“As for Halsey, let him replenish, and then he can join Spruance when he’s ready.”
“But that may be too late to stop anything if they want to land troops on Efate.”
“Correct,” said Nimitz. “Halsey is sitting on the last fleet carrier we had afloat when the japs hit us at Pearl two years ago. That’s a lot of sting. Everything else we can bring to the game now, we had to build after they hit us. We managed to get three Essex class carriers in theater, and thank god for that, but I want to operate differently with them now. We don’t even have parity yet, so we play defense for a while longer. In some ways, these amphibious operations we rushed out last month still seem premature in my mind. Yes, they made good headlines, and the President loved it, but we weren’t really ready. So I want Halsey and Spruance together before we contemplate any move. If that means the Japs get troops onto Efate, so be it. When they withdraw, we move 8th Marines in to see their bet.”
“What about Bunker Hill?” said McMorris. “She’s brand spanking new, and sitting right out there in the harbor. For that matter, we’ve also got the other two Escort carriers, Belleau Wood and Long Island.”
“Those escort carriers need time on sea trials. I was going to use them to ferry planes to Pago Pago, and that will be all we ever use the Long Island for anyway. I also wanted to give Bunker Hill time to work up some steam,” said Nimitz. “But under the circumstances, she may have to get in the game early. Let’s give her to Ziggy Sprague. He’s already got the two escort carriers down near Wallis Island. I’ll want him to link up with Halsey and follow him down to meet Ray Spruance. Maybe it’s time we put some real metal under his seat.”
“One big happy family,” said McMoriss. “With Bunker Hill active, that will give us 436 Planes at sea.”
“Let’s hope they stay happy,” said Nimitz.
Chapter 3
The Japanese Operation Suriyoko (Thrust) would get underway on the 11th of March, as all the various task forces assigned began to make their rendezvous east of the Solomon Islands. Yamamoto wanted to make a wide approach towards Tuvalu, and then come down on Vanua Levu From the north. The waters in the rendezvous area were swept by long range Mavis seaplanes the previous day, to look for prying enemy subs or ships that might spot the Japanese armada.
That would be a fitting description of the force now getting underway. Admiral Hara had his flag on the carrier Taiho, with Tosa, and Junyo in attendance, along with the battlecruiser Kongo, two heavy cruisers and four destroyers. Admiral Yamaguchi was given command of Akagi and Soryu, with the light carrier Hiyo, two heavy cruisers and five destroyers. They would both be joined by Admiral Nagumo coming down from Truk with the Shado Force battle carriers: Ryujin, Kinryu, Kitsune, Gozo Kaya, and Gozo Kiryu. The Troop Transports would be escorted by Yamamoto himself aboard Yamato, with heavy cruiser Myoko, three light cruisers and nine destroyers. It was every fleet carrier the Japanese had, carrying 440 planes, and only three lighter escort carriers were on duty elsewhere. In effect, it was an operation on a scale greater than that devised for the Midway campaign, but the American fleet would also be much stronger on defense.
Admiral Halsey would have the Enterprise and Yorktown II, three heavy cruisers and four destroyers. He would be met by Admiral Ray Spruance out of Brisbane with Essex and Lexington II, with his cruisers and DDs in escort, and then Ziggy Sprague would come down with the newest fleet carrier Bunker Hill, and the two escort carriers Princeton and Independence. Admiral Lee would divide up his battleship squadron so that each of the three US carrier groups would have one in escort. At the same time, both Gettysburg and Vicksburg were now repaired and again escorting Marines to Efate, this time the 8th Regiment. They would boldly take up a position north of that island, barring the way between the landing site and Luganville, where the Japanese had dive bombers and Nell twin engine torpedo bombers.
Halsey was itching to get out to sea and into another fight, but Nimitz had made it very clear that he was not to do so alone. No attempt would be made to seek or engage the enemy until all three carrier groups were within easy supporting distance from one another. Their rendezvous point would be mid-way between Noumea and the Fijis, where all groups arrived on the 14th of March.
The first sighting report Hara received came in that same day from a Japanese submarine, indicating 1 carrier, two battle carriers, and two heavy cruisers. The intrepid sub Captain had it partly right. He had seen Gettysburg and Vicksburg enroute to Efate, mistaking one of the US APDs for a carrier. A US Catalina had better dope for Halsey a day later. He would learn of six Japanese carriers of various types cruising west of Funatfuti, which seemed rather far afield considering the US intelligence estimate of Japanese intentions.
“Now that can’t be right,” Halsey said to his new Captain aboard the Enterprise, Osborne Bennett Hardison, or simply “Ozzy” for short. “This report has the Japs some 600 miles east of where they should be.”
“Well,” said Hardison, “If they were where they should be, I wouldn’t want to be aboard those transports headed for Efate now. Six carriers? That’s a lot of wallop.”
“HYPO said they’re up to no good,” said Halsey. “That’s probably what spooked Nimitz. He wouldn’t let me take the gloves off until Spruance and Sprague got into position.”
Captain Hardison scratched his head. “600 miles is a good long haul. If they went that far east, then they did so for a very good reason. Could HYPO be screwed up on the target of this big Jap operation?”
“Stranger things have happened,” said Halsey.
“Maybe the pilots got it wrong,” said Hardison, but either way, Halsey had his carriers all within arm’s reach, and now he had a decision to make.
“Let’s wait and see if the intel firms up. We’ll wait here tonight and get squadrons ready for action.”
So far things had been very quiet, but eight hours later a combat report came from Gettysburg, and Halsey’s first thought was that he had waited too long. He had images of all those Japanese dive bombers descending on the 8th Marines, and with only those two brave battle carriers there to try and cover them. Yet when he looked at the message, he realized this enemy strike could not have come off the decks of six carriers.
“Why, they got hit with a dozen Vals and a handful of Nells. There was no more than seven or eight Zeros flying cover. That had to come from Luganville.”
“Then where are those six Jap flattops?”
Halsey rubbed his chin, his eyes dark beneath those big grey brows. “Come to 45 northeast. Signal all groups to follow.”
A sixth sense told him that if the Japs were that far east, then they wanted the Fijis, and he was going to head northeast to cover those islands just in case. He was looking for trouble, but with seven carriers bearing 400 planes, he would be ready for it. Even as he gave that order, the Japanese carriers were turning southeast, intending to interpose themselves between the American carriers and the troop transport convoy, which Yamamoto was taking further east towards Wallis and Funafuti Islands. That was going to set up a collision at sea, and it would all happen on the 17th of March.