YAMAMOTO/NAGUMO
Yamamoto / Negumo | Public Domain Images
North of Pearl Harbor, the six air group commanders landed on their respective carriers and made their reports to Vice Admiral Nagumo on Striking Force flagship Akagi. The planes from the six carriers had sunk or heavily damaged all the battleships in Pearl Harbor. They had strafed and bombed the parked planes at the Oahu airfields with precise effectiveness, eliminating any capability for meaningful counterattack. The planes of the first attack wave, refueled, rearmed and ready, were spotted on all six flight decks for another launch. The second wave was on the hangar decks being refueled and rearmed.
There were still many ships and important targets left in the harbor, but a nervous Nagumo thought US carriers might make a sudden appearance while his carriers were launching or recovering planes. If Nagumo was concerned about a carrier attack he could have allocated more Zero fighters from his carriers for CAP defense over the Striking Force because the first two waves had destroyed virtually all US fighters on the island of Oahu. Fewer fighters were needed to escort subsequent strikes. This possible air defense modification apparently never occurred to him.
In the Inland Sea of Japan, Admiral Yamamoto was in the operations room aboard his flagship, the battleship Nagato. The powerful low-frequency radio equipment on the Japanese carriers had transmitted the reports of the first strike back to Yamamoto almost simultaneously with the reports Nagumo was reading. It was clear the first strike had accomplished all its goals. In one fell swoop the battle line of the US Pacific Fleet had been destroyed. It was not a partial result; it was a complete success.
Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi
Nagumo had done the minimum expected of him. His navy career had been on surface ships, and he was uncertain about carrier operations. He was relieved that all six carriers were still intact. He was safe and had no taste for further action. A quick review with his chief of staff, and Nagumo pronounced that the anticipated results had been achieved. The remaining cruisers, destroyers, submarines, repair facilities, fuel tanks, and possible carriers near Pearl Harbor would have to wait for another time—a time that would never come. After a final pause and reflection, Nagumo gave the order to withdraw.
The young Japanese officers on the Akagi bridge looked at each other in disbelief. They saw in Nagumo the incarnation of an old Japanese aphorism: he was like a small dog that takes one bite and runs. But there was no debate. The order went out to the five other carriers. The planes on the flight decks of all six carriers were lowered to the hangar decks. The carrier fleet turned to a northwest course, away from Pearl Harbor and back to Japan.