Drastically Modified Combined Fleet

Chapter 21 - Option

"Discovered a Japanese fleet consisting of two groups. A surface striking force comprising battleships, cruisers, and numerous destroyers. Furthermore, a mobile force centered around four aircraft carriers positioned in the rear."

When Admiral Halsey received the report from the SBDs sent out for reconnaissance, he had considered the possibility but realized that the situation he feared the most had occurred.

After the disarmament treaty, it was a general analysis within the US Navy's upper echelons or intelligence departments that the four capital ships Japan began constructing were battleships. Some, like Commander Edwin Layton, had suspicions that they might be aircraft carriers, but such voices couldn't become mainstream. In fact, the Imperial Japanese Navy already possessed a total of eight aircraft carriers, including the Sōryū and Chitose classes, with six outdated battleships.

Japan, a naval power following the United States and the United Kingdom, should be aware that battleships are the mainstay of a navy. Additionally, the budget for the shipbuilding plan known as the Circle 3 Plan, presented to the Japanese Diet, allocated approximately 100 million yen per capital ship, a reasonable amount for a battleship but somewhat high for an aircraft carrier. Of course, if they were constructing a large armored aircraft carrier exceeding 30.000 tons, the situation would be different. However, building a small number of battleships would provide a better balance overall and prove more useful in practice.

Admiral Husband Kimmel, the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, also supported the assessment that Japan's four capital ships were battleships. Consequently, he chose to confront the Japanese fleet with only the two aircraft carriers, Enterprise and Lexington. However, that premise was completely overturned. The enemy had prepared twice the number of aircraft carriers, all of them large. Evidently, the advantage was with the Japanese carrier force.

Nevertheless, Halsey, together with the aviation staff, had already been considering an action plan for this situation. One option was to adopt a defensive stance. Engage in anti-air combat using all available aircraft, except those used for reconnaissance. The SBDs were state-of-the-art aircraft with good maneuverability when not carrying bombs. They were heavily armed with a 12,7 mm machine gun in the nose, making them quite formidable for dive bombers of that era. While it was acknowledged that they might be at a disadvantage against German fighters, it was deemed that they could operate as quasi-fighters against Japanese planes. With around 40 fighter planes and over 50 SBDs, there was a reasonable chance of intercepting and preventing the estimated 150 to 200 aircraft in the Japanese attack force.

Another option was a full-scale attack. Deploy all available aircraft against the Japanese fleet. By committing all fighters to escort the attack squadrons, we would inevitably suffer significant losses, but the Japanese fleet would also incur heavy damage. Considering the respective national and industrial strengths, a mutual weakening would clearly favor the Americans.

In any case, as the disadvantaged side, avoiding half-measures was imperative. Even if half of the fighter planes were assigned to the attack squadrons, and the remaining half were retained for fleet air defense, protecting dive bombers and torpedo bombers with approximately 20 aircraft each was uncertain, and defending friendly fleets was also precarious. With no ideal solution, it was necessary to sacrifice either offense or defense. In this regard, Admiral William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr., had no hesitation.

"Send out the fighters and torpedo bombers first. The dive bombers will follow. Throw every aircraft at the enemy fleet. Leave none behind."

At this time, the Enterprise operated F4F Wildcats, while the Lexington used F2A Buffaloes for fighters. However, both carriers employed SBD Dauntless for dive bombers and TBD Devastator for torpedo bombers. As mentioned earlier, the SBD was a state-of-the-art dive bomber with relatively good maneuverability, making it possible for the pilots to handle themselves even without fighter escort. On the other hand, the TBD was outdated, slow, and had poor defense. If targeted by enemy fighters, it stood little chance. Furthermore, the torpedoes it carried were twice the weight of the 1.000-pound bombs carried by the SBD. Despite this, the TBD's engine had lower output than the SBD's. Naturally, the performance of both aircraft in bomb or torpedo configurations was significantly different. Therefore, Halsey instructed to provide a strong escort for the TBDs.

Under Halsey's orders, 21 F4Fs and 18 TBDs took off from the Enterprise, followed by 27 SBDs. Similarly, the Lexington launched 20 F2As, 19 TBDs, and 26 SBDs. The 131-plane strike force had a single objective: the Japanese aircraft carriers, and that was it.