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United States Navy & Marine Corps
Deck Log
Pacific Theater of Operations, 1942–1945
DeclassifiedCompiled from action reports, war diaries, and deck logs held by the National Archives and Naval History and Heritage Command. Times as recorded. Entries unaltered.
USS Enterprise(CV-6)
4 June 1942
Battle of Midway
Position: 31°30'N, 176°30'W · Zone +10 Time
0447
Intercepted: Flight 44 to Radio Midway - "Large enemy forces bearing 261°T, distance 500, course 080, speed 13. Ten ships."
First contact report. The Japanese striking force under Vice Admiral Nagumo, including four fleet carriers, was steaming toward Midway unaware that three American carriers lay in ambush northeast of the island.
0734
Intercepted: Flight 58 to Radio Midway - "Enemy carriers."
0807
From COMTASKFOR 17 to COMTASKFOR 16: "Proceed southwesterly and attack enemy carriers when definitely located."
0906
Commenced launching attack group. 33 VSB, 14 VT, 10 VF. SBDs armed with 1000-lb and 500-lb bombs. VT armed with torpedoes.
Enterprise launched Bombing Six, Scouting Six, Torpedo Six, and Fighting Six. Many of the torpedo bomber crews would not return. Average age of the aircrews: 23.
1202
CEAG sighted Japanese force: 4 CV, 2 BB, 4 CA, 6 DD.
1220
VT commenced torpedo attack. Probably one hit on CV. Heavy fighter opposition. Ten torpedo planes of VT-6 did not return.
From the CO's report: "The attack delivered upon enemy carriers by the torpedo squadrons is believed to be without parallel for determined and courageous action in the face of overwhelming odds." Of 41 torpedo bombers from all three carriers, only 6 returned.
1222
VSB commenced dive bombing attack. Two CV badly damaged with many direct bomb hits. Left in flames.
Enterprise dive bombers caught carriers Kaga and Akagi with decks full of armed and fueled aircraft. Both were fatally damaged within six minutes. The outcome of the Pacific War was decided in this moment.
1905
Attacked Japanese force. 1 CV and 1 BB severely damaged and mass of flames.
Carrier Hiryu, the last operational Japanese flattop, was left burning. By nightfall all four Japanese carriers that had attacked Pearl Harbor six months earlier were sinking or sunk.
2120
Last plane landed. Enterprise undamaged.
1st Marine Division(Reinforced)
7 August 1942
Operation Watchtower - Guadalcanal
Solomon Islands · First U.S. Offensive of the War
0613
Heavy cruisers opened fire on Beach Red. First naval gunfire support of the Pacific offensive.
89 ships carried 16,000 Marines. Most had never seen combat. Maps were based on outdated charts. The aerial photographs were lost by the Navy in Auckland and never delivered.
0910
First wave, 5th Marines, crossed Beach Red. Guadalcanal. Moderate surf. No initial opposition.
0938
All assault waves ashore. 1st Marines pushing inland toward Lunga Point airfield.
The 2,000 Japanese - mostly construction laborers - fled into the jungle, leaving food still cooking on stoves. Getting ashore was the easy part. The Marines would fight here for six months.
1800
Reports from Tulagi: 1st Raider Bn and 1st Parachute Bn met fierce resistance. Heavy casualties.
The 750-man Japanese garrison on Tulagi fought nearly to the last man - only 3 surrendered. Marine casualties: 45 killed, 91 wounded in the first 24 hours.
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9 AUG: Battle of Savo Island. Japanese cruiser force surprised Allied screening vessels. Four Allied heavy cruisers sunk. 1,077 sailors killed.
The worst open-sea defeat in U.S. Navy history. By dawn, the carriers and transports withdrew - still half unloaded. The Marines on Guadalcanal were alone.
V Amphibious Corps(3rd, 4th, 5th Marine Divisions)
19 February 1945
Operation Detachment - Iwo Jima, D-Day
Bonin Islands · 660 nautical miles south of Tokyo
0640
Naval bombardment commenced. 450 ships off Iwo Jima. Vessels bombard island end to end for 85 minutes.
0805
Naval gunfire ceased. 72 fighter planes and bombers commenced strafing runs on landing beaches.
0902
H-Hour. First wave LVT(A)s landed Beaches Green, Red, Yellow, Blue. No enemy fire.
The Japanese commander, Lt. General Kuribayashi, had ordered his 21,000 troops to hold fire until the beaches were packed. It was a trap.
0920
Japanese opened fire. All beaches under heavy mortar, artillery, and machine gun fire from prepared positions. Casualties mounting rapidly.
Fire poured from 11 miles of interconnected tunnels. The volcanic sand made it impossible to dig foxholes - the walls collapsed as fast as Marines could dig. There was no cover anywhere.
0945
GySgt John Basilone, Medal of Honor recipient (Guadalcanal), killed leading machine gun section ashore on Red Beach. He was 28.
1035
Beach congestion critical. Wrecked LVTs, disabled tanks, and casualties blocking subsequent waves.
2130
30,000 Marines on the island. Perimeter holds. Supply situation far from satisfactory.
USS Bunker Hill(CV-17)
11 May 1945
Operation Kikusui No. 6 - Off Okinawa
Flagship, Task Force 58 · VADM Marc A. Mitscher
0800
Flight deck spotted with armed and fueled aircraft. 58th consecutive day of combat operations.
Bunker Hill had been on station continuously since February. The crew was exhausted. Vice Admiral Mitscher, commander of the fast carrier task force, had his flag aboard.
1002
Kikusui attack commenced. Multiple bogeys inbound. CAP vectored to intercept. General Quarters.
1005
Hit by first kamikaze. A6M Zero dropped 550-lb bomb, penetrated flight deck. Aircraft crashed into parked planes. Gasoline fires immediate.
The plane crashed directly into the 34 fueled and armed aircraft on the flight deck. Fuel, ordnance, and aircraft began detonating.
1005
THIRTY SECONDS LATER: Second kamikaze. A6M Zero crashed into flight deck at base of island. Aviation fuel ignited. Explosions in ready rooms.
Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa's Zero struck within feet of where Mitscher stood. 14 members of the Admiral's staff were killed. His cabin, uniforms, personal papers - all destroyed.
1010
Flight deck fully engulfed. Ammunition and rockets cooking off. All firefighting parties committed.
1630
VADM Mitscher relinquished command by visual signal. Transferred to DD USS English by breeches buoy. Flag transferred to USS Enterprise (CV-6).
Enterprise, the most decorated ship in the Navy, became Mitscher's fourth flagship. She would be hit by a kamikaze three days later.
1800
Fires controlled. Bunker Hill making 20 knots under own power toward Ulithi. She will not return to combat.
0
Killed in Action
0
Wounded
0
Missing
"Uncommon valor was a common virtue."