Task Group 16.22, centered on USS Mississippi and USS Idaho, opened fire on unexplained radar contacts in poor Aleutian weather. The battleships fired 518 fourteen-inch shells without hits or visual confirmation of Japanese warships. Brian Garfield proposed that the contacts were rafts of migratory seabirds. Japanese evacuation ships are another suggested possibility, although they were not thought to be within range. The identity of the contacts remains uncertain.
Notable Point · 2:46:00-2:47:35
Radar uncertainty in the Battle of the Pips
Uncertain radar contacts prompted two American battleships to fire 518 fourteen-inch shells without a confirmed target or hit.