"Misson Beyond Darkness"
by Robert Taylor

After a 3-day sea search for Admiral Ozawa's carrier
fleet it was 3:30 PM on June 20, 1944, when a spotter
plane reported the enemy position to Admiral Mitscher's
Task Force 58. Mitscher knew the risks of despatching
a large force on such a long-range mission so late in
the day, but he also knew his task was to get the
carriers. By 4:30 PM, over 200 fighters, dive-bombers
and torpedo strike planes were in the air and heading
for the target.

In the short but intense battle that followed late
that day, the Japanese carrier HIYO was sunk and four
more Japanese carriers were damaged, two oilers sunk,
the battleship HARUNA hit, and some 40 enemy aircraft
reported destroyed, however, most of the American air-
crews knew the worst part of the mission was yet to
come. As 209 aircraft turned and headed east into the
growing dark, the pilots knew they had barely enough
fuel to get back on board their carriers, some 270
miles distant. At 8 PM and pitch dark, the first of
the returning aircraft neared the carriers. Mitscher
knew that without some form of guidance it was going
to be impossible to recover his aircaft and, ignoring
the Japanese submarine threat, he boldly ordered the
entire fleet to turn on lights. But the arriving Hell-
diver and Avenger pilots were all but out of fuel, and
in the confusion of trying to pick out a carrier and
find a landing slot, compounded by a number of deck
crashes, some 70 planes went into the water that night.
The print is signed by four aircrew who survived
Admiral Mitscher's historic operation, including LT
Ralph Yaussi and Air Gunner James Curry shown on the
downed SB2C Helldiver in the foreground.