December 11th, 1941 saw the tiny US Marine and Navy garrison on Wake island, a tiny atoll in the central Pacific, fight to this day what would become one of the smallest yet also one of the most important battles of World War 2.
Japanese forces had crippled the US fleet at Pearl Harbor, save for the three US aircraft carriers and their escorts which fortunately where not present. Japanese forces had also struck the Philippines, and British forces in Malaya. Hong Kong was still in British hands, but the colony was surrounded with no hope of resupply or relief.
Wake had been attacked since the start of the war by Japanese bombers from the Marshalls. Several had been shot down by the defenders of Wake, but not enough to stop the invasion attempt on December 11th.
At 0530 local time, a force of three Japanese light cruisers and six destroyers, accompanied by two old patrol boats and two transports began a brief bombardment of the island. The Marine shore batteries held their fire, not wanting to disclose their location until the Japanese where as close as possible, and with the exception of a couple of hits, the Japanese gunners where not very impressive to the Marines.
Commander Cunningham wanted to open fire, but Major James Devereux, commander of the Marine unit, held firm, wanting to get the Japanese as close as possible to maximize damage from the limited number of guns his Marines had available.
At 0620 local time, the Marines opened fire. Several 5" shells struck the destroyer Hayate, at a range of about 3,200 yards, causing her to explode and sink. The cruiser Yubari, flagship of Rear Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka, the commander of the invasion force, was believed to have been hit by as many as nine 5" shells, damaging her superstructure, knocking out one of her guns, and killing 22 crewmembers.
Realizing his forces where not adequate to the task of taking the island, Kajioka made plans to call off the landing attempt, but unfortunately it was too late for one of the worst events of the battle. At 0702 local time, a shell from Marine guns of Battery L on Wilkes Island landed a hit on the light cruiser Tenryu of cruiser division 18. The shell struck the bridge, killing or wounding everyone there, leaving the ship temporarily out of control. The cruiser Tatsuta close behind the Tenryu, and not realizing the other cruiser had lost her stearing, was turning away from Wake along with the Tenryu, but didn't realize the Tenryu had lost control, and was turning in too wide an arc. Moments later, both cruisers collided, the Tenryu having her stern damaged and becoming dead in the water. The Tatsuta had her bow damaged, and was forced to halt.
This was unfortunate for the crew of both ships, as they made perfect stationary targets for the Marines. Tatsuta suffered at least 17 hits, causing numerous casualties, starting fires, and allowing uncontrollable flooding in parts of the ship. Tenryu, which was starting to drift and had taken a 5 degree list to port, was also struck several times. Due to the loss of stearing, and damage to her engines, she soon started to sink. Within half an hour, both ships would slip beneath the waves, taking over 700 crewmembers with them.
The final blow to the battle was delivered by the Wildcats of VMF-211, having straffed the Japanese destroyer Kisaragi, and setting off her depth charges. The other surviving ships of the ill fated invasion attempt took some damage and casualties, but otherwise where able to withdraw to the anchorage at Kwajalein Atoll for repair and to offload wounded.
All told, the Japanese had lost two destroyers, the two cruisers of Cruiser Division 18, and roughly 1,000 casualties. Losses to Wake amounted to 6 Marines and 9 civilian contractors killed, and a Wildcat disabled on a rough landing.
Unknown to the Marines at the time, another victory of sorts had been achieved in that they had unknowingly killed the first Japanese Flag Officer in World War 2. Rear Admiral Kunimori Marumo, commander of the ill fated Cruiser Division 18, was lost in battle when is cruisers where sunk.