https://x.com/DeptofDefense/status/1918999055566614571
May 4, 2025
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253.3K ViewsPosted on 05/04/2025 4:43:07 PM PDT by ransomnote
https://x.com/DeptofDefense/status/1918999055566614571
May 4, 2025
·Â253.3K Views
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Because the Japanese blinked. They lost a light carrier, We lost a heavey carrier Lexington and had Yorktown badly damaged and nearly missed Midway due to the damage. They got cold feat and pulled back. GOD helped us out at Coral Sea. IMO
A tactical draw; a strategic victory because the Japanese fleet turned tail and ran.
You beat me to the punchline.
Midway was the turning point for two big reasons. We killed or crippled four Japanese carriers;and we knew we had broken their code which eventually enabled us to read their messages in real time.
Because the Japanese blinked. They lost a light carrier, We lost a heavey carrier Lexington and had Yorktown badly damaged and nearly missed Midway due to the damage. They got cold feat and pulled back. GOD helped us out at Coral Sea. IMO.
Instead, they were subject to over a hundred bombing raids by the Japanese. It was extensive, especially in the North of Australia.
The Australians loved the USA until the left in Australia imported so many immigrants to the Australian cities, where they outvoted the Australians who had experienced WWII.
A very fascinating and historical battle.
2 comments
1. Some of the Kiwis and Aussies get angry if you try and take too much credit for the USN. One guy got angry with me for writing about our (strategic) victory, he said I was not giving the RN enough credit. so I searched it. Out of the entire task force I think there was ONE RN light cruiser that actually saw some action and 2 others as support out of 21. Sure it helped but…2 cruisers and a destroyer in THAT battle didn’t have too much to do.
2. I knew it was the first naval battle where the opposing ships never saw each other but One thing I did not know until recently is how close the IJN and USN —-sorry ALLIED navies came to each other. At night they passed by each other just a few miles away in the dark at least once and maybe twice.
Apparently our radar was not very good at that date to pick up surface ships amongst islands and clouds etc.
My favorite part of the whole saga was that Japan thought they sank the USS Yorktown. At the time, the estimate was that three months of repair would be needed. She managed to limp back to Pearl Harbor, badly damaged, and the determination there was that Yorktown needed at least two weeks worth of repair. Nimitz said that it needed to sail in 48 hours. Yorktown sailed on time and showed up at the Battle of Midway and played a crucial role, much to Japan’s dismay. It was lost, but she served well. We could really do things in those days.
Naval History ping
The IJN’s most significant material losses were there pilots and planes, they lost significantly more than us and that helped to balance out our losses in ships.
They also lost an oiler. Poor sucker was misidentified by a scout plane as a carrier and the USN blew it out if the water with a full coordinated air-strike (a major mistake for us).
They did that again and again. At Guadalcanal the Jap would savage the US Navy and then not take advantage of it. Leyte gulf also. The invasion beaches were wide open yet Kurita withdrew. It was supposed to be a suicide mission. I guess only the privates and NCOs and pilots were actually required to give all. The brass, not so much.
Serious men doing serious work. God Bless them All.
There were lots of “turning points”, Coral sea being one of them. But for me, still, the biggest one was Midway. All we really had to do was make this a “time consuming” war, giving us the time to beat the axis with our manufacturing might. Once the timeline got extended, neither Germany nor Japan had a chance.
And they knew they had to win fast. Actually, not “win”, but get us to negotiate a peace.
If there are any here that are not yet aware of it, I highly recommend this Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheOperationsRoom
There are a couple of others as well, but this will get you started. I discovered it when I was recovering from heart surgery two years ago. I’ve seen all of the WWII ones (most multiple times) and many of the WWI ones. Really well done
“They also lost an oiler. Poor sucker was misidentified by a scout plane as a carrier and the USN blew it out if the water with a full coordinated air-strike (a major mistake for us).”
It was IJN aircraft that misidentified and sank the oiler USS Neosho and destroyer USS Sims.
One of the other ones: https://www.youtube.com/@KingsandGenerals
The “after guadalcanal” one is a personal favorite.
Correct you are.
Got my sides confused, I think it was the name that threw me, Neosho.
Another great channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB5hH3ksvKE
Even Midway. Yes, they lost their carriers, but the Americans withdrew, and the Main Force was intact (with a carrier and a seaplane carrier available with the Aleutian diversionary force as I recall.
Then there was that running battle in the far north Pacific The Americans were outgunned and sitting ducks when the Japs ran. I think it was the battle of the Komandorsky Islands.
Courage was not a hallmark of the Japanese navy in World War II.
‘Tales of the South Pacific’. Michener. Good book. Mentioned the battle. Don’t forget “An Officer and a Gentleman’.
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