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To: Pelham; ealgeone; j.havenfarm

It’s also likely that the air defenses against a third wave would have been even stiffer. There was little air defense against the first wave due to surprise. More aircraft were shot down during the second wave. A third might have been even worse for the Japanese. It’s noteworthy that one of the biggest losses for Japan from their losses at Midway was near destruction of their trained pilots. This significantly reduced subsequent naval victories. Loss of more pilots in Hawaii might have reduced their subsequent gains early in the war.


15 posted on 12/08/2023 5:08:16 AM PST by norwaypinesavage (The power of the press is not in what it includes, rather, it's in that which is omitted.)
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To: norwaypinesavage

Yes. The Japanese did note the second wave saw a more organized resistance. Plus, they didn’t know where our carriers were. Not sure how we’d fared though with 6v2 carriers. IIRC a third wave attack would have been returning late afternoon/dusk. Nagumo made the right call to withdraw after the second wave.


16 posted on 12/08/2023 7:49:58 AM PST by ealgeone
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