_2dLt David D. Kliewer (seen here_ circa _September 1941), a minister’s
son, would be awarded a Bronze Star Medal and two Air Medals for his
service at Wake._]
That night, a stateside radio report praised Wake’s Marines. It stated
that for security reasons it could not mention the size of the garrison
defending the atoll, but noted that “we know the number is very small.”
“Nothing like letting the enemy know our status,” Kinney noted
sardonically in his diary. “Still no help.”
Although help was a subject very much on the minds of Admiral Kimmel
and his staff back at Pearl Harbor, by 11 December plans to reinforce
Wake had not yet “crystallized.” Nor could they, until the carriers
around which any task forces could be formed could be marshalled
for the task. As Captain Charles H. “Soc” McMorris, Kimmel’s war
plans officer, had estimated, all of the nearly 1,500 people on Wake
could be accommodated very rapidly on board the seaplane tender
_Tangier_ (AV-8) if they either destroyed or abandoned their personal
belongings. _Tangier_ would be crowded, but he believed it could be
done. Protecting the tender, though, was key. “She should not go,”
McMorris wrote, “until air protection is available.” If the evacuation
of Wake was decided upon--and he recommended against it--the “promptest
measure” would be to have _Tangier_ assigned to a task force formed
around the aircraft carrier _Lexington_ (CV-2). Then, accompanied by
destroyers, she could evacuate Wake’s garrison while _Lexington_’s
planes provided cover. Even as the people at Pearl Harbor considered
plans for her employment, however, “Lady Lex” and her consorts were
encountering difficulty refueling in the heavy seas northwest of
Oahu. Ultimately, Task Force 12 had to put into Pearl to complete the
refueling.
The following day, 13 December, found VMF-211 conducting its patrols as
usual with three available aircraft. Meanwhile, ground crews dragged
Captain Elrod’s old plane over from the beach and propped it up across
the runway to serve as a decoy. The contractors promised Kinney that a
light-proof hangar would be finished that night.
Listening to the radio that evening provided little inspiration. As
Kinney noted in his diary, Kay Kyser, the reknowned bandleader, had
dedicated a song to the “Wake Marines,” while commentators noted that
Wake’s defenders, when asked what they required, had said “Send us more
Japs.”
“We began to figure out,” Kinney wrote, “that the U.S. was not going to
reinforce us.”
At Pearl Harbor, however, efforts proceeded apace to disprove those who
despaired of relief: the _Tangier_ began discharging aviation gasoline
to a barge alongside, as she prepared for her impending mission. Early
the following morning, she began unloading warheads and torpedoes
and commenced loading aviation stores earmarked for Wake. Later, she
shifted to the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, where she continued discharging
gasoline and unloading torpedoes. “Wake Island,” Rear Admiral Claude
Bloch, the Commandant of the 14th Naval District, wrote on 12 December
(13 December on Wake) “is putting up a magnificent fight. Kimmel is
doing his best to devise means for reinforcing it and getting out the
civilians....” The _Lexington_ and her consorts entered Pearl to fuel
on 13 December, while _Saratoga_ (CV-3) and her escorts (three old
destroyers) steamed toward Oahu--also delayed by heavy weather.
The enemy, meanwhile, maintained aerial pressure on the atoll. Three
flying boats bombed the island at 0437 on Sunday, 14 December, but
did not damage anything. The Marines, sailors, and contractors went
about their daily business of improving their defensive positions. The
artillerymen replaced the natural camouflage with fresh foliage.
Wake had little need for “more Japs,” despite media claims. It did,
however, need tools with which it could defend itself. Cunningham
radioed to the Commandant of the 14th Naval District a lengthy list of
supplies--including fire control radars--required by his 5- and 3-inch
batteries, as well as by the machine gun and searchlight batteries.
At the airfield, the 14th dawned with just two planes in service.
Kinney determined, though, that one of those, an F4F “bought” from VF-6
(embarked on the USS _Enterprise_), required an engine replacement.
They would scavenge the parts required from two irreparably damaged
planes. As a work crew tackled that task, 30 Nells from the _Chitose
Air Group_ began sowing destruction across Wake. One bomb hit one of
the aircraft shelters and set afire an F4F.
[Illustration: