Admiral Nimitz, who took over as the new Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, replacing his predecessor who had been dismissed over the defeat in the Battle of Wake Island, overlooked Pearl Harbor from the Pacific Fleet headquarters. Before the war, Pearl Harbor was crowded with battleships and aircraft carriers. However, now only a few small boats remain for harbor defense, with no sight of auxiliary vessels like cruisers and destroyers, let alone capital ships. The only exception was the target ship Utah, assigned the role of absorbing attacks in case of a Japanese air raid.
The last fleet in the Pacific had already left Pearl Harbor and was currently cruising in the waters east of Oahu. It consisted of two new battleships, the Washington and the North Carolina, accompanied by two light cruisers and sixteen destroyers. Ideally, they would have wanted more cruisers and destroyers, but the loss of nine heavy cruisers, four Brooklyn-class light cruisers, and forty destroyers in the Battle of Wake Island made any reinforcement impossible. In the event of a naval bombardment on Oahu by the Japanese fleet, these twenty ships and the artillery group known as the Oahu Fort would be the island's last line of defense.
Nimitz, truth be told, didn't have high expectations for these fleets and fortifications. Since the beginning of the war, the decisive factor has been aerial combat, and he understood that the balance tilts significantly based on air superiority. Although the reinforcement of Oahu's air capabilities, which Nimitz had hoped for, has been slow, recent developments have changed the situation. The cause was a message from Japan. Surprisingly, the Japanese military had provided advance notice of an attack on Oahu, requesting the swift evacuation of civilians from the United States government. Some considered it a Japanese trap, suggesting a stronger defense of Australia instead. However, the fact that Japan had also shared similar information with the American media made the latter possibility less likely.
Due to these changing circumstances, Oahu's air capabilities have significantly strengthened. Old fighter planes like the P-26 and P-36, which had over forty aircraft before the war, are now gone. The P-40s and F4Fs, which were newer and more powerful than the P-26s and P-36s, were seen as no match for the Zero fighters, which had been beating them to pieces. In their place, nearly 100 P-40s, a more modern and high-performance aircraft, have been sent to Oahu by the Army. This is a doubling of the previous strength, as there were only 99 P-40s on Oahu before the war. The Marines have also relocated fighter planes from bases like Midway to Oahu. Regarding Midway, it should have been able to operate at least 100 aircraft, but it was clear that this would not be sufficient to resist Japan's mobile fleet. Therefore, leaving behind intelligence agents and evacuating all other personnel seemed to be the only option.
Like the Army and Marines, the Navy has sent 27 F4F Wildcat fighter planes to defend Oahu. However, Nimitz was displeased that these aircraft belonged to the aircraft carrier Hornet. Deploying carrier-based pilots for air superiority battles was unconventional, but the Navy couldn't afford to stand by without contributing while the Army and Marines took charge. For the Navy, the Army and Marines are rivals in the competition for the military budget, and not participating here would leave a very bad impression on President Roosevelt and lawmakers. Moreover, this battle is referred to as the revenge of the Pacific Fleet, and despite the inappropriate use of carrier-based fighter squads, there was no alternative, and the Navy had no choice but to provide the Hornet fighter squadron.
Like fighter planes, bombers have also undergone significant changes. The outdated B-18 is no longer in service, and instead, the number of B-17s, which were scarce at the start of the war, has increased dramatically, with nearly 100 now deployed. In addition to the Army planes, which are not adept at naval attacks, the Hornet has 36 SBDs, and the Marines have deployed nearly 30 carrier-based bombers such as SB2Us and SBDs to various bases on Oahu. Furthermore, flying boats responsible for anti-submarine patrols and crew rescues, as well as transport and liaison planes to maintain base functions, are also being reinforced, similar to fighter planes and bombers.
Nevertheless, Nimitz cannot be optimistic; rather, he is pessimistic. It was estimated that there would be 12 incoming Japanese carriers. Assuming each carries 20 fighter planes, that's 240 planes, or 360 if they carry 30 each. While it's unlikely they carry as many as 40 each, the total is still expected to exceed the number of fighter planes on Oahu. The advantages for Oahu are considered to be its status as an unsinkable aircraft carrier and its high aircraft repair and maintenance capabilities. The less positive reason is that rescuing downed pilots is relatively easy.
Reports from residual intelligence agents at Midway have indicated that the Japanese fleet has already launched an attack. The Japanese fleet reportedly used numerous carrier-based aircraft to devastate the airfields and military facilities on Midway with a single strike.
"If only there were six more months," Nimitz couldn't help but think.
If there were six more months, both the naval and air forces would be considerably strengthened. However, the Japanese military did not wait, and Nimitz could do nothing. This battle is essentially a showdown between the Japanese fleet and the Army Air Forces.
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Aviation-Centric Combined Fleet
Historical Fiction「It is no longer the era of battleships. From now on, airplanes are the mainstay of the Navy.」 Which one is it? The doctrine of big ships and big guns or perhaps air power? The power struggle within the Navy, however, takes an unexpected turn. Due t...
