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Wake island had already been a hotly contested piece of sand and coral and this is where the battle took a turn against the United States. After repulsing a mid December invasion attempted the Island was lost on Christmas eve after the Americans had to weathered nearly a month of air raids. The recapture by the Americans led to an attack by a large Japanese bombardment surface force.
The Japanese were able to bombard the islands recently arrived defenders.
Japanese Ships
Battleships IJN Nagato,IJN Yamashiro. Heavy Cruiser IJN Furutaka. Light Cruiser IJN Abukuma and 4 Destroyers
Allied Ships
Battleships USS New Mexico and 5 Destroyers