24-25 JAN 44
January 24th and 25th found Princeton and Task Group 58.4 “steaming as before” en route Marshall Islands, all the while continuing to train with the urgency of men and ships on their way to war. As proximity to danger came ever nearer, so did the attention paid by all hands.
24 January…
“At 0205 an unidentified aircraft was reported bearing 270˚, distance 78 miles (recall that the SC-2 Long Wave Search Radar's advertised max range was 75 miles. Atmospheric ducting layers effect radar abilities significantly) on course 230˚. Notified O.T.C. via TBS circuit.”
At 0935 the Air Groups launched and made “simulated low level torpedo runs against this formation for the purpose of training radar, lookout and gunnery personnel in defense of this type of attack.”
Zigzagging and various course changes were all interspersed with gunnery, cruiser and destroyer Task Group defense training, radar detection drills and A/S patrols throughout the day.
“At 1835 reported to O.T.C. an unidentified aircraft bearing 220, distance 90 miles.”
“At 1858 the unidentified aircraft passed over this formation — it was on the direct route from Makin Island to Johnston Island and was assumed to be friendly.”
25 January…
Time to introduce a new acronym: “PIM.” It is pronounced exactly as written and stands for Position of Intended Movement.
PIM is essentially the ship’s roadmap and timetable. It dictates where to be, and when. It matters more to a task group centered around an aircraft carrier than a task group with solely surface combatants primarily because aircraft carriers often require a turn into the wind to launch airplanes. (This was particularly the case in the era before steam catapults were developed to hurl aircraft off the “pointy end.”)
Just as taking a wrong exit on a road trip affects a family’s time of arrival at Grandma’s house, so turning into into the wind can affect an aircraft carrier’s ability to meet PIM. This is especially the case, obviously, when the prevailing wind is from a direction opposite one’s intended destination.
Many times during my Naval career, we would not fly for days because doing so would have required the boat to turn away from PIM, costing valuable fuel* and time. On those days, we found other stuff to do:
25 January, consistent with PIM, found TG 58.4 “zigzagging…on fleet course 270˚” en route Marshall Islands. At 0350 fleet course changed left to 180˚ and at 0420 left to 090˚. At 0445 fleet course changed to 105˚ and at 0545 aircraft began launching to begin the A/S patrol. At 0615 fleet course resumed west at 270˚.
So…approximately 2 hours was spent not closing on the Marshall Islands. This same evolution took place for 3 additional aircraft launch and recovery cycles throughout the day.
Why did I just make you want to poke your eyes out with this boring sidebar? Because I want to stress how every little thing matters, and at sea there are thousands upon thousands of little things that require action throughout a day.
Put yourself in the uniform of Captain Henderson, Princeton’s skipper, whose position came with the immense responsibility of fighting his ship to the best of his ability. Now imagine a chaotic sea and air battle in which he needs to deal with his vessel being threatened or under active attack. At the same time he needs to launch aircraft to protect Princeton and the Task Group, while simultaneously providing offensive air support for young Marines or Soldiers participating in an amphibious landing just over the horizon.
He has dozens, perhaps hundreds, of data points he’ll need to consider, which will generate decisions that must be made:
- Is he close enough to the target for his Air Group to get there and back?
- If they can get to the target, will they be able to stay long enough to make the journey worthwhile?
- If he has to turn his ship away from the threat axis to launch aircraft, will his ship be more vulnerable?
- If he has to turn away from the target to launch aircraft, how will this affect the aircraft’s ability to reach their objective?
- What if he has to turn toward a threat sector to launch?
- How much fuel does his ship have remaining?
- What time is sunset and/or sunrise?
- Is the Air Group qualified at night operations?
- Is the Air Group proficient at night operations?
- If not, can I risk turning on the lights in enemy-infested waters?
In this scenario, concerns about PIM would likely be out the porthole, but I think the lesson to be appreciated is how often we take for granted things that are in reality insanely complicated.
* I spent 4 1/2 years of my life aboard either USS Independence (CV-62) or USS Constellation (CV-64) both conventionally-powered (non-nuclear) carriers.
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