USS Monssen (DD-436) - Transfer To The Pacific

Transfer To The Pacific

On 31 March she arrived at San Francisco, joined Task Force 16 (TF 16), and departed 2 April. Steaming west, she was in the antisubmarine screen for Hornet (CV-8) as the aircraft carrier headed for Japan with Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle's B-25s on her flight deck. In the early morning hours 18 April the force was sighted by the enemy and the Army pilots manned their planes, ignoring the bad weather, the daylight hours, and the additional 168 miles they would have to fly over the planned 500 miles to their targets, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Kobe.

Following the Doolittle Raid, the force returned to Pearl Harbor, from which it sortied 30 April to aid Yorktown (CV-5) and Lexington (CV-2) in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Reaching the scene after the battle was over, the force returned to Pearl Harbor, arriving 26 May. Two days later they departed again — this time for Midway to repulse an expected assault on that advanced base. By 2 June, TF 16 had rendezvoused with Task Force 17 (TF 17) and was in position 350 miles northeast of Midway. On the 4th the Battle of Midway commenced as Japanese carrier planes flew against installations on the island. By the 7th, the American forces had won one of the decisive battles of history, sinking four carriers and one cruiser at the cost of destroyer Hammann (DD-412) and carrier Yorktown, and profoundly changing the course of the war.