Salt Lake City joined a force built around Hornet and Enterprise with three other cruisers, eight destroyers, and two oilers. Vincennes, Northampton, and Nashville completed the cruiser screen. The force depended heavily on avoiding detection because the United States had few comparable mobile assets immediately after Pearl Harbor. Losing the carriers, escorts, and oilers together could have delayed effective Pacific naval operations by roughly eighteen months. The oilers were especially important because the post-Pearl Harbor buildup depended on mobile logistics able to support operations across the Pacific.
Chapter · 30:02-33:23
Salt Lake City and the Doolittle Raid's fleet risk
The Doolittle Raid committed a scarce mobile force whose loss could have crippled American Pacific operations for many months.