Operation Mystery
3
0200 May 22nd 1946.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Yamashiro, In Transit.
Most of the troops that had landed on Maui had recovered from the landing, although some would take a few more hours to be combat ready. Ozawa would not wait for these troops as they could join in the attack on Pearl Harbour later if required. He did not wish to give the Americans time to reinforce the island and gave the orders to begin the attack across the narrow strait.
Imamoru and Banzai would lead the attack with the two Marine divisions supported by five other divisions. Rain made the task more difficult but the enemy mechanised division had not had enough time to dig in properly making it slightly weaker.
By 1600 hours, after fourteen hours of combat, casualties were mounting and the addition of shore bombardment support for the American defenders was slowly turning the battle in their favour.
At 0400 hours on May 23rd another American Carrier fleet entered the East Hawaiian Rise commanded by Admiral King. The modern Carrier USS Bunker Hill was accompanied by a Light Carrier and two Heavy Cruisers with only one escorting Destroyer Division. Fortunately for King the two fleets stayed at Carrier range with bad weather crippling operations. Again no major damage would result from a brief encounter that King retreated from as soon as he could.
The fight for Pearl harbour continued into a second day and by 1200 hours on May 24th the Naval Gunfire Support switched as both BB Divisions 1 and 2 began to open fire to support the attacking Japanese forces. The more exhausted Japanese troops had been withdrawn and three fresh divisions had joined the attack to increase the odds. The American defenders were still not looking particularly weak but the switch in fire support would make a difference.
Twelve hours later all of the troops involved were nearing total exhaustion but the battle continued. Losses were mounting for both sides but the Japanese Marines were still holding steady and forcing the attack home. The battle could still go either way even though the mechanised division was the only force contributing to the fight for the defenders.
The vicious fight for Pearl Harbour ended at 0400 hours on May 25th after seventy six hours of bloody fighting. Imamoru had won the battle and his relatively unharmed Marines headed for the enemy island. They were due to arrive in five days.
At 1100 hours on May 27th Admiral Stark's Carrier Task Force entered the Mendelssohn Seamount and immediately attacked the Japanese Combined Fleet off the coast of Pearl Harbour. Night would prove to be the deciding factor for a third time as little damage was dealt out by either fleet under bad Carrier conditions. It was just a matter of time before both fleets inevitably collided under ideal Carrier conditions.
Twelve hours after the first contact in the Mendelssohn Seamount Stark returned. This time it was daylight and the weather was clear. Four more modern American Carriers with superior doctrine would do battle with eight largely older Japanese Carriers which still had not upgraded their Carrier Air Groups.
Within an hour the primary targets for both fleets had been decided upon. Stark's Carriers picked out IJN Unryu while Nagano chose USS Yorktown. Both Carriers were already showing signs of bad damage with the more modern American Carrier controlling the damage slightly better.
