Palawan, Dawn March 12, 1943
Kingfishers and sea gulls circled lazily over the harbor. Off shore a pair of submarines waited. They hoped to stay down for the entire day with only their periscope and radio masts breaking the waves but they would be ready.
Twelve miles north of an airfield, Captain Ibling waited patiently. A hot cup of tea was in his hand even as his carbine rested on his knee. Other men from the guerilla band were watching the clearing. They had been told to expect air strikes today and this field was a natural point for a pilot in a damaged aircraft to attempt a soft crash landing. He enjoyed the sound of the birds singing as the light crept over the horizon.
One hundred and thirty seven miles away, USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown turned into the wind. Ten Wildcats from each carrier were the first up. They would sweep the skies of opposition. Two squadrons of dive bombers and another squadron of Avengers followed the first fighter sweep. Each carrier completed its launching evolution with another six Wildcats as close escort.
The escorting fighters climbed for altitude. By the time that they caught up with the slower bombers, they had passed over USS Denver and USS Santa Fe. The two big light cruisers were heading to Palawan at twenty six knots. A trio of destroyers escorted them. They would be in bombardment range by the time the first strike landed. As the forward fighter sweep bounced the morning patrol of six Japanese Army Oscar fighters, USS Constellation turned into the wind. A squadron of dive bombers and elements of fighters and torpedo bombers raced down the deck for the second strike.
USS Essex sent up an identical strike once the morning strike turned around. By the time her aircraft had landed, USS Enterprise had another, smaller, strike package in the air again. A metronome could not be set to the spot cycle of the four American carriers as a squall disrupted launches in the early afternoon. Four hundred sorties were sent to hit Palawan, three hundred and eighty seven landings were recorded.
Captain Ibling had a long, and restful day. Guerrilla bands watched and reported on the movement of Japanese reserves that had headed to the beach nearest to the cruiser bombardment. It was the worst beach to land on.