“Sit down, you!” the coxswain barked—before noticing, with horror, his faux pas. He stumbled out apologies.
Nimitz sat down. “Stick to your guns, sailor,” he said. “You were quite right.”
My career Navy father survived the sinking of the Yorktown, and more.
If America lost, they'd be helpless without carriers and a Pacific base and they would be forced into an Armistice with Japan. Possibly even losing the Hawaiian islands. There probably would have been no war in Europe too.
If Japan lost, their offensive would be crippled and as it happened they gradually lost piece by piece their pacific empire.
The Japanese were worried too much and it got the better of them. Admiral Nagumo instead of finishing off the Midway Airbase constantly delayed by bringing back his planes into the hangar to rearm with torpedoes. It gave the Americans time to catch them off guard and sink them.
We were bold and determined. The Japanese grieved and worried. They had the advantage and they lost it.
Useless link. One has to subscribe to read it. But thanks for the except, which is quite a bit more than readable on the WSJ link.
> Repair estimates ranged up to three months ... Three days later, the Yorktown sailed for Midway <
That’s one thing that made America great. And one thing that couldn’t happen today.
Sir Winston Churchill probably said it best:
“The annals of war at sea
present no more intense, heart-shaking shock than this
battle, in which the qualities of the United States Navy
and Air Force and the American race shone forth in
splendour. The bravery and self-devotion of the American
airmen and sailors and the nerve and skill of their
leaders was the foundation of all.”
Good movie.Very accurate.
I am not a subscriber to WSJ. Here is an account that we all can read-
http://mccluskymidwayhero.blogspot.com/
Salute to your hero father
The Americans in those torpedo planes sent a message to the Japanese military that shook them to the core.
And there were rolling blackouts in Honolulu because so much electrical power was needed to run those welders.
Did the WSJ conclude how racist it was to defeat the Japanese fleet?
There is a book titled “The Shattered Sword” about the Japanese side of the battle. It’s a must read for WW2 buffs, very very good.
The WSJ praising American Grit and Guts. Must be the Trump effect?
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, the problem appeared to have been institutional in nature.
But from Pearl Harbor until Kurita fled from Sprague at Samar, the Japanese fled from inferior forces instead of pressing forward to victory.
Right after Coral Sea, a chief named Oscar Meyer (yes) on the Yorktiwn came up with a remarkable CO2 pumping system to suppress fires. He took it to the captain, who not only approved it but who ordered it installed immediately during repairs and that system, in part, helped save the Yorktown from the damage at Midway (if course, hit by a torpedo right after.