Admiral Mineichi Koga redirected four submarines from southwest of Hawaii and five from Truk after the American move into the Gilbert Islands. Six of those nine boats failed to return, giving operational scale to a story otherwise dominated by I-175's success against Liscome Bay. The concentration therefore lost two-thirds of its boats even though one attacker achieved a spectacular result against an escort carrier. The comparison warns against judging a submarine deployment solely by its most visible sinking when the attacking force itself suffered severe attrition.
Notable Point · 1:07:42-1:08:17
The Gilbert Islands response costs Japan six submarines
Japan's emergency concentration against the Gilbert Islands produced one spectacular carrier sinking but consumed most of the submarines committed.