Combined Fleet
On 18 September 1943, in reaction to air raids on Tarawa launched by United States Navy aircraft carriers , and , the Combined Fleet sortied to Eniwetok with a massive force but failed to make contact and returned to Truk in the Caroline Islands. Likewise, from 17 October 1943 – 26 October 1943, the Combined Fleet failed to contact US Task Force 15 after it bombed Wake Island.