[LeoWindhorse]

Imagine all the sailors and airmen , both American and Japanese , that fell victim to sharks in that one engagement alone.
And war fighters of today think they have it tough.. .

[Vaquero]

The only surviving American witness of the sinking of 3 Japanese carriers Lt George Gay got shot down in his Devistator torpedo Bomber. No sharks attacked him

With his aircraft still in relatively good condition, he decided to make for Hornet after clearing the Japanese carrier. However, five Mitsubishi A6M Zeros brought his aircraft down in a hail of machine gun and cannon fire, killing his rear gunner, ARM3c George Arthur Field.[1]

Exiting his aircraft, and floating in the ocean, he hid under his seat cushion for hours to avoid Japanese strafing attacks and witnessed the subsequent dive bombing attacks and sinking of three of the four Japanese aircraft carriers present.[4]

After dark, Gay felt it was safe to inflate his life raft. He was rescued by a Navy Consolidated PBY Catalina after spending over 30 hours in the water. Gay was later flown to USS Vincennes (arriving June 28, 1942), before being transferred home.[5] Of the squadron's thirty pilots and radiomen, Gay was the only survivor.

[Rockingham]

George Gay, the sole survivor of Torpedo Squadron 8 at Midway, was shot down after his Devastator bomber attacked the carrier Soryu unsuccessfully. Before being rescued by a PBY Catalina seaplane, Gay spent thirty hours in the water, alternately watching the battle and hiding under a seat cushion so as to avoid getting strafed by Jap fighters. Sharks were apparently not a problem for Gay and others in that the Battle of Midway occurred in the vast empty space of the Pacific, away from schools of fish and feeding grounds that attract sharks.