A second Japanese wave failed to find the American carrier formation because of communication problems. Successful attacks can obscure how often naval aircraft failed to locate their opponents at all. Operation C in the Indian Ocean provides a comparison, with incorrectly transposed information preventing a British night strike from finding the Japanese carriers. Correct information might have brought one or more carriers within reach, but the resulting change to the campaign remains a counterfactual.
Notable Point · 2:31:18-2:32:35
Carrier strikes could fail through communication errors
The failed Japanese follow-up strike and a British night-strike counterfactual show how contact information could determine whether an attack found its target.