Aircraft could operate from Hawaii, Midway, Wake, and the Aleutians, creating several possible reconnaissance zones along Japan's northern approach. The Kido Butai maintained radio silence and navigated carefully, but American intelligence still knew that a major Japanese force had disappeared. Its complete failure to locate the force counted as remarkable operational luck. Common map projections stretch northern latitudes, making the geometry of the Aleutian approach easy to misread. American commanders failed to connect an unknown carrier position with the vulnerability of the Pacific Fleet concentrated at Pearl Harbor.
Chapter · 46:05-48:02
The Kido Butai's extraordinarily lucky approach
Japan's carrier force crossed a long reconnaissance environment without its disappearance, radio silence, or approach triggering an American alert.