[Phlyer]

. . . the US's official description of the damage . . .

That was the official *public* description. The US Navy didn't lie to itself, as the Japanese Navy did. The Japanese government also lied to the Japanese people and claimed that Midway as a victory, etc.

In the absence of hard, verifiable data, the US Navy had a lot of wishful thinking about things like our torpedoes, which were a lot worse than we 'thought', and about Japanese torpedoes, which were a lot better than we thought. But we learned from the battles and got better, while the Japanese kept trying to recreate the Battle of Tsushima and refused to believe any changes in doctrine or tactics were required.

[Captain Walker]

The Japanese government also lied to the Japanese people and claimed that Midway as a victory, etc.

But how much of this is unusual for any country to do in wartime?

(How was our bombing campaign over Germany being described stateside, or our losses in the Hurtgen Forest?)