For 23 months and 13 days, the Navy had been conserving and rebuilding its strength, shattered at Pearl Harbor.* Despite the pleas of General MacArthur, and the demands of the Solomons campaign, the Navy had built up most of its strength in and for the Central Pacific.
Finally the Navy was ready. Conservative Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, blazed a challenge: "Henceforth we propose to give the Jap no rest anywhere." Last week's move signaled the opening of operations.
It came at a time when the Jap was digging in everywhere, the Allies cautiously moving...
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