Arriving on time, I took a seat amoung the other pilots in the briefing room. We chatted for a few minutes until the group leader took the podium. "Gentlemen,' he said, 'this is our mission today." The room grew quiet as the map was flashed upon the screen. The Solomon Islands were surrounded by Port Moresby to the west, and Santa Cristobal to the southeast. His pointer highlighted a red fleet in the narrows between New Britain and New Ireland. "This is the last known position of the AI Japanese Invasion Fleet. It consists of troop and support ships bound for Port Moresby." He then highlighted two more red fleets north of Bougainville. "This is the last known position of the Japanese strike fleets consisting of the carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku. To the south steams our Task Force 17." He now highlighted three blue fleets southwest of Guadalcanal. "These consist of the carriers Lexington and Yorktown, and nothwest is our AI Task Force 44, made up of cruisers to intercept the invasion fleet."
"It will be up to us to find that enemy task force and stop them from sinking our cruisers, thus allowing the invasion force to succeed. Failing that we must sink those invasion ships ourselves, all the while protecting our own task forces from attack." The map was overlayed by lines and zone markers for our plans. "To do that we will send the Lexington north to find and destroy those enemy carriers. The Yorktown will steam northwest to CAP the cruisers and hunt the invasion force. Gentlemen the brave men defending Port Moresby are counting on you."
The excitement in the briefing room was building. As we captured the map plans to our kneeboards, I felt the tension rise. Soon I would be in a desperate battle, in which our forces would be split to defend and attack. My navigation would have to be perfect, as that was a big ocean to be lost in. The carriers couldn't send us homing signals for fear of drawing enemy attack. I did have my 8x binoculars to help identify the ships below, but I had to find those ships first. I followed my group down to the hanger deck to oversee the loading and fueling of my plane. Thinking of the enemy pilots doing the same routine, I vowed to win the day.
