A short exchange between Spruance and Mitscher reveals how ammunition type constrained operational choices. The carriers had used their contact-fuzed land-attack bombs during the earlier Marianas strikes and retained mainly armor-piercing weapons intended for ships. Those bombs would tend to bury themselves before exploding ashore, making a proposed follow-up attack on Guam and Rota less effective despite ample aircraft. The moment is a compact example of logistics shaping tactics: having bombers available did not mean the fleet still possessed the right weapons for every target set.
Notable Point · 1:09:40-1:10:23
Bomb stocks limit the next morning's options
Task Force 58 could not simply redirect its bombers against island airfields because earlier strikes had exhausted the suitable contact-fuzed bombs.