Wake and Marcus raids push toward Japan's inner waters

Halsey's Enterprise force struck Wake Island on 24 February 1942. The attack destroyed aircraft and fuel and left the base unable to function normally for months. Enterprise then raided Marcus Island on 4 March. Marcus lay only about 600 miles from the Bonin Islands and much closer to Tokyo than the earlier targets. The two operations progressively narrowed the psychological distance between American carriers and Japan's home waters, helping shift Japanese thinking toward defense.