1942 / Pacific Ocean, unspecified location
The once-proud American Pacific Fleet, consisting of many battleships, numerous cruisers, uncountable detroyers, and even the supporting aircraft carriers, was thought of as invincible. Their main duty-to protect American Pacific interests, mainly her islands, their trade routes into China, Alaska, but most of all, the Philippines, prize of the war fought against the Spanish in the last century. With the recent rise of Japan as an ambitious, ruthless, and power-and-prestige hungry Imperial power, the Philippines, so close to Japan itself, to say that it is threatened would be a great understatement. To counter this, the Americans had developed War Plan Orange, the plan for the war to fight against the Japanese, which involved the American fleet to sail west, and engage and detroy the Japan fleet in one, large, Decisive Battle.
That it will fail, and that the possibility of failure was even present, did not occur to the American people as testified by the last now-quickly sinking, burning hulk of what was a battleship quickly disappearing beneath the cold, deceptively calm Pacifc Ocean, never to see the sun again, unfortunate consequence of total unpreparedness for war.
Perhaps some explanation is required.