Soon after war engulfed the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, however, Squadron Two's ships returned to the Pacific in December 1941 with the first carrier deployed to the Pacific, , and operated with "The Mighty Y" in the Early Pacific Raids (February–March 1942), the Battle of the Coral Sea (4–8 May 1942) (where "Sims" was lost), and the Battle of Midway (4–6 June 1942) (where "Hammann" was lost while screening salvage operations of "Yorktown"). "O'Brien" succumbed to torpedo damage in the wake of the torpedoing of in September, while "Walke" was lost in November at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.