Yet they were too vulnerable to maneuver alone without carrier protection. Battleships would slow the task force's speed from 30 to 17 knots. A secret "war warning" had been received from Washington - Japan was expected to hit "the Philippines, Thai, or Kra Peninsula or possibly Borneo" - and the carrier Enterprise was ferrying a squadron of Marine fighters to reinforce Wake Island. This was Pye's turn in, but Halsey was out on a special assignment that meant leaving his battleships behind.
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Normally they took turns - six might be out with Admiral Pye's battleship task force, or three would be off with Admiral Halsey 's carrier task force. For the first weekend since July 4 all the battleships were in port at once. the lights of the Pacific Fleet that shimmered across the harbor.Īnd there were more lights than ever before. the dance music that drifted from the club. The workshops, the big hammerhead crane, all the paraphernalia of the Navy's great Hawaiian base were hidden by the night the daytime clatter was gone only the pretty things were left - the moonlight.
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They were engaged, and the setting was perfect. Monica Conter, a young Army nurse, and Second Lieutenant Barney Benning of the Coast Artillery strolled out of the Pearl Harbor Officers' Club, down the path near the ironwood trees, and stood by the club landing, watching the launches take men back to the warships riding at anchor.