The morning began with overcast skies and a gray sea that rolled beneath USS Gabilan as she resumed her lifeguard station near the mouth of Tokyo Bay. It was 0542. Her role was to watch the skies and be ready to pull Allied airmen from the ocean if their luck ran out over Japan. These assignments could be long, sometimes dull, and always dangerous.

By 1135, weather conditions had started to clear. Enemy coastlines were still visible in the haze, but the skies were opening. Strike aircraft would soon follow. Word filtered through at 1430 that the carriers were sending in another wave. Gabilan surfaced at 1600 and established contact with her fighter cover. From the bridge, the sky seemed alive. Planes moved in every direction. Tokyo’s defenses were under heavy pressure, and the horizon felt full of noise.