Admiral Hara’s little reign of terror had been a stunning success. He had hit Ndeni, sent Vicksburg and Gettysburg back to friendly ports with damage, found Spruance first and mortally wounded the Wasp, then smashed the landing force, sinking two light escort carriers, the brave defenders that had been America’s first light of hope with their little victory escorting the Pensacola Convoy against the French Pacific Fleet. In his mind, he had just avenged the deaths of Gozo and Mezu when Halsey caught them alone the previous year.
When Admiral Decoux got the news, he grinned ear-to-ear, and took out a bottle of the best wine he could find in the hidden larder at that plantation. He knew his fight here was not over, and it would likely not end well, but he was going to enjoy his last hours in nominal command of the New Hebrides Command while he could.
For his part, Hara now had a sighting report out of Luganville that informed him of Halsey’s rapid approach. Four enemy fleet carriers had been spotted, the new ships that had so bedeviled Nagumo’s 1st Carrier Division. He briefly considered whether he should remain on station and confront them, then remembered Admiral Yamamoto’s eyes as he asked him that last question. “Kong… now I put what is left of the fleet in your hands. Be cautious, but realize also that we must kill our enemy, not merely dissuade him from engaging us. Yet we cannot afford more losses. Can you do this? Can you win without losing?”
Hara made his decision. He had already won. Now he would make sure that he would not lose. As soon as his planes were recovered, he gave the order to turn northeast, heading out into the wide deep blue of the Coral Sea under a near full moon. The following morning Halsey’s heavy carrier group would reach the vicinity of Efate, but find no enemy to strike.
Hara would meet the oiler Toho Maru in the Coral sea to refuel his thirsty destroyers before continuing on to Rabaul. It was one of the most skillful defensive actions of the entire war, for which Hara would receive the grateful thanks of Admiral Yamamoto. The Second Battle of the New Hebrides would be a resounding Japanese victory, putting enough damage on the American fleet to make up for the wounds sustained by Kaga and Soryu. Most of the pilots that saw the Wasp after it was stricken believed it could not survive such damage, but it did, if only for a while.
Sherman put most of his crew over the side picked up by the destroyers while Alwyn and Monaghan stood ASW watch. Yet they would soon be outfoxed by one of the most successful Japanese submarine commanders of the early war, Commander Matsumura aboard the I-21.
He had scored his first victory against the American oil tanker Montebello, sinking that ship just before Christmas off British Columbia. Returning to the South Pacific, the I-21 had the audacity to shell the town of Newcastle north of Sidney, then nailed the USS Porter off the Santa Cruz Islands, the SS Kalingo east of Sidney, pierced the SS Iron Knight’s armor near Twofold Bay, and finally sunk the Starr King Liberty Ship near Port Macquarie. Cdr Matsumura would go on to racked up 44,000 tons, and now he was going to add two more ships and another 21,000 tons by first putting a torpedo into the Destroyer Aylwin, and then putting three more into the Wasp, right under the noses of that ASW patrol. The Monaghan made a furious counterattack, putting a couple depth charges close enough to rattle the sub and cause a few leaks, but Matsumura smiled, knowing he would evade and live to fight again.
Wasp went down four hours later, and Halsey was incensed. Just as it seemed he had gotten the advantage on his enemy, the Japanese got up off the deck with this daring and skillful sortie by King Kong Hara. “Damn,” he said under his breath to Captain Duncan on the Essex. “We thought we had them beat, and then we stuck our hand right into the beehive. It’s no surprise we got stung, and losing the Wasp was the worst thing that could have happened today. I should have kept Spruance in tight with me, and I let him slip off north to screen the landings. Thank God Enterprise took nothing but a scratch on the chin.”
“Vicksburg is headed for Pearl,” said Duncan. “Ziggy had the two CVLs out for a test run and he linked up to escort that ship safely home. But the damage to Gettysburg was bad enough to get her looking for any port in a storm. She went to Suva Bay. As for Hansen’s group, he’s alive, but both of those scout carriers went down in Mele Bay off Efate. All four scout carriers are out of the game.”
“A damn shame,” said Halsey. “Hansen gave us the first taste of victory in this war. That action he fought against the French did as much for morale back home as Doolittle. Now then… these four Fleet Carriers are going to get even. I’m going to pound the French on Efate so hard their heads will spin, and then, for good measure, I’m going down to bust up Noumea. Let’s see if the Japanese want to do anything about it.”
Halsey would wear that growling frown for days after, particularly when that plaintive radio call Hansen sent out hit the newspapers. He was mad about it ever after, and he would do exactly what he claimed to Efate and Noumea.
Nimitz would say he got overconfident after driving off Yamamoto and beating up the enemy 1st Carrier division. “Look what they did,” he said later. “They just got those ships to safe harbor at Rabaul, then ponied up and came right back at us. You didn’t think they’d let us just take Efate without a fight, did you?”
“Well I gave them one,” said Halsey, disgruntled and ill at ease. “Look, I know this looks bad, but when I took those two fleet carriers of theirs out of active service, that was deck and hangar space for nearly 160 planes. Alright, Spruance lost the Wasp. He went in thinking this was probably light carriers sniping at the Vicksburg group. At least we saved both those ships.”
“Getty might be down for at least two months,” said Nimitz. “Vicksburg just a couple weeks. But with Wasp, we lost carrier capacity for at least 90 planes, two dozen more with Hansen’s group, and four dozen more on those escort carriers while they’re laid up. So there’s 160 planes we won’t be hauling to sea.”
“Then call it a draw,” said Halsey. “But just you let me get at them for a rematch. You’ll see.”
Halsey was going to get that fight, and sooner than he thought.
Chapter 21
He was a man that exuded confidence, with a quick mind, equally sharp sense of humor, and eyes that glittered when he spoke. Those same eyes, and a steadiness of hand and nerve, had made him a champion marksman with both the rifle and pistol from the early age of just 16. Ten years later he would step onto the battleship New Hampshire in 1914, and lead a company of US Marines ashore at Vera Cruz, and his men were not welcome, taking sniper fire almost immediately. He sat himself down with a rifle, surveyed the distant rooftops, and within five minutes he had dispatched three enemy snipers, clearing the way for his troops to advance. Six years later that same sharpshooting skill would see him take home five gold medals in the 1920 Olympics, but not once would any man ever hear him brag about them.