Battle of Midway 03-06 June 1942

03 June 2015 | US Navy Vet

[US Navy Vet]

Some thing to remember(73 years ago today)

[pfflier]

The story of Taffy 3 and the destroyer screen is another spectacular story in it's own right for the US Navy. It was on level with Midway full of heroism and sacrifice

The IJN was finished by then. No aircraft, for it's carriers and they were only used as bait to lure Halsey's TF away from the surface fleet element of the attack. It was by definition the largest naval battle of WWII and is recognized as the battle that finished off the IJN.

[sarge83]

Torpedo 8, slaughtered flying relics. Brave men.

[henkster]

While the Japanese CAP was defeating every wave the Americans sent at their fleet, the successive attack waves were wearing down the Japanese air cover. In fact, cycling fighters off the flight decks was hampering the Japanese ability to spot and launch the next strike.

The real problem for the Japanese was that four carriers were not enough to subdue an island airbase covered by a mobile fleet of three carriers. The Japanese really missed the presence of Carrier Division 5, Shokaku and Zuikaku. In May and June 1942, Carrier Division 5 was the strategic margin held by Japan.

[Charles Martel]

It was the point in the Pacific war where the IJN never went on the offensive again. To me, that is a significant turning point bordering on miraculous.

"In the first six to twelve months of a war with the United States and Great Britain I will run wild and win victory upon victory. But then, if the war continues after that, I have no expectation of success."

- Statement by Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to Japanese cabinet minister Shigeharu Matsumoto and Japanese prime minister Fumimaro Konoe, as quoted in Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan (1985) by Ronald Spector. This remark would later prove prophetic; precisely six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese navy would suffer a major defeat at the Battle of Midway, from which it never recovered.

[ExNewsExSpook]

Could not agree more; men like Jack Reid and Harry Furrier not only saved the country, they saved the world. Sadly, so many of their comrades had to die in the process because feckless political leaders ignored the gathering storm, willfully or negligently. Units like Bombing 6 and Torpedo 8 held the line until we began churning out the vast waves of men and material required to win the war. Haven't read Moore's book, but I'll put it on my list.

[bert]

The movie is largely based on the writings of I believe commander Fuchida and is factually wrong in many details

To learn what really happened, read Shattered Sword by Jon Parshall. The book was recommended by a now departed Freeper and changed my thinking on the battle. It is agreat historical document and people will be reading it forever as the definitive work

It is a truly outstanding historical work based on actual Japanese Naval records that have become available and that contradict the self serving Fuchida.

The book describes the Japanese bravado and unpreparedness to fight the battle. They did not have all their carriers and those they did have were way under strength. The carriers themselves were incapable of fighting a contested air battle because the flight management and damage control did not allow victory against a halfway decent air foe.

Moreover, the Japanese lacked the ability to carry out a landing and invasion against the Americans on Midway. Had there been no Naval battle, the landing force would likely have failed. Thus, the whole Japanese operation was something of a grand fiasco

[bravo whiskey]

I still maintain Midway was not the turning point in the Pacific. It stopped Japanese aggression in the northern Pacific but Guadalcanal was the first offensive action that blunted Japanese advances. It makes for a good discussion.

[cld51860]

Just based on the posts here on this book, I have to get it. Adding it to my Amazon wishlist! Thanks!

[bert]

I finally remembered...... the Freeper that first recommended it was non sequiter but he was zapped in the great purge

[60Gunner]

I've had Incredible Victory in my personal library for years.

[skeeter]

If they would have added three or four more smaller carriers available and operated as one task force it would've diluted the effect of our attacks to the point they likely would've prevailed, at least at Midway. But they violated one of the cardinal rules of war - divided assets in the face of a powerful enemy force.

But as others have said, it wouldn't have made any difference in the end, from 12/7/41 they were doomed to lose.

[xone]

It was the point in the Pacific war where the IJN never went on the offensive again.

IJN at the Battle of the Philipine Sea, June 19-20 1944 in an attempt to disrupt the battle for the Marianas.

[pfflier]

The CAP was also drawn down to the deck because of the attacking torpedo bombers and other waves of B-26s and glide bombing dive bombers from Midway island. There was little or no airborne opposition for the dive bombers from the carriers because of this.

[pfflier]

Its a book I have read many times. Lord does a great job of humanizing the battle from the American perspective. It's very inspirational in that respect.

I'm not sure any book gives Dick Best all the credit he deserves for killing two carriers that day.

[bert]

I visited the Nimitz museum George H W Bush Gallery in Fredicks burgh Texas a few weeks ago.

His actual log book was there and very neatly entered were the date, weather , aircraft type and flight time in black ink were the Remarks..... scratch two flat tops in red ink
(it might have said carriers instead of flat tops)

That log book was one of the most moving exhibits I have seen in any museum

While on the subject among FRiends, there is the American Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola. It is a fantastic museum and very well done. I was going in April but ran out of time. The owner of Enterprise car rental which he named for his carrier, donated $10 million for a new building. I saw the large building some time back but it wasn’t ready yet.

It is better than the Air Force counterpart in Dayton.

[pfflier]

See my post 41 of this thread

[xone]

That battle was in connection with the landings at Leyte. Battle of the Philippine Sea was to contest the landings in the Marianas. The largest carrier vs carrier battle of the war. It happened 4 months earlier than your #41. While the second battle of the Philippine Sea was larger with more surface combatants, the first battle had more carriers involved. Before the battle, the Japs had pilots, they lost 630+ aircraft and the pilots off the carriers sunk that had survived the air to air combat. This battle was why 4 months later the IJN used their remaining carriers as decoys..

[yarddog]

I visited the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola around 20 years ago. It was great way back then and I am sure much better now.

One of the things which intrigued me was they had a bunch of engines cut in half. You could see how they worked. The old piston engines actually were much more complex than the jets.

[Pollster1]

If WW2 happened today, you know today’s democrats would be in charge of the totalitarian country that wanted to wipe out the Jews and control every aspect of their economy. The name “National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)” fits right in with today’s socialists who claim to be pro-worker in their efforts to grab absolute power over every detail of our lives.

[iowamark]

clickable links:

Here’s the real thing from John Ford

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW8tQ_6dqS8

and more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwDOjQs5QM8

whew..... and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Rro6_WceV0

To understand the Battle of Midway and the distortions you think are history, read “The Shattered Sword” for the real poop.

http://www.amazon.com/Shattered-Sword-Untold-Battle-Midway/dp/1574889249

http://www.shatteredswordbook.com/