Pearl Harbor gave the raids an obvious retaliatory context, but the choice of targets also reveals a calculated operational purpose. Enterprise and Yorktown attacked the Marshall and Gilbert Islands on 1 February 1942 instead of approaching the more heavily guarded bases used by Japan's main carrier force. Attacking those stronger positions would have exposed the American carriers to much greater risk. Carriers could strike from beyond visual range and move between widely separated targets, leaving the defender uncertain about where the next attack would fall. British operations with Ark Royal and Illustrious, including raids around Norway and the Mediterranean, supplied examples of this dispersed use of carrier air power.
Chapter · 24:23-30:43
Why the first raids attacked manageable targets
The Marshall-Gilbert attacks combined retaliation with selective targeting that limited the risk to the American carriers.