The initial Japanese assault went very poorly for the American forces.
- The Japanese sent planes out and successfully bombed the Island itself, destroying oil reserves
- Simultaneously, they sent out scouts to locate the American Fleet
- They had little trouble getting past the islands defenses
- Japanese planes were ordered to reload with bombs instead of torpedos, to better destroy ground targets
- Planes from the island chased Japanese planes back to the fleet
- American ships spotted a scout plane, and immediately launched 3 squadrons of TBD planes
- Americans took huge casualties as these planes attacked the fleet, and did not score a single hit
- However, the Japanese defenses were now out of place, and their decks were filled with explosives from the changeover to bombs
- The next six minutes would change the course of WWII in the Pacific Theater.