With the U.S. battle fleet still recovering from the damage of the Pearl Harbor attack, it was left to the “supporting” fleet to take the fight to the enemy. Not one battlewagon engaged in any of these early Pacific raids, which were combination carrier attacks and bombardments. Carriers began to show their beyond-the-horizon capabilities and cruisers provided the biggest guns. Through the course of these actions, the United States was on the attack for the first time in the war. While the victories were not momentous and the losses were light, the raids represent the first steps of the rise of the carrier as the new “ship of the line.”
The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) disseminated a narrative and evaluation of the early 1942 raids in January 1943. This formerly classified publication is available in the Navy Department Library Online Reading Room. The Naval History and Heritage Command republished the comabt narrative in 2017 in observance of the 75th anniversary of World War II. Click the cover image at right to download the PDF.
Read Full Article »