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From the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, in December 1941, until the middle of February of the following year, Japanese forces had occupied the entire area from Hong Kong to Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the next two months the Japanese staffs decided they needed to expand further south. By the beginning of May all the British possessions in the area were in Japanese hands and the war intensity peaked on May 7, 1942, with the great naval battle in the Coral Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This particular naval battle had an important peculiarity since it took place exclusively with the aircraft of the aircraft carriers of the two fleets. For the first time in history, therefore, the ships of two opposing navies did not exchange fire with each other. The form of naval warfare had changed significantly\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The outcome of the battle was ambiguous, although the Japanese suffered the least casualties. However, the outcome of the Battle of the Coral Sea did not please Admiral Yamamoto, the greatest leader of the Imperial Japanese Navy and probably the entire Japanese armed forces during World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yamamoto hoped that the enemy’s losses would be greater, which would render the US Fleet completely powerless in the area. However, this was not achieved and the guru of the Japanese Navy decided to carry out a second operation, which was intended to challenge the weakened American fleet in order to disable it for good. If he finally achieved another triumphant victory, the American navy would disappear from the Pacific, which would become a Japanese \u201clake\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Preparation and volatile factors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yamamoto’s decision to engage the enemy fleet at this time was based on two reasons: the first was that the American fleet had suffered heavy losses at Pearl Harbor and was quite weak. The second one was\u2026 exactly the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That, in other words, the American fleet was still battle-worthy, as the Japanese admiral found out in the Coral Sea. This fact, combined with the fact that the enormous American industrial power could in a short time make up for the losses in ships, convinced him that if he waited, all that would be done was to tip the tide in the Americans’ favor. Thus, he decided that the operation should be carried out as soon as possible, in the hope of crushing the opposing fleet and forcing the Americans to enter into peace treaty talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yamamoto’s plan of action consisted of two prongs. One involved the occupation of the islands of Atu, Kiska and Adak, which belong to the Aleutian Islands complex, located in the North Pacific and about 3,000 kilometers from Alaska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other leg involved the capture of Midway Atoll, which consisted of East Island and Sand Island. Midway was indeed a strategically important target, since, although it was an isolated coral complex, it was only 2,170 kilometers from Hawaii, while there was a US air base on the East Island. Its capture would be a strategic advantage for the Japanese since a new attack on Pearl Harbor could be launched from there with pretensions.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yamamoto, believing that he would have the advantage of surprise, did not expect much resistance from the US Fleet during the operation to seize Midway Atoll because he would first launch an attack on the Aleutians with aerial bombardment on 3 June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So while during the next three days (until June 6) the landing actions would be carried out on the three aforementioned islands, on June 4 an attack would be carried out against the American base at Midway. In other words, the Aleutian Islands were the “bait” and the main target was Midway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this way Yamamoto sought to “cut” the American fleet in two. However, this choice may have had the opposite effect, because in the event that Nimitz did not split his forces, then the power of his own fleet would be reduced, while at the same time he would not have the possibility of great flexibility at the tactical level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the operation in the Aleutian Islands, Yamamoto decided to use two light aircraft carriers, three escorted gunboats with 2,400 men, four battleships and two cruisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the operations at Midway the volume of forces involved was much greater. Specifically, the attack there would be undertaken by Vice-Admiral Nagumo’s 1st Carrier Squadron – it consisted of four aircraft carriers (“Akagi”, “Kaga”, “Hiryu” and “Soryu”), two battleships (“Haruna” and “Kirishima”), two cruisers (“Tone” and “Chikuma”), 12 destroyers and auxiliary support ships -, the Invasion Squadron that would occupy the island led by Vice Admiral Kondo – consisted of 12 gunboats carrying a total of 5,000 men, two light aircraft carriers, two battleships, eight cruisers, several destroyers and auxiliary support ships-, and the main Battle Fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latter included the battleship Yamato, in which Yamamoto would be aboard, the battleships Nagato and Mutsu, the light aircraft carrier Hosho, the cruiser Sendai and some destroyers. These forces as a whole would be supported by 15 submarines, while the total number of aircraft on the aircraft carriers was about 280. The truly large force that Yamamoto would assemble in the area rightly led him to believe that it would have a double benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the one hand, he would conquer a strategic point in the center of the Pacific, Midway Atoll, on the other hand, he would not manage to cause great losses to the American Fleet. In all of this he counted on the advantage of surprise, which ultimately turned out to be a chimera\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n What Yamamoto did not know was that the American decryptors had broken the cryptographic communication code used by the Imperial Japanese Navy as early as 1941. Thus, the situation was reversed and the Americans not only did not fall into the trap, but they knew precisely the plans of the their opponents. The Deciphering Service was headed by a very capable officer, Lt. Joseph Rossford, who knew from intercepted Japanese signals that there were Japanese plans for the Alaska area, but that the main objective was another area, referred to in the signal as ‘AF \u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rossford surmised from the context of the signal that this area was Midway Atoll. To confirm this, however, he asked the staff at the air base in the East Island to send him a message saying that they were short of water, due to a breakdown of the desalination device. Indeed, the message was sent, and in the following days an intercepted Japanese signal stated that the ‘AF’ had a water problem. Thus the target was confirmed to be Midway, the Japanese plan revealed and the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Nimitz, informed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In early May, Nimitz went to Midway, where he inspected the personnel and the new fortifications that had been done during the previous December. After being informed of the deficiencies, he withdrew without mentioning the Japanese threat. But a few days later, he signaled to the base commander that on June 4th he would receive a Japanese attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n American forces<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The main problem that preoccupied Nimitz was the significant superiority of Yamamoto’s forces, because after the naval battle in the Coral Sea and the earlier losses at Pearl Harbor, he had at that time only two aircraft carriers at his disposal, the “Enterprise” and the ” Hornet”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The “Yorktown” had suffered heavy damage in the Coral Sea and, according to the estimates of the technicians, it would take at least three months to repair it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Nimitz needed it at all costs and that’s why about 1,500 people worked non-stop at an alarming rate and within 48 hours of continuous, feverish work they managed to make it seaworthy! Repair work did not continue even as the great ship sailed to Midway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The American armada arriving at Midway consisted of Task Force 16 and Task Force 17. Task Force 16, commanded by Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance, included the two aircraft carriers Enterprise and Hornet, six cruisers, nine destroyers and ships support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Task Force 17, commanded by Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher, in turn included the “Yorktown”, two cruisers and six destroyers. There were no battleships in the American force, since they had all been hit at Pearl Harbor, so if a “classic” naval engagement occurred with ships exchanging fire with each other, the Japanese would put the American fleet under the powerful battleship guns “Yamato” and they would destroy him.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the form of naval warfare had changed significantly, as has already been mentioned above. The opposing fleets would not see each other, and the guns of the Yamato, like those of its “sister” ship the Musashi, would never be fired against American warships. The total aircraft strength on the three US carriers was 234, but there were another 126 at Midway. The American armada would also be supported by approximately 20 submarines. Rear-Admiral Fletcher was put in charge of the whole operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two large aircraft carriers “Enterprise” and “Hornet” sailed from Pearl Harbor on May 28, and two days later the semi-repaired “Yorktown” departed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, the Japanese armada has been leaving Japanese ports since May 26. On 2 June the American fleet was 400 miles (625 km) northeast of Midway, while the Japanese approached the area under adverse weather conditions, with heavy rain and low cloud cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yamamoto still believed he had the advantage of surprise. In fact, the only real advantage turned out to be the one who spotted the opposing fleet first\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The crash<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the early morning hours of June 3, 1942, while Nagumo’s and Kondo’s forces were advancing from different directions toward Midway, Admiral Hosogaya with the two light aircraft carriers at his disposal launched an attack with 23 bombers and 12 fighter planes against of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the American side, Rear Admiral Robert Thioboldt was in Alaskan waters with five cruisers and nine destroyers. The Japanese attack had no substantial effect and the weather conditions did not favor another air attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bad weather also prevailed at Midway Atoll, with the result that reconnaissance missions by the Japanese Fleet were fruitless. However, the same did not happen on the other side, since reconnaissance American PBY-5 Catalina seaplanes spotted Condo’s slow-moving gunboats at a distance of about 1,100 kilometers west of Midway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fletcher knew that this force would carry out the landing action, but what he was interested in was the position of the main Japanese carrier force. Nevertheless, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers – also known as “Flying Fortresses” – take off from Midway and attack Condo’s armada, but to no avail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The large aerial bombers flew at high altitudes undetected by Japanese fighters and anti-aircraft and spread their “carpet” of bombs against the Japanese ships. But all they succeeded in doing was to fill the ocean with huge jets which, when broken up, the Japanese ships projected intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the war, various military “masterminds” in the US believed that “Flying Fortresses” would crush enemy ships long distances from US shores by striking them from a great height. The futile attack by the B-17s against the Japanese warships proves these theories wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The morning of June 4 finds the two rivals less than 400 kilometers apart, but neither knows the other’s location. Nagumo – believing that the American Fleet is at Pearl Harbor, which is about 1,800 kilometers from Midway – decides that he has all year to attack the atoll unmolested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, at 2:45 the operators who will take part in the operation begin to prepare and at 4:30 a total of 108 aircraft are launched. Of these, 72 were Aichi D3A Val and Nakajima B5N Kate bombers and the remaining 36 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighters, among the most famous fighters in aviation history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the first wave was sent to the decks of the Japanese aircraft carriers, the aircraft that were in the hangar went up, just in case. At the same time, seven reconnaissance aircraft (four Aichi E13A Jakes, two Nakajima B5N Kates and one Mitsubishi F1M Pete) are assigned to locate the American fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n At about the same time Fletcher flew SBD-3 Dauntless vertical attack bombers for the same purpose. The American air force at Midway consists of a mixture of aircraft from the Navy, the “United States Army Air Corps” (USAAC) – the forerunner of today’s USAF – and the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cream of the power of these aircraft were six new TBF-1 Avenger torpedo planes, four Martin B-26 Marauder medium twin-engine bombers and 17 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy four-engine bombers. The rest were about 30 PBY-5 Catalina seaplanes, only seven F-4F Wildcat fighters, 18 SBD-2 Daunless vertical attack bombers, and about 40 old SB2U Vindicator and F2A Buffalo fighters, which had little chance of survival against the agile and fast Japanese Zero chasers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Midway staff have been on call since 03:00 in the morning. At 05:25 the island’s radar detects a large number of aircraft at a distance of about 140 km. Almost all available American fighters (about 26 aircraft) take off to engage the Japanese fighters. The American pilots, in an attempt to surprise the Japanese aircraft, climb to a height of 17,000 feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the fast and agile A6M Zeros detect them and within a few minutes the slow-moving American fighters are decimated. Japanese bombers unmolested unload their cargo onto the two islands, which are engulfed in flames. Although the damage is significant and several facilities are destroyed, the objective of the Japanese, which was the destruction of the airfield, was not achieved. Only nine bullet-riddled American planes return to Midway, only two of which are reusable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At exactly 07:00 the mission leader reports to Nagumo that the objective was not achieved and a second operation would need to be carried out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the meantime, however, the positions of the Japanese aircraft carriers had been identified and Fletcher ordered the aircraft to be detached from the carriers to strike the enemy. Between 07:02 and 08:06, 119 aircraft were launched from the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Hornet to search for the Japanese fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of these 20 were F4F Wildcat fighters, 29 TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bombers and 70 SBD-3 Dauntless. Also, six TBF-1 Avenger torpedo planes and four B-26 Marauder bombers had taken off from Midway earlier. These aircraft do not even have time to approach the Japanese aircraft carriers, since they fall into the Zero’s killing net and are shot down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of these 10 aircraft, only two B-26 Marauders managed to land at Midway, pierced by enemy fire, while the only surviving TBF-1 Avenger eventually crashed on the shores of Midway due to engine failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At 07:55 they attempt to engage the Japanese fleet of 16 SBD-3 Dauntless from Midway, but thanks to the excellent cooperation of the A6M Zeros and the anti-aircraft guns of the Japanese ships half are shot down and the rest return to base without having achieved any wound. The Americans are not deterred and a new attack begins from Midway with B-17s. This time the A6M Zeros were unable to intercept the American bombers, as their 13 0.50 inch machine guns each carried were very good protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus the Japanese chasers stayed at a safe distance. For the American bombers it was the perfect opportunity, since the Japanese aircraft carriers were very close to each other. Nevertheless, although a pandemonium was caused by the jets of water created by the 500-pound bombs dropped by the aircraft, miraculously all the Japanese aircraft carriers remained intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After this failure a new attack was attempted with 11 SB2U Vindicator slow bombers, which only succeeded in returning half of them safe and sound to their base. The time has reached 08:25 and the Japanese side is certainly in an advantageous position, since all their ships are intact and their aircraft losses are minimal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, the Americans have lost all Midway aircraft except the B-17s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, Kondo’s forces are tightening the cordon around Midway. Everything seems to be tilting towards Nagumo. But Fletcher had not said his last word, because the 119 aircraft of the aircraft carriers are in the air, a fact that Nagumo is unaware of, since from the last report of a reconnaissance aircraft received at 08:10 he was informed that the most important forces of the American fleet consisted of cruisers and destroyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This information led him to the decision to launch another air strike against Midway to destroy the airstrips. The weak enemy fleet would be dealt with after he was “done” with Midway. For this reason he orders the planes to go down to the hangars below the decks of the carriers, so that the planes that carried out the first operation can be refloated and the torpedoes replaced with bombs, so that the planes are ready for the new attack on Midway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the crews carry out his orders, a new signal from the recon informs him that the opposing armada’s force includes an aircraft carrier. The new fact alarmed Nagumo but it was too late. Aircraft from Midway have begun to return, and the destroyers used to protect the fleet must also be brought in for resupply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unable to do anything else, Nagumo decides to first identify the aircraft that were in. After all, he estimated that the strength of the enemy aircraft would be small, because he knew of the existence of only one American aircraft carrier. As a precaution, however, he changed course so as not to pinpoint the position of his fleet and moved northeast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The last aircraft of the US fleet had begun to be decommissioned at 08:38. It was the “Yorktown” air force, which consisted of 10 fighters, 17 bombers and 12 torpedo planes. US fleet air power, which was in the air shortly after 09:00, totaled 158 aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n But the location of the enemy was unknown, so the search for the scattered Japanese ships over an area of thousands of square kilometers in the vast ocean was fruitless. One group of planes, consisting of 35 SBD Dauntless bombers and 10 F4F Wildcats, not only failed to locate the Japanese armada, but used up most of its fuel, causing some of the aircraft to be lost in the waters of the Pacific and the rest to return idle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, on the decks of the Japanese aircraft carriers were now planes equipped with torpedoes. At about 09:30, just as the final preparations were being made to dislodge the Japanese bombers, 41 TBD Devastators launched a suicide attack in three waves but about 50 A6M Zeros once again saved the day by shooting down 36 of them by 10: 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These continuous “suicide” thrusts of American torpedo planes over enemy warships are one of the bright pages of American war history. The American pilots showed complete indifference to death in order to do their duty, knowing that they had little chance not only to survive but also to hit the enemy ships. However, their attack was pointless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n None of the Japanese carriers are unharmed and Nagumo orders the aircraft to be withdrawn. But, the time had come when the story changed the page\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end the sacrifice of the American torpedo planes had not been wasted. As they were flying very low, trying to get close to the Japanese ships, the Zeros had also come down low to shoot them down. At that time, when no A6M Zeros were at the right height, a group of SBD Dauntless vertical attack bombers appeared out of nowhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time the Zeros were unable to intercept the American bombers, which swooped in from high altitude and dropped their deadly load on the Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi and Kaga. The bombs penetrate the ships’ decks and explode in their fuel tanks and ammunition stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A series of terrifying explosions sweeps the Japanese aircraft carriers, fuel-filled planes explode one after the other, and huge clouds of smoke and flames create a scene that resembles descriptions of hell. But the bad luck for the Japanese does not stop there, because almost at the same time the “Soryu” is also seriously damaged, which received a total of three bombs\u2026 It took less than ten minutes to turn an almost certain victory into a possible defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the afternoon “Soryu” and “Kaga” will be lost in the waters of the Pacific, while “Akagi” will follow them after a few hours. Nevertheless, the fight is not over. There is still the Hiryu and the two light aircraft carriers that are speeding up from the Aleutian Islands to reinforce it. At 11:00 bombers escorted by fighters from the Hiryu and after a fierce dogfight with the American fighters manage to get over Yorktown and unload their bombs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Yorktown” outlasted the Japanese aircraft carriers. Although badly battered, he continued to sail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But late at noon a Japanese submarine spotted it and attacked it with two torpedoes. The “Yorktown” heeled over and her crew abandoned her. But again it did not sink. It will be lost forever in the icy waters of the Pacific two days later, hit by the torpedoes of an American submarine, which gave the gratuitous shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Americans are undaunted and in the afternoon they launch a fierce attack against “Hiryu”. The next day, caught by the four enemy bombs it has received, it also sinks from friendly fire. At 02:00 on 5 June Yamamoto orders the ships’ captains to make a change and set their bows for Japanese ports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Battle of Midway ended with the worst ending for the Japanese, as they lost four carriers, 3,057 men and a large number of aircraft, most of them on the decks of the carriers. The only objective they eventually achieved was to capture the islands of Kiska and Atou on June 7, but these were of no strategic importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Americans, for their part, achieved a great victory with much smaller losses, losing only one aircraft carrier and about 150 aircraft and 300 men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the essential benefit of the Americans was that they managed to eliminate the undisputed superiority of the opponents in naval power until then, while gaining valuable time to make up for their own losses, thus laying the foundations for their eventual dominance in the theater of operations in the Pacific.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, in addition to the wounded American ego, also caused great losses in warships and aircraft on the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2362,7,2846],"tags":[227,4686,4685,3394],"class_list":["post-15268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-science","category-research","category-wars-battles","tag-battle-of-midway","tag-battle-of-pacific","tag-midway-air-naval-battle","tag-wwii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15268"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15278,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15268\/revisions\/15278"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-72.png\")
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