Posted on 06/04/2009 6:04:53 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
June 4, 1942
The Battle of Midway begins
On this day in 1942, Japanese Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, commander of the fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor, launches a raid on Midway Island with almost the entirety of the Japanese navy.
As part of a strategy to widen its sphere of influence and conquest, the Japanese set their sights on an island group in the central Pacific, Midway, as well as the Aleutians, off the coast of Alaska. They were also hoping to draw the badly wounded U.S. navy into a battle, determined to finish it off.
The American naval forces were depleted: The damaged carrier Yorktown had to be repaired in a mere three days, to be used along with the Enterprise and Hornet, all that was left in the way of aircraft carriers after the bombing at Pearl Harbor.
On the morning of June 4, Admiral Nagumo launched his first strike with 108 aircraft, and did significant damage to U.S. installations at Midway. The Americans struck back time and again at Japanese ships, but accomplished little real damage, losing 65 of their own aircraft in their initial attempts. But Nagumo underestimated the tenacity of both Admiral Chester Nimitz and Admiral Raymond Spruance, commanders of the American forces. He also miscalculated tactically by ordering a second wave of bombers to finish off what he thought was only a remnant of American resistance (the U.S. forces had been able to conceal their position because of reconnaissance that anticipated the Midway strike) before his first wave had sufficient opportunity to rearm.
A fifth major engagement by 55 U.S. dive-bombers took full advantage of Nagumo's confused strategy, and sunk three of the four Japanese carriers, all cluttered with aircraft and fuel trying to launch another attack against what they now realized-too late--was a much larger American naval force than expected. A fourth Japanese carrier, the Hiryu was crippled, but not before its aircraft finished off the noble American Yorktown.
The attack on Midway was an unmitigated disaster for the Japanese, resulting in the loss of 322 aircraft and 3,500 men. They were forced to withdraw from the area before attempting even a landing on the island they sought to conquer.
How’s the Water Purification Unit looking now Naguma?
Did we have a warrant to listen in on the Japanese codes? /s
Uh, no carriers where hit at PH.
Nimitz will have to be indicted in absentia (since he’s dead now) for war crimes, bombing all those poor Japanese sailors on those carriers, and all they were trying to do was refuel so they could continue their sight seeing tour of Midway, Nimitz and Spruance, murdering innocent Japanese tourists, oh the humanity. ;)
No, but much of the U.S. Pacific fleet was destroyed at Pearl, the carriers survived only because they were at sea.
Fortunately they didn't have to file environmental impact reports and ensure that the repair crews had the correct racial balance.
The dive bombers should have at least given the Japanese zeroes time to get back to their proper altitude before commencing their attacks on the carriers. /s
I think the repair crews (gasp) worked more than eight hour days! Oh the horror!! /s
A reasonable statement or not?
I often wonder about the "what if's" of major turning-point battles. Assume, for instance, that Nagumo's air strikes against Midway had succeeded to the point where no 're-strike' was required. Then his carriers would have been free to re-arm for anti-shipping strikes earlier. Would that have made a difference?
I think not. Here's my reasoning.
1. The invasion force would soon be ready to land and would presumably require close air support in the landing phase.
2. Nagumo still had no clue that there were American carriers lurking in the area. The Op Plan called for seizing Midway first then waiting to ambush the US counterstroke. I don't think that capturing Midway would have been easy. In light of what happened at Wake Island it is entirely possible that the initial assault would have been repulsed -- and that would have forced Nagumo into further strikes against landbased targets. We're right back to Nagumo's initial dilema -- what should I arm for, land-attack or anti-shipping?
3. Perhaps most important was the Japanese neglect of shipboard damage control. This meant that their aircraft carriers, on average, were extremely fragile compared to US carriers. Even if the Japanese carriers weren't caught with decks full of munitions - making them a one-hit kill target - they still would have been suseptible to a single-hit "mission kill" -- and they were a long way from any support base.
I thought you were going to say that Greenpeace would have sought an injuction against allowing Yorktown into the harbor on account of her training an oil slick!
did they have any evidence that those planes from those ships attacked us at Pearl?? huh?? Did the Hague say so??
What he should have said was what was left of Aircraft Carriers after the battle of the Coral sea. We never had many carriers to start with, but we did have some in the Atlantic as well as the Pacific. This guy also forgot to mention that the US sunk the 4th Japanese carrier the next day, so the final score was Japs 1 America 4. The York Town was already damaged and the Japanese thought they had sunk two carriers when in reality it was only one.
All four carriers were sunk on the same day, Akagi, Kaga and Soryu in the first group of three then Hiryu sunk singly in the second carrier strike.
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Thanks mainepatsfan. |
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If 0bama had been President in 1942 he would have sought indictments against the bombardiers and gunners of the Japanese planes.
Right you are, but my point was he forgot to mention the 4th carrier.
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