Today marks the 60th anniversary of the battle of Midway.  The Japanese
intentions were to smash the remnants of American naval power in Pacific and
advance Japan's outer defensive perimeter more than a thousand miles further
by seizing the western Aleutians, Midway and ultimately Fiji, Samoa and New
Caledonia.  This would also sever the Allied lifeline between the U.S west
coast and Australia in preparation for the invasion of Australia.

Taking part in the operation was the Pearl Harbor strike force commanded by
Admiral Nagumo, now down to 4 fleet carriers after loses in the battle of
the Coral Sea the month before.  The Americans were outnumbered, but Admiral
Chester Nimitz had a fairly good idea of the Japanese objective due to some
good guessing and fortuitous code breaking.

On the morning of the 4th, a Consolidated PBY reconnaissance plane spotted
the Japanese carriers.  Attack planes were launched from the carriers
Enterprise and Hornet while the Japanese planes were attacking Midway
itself.  The attack on Midway met with fierce resistance from the planes
based there.  While this first attack was under way, Admiral Nagumo had
ordered a second strike readied in case the American carriers he knew to be
around had to be attacked.  However the leader of the Midway strike returned
ahead of his attack force and urged that a second strike be made against
Midway to destroy it as a useful base.  During the time Nagumo was thinking
about this, the Midway-based bombers hit his fleet.  The attack was repelled
at great loss to the American planes and no damage to the Japanese fleet.
However, this attack convinced Nagumo to launch the second strike against
Midway.  He was confident the American carriers were nowhere in the
vicinity, so he ordered the planes already armed and fueled on deck to be
rearmed with bombs for land attack.  Fifteen minutes into this operation, a
Japanese reconnaissance plane reported spotting American ships in the
distance.  Nagumo fretted over this information for another 15 minutes and
then ordered the rearming stopped and reversed so that his planes would now
have armor-piercing bombs and torpedoes, weapons suitable for attacking
warships. Confusion reigned on the 4 Japanese carriers, with bombs and
torpedoes strewn every which way, planes landing from the attack on Midway
and fuel everywhere.

The US planes, 116 fighters, dive-bombers and torpedo bombers were already
in the air and approaching at that time.  Another 35 planes had also
launched from the Yorktown, which was much closer to the Japanese fleet.
The timing of the launch was calculated to coincide with return of the
Japanese planes to their carriers after attacking Midway.

Unfortunately, Admiral Nagumo had ordered a course change right after the
last Midway strike planes returned.  The Hornet's fighters and dive-bombers
missed the Japanese task force entirely.  This caused the torpedo bombers to
go in unsupported with the loss of all the planes and every crewmen but one.
The torpedo bombers of the Yorktown and Enterprise suffered a similar fate
and from a total of 56 TBD planes sent in, only 8 survived and not a single
hit hat been scored.  At that point the Japanese thought they had won the
battle.

However, in 90 seconds the whole outcome was reversed.  The 37 dive-bombers
from the Enterprise under the command of Lt. Cmdr McClusky arrived over the
carriers, just as the last TBD was downed.  The Japanese CAP (combat air
patrol) was at low altitude, having dealt with the attacking TBDs.  The
dive-bombers were virtually unopposed, attacking 4 large carriers with
aircraft, bombs and torpedoes, and fuel on deck. Within seconds, the Kaga
and the Akagi got hit by bombs that touched off uncontrollable fires.  At
that time, the 17 SBD dive-bombers from the Yorktown arrived on the scene
and immediately put 3 bombs on the deck of the Soryu, which also burned
uncontrollably.  Inside of 5 minutes, Nagumo had lost three fleet carriers,
Pearl Harbor attackers all.

Nagumo ordered his last carrier, the Hiryu, to launch a strike on the
Yorktown.  The 50 bombers and fighters followed the American aircraft home.
The Yorktown CAP and the escort vessels accounted for most of the attackers
but some did manage to get through and they put 3 bombs and 2 torpedoes into
the Yorktown, which had still not totally recovered from the damage she had
suffered at the battle of the Coral Sea.

Reconnaissance planes from the Enterprise had spotted the Hiryu and she
launched 14 of her own SBDs and 10 of Yorktown's against the Hiryu.  This
last carrier, also one of the Pearl Harbor attackers went down after taking
4 hits.  A few days later, the Yorktown after being taken in tow was
ultimately sunk by a Japanese submarine, along with an escorting destroyer.

The Battle of Midway was over; the Japanese Imperial Navy had lost four of
its finest carriers and any chance to eliminate the U.S. Navy from the
Pacific.  These carriers were invaluable to the Japanese who did not have
the industrial capacity to replace them in a timely fashion.  They also lost
hundreds of planes and pilots who were also difficult to replace.

This battle was the turning point in the war in the Pacific.

Denys

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