_The sound of the heavy surf surging ashore continuously in the
defenders’ ears as it pounded the reef that ringed the atoll, militated
against their hearing approaching enemy planes--a decided disadvantage
in view of Wake’s lack of radar._]
Pye also rescinded the restrictions on the operating areas of Task
Forces 8 and 11, allowing them to support Cunningham’s command more
effectively. Those on the staff who had pleaded for the relief force to
continue toward Wake felt vindicated by Pye’s decision that night.
Meanwhile, at Wake, with Commander Cunningham’s prior approval, Paul
Putnam, with no flyable planes left, reported his men to Major Devereux
for service as infantrymen. Devereux ordered Putnam to keep his
squadron where it was and await further orders.
‘_This Is As Far As We Go_’
Shortly after midnight, First Lieutenant Barninger noted flashing
lights “way off the windy side of the island.” Alerted to the odd
display on the horizon in the darkness, Barninger telephoned Major
Devereux, who replied that he also had seen it. Devereux directed
Barninger to keep a watch out and cautioned the Peacock Point
strongpoint commander to be mindful that the lee shore posed the most
possibilities for danger. Lookouts continued to note irregular flashes
of light in the black, gusty, rainy predawn of 23 December 1941. It may
have been the _Tenryu_, the _Tatsuta_, and the _Yubari_ firing blindly
at what their spotters thought was Wake Island but which was, instead,
only empty ocean.
At 0145, however, a report came into the detachment commander’s command
post, telling of an enemy landing in progress at Toki Point, at the tip
of Peale. Devereux alerted the battalion. Kessler, in the meantime,
dispatched a patrol up the lagoon beach toward the PanAm facility,
which met a patrol from Battery D. Neither had anything to report.
On Wilkes, Captain Platt directed Battery L to move the men of two
5-inch gun sections (equivalent to two rifle squads) to the shore of
the lagoon, west of the area of the new channel being dredged across
the island. The rest of the men of the battery--fire controlmen and
headquarters men under McAlister, who had established his command post
near the searchlight section of the battery--moved into positions
they had readied along the south shore of Wilkes, between McKinstry’s
Battery F and the new channel.
Kessler, whom Devereux had requested to confirm or deny the accuracy
of the information regarding the landing, reported that there was
no landing in progress, but that he had seen the lights offshore.
Cunningham, at 0145, radioed the Commandant, 14th Naval District,
reporting “gunfire between ships to northeast of island.”
Wake thus alerted, Second Lieutenant Arthur A. Poindexter, at Camp
1 with the mobile reserve (predominantly supply and administration
Marines and 15 sailors under Boatswain’s Mate First Class James E.
Barnes), believed Peale to be threatened. He exercised initiative
and entrucked eight Marines and with four .30-caliber machine guns.
Reporting his intention to the detachment commander, Poindexter and
that portion of his mobile reserve sped past the airfield toward Peale.
It was nearing Devereux’s command post when he ordered it intercepted.
The major retained Poindexter’s little force where it was, pending
clarification of the situation.
The bad weather that prevented the Marines from seeing their foes
likewise hindered the Japanese. Shortly before 0200, _Special Naval
Landing Force_ troops clambered down into the medium landing craft
designated to land on Wilkes and Wake. Four landing craft were launched
some 3,000 to 4,000 meters offshore, but in the squalls and long swells
they experienced difficulty keeping up with _Patrol Boat No. 32_ and
_Patrol Boat No. 33_ as they churned on a northeasterly course, headed
for the beach. The landing craft designated to follow _No. 32_ lost
sight of her in the murky, gusty darkness.
At about 0230, Marines on Peacock Point detected the two patrol boats,
which appeared to them only as dark shapes as they made for the reef by
the airstrip. Then, the two ships ground gently ashore on the coral.
The Japanese naval infantrymen slipped over the side into the surf,
struggled ashore, and sprinted across the coral for cover.
On Wilkes, Gunner McKinstry called to Captain Platt and informed him
that he thought he heard the sound of engines over the boom of the
surf, and at 0235 one of his .50-caliber guns (gun no. 10) opened fire
in the darkness. Ten minutes later, McKinstry, having sought permission
to use illumination, caused a searchlight to be turned on. Although the
light was shut off as suddenly as it had been turned on, its momentary
beam revealed a landing boat aground on Wilkes’ rocky shore and, beyond
that, two destroyers, beached on Wake.
[Illustration: