# June 4-6 1942: Battle of Midway



## Xenophon

*The Battle of Midway 

The rival plans*

With their forces over-running the Pacific islands and Southeast Asia the Japanese navy had to consider its next moves. Offensives in the Indian Ocean and against Australia were proposed but met strenuous opposition, and Admiral Yamamoto, Japan's Navy Commander in Chief was convinced that in 1942 Japan had to force and win a decisive carrier action with the Americans if she stood any chance of avoiding ultimate defeat.

Admiral Ugaki suggested an assault on the Hawaiian Islands, but this was rejected at the time on the grounds that the Japanese could not achieve surprise, because forces on Midway would surely detect the invasion beforehand.. Also, the Japanese carries could not hope to achieve air supremacy over so large an area as the Hawaiian Islands and it would be difficult to keep an invasion force supplied with a large American base at Midway in Japan's rear areas. Yamamoto was determined to force the issue at Midway, and the Doolittle raid of 18th April, 1942 on Japan removed Army objections to his plans. Midway would be taken in an effort to force the US Navy into a decisive battle, and thus, win the war for Japan.

The Japanese operation envisaged an opening assault on the Western Aleutians to act as a decoy, followed the next day by a carrier assault on Midway, and thence a landing there. Yamamoto anticipated that the Americans would be forced to give battle, with both numbers and quality decisively in Japan's favor. Yamamoto's weakness was his ignorance of the American carriers' location, but this was to be remedied by aircraft and submarine reconnaissance. Yamamoto was unaware that he had a far more crippling weakness, something the Americans called "magic."

Commander Rochford, USN, was head of the super-secret "magic" program, that attempted to read Japanese codes, and had completely cracked Japan's diplomatic purple code. The naval codes were more difficult, and by his own estimate, they never could read more than 30% of any given code, the blanks were filled in by analysis and guesswork, that was quite often right on target. The current naval code was being read and understood, so he knew Japan was planing an offensive in the west, and suspected the target of "Operation AF" was an attack on Midway, yet he couldn't prove it. He proposed a trick to Fleet Admiral Nimitz, USN Pacific commander, for a simple trick, to have a false message placed in Midway's daily radio traffic, in the hope the Japanese would read it and report it. This ploy worked, a false report of water condenser failure was added to Midway's traffic, and Rochford's men soon had the following decryption: "AF reports water condenser failure." There was no longer any doubt, Midway was the target.

But even armed with this information, the US forces faced impossible odds. The Americans lacked the strength to resist a force that contained 7 carriers, 11 battleships and numerous cruisers and destroyers. The US had only Enterprise and Hornet, the Yorktown had been severely damaged at Coral Sea, the Lexington was sunk, and Saratoga had been torpedoed and was out for at least 11 months. No battleships were available, and the US only had a handful of cruisers and destroyers. Yet Nimitz knew he had to give battle, if Midway were lost, Hawaii would soon follow, and the US West Coast would be wide open to attack. He could not afford to lose his fleet, and he had to fight, so he hoped and gambled on a desperate plan. The Enterprise and Hornet, under a cruiser admiral, Raymond Spruance (Halsey, the usual commander of this force, was sick with a skin condition, and had suggested him), would take his Task force to a point north west of Midway, and attempt to bushwack the approaching Japanese, then flee before a return strike could harm them. As Task Force 16 set out, the Yorktown arrived at Pearl Harbor, and by herculean efforts, she was made ready to fight in 72 hours (the original estimate was three months) and she followed her sisters, commanded by Admiral Frank "jack" Fletcher, an officer of lesser ability to Spruance.

Yamamoto, as was his habit, split the Imperial Navy up into a number of task forces. The main strike force, 4 carriers under Nagumo, was furthest west, his main body 300 miles behind this, a cruiser force coming from the south east had the invasion troops, and there were also scouting elements. The Japanese had been to slow to deploy their submarines, they arrived to late to see the American carriers, so the Japanese were unaware they had left Pearl Harbor. The stage was set for the most incredible battle in US naval history.

*The action*

The vast Japanese armada approached Midway behind a weather front and where therefore shielded from observation. Since the Japanese subs had arrived late, both sides did not know where the enemy carries were.

On 3rd June the Americans obtained contact and used their Midway based aircraft in a profitless attack. These planes, Marine flown, were obsolete types, including the Vought Vindicator dive bomber (so old, the fabric covered wings shred during dives) and the hopeless Brewster Buffalo fighter, a deathtrap. Yet the marine pilots pressed home attacks, which also included US army airforce B-17s, and obtained not a single hit. The Japanese had decided to wait until they were closer to attack, as had the US carriers. On the 4th, the Japanese launched over 100 planes against Midway, hitting the island hard, and again, Midway counterstrikes scored no hits at all. Nagumo was heavily concerned that US carries might be in the area, so he ordered his planes rearmed with torpedoes to deal with them. His Midway strike commander convinced him another Midway strike was needed, so he again ordered the load changed to contact bombs. At this point, a cruiser scout plane reported enemy carriers, and Nagumo AGAIN ordered his planes rearmed with torpedoes and armor-piercing bombs. 

While this was going on, Spruance was hoping to catch the Japanese rearming and refueling their planes. He had a rough idea of the enemy's location from a PBY sighting. He believed that the only way to be successful was to launch a co-ordinated strike of torpedo planes and dive bombers. The Hornet launched it's strike first, and it's dive bombers failed to find the target, and returned home. The torpedo squadron did find it however, and it's commander decided to go it alone. The result was a slaughter, the dozen or so TBD Devastators were all shot down, only 5 managed to launch a torpedo, no hits were scored, and only one man, ensign George Gay survived the attack.

While this was going on, Lt Commander Wade McClusky, Enterprise's air group commander, was sure the enemy was near, even though they had found nothing. He was leading his bombers, as well as the Yorktown's SBD Dauntless dive bombers, a slow but deadly type that would sink more Japanese ships then any other WWII aircraft. Nearing the end of his search range, McClusky saw a lone destroyer speeding southwest. Gambling that it was heading for the Main fleet, he turned his planes after it and sped on. The enterprise and Yorktown's Torpedo planes attacked at this point, and did no better then the Hornet's attack. The Japanese zeros cut the planes up, and now were all less then 1,000 feet off the water trying to shoot down the remaining, fleeing US planes. At THAT moment, McClusky's dive bombers appeared overhead!

Enterprise aircraft went after the Akagi and the Soryu, while the Yorktown's group went after the Kaga, the other Jap carrier, the Hiryu, was obscured in a rain squall. The American planes came roaring down from 20,000 feet, the zeros had no chance to intercept, and the Japanese AA fire was slow to engage, having been firing at the torpedo planes. McClusky couldn't have picked a better moment, the Japanese carries were loaded with fueled and armed planes on their flight decks, which would doom them. The Americans were on target, bombs ripped through the Akagi, Kaga and Soryu, causing uncontrollable fires. Three of the six Carriers that had struck pearl Harbor 6 months earlier were now gone, as well as the flower of Japanese naval aviation.

The Hiryu got it's strike off in time to follow the fleeing American planes, and they found the Yorktown, and did severe damage to her. But the Enterprise and Hornet got off a follow-up strike, and quickly sank the Hiryu, making Midway an unmitigated disaster from which Japan would never recover. Yamamoto called off the Midway invasion, and sailed home, having lost a cruiser to further US attacks. The US lost the Yorktown and a destroyer to a japanese submarine while retiring, but the end result of Midway was the end of Japanese offensives in the Pacific, and within two months, the US would undertake their first Pacific offensive, Operation Watchtower, the invasion of Guadalcanal.

Pearl Harbor had been avenged, thanks to the hard work of code breakers, the cool decisiveness of Nimitz, the skill of Spruance, and the bravery and dedication of men like Wade McClusky and the officers and men of the United States Navy.


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## Xenophon

SBD Dauntless Dive bombers from Enterprise, Yorktown and Hornet about to hit the Japanese navy:


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## Xenophon

The Yorktown under heavy air attack:


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## Xenophon

Stricken IJN cruiser flees the US Navy:


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## Xenophon

TBD Devastators prepare for lauch, this type was obsolete and most would be shot down and their crews killed, yet their bravery deply impressed the Japanese:


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## strollingbones

excellent thread..thank you


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## Xenophon

I might add bones, that the men who fought were all volunteers, men of the regular US Navy with ships built before the war started.

USS Enterprise:






This ship would earn 19 of the 21 battle stars issues by the US in WWII (a battle star is earned for a major battle)


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## Xenophon

The IJN Akagi, flagship and victim of Enterprise SBDs:


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## Xenophon

Wade Mcclusky, who's gamble won the battle of Midway and changed the pacific war forever:


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## strollingbones

yes its amazing what these "old men" now....did back  when they were barely out of their teens..stop and talk to them....they were pilots , bombers, sailors.....some will talk some wont....i never ask about d day ....few talk about it


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## code1211

Xenophon said:


> The Yorktown under heavy air attack:




I've always been fascinated by the great battles of history and this one considered either by itself or Round 2 of Coral Sea is such a battle.

The Yorktown was considered to have been sunk by the Japanese during the battle of Corral Sea and then again after the first sortie of planes left it in flames.  That it was in the battle at all was a tribute to the shipfitters many of whom were still on board when they went to join Enterprise and Hornet.

After that first attack at Midway, the flames were huge due to so much repair debris on the deck which was frantically swept overboard.  Below decks was the real Houdini, though.  The hanger decks had been fitted with CO2 tanks and when the flames started up, the rooms were flooded with CO2 starving the flames which were then quickly subdued.

The Japanese pilots reported that the carrier was in flames and sinking.  The Japanese knew that only Hornet and Enterprise were in the Pacific and suddenly, in their mind, it was an even fight.  One fleet carrier apiece.

The Japanese should have won this battle and did not.  It is the stuff of legend.


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## Xenophon

The US Navy's stubby little F4F Wildcat took on the cream of Japan's naval air service and more then held it's own.


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## code1211

strollingbones said:


> yes its amazing what these "old men" now....did back  when they were barely out of their teens..stop and talk to them....they were pilots , bombers, sailors.....some will talk some wont....i never ask about d day ....few talk about it




That these guys did what they did in the war and then came home and raised families, just did the work a day stuff, is amazing.  My Dad never thought of himself as an Army Air Corp Bombadier.  He was a civilian who was called to war and would serve his country in the way the could serve best then return home.

It seemed as if it were no big deal.  It was what he did and what anyone would do.  Enlist one day, save the world the next and raise a family the next.

It staggers the imagination.


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## del

Xenophon said:


> Wade Mcclusky, who's gamble won the battle of Midway and changed the pacific war forever:



not to take anything away from mccluskey, but i think nimitz took a pretty big gamble in basing his disposition of forces and assumptions on Magic intercepts and also giving command of TF 16 to spruance at the last minute.

good thread


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## Oddball

The boondoggle and guessing game of all military boondoggles and guessing games.

Unfortunately fore the Japanese, they made more wrong guesses.


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## Oddball

del said:


> Xenophon said:
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> Wade Mcclusky, who's gamble won the battle of Midway and changed the pacific war forever:
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> not to take anything away from mccluskey, but i think nimitz took a pretty big gamble in basing his disposition of forces and assumptions on Magic intercepts and also giving command of TF 16 to spruance at the last minute.
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> good thread
Click to expand...

You don't rise to the level Nimitz did by making poor decisions on tactics or delegations of authority.


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## Xenophon

del said:


> Xenophon said:
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> Wade Mcclusky, who's gamble won the battle of Midway and changed the pacific war forever:
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> not to take anything away from mccluskey, but i think nimitz took a pretty big gamble in basing his disposition of forces and assumptions on Magic intercepts and also giving command of TF 16 to spruance at the last minute.
> 
> good thread
Click to expand...

It was a huge gamble, the smart play was to guard the US west coast.

Wade's gamble with his aircraft turned the tide of battle, the US TBDs and land based AC had already failed and Japan was winning. 

It was pure luck he arrived over the Japanese as the last torpedo bombers had went down and teh carriers had full loads ready for launch.


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## Midnight Marauder

Had Yamamoto not been so blase and sloppy with the air reconnaissance, the outcome surely would have been different. Finding the American carriers should have been top priority, yet he used only a third of the search planes the Americans did, and with much shorter search range. Japanese warrior ethos at the time placed little value on recon.

Plus, they were arrogant and with good reason -- they had dominated the pacific for so long, they really had little reason to think much of the Americans. Midway changed all of that and also changed the balance of power in the Pacific.

The Yorktown, what can be said? Such heroism under fire, such gallantry and bravery, and such ingenuity on the part of the crew. Truly, Yorktown's action at Midway is one of the US Navy's finest hours.

Later on of course, more Japanese intercepts by Magic allowed us to kill Admiral Yamamoto while he was on a transport plane. We had broken their codes again, and knew of the trip, and sent fighters to take him out.

Which, they did.


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## Oddball

Xenophon said:


> Wade's gamble with his aircraft turned the tide of battle, the US TBDs and land based AC had already failed and Japan was winning.
> 
> It was pure luck he arrived over the Japanese as the last torpedo bombers had went down and teh carriers had full loads ready for launch.


Absolutely.

The entire battle hinged upon that 1/2 hour> attack by the TBDs.


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## Xenophon

The deadly Nakajima B5N 'Kate' torpedo bomber


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## Midnight Marauder

Interesting the differences between then and now. The assassination of Yamamoto would issue forth wails of protest from the ACLU and the far-left today, cries of us being "war criminals" and all of that rot. And the press today would NEVER have gone along with any of this:





> To cover up the fact that the Allies were reading Japanese code, American news agencies were told that civilian coast-watchers in the Solomon Islands saw Yamamoto boarding a bomber in the area. They did not publicize the names of most of the pilots that attacked Yamamoto's plane* because one of them had a brother who was a prisoner of the Japanese*, and U.S. military officials feared for his safety.


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## Oddball

Xenophon said:


> The deadly Nakajima B5N 'Kate' torpedo bomber



[knee-jerk]Nuh---Uuuuhhhh!![/knee-jerk]

Oh yeah...That's right...The Val had the fixed undercarriage.


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## editec

A truly historic sea battle.

The balance of power in the Pacific tilted toward the Americans because of it.

Had we lost that battle this world would be a very different place.


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## Oddball

A great print, by Stan Stokes


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## Midnight Marauder

USS Yorktown, at the bottom of the pacific. (Artist's rendering.)


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## Oddball

The NatGeo site on the Yorktown:

Midway @ nationalgeographic.com


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## Xenophon

Aichi D3A 'Val'

This type sank more allied ships then any other type in the pacific war.


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## Xenophon

The Mitsubishi A6M 'Zero' fighter that caused so many problems for the allies early in the war.


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## Midnight Marauder

Xenophon said:


> The Mitsubishi A6M 'Zero' fighter that caused so many problems for the allies early in the war.


Until pappy Boyington showed us how to shoot 'em down!

Fatal flaw? No armor for the fuel tanks which would explode if shot, or really even sneezed at!


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## Xenophon

It didn't hlep that Japanese pilots routinely flew it without parachutes or radios (Saburo Sakai talks about this is 'Samurai!' his book about his war in the pacific. Sakai had 60+ kills during teh war and was the highest surviving Japanese ace, he passed away a few years ago).


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## amiam*

Midnight Marauder said:


> Interesting the differences between then and now. The assassination of Yamamoto would issue forth wails of protest from the ACLU and the far-left today, cries of us being "war criminals" and all of that rot. And the press today would NEVER have gone along with any of this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> To cover up the fact that the Allies were reading Japanese code, American news agencies were told that civilian coast-watchers in the Solomon Islands saw Yamamoto boarding a bomber in the area. They did not publicize the names of most of the pilots that attacked Yamamoto's plane* because one of them had a brother who was a prisoner of the Japanese*, and U.S. military officials feared for his safety.
Click to expand...


I often wonder if the assassination of Admiral Yamamoto was set up by Yamamoto himself. Before he took that flight he had the navel code changed. After Pearl Harbor and Midway he must have suspected his codes were not secure. A honorable death was better than to face the defeat of japan which he expected from the very start.

As to the codebreaker Cmdr Joseph Rochefort, he made the ambush at Midway possible.






Captain Joseph John Rochefort (1898&#8211;1976) was an American Naval officer and cryptanalyst. His contributions and those of his team were pivotal to victory in the Pacific War.

Rochefort was a major figure in the United States Navy's cryptographic and intelligence operations from 1925 to 1946, particularly in the Battle of Midway, which his skills and effort helped win. Fluent in Japanese, he headed the Navy's fledgling cryptanalytic organization in the 1920s and provided cryptographic support to the U.S. Fleet. At the end of his naval career (1942&#8211;1946), Rochefort successfully headed the Pacific Strategic Intelligence Group in Washington.


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## Midnight Marauder

amiam* said:


> I often wonder if the assassination of Admiral Yamamoto was set up by Yamamoto himself. Before he took that flight he had the navel code changed. After Pearl Harbor and Midway he must have suspected his codes were not secure. A honorable death was better than to face the defeat of japan which he expected from the very start.


He also _insisted_ on going, over the objections of local commanders, not even letting them talk him into changing the flight plans.

Good point.


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## amiam*

If my image does not appear try this link. It did not appear in my previous post tho I tried. 
File:Joseph rochefort.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Captain Joseph John Rochefort (18981976) was an American Naval officer and cryptanalyst. His contributions and those of his team were pivotal to victory in the Pacific War.

Rochefort was a major figure in the United States Navy's cryptographic and intelligence operations from 1925 to 1946, particularly in the Battle of Midway, which his skills and effort helped win. Fluent in Japanese, he headed the Navy's fledgling cryptanalytic organization in the 1920s and provided cryptographic support to the U.S. Fleet. At the end of his naval career (19421946), Rochefort successfully headed the Pacific Strategic Intelligence Group in Washington.


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## Xenophon

Did you add the image tags correctly?


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## amiam*

Xenophon said:


> Did you add the image tags correctly?



What image tags? I thought that was done automatically after I entered the URL.


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## Xenophon

amiam* said:


> Xenophon said:
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> Did you add the image tags correctly?
> 
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> What image tags? I thought that was done automatically after I entered the URL.
Click to expand...

No, you have to manually enter the tags around the picture's url:

UPLOAD PICTURE LINK[/-img]

The end tag should NOT have the dash (-) but I have to add it or you would see a red X.


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