Although help was a subject very much on the minds of Admiral Kimmel and his staff back at Pearl Harbor, by 11 December plans to reinforce Wake had not yet “crystallized.” Nor could they, until the carriers around which any task forces could be formed could be marshalled for the task. As Captain Charles H. “Soc” McMorris, Kimmel’s war plans officer, had estimated, all of the nearly 1,500 people on Wake could be accommodated very rapidly on board the seaplane tender _Tangier_ (AV-8) if they either destroyed or abandoned their personal belongings. _Tangier_ would be crowded, but he believed it could be done. Protecting the tender, though, was key. “She should not go,” McMorris wrote, “until air protection is available.” If the evacuation of Wake was decided upon--and he recommended against it--the “promptest measure” would be to have _Tangier_ assigned to a task force formed around the aircraft carrier _Lexington_ (CV-2). Then, accompanied by destroyers, she could evacuate Wake’s garrison while _Lexington_’s planes provided cover. Even as the people at Pearl Harbor considered plans for her employment, however, “Lady Lex” and her consorts were encountering difficulty refueling in the heavy seas northwest of Oahu. Ultimately, Task Force 12 had to put into Pearl to complete the refueling. The following day, 13 December, found VMF-211 conducting its patrols as usual with three available aircraft. Meanwhile, ground crews dragged Captain Elrod’s old plane over from the beach and propped it up across the runway to serve as a decoy. The contractors promised Kinney that a light-proof hangar would be finished that night. Listening to the radio that evening provided little inspiration. As Kinney noted in his diary, Kay Kyser, the reknowned bandleader, had dedicated a song to the “Wake Marines,” while commentators noted that Wake’s defenders, when asked what they required, had said “Send us more Japs.” “We began to figure out,” Kinney wrote, “that the U.S. was not going to reinforce us.” At Pearl Harbor, however, efforts proceeded apace to disprove those who despaired of relief: the _Tangier_ began discharging aviation gasoline to a barge alongside, as she prepared for her impending mission. Early the following morning, she began unloading warheads and torpedoes and commenced loading aviation stores earmarked for Wake. Later, she shifted to the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, where she continued discharging gasoline and unloading torpedoes. “Wake Island,” Rear Admiral Claude Bloch, the Commandant of the 14th Naval District, wrote on 12 December (13 December on Wake) “is putting up a magnificent fight. Kimmel is doing his best to devise means for reinforcing it and getting out the civilians....” The _Lexington_ and her consorts entered Pearl to fuel on 13 December, while _Saratoga_ (CV-3) and her escorts (three old destroyers) steamed toward Oahu--also delayed by heavy weather.