Along with the carrier’s hulk, the team also found at least one Grumman F4F “Wildcat” fighter aircraft and seven Douglas Devastator torpedo planes.
The TBD (Torpedo Bomber Douglas) was the most advanced aircraft of its type when introduced in the mid-1930s; by the time we entered WWII, it was hopelessly obsolete. Delivering a torpedo against an enemy ship required a long, slow approach to the target—it made the Devastators sitting ducks for AAA fire and enemy fighters.
Midway represented the last hurrah for the Devastator; of the more than 40 dispatched against the Japanese fleet, only four made it back to their carriers. Torpedo 8, led by LCDR John Waldron, was almost completely wiped out. Only Ensign George Gay survived, after an unsuccessful run against an Japanese carrier.
Of course, the sacrifice of the torpedo squadrons was not in vain. They forced the Japanese CAP down to the deck and many of the fighters had burned most of their fuel in pursuit of the Devastators. When Max Leslie and Wade McCluskey arrived over the enemy carrier force in their dive bombers, there wasn’t a Zero at altitude, and that “great silver wave” (as Jimmy Thach called it) changed the course of history in less than 15 minutes.
George Gay later in his life would sometimes make an appearance at a Navy base. He had a story to tell. Sometimes an action that seemed futile in the short term has immense consequences.
The effort by the torpedo squadrons seems to illustrate that effect quite accurately.
ENS Gay ditched within easy sight of the Japanese fleet, and had "the best seat in the house" to watch its destruction. A PBY Catalina rescued him after 30 hours in the drink. He went on to have a successful career in aviation, as Naval Aviator throughout WWII and then as an airline pilot with TWA.
ENS Gay on the right. Looks like somebody painted a weasel face on their torpedo.