On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a brutal assault on the United States’ primary naval base at Pearl Harbor. This preemptive strike aimed to cripple the bulk of the US Pacific Fleet and succeeded in damaging all eight battleships at the base, sinking four of them. However, one critical component of the Pacific Fleet was missing that day: the aircraft carriers. By sheer coincidence, all three US carriers were on missions elsewhere when the attack occurred.
The devastation caused by the Japanese attack was staggering, with all eight battleships either severely damaged or sunk, along with major damage to three destroyers and three cruisers. The attack claimed the lives of over 2,300 US service members.
Japan failed to eliminate the American aircraft carriers but remained unconcerned, believing that battleships would continue to be the dominant force they had been in the past. However, the very carriers they overlooked ultimately sealed their fate, serving as the key instruments in driving Japanese forces across the Pacific.
One such carrier, the USS Enterprise (CV-6), was originally scheduled to be at Pearl Harbor on the day of the attack. In the weeks leading up to the assault, however, the Enterprise, under the command of Vice Admiral William Halsey Jr. embarked on a top-secret mission to Wake Island.
William “Bull” Halsey exemplified the tough, determined leadership characteristic of the U.S. Navy during WWII. Beginning the conflict as a vice admiral, he rose to the esteemed rank of five-star fleet admiral, becoming one of only four individuals in U.S. Navy history to achieve this distinction.
A secret mission to Wake Island
Although the assault on Pearl Harbor is one of history’s most famous sneak attacks, the deteriorating relationship between Japan and the US was no secret.
In the weeks leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, tensions between the US and Japan were high, and the US was concerned that Japan would launch an attack on their territory somewhere in the Pacific. Intelligence at the time suggested that this attack would occur on Wake Island and would be a surprise, a technique they had used many times before.
Wake Island had recently been reinforced by a Marine Corps garrison, but this would not be able to hold off a large-scale attack. Because of this, Admiral Kimmel assigned Halsey on a top-secret mission in November 1941. He was to ferry reinforcements to Wake Island’s Marines.
To make the journey, Halsey took Enterprise, nine destroyers, and three heavy cruisers. The vessels were designated “Task Force 8.”
Naturally, the US did not want Japan to know about the mission, so Halsey had to make it to Wake Island without being discovered. This was a tough task, as the island is closer to Tokyo than it is to Hawaii.
Halsey was expecting war, so Task Force 8 would sail to Wake Island under war conditions. His aircraft was armed, his ships prepared their guns and his men stood at the ready. There wasn’t supposed to be any civilian shipping between Pearl Harbor and Wake Island, so Halsey told his men to “sink any shipping sighted, shoot down any plane encountered.”
Halsey was fully prepared to kick off a war between the US and Japan himself. When he was questioned on who would take responsibility for starting a said war, he proclaimed, “I’ll take it! If anything gets in my way, we’ll shoot first and argue afterwards.”
Halsey and his war-ready task force reached Wake Island without detection on December 4, offloaded their cargo, and began the return journey home.
Enterprise is spared
The task force was scheduled to arrive back at Pearl Harbor on December 6, which, unknown to them at the time, would have meant Enterprise would be sitting pretty when Japan attacked the next day.
However, Task Force 8 encountered a storm on their return trip, which slowed them down and split a destroyer’s seam, adding to the delay even more. Because of this, the group would not reach Pearl Harbor until 7:30 on December 7 at the very earliest. The ships were then delayed again while refueling, bumping their arrival even further to midday.
Because of these random occurrences, the vessels in Task Force 8 were not present when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, allowing them to fight another day. This would come back to haunt the Japanese, as Enterprise would go on to battle them through the Pacific. By the war’s end, she had collected 20 battle stars and was the US’ most decorated ship, having destroyed almost 1,000 aircraft and sunk 71 vessels.
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The Japanese announced that they had sunk her three times, with Enterprise coming back each time, earning her the nickname “The Grey Ghost.”