Note: You can click on the image to see in full size. All images are AI generated. They are not perfect.
President Roosevelt needed a smart, aggressive, forward-thinker to lead a Pacific Fleet that was left licking its wounds and demoralized after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. . As were the American people. And he had just the man in his back pocket. Rear Admiral Chester Nimitz! His merits by this time in his career are too numerous to list here, but Roosevelt knew that he was just the man America needed at this time! It's said that Roosevelt said that Nimitz should "get his butt out to Pearl and stay there until our ships sailed into Tokyo Bay"! By the time he left Pearl Harbor, he was the only man to date to ever be given the rank of "Fleet Admiral" as well as the title of "Commander-in-Chief" of the Pacific. He was given command of all land, air, and naval personnel in the entire Pacific theater. Roosevelt was lucky to have had him in such a desperate time.
Nimitz knew that America needed to strike back quickly if he was to get the Naval and American morale boosted back up. He wanted people to know that although we had been hit pretty hard, we were by no means out of the fight! But most of all...Pearl Harbor must be avenged! His plan? Send two carrier task forces to attack naval, air, and ground forces in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands with a combination of naval airstrikes and ship-to-shore bombardment.
Task Force 17 led by Rear Admiral Jack Fletcher, would launch its attack from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. The second of the two raids would be conducted by aircraft of Task Force 8, which was directly under the command of Vice Admiral William (Bull) Halsey himself aboard USS Enterprise.
Sidenote:The USS Enterprise (CV-6) was a Yorktown class aircraft carrier and the sixth carrier built by the United States Navy. The Enterprise was the most decorated ship of WW II and earned 20 battle stars during the War in the Pacific, being directly involved in 20 battles including Midway, the three-month long battle for Guadalcanal, and the bloody Battle of Santa Cruz.
At the time of the raids, the Japanese kept both naval and air forces in the Marshall and Gilberts Islands, commanded by Vice Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue and Rear Admiral Eiji Goto. Naval air forces from the USS Yorktown aimed their attack upon the small islands of Jaluit, Mili, and Makin (later known as Butaritari). As our boys flew above these Japanese-held locations, they rained damage down on the enemy. Though by the raid’s end, only three Japanese aircraft were destroyed. And unfortunately, the U.S. itself took damage during the raid. Three attack planes and a floatplane were shot down by the Japanese.
USS Enterprise carried out air attacks on the islands of Kwajalein, Wotje, and Taroa – and shared results similar to the first raid. Cruisers and destroyers shelled the islands as well. The bombing raids and shelling of three Japanese naval garrisons sank three warships, damaged others, and destroyed 15 enemy aircraft.
Like the Yorktown attack, the Enterprise Task Force was not lucky enough to escape damage either. The Imperial Navy hit and damaged the USS Chester with an aerial bomb. Additionally, six planes that took off from the Enterprise were shot down by Japanese fighters.
The attack basically broke even as far as damage done to either side. While the US Navy got its feet wet so to speak, the morale boost both with the folks back home and with naval personnel was just what the country needed! Just as Nimitz had thought it would be.
From that moment on...the American naval forces followed one doctrine: ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK! America was now on the full offensive! Japan didn't know it at the time, but through a little luck, and a lot of hard fighting, it was about to have its proverbial butt kicked all the way back to Tokyo Bay by the might and determination of U.S military forces...and the will and spirit of the American people!
Comments