
whilst it was still dark, so several Dauntless dropped parachute flares illuminating the island.
The Dauntless of VB-6 quickly bombed the runways, air facilities and oil tanks.
VS-6 followed this up by hitting a radio building under heavy anti-aircraft fire.
It turned out there were no enemy aircraft as the airfields were just under construction.
1 Dauntless was lit on fire from anti-aircraft fire and forced to ditch 10 miles off the coast,
both pilots were taken prisoner. The Japanese capture of Rabaul in early February
threatened the crucial San Francisco-Australian sea lane supply line. Admiral Chester Nimitz
devised a plane to solve the threat by sending Task Force 11 to raid Rabaul on February 21st.
The raid called for an air strike followed by a surface bombardment. As Task Force 11 approached
Rabaul due east on the morning of February the 20th they encountered an enemy patrol flying boat.
At 10:15am Lexington’s radar picked up incoming aircraft, so Lexington launched a 6 plane patrol
with 2 Wildcat fighters to intercept them. The patrol shot down 4 Kawanishi H6K4 “Mavis”,
but not before they had sent word back to Rabaul prompting Vice Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue to order
an airstrike from Rabaul accompanied by 4 cruisers against Task Force 11.
17 Betty's of the 4th Kokutai took off from Vunakanau airfield en route to attack. Task
Force 11 knew they had lost the chance to raid Rabaul and began to flee the area when at 3:42pm
their radar picked up incoming aircraft. Lexington launched 6 Wildcats to intercept,
followed by 4 more and held 6 in the air to defend her. 5 out of the first 9 Betty’s to
arrive were shot down , as the remaining 4 tried to bomb Lexington under heavy fire. Their bombs
landed 3000 yards short of the carrier as 3 more Betty’s were shot down at the cost of 2 Wildcats
who received returning fire. The last Betty tried to escape, but a Dauntless pilot shot her down.
The second formation of Betty’s were detected by radar at 4:49pm. With the majority of Wildcats
chasing the previous formation, only 2 Wildcats were available to confront this formation.
The 2 Wildcats made a series of high scale diving attacks on the Betty’s V formation managing to
shoot down 3 Betty’s and send 1 limping away. The remaining 4 Betty’s dropped their bombs
missing Lexington by only 100 yards each. As the Betty’s withdrew only 2 would make it back home
as they had sustained heavy damage and had to ditch. The Japanese had lost 23 aircraft, 130 men
at the cost of 2 Wildcats and a single Pilot for Task Force 11.
After the failed attempt at raiding Rabaul, Task Force 11 was redirected to join up with
Task Force 16 north of New Caledonia on March 6th. The Japanese had left Rabaul to
invade Papua New Guinea, anchoring most of their shipping off the villages of Lae and Salamaua.
Task Force 11 and 16 were ordered to raid Lae and Salamaua from the Gulf of Papua. This meant the 2
air strikes would have to fly over the formidable Owen Stanley mountain range, which would allow
the attackers to seemingly come out of nowhere. The 2 Task Forces sailed south of Port Moresby
and launched 104 aircraft. Lexington’s was first launching at 7:49am consisting of 8 Wildcats,
31 Dauntless and 13 Devastators. 20 minutes later Yorktown launched 30 Dauntless,
12 Devastators and 10 Wildcats. Lexingtons Wildcats arrived at Lae and Salamaua first,
finding no airborne aircraft, so they dropped small 30lb bombs on 2 airfields and strafed them.
The bombers went to Huon Gulf to hit the shipping where they found 3 transports unloading off Lae
guarded by 2 destroyers. The Dauntless bombed them with several hits, 1 Dauntless was hit
by anti-aircraft fire and crashed killing the pilots. 2 Dauntless went after cruiser Yubari
further out in the gulf hitting her causing light damage. Next to be hit was minelayer Tsugaru and
transports China Maru and Yokohama Maru. The Devastators torpedoed the transports off Lae,
but all missed having run too deep and passing underneath their targets,
whilst others ran erratically or failed to release from the aircraft . As Lexingtons group departed,
Yorktown’s arrived, her Devastators luckily were carrying bombs rather than torpedoes.
Yorktown’s Wildcats found no airborne opposition so they began to strafe airfields at Salamaua.
The Dauntless attacked Yubari hitting her 3 times, despite this Yubari survived limping
back to Rabaul. Next the Dauntless hit the 3 previously hit transport,
adding further damage. The Devastators then spotted the seaplane tender Kiyokawa Maru escorted
by the destroyer Mochizuki approaching from the north. The Devastators bombed the seaplane tender,
scoring a hit from 13,000 feet causing severe damage and destroying several floatplanes.
Kiyokawa Maru survived but was forced to return to Japan for extensive repairs.
Both air groups returned over the Owen Stanley mountain losing only a single aircraft.
Overall they sunk 3 transports, injured several ships and killed 130 Japanese .
In late April task force 18 and 16 would see one of the most incredible raids made during the war,
the Doolittle Raid of April 18th 1942. Enterprise and Hornet would launch 16 B-25 Mitchell Bombers
to hit Tokyo, demonstrating that the Japanese mainland was vulnerable to American air attacks.
This raid served as a retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor
and a major psychological blow to Japan as well as a boost to American morale.
To learn more about this please check out our upcoming episode on the Doolittle Raid.
The American raids had a major psychological effect on the IJN.
The IJN now believed the Americans were willing to risk their carriers to thwart further Japanese
operations in the Pacific. Admiral Inoue after the raid on Lae-Salamaua requested Japan’s Combined
Fleet to send carriers to provide air cover for an upcoming operation designated Operation Mo.
Admiral Yamamoto obliged him by sending a force of 2 fleet carriers,
a light carrier, a cruiser division and 2 destroyer divisions. The IJN would not allow
American carriers to raid so easily the next time. More episodes of Pacific War series on the way,
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