Long-range reconnaissance might keep loose contact without entering the Japanese combat air patrol, though the required aircrews would need exceptional skill. Submarines are another possibility, but they offer no reliable solution to continuous shadowing. The Americans need only stay within tracking range after the initial identification, yet even that margin is narrow. If contact survives, Enterprise and Lexington could time a strike against crowded Japanese flight decks during launch.
Chapter · 56:00-58:17
How an American carrier ambush might work
Enterprise and Lexington could strike during the Japanese launch, but covert tracking remains the hardest operational part of the plan.