The First Team : Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway

757 Pages·2013·16.24 MB·English

by  Lundstrom

The First Team
THE FIRST TEAM
Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl
Harbor to Midway
By John B. Lundstrom
Naval Institute Press
Annapolis, Maryland
Naval Institute Press
291 Wood Road
Annapolis, MD 21402
© 1984 by the United States Naval Institute Reprinted with updates and corrections 1990
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
First Naval Institute Press paperback edition, 2005
ISBN 13: 978-1-61251-166-5
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows: Lundstrom, John B.
The first team.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. World War, 1939–1945—Aerial operations, American.
2. World War, 1939–1945—Naval operations, American.
3. World War, 1939–1945—Campaigns—Pacific Ocean.
I. Title.
D790.L8 1984 940.54′4973 84-9822
12 11 10 09 9 8 7 6 5 4
Dedicated to the memory of
Bernard Lundstrom, my father
and
Roger M. Rice, my brother-in-law and friend
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Special Note
Abbreviations and Special Terms
PART I The Early Operations
1 Introduction to War
The Fighting Squadrons: Missions, Men, and Aircraft
AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NO DRILL
Pearl Harbor Aftermath
The Sara to the Front
2 “We are in great need of a victory.” The Wake Island Operation
Initial Moves
The Disappointment
3 Interregnum
The Weeks of Futility
The Samoan Operation—The Yorktown to the Pacific
4 “This Sunday it’s our turn to shoot!” The 1 February Raids
Approach to Battle
Task Force 8 in the Marshalls
The Yorktown’s Strikes
Return to Pearl
5 The Battle off Bougainville: Fighting Three in the South Pacific
6 The Enterprise’s Central Pacific Raids
Return to Wake Island
A Visit to Marcus
7 The Lae–Salamaua Raid
Gathering the Forces
A Change of Targets
Withdrawal and the Lexington Home
8 The Tokyo Raid
Preliminaries—Introducing the Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat
The Advent of Fighting Eight
Six Hundred Miles from Tokyo
PART II The Battle of the Coral Sea
9 Prelude to Battle
The Yorktown in the Coral Sea, March–April 1942
Fighting Two to the South Pacific
10 Opening Shots
Coral Sea Preliminaries
Tulagi Strike
Gathering Storm: 5–6 May in the Coral Sea
The Inscrutable Enemy
11 7 May 1942
The Battle off Misima
Afternoon Reassessment
The Japanese Dusk Attack
12 The Carrier Battle of 8 May
The Searches
The Attack on MO Striking Force
“Hey Rube”—The Attack on Task Force 17
Return of the Strike Groups
The Loss of the Lex
13 Coral Sea Aftermath
“We are all short of oil, running like hell.”
Task Force 16’s Anabasis to the South Pacific
“Desire you proceed to the Hawaiian area.”
Coral Sea Combat Lessons
PART III The Battle of Midway
14 Getting Ready for Midway
The Reorganization of Fighting Three
The Carriers in Port
Midway—The Waiting
15 The Battle of 4 June
The Opening Moves
The Attack on Nagumo’s Carriers
The Japanese Retaliate
Retribution
Summary for 4 June
16 Midway—The Pursuit
5–6 June off Midway
The Loss of the Yorktown
The Sara Back to the Front
“How good land will look this time”
17 The “First Team” Graduates
18 Midway Lessons—The F4F-4 Controversy
PART IV Conclusion
Appendixes
1 The Making of Carrier Fighter Pilots
U.S. Naval Flight Training
Japanese Naval Flight Training
2 Fundamentals of Aerial Fixed Gunnery
3 Fighting Colors, Insignia, and Markings
4 Naval Flight Formations and the “Thach Weave”
5 Japanese Combat Methods
6 List of U.S. Navy Fighter Pilots
7 Bureau Numbers of Fighter Aircraft
Notes
Sources
Index
Foreword
The wit and comradery that the British muster so well in uncomfortable
circumstances sparkles in a ditty made up by Royal New Zealand Air Force
types to honor the USS Yorktown (CV-5) at a trying time of her existence. Our
flattop had put in at Tonga Tabu’s out-of-the-way anchorage so divers could
check the extent of underwater damage received in the Coral Sea battle. As an
added layer of security for the ship during this delicate operation, some of us of
her air group were temporarily based ashore in readiness to launch from a nearby
meadow that served as an airfield. We listened in good heart as the serenade
went on extolling that “fine tidy ship.” We were pleasantly surprised that here
were spontaneous sentiments that matched so well our private feelings for our
stout ship, our “home plate” in fighter director lingo. Bruised but not bested, she
was as clean and hearty as we could make her. There was plenty of fight left in
that high-stepping girl. The divers determined that with some innovative
patching she could fight some more—and she would!
By the time of this visit to Tonga Tabu, Yorktowners’ impression of the war
and their part in it was beginning to pall. Clearly, Japan was taking over in the
western Pacific. The Yorktown and the Lexington had presented the only serious
opposition to Imperial plans. Their assignment was simple: react, try to stop the
most serious advances. The reactive role, aside from its built-in perils, is
depressing and, over a period of time, is mighty rough on the good-humor
program, especially with no end in sight. The Japanese were winning, and they
seemed to be tireless. When the Lexington, after several weeks’ absence,
rejoined us in our own piece of the Coral Sea, our spirits leaped only to dive to a
new low as we watched her flaming death throes and felt the bone-shattering
blast that sent her to the bottom. Still there was pride and plenty of spirit in the
Yorktown. We had carried the fight to the foe and had stopped a baleful threat to
Australia. We knew great issues depended on our carrying on. There was