Posted on 06/03/2017 8:09:12 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
Seventy-five years ago this Sunday, some 150 Japanese warships, 250 warplanes and 25 admirals were steaming toward a small atoll 1,300 miles northwest of Oahu. Imminent was the most crucial naval battle of World War II—Midway.
But in a windowless basement near the fleet’s Pearl Harbor headquarters, codebreakers under Cmdr. Joe Rochefort pored over intercepted Japanese radio traffic. Independent, impolitic, single-minded, Rochefort “left the basement only to bathe, change clothes, or get an occasional meal to supplement a steady diet of coffee and sandwiches,” one officer recalled. “For weeks the only sleep he got was on a field cot pushed into a crowded corner.”
The USS Yorktown had been damaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea and had recently returned to Pearl Harbor trailing a 10-mile oil slick. Repair estimates ranged up to three months.
Three days, ordered Nimitz. Fourteen hundred welders and shipfitters swarmed aboard. Three days later, the Yorktown sailed for Midway....
Searching for a fourth, Navy pilot Sam Adams sighted the Hiryu and her escorts. “One carrier, two battleships, three heavy cruisers, four destroyers,” he dictated to his radio man and gunner, Joseph Karrol, to transmit in dots and dashes to the American fleet. “Course north, speed 20 knots.”
“Mr. Adams,” Karrol interrupted, “would you mind waiting a minute? There’s a Zero on our tail.” After shaking the enemy, Karrol finished keying the report. Soon the Hiryu, too, was ablaze and sinking...
Japan’s overconfident admirals had judged, disastrously. Nimitz, acting boldly while his bosses hedged, gave his outgunned Navy the first shot. His sailors and pilots made it count....
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
First blow was struck by USA shortly after midnight on June 4
4 radar equipped PBY were sent out to strike the transport
convoy - it was bombed unsuccessfully that afternoon by B17
Torpedo struck oiler AKEBONO MARU in bow damaging it badly
Auxiliary cruiser KIYUSUMI MARU was strafed by the aircraft
wounding number of troops aboard
USS Yorktown, CV-5 was in dry dock at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on Dec. 7 1941. She was in the yard because of damage received at sea during a storm in the Atlantic.
She sailed for the Pacific on Dec. 16, 1941.
Taffy 3, and the Battle off Samar...
I believe that they were arming their planes for a second strike on Midway, when an American carrier was sighted.
They then started switching to ordnance for attacking ships, and left the general-purpose land bombs on the decks until they could be stowed later.
Whoops.
“The Japs lost at Midway because, like at most of their other naval battles, they fled before finishing the job. I’m not sure cowardice is the right word to describe the senior Japanese naval commanders,”
There were seven aircraft carriers involved in the battle and all four of Japan’s large aircraft carriers—Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, part of the six-carrier force that had attacked Pearl Harbor six months earlier—and a heavy cruiser were sunk, while the U.S. lost only the carrier Yorktown and a destroyer.
As `armchair admiral’ what would you have done? Stuck around with the Yamato swatting at American dive bombers, losing it and other ships?
I agree that the Japanese broke off their attack on Pearl Harbor too soon. But at Midway they got their clocks cleaned and lost their air cover, so withdrawal was prudent.
There was nothing tentative about it. Their casualties were isolated and the Japanese people didn’t learn of this terrible ass-kicking for a long time.
Unfortunately, Adm. Nimitz & Adm. Mitscher were fixated on the Japanese carriers and failed to grasp that without aircrews carriers are simply white elephants.
The torpedo planes went in first. They were all shot down.
Supposedly, a Japanese Officer watched the torpedo planes pressing the attack even as the ones in front were shot down and said,
“They told us the Americans have no Bushido (warrior spirit). They lied. The Americans have Bushido.”
Dec 5th the Russians counter attracted at Moscow Dec.7 and Dec.11 Hitler declared war on the U.S. All within six days.
They were also resting their air crews. After a couple of strikes at Midway they were gassed. The air wings of Hiryu and Soryu were pretty small compared to their bigger sisters, and also when compared to US carriers. Essentially they had no reserve aircraft.
Yes, it was a busy month.
As the Japanese withdrew they left a couple of heavy cruisers back to in the hopes that they might catch the Enterprise & Hornet in a hasty pursuit. They were looking for a night surface action which they IJN excelled at. Spruance figured he’d done as much as could be expected and bagging another cruiser or 2 wasn’t worth risking his carriers, and so he withdrew. Even so US strike aircraft managed to nail one of those cruisers.
Though I doubt that he actually said these exact words, the movie “Midway” sums up the Japanese astonishment at the Americans’ fighting spirit when Admiral Nagumo, after watching the U.S. torpedo squadrons press home their attacks and getting wiped out, says with astonishment, “They fight like samurai, these Americans!”
I had the privilege of attending a Battle of Midway commemoration at the National World War II Memorial today. Among the speakers was 93-year-old Senator Bob Dole, he of the gentle demeanor and self-depreciating sense of humor. Also in attendance were six veterans from the battle. This was probably the last chance those veterans would have in their lifetimes to see their glorious victory be publically commemorated. I’m so glad I was there to see it.
great site! Love this one...
Send Leakers to Jail Washington’s blabocracy is endangering our national security. By Deroy Murdock
Posted By Ruth King on June 3rd, 2017
As for the Miracle at Midway, I love the word Miracle because historically, there have been miracles (George Washington not having been killed in battle for example). God does put the right person in the right place at the right time to keep His plans for this world on schedule and under budget. :)
No, you need to go back and look at the order of battle. After the Battle of Midway, Japanese forces were largely intact except for the Carrier Strike force.
Main Force had Hosho, Chiyoda, and Nisshin.
Invasion Force had Zuiho;
Occupation force had Chitose and the freighter Kamikawa Maru (8 fighters and 4 scouts).
And the Northern Force, which was intended as a diversion anyway, could have been brought down to supply additional cover after the landings. Ryujo; and Jun’yo;
Since the Americans had only 8 cruisers against a far superior surface fleet and a slight advantage in available aircraft, the Japs should have been able to drive the Americans off (Guadalcanal and Wake should have told the Japs that the American navy wasn’t willing to risk carriers to save a few marines on on an island) and a determined drive would have won the day.
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