Skip to comments.
Battle of Midway, June 4-7 1942
6-4-2008
| eekitsagreek
Posted on 06/04/2008 10:33:01 PM PDT by eekitsagreek
click here to read article
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-58 next last
To: mavfin
Shokaku and Zuikaku (the other 2 Pearl Harbor strikers) were elsewhere. One was in the yard after taking some bomb hits at Coral Sea, the other had taken heavy airgroup losses at Coral Sea.Shokaku was indeed damaged during the Coral Sea battle while Zuikaku's airgroup took quite a beating. Interesting how a new airgroup was not used so that Zuikaku could have been used at Midway. This in contrast to US Navy practice of switching airgroups aboard carriers. At Midway, several squadrons operating from Yorktown were from the Saratoga.
21
posted on
06/04/2008 11:39:17 PM PDT
by
eekitsagreek
(Give me a Stanley Cup (or Amy Grant) PLEASE!)
To: mavfin
Fletcher was technically in charge. He was on the Yorktown and separated, from the other two carriers under Spruance. Yorktown had to be hastily repaired at and joined just before the battle.
Yorktown's aircraft took longer to return from recon patrols. Yorktown's was the carrier hit. Functionally, Spruance who commanded the other two in the place of Halsey, commanded the attack
22
posted on
06/04/2008 11:44:46 PM PDT
by
verklaring
(Pyrite is not gold)
To: mavfin
Ah yes I am very familar with Combined Fleet.com :-)
One point regards Japan and US production capablity. IIRC Grumman Aircraft Company by itself produced almost as many aircraft as all of Japan during WW-II!!!
The IJN was a tough foe and very well trained. The IJN aircraft, fleet and men were superior in most cases to the US Navy at the START of WW-II. Midway was a very near thing for the U.S. even with the codebreaking work of CMD Rochefort and the code gang at Pearl.
What must be considered is what would have happened had the US lost at Midway. Had the IJN vanquished the American Fleet and occupied Midway that would have left the US Navy with only two carriers, Saratoga and Ranger, with Ranger being a stretch. The first of the Essex class carriers were roughly 6 months out from being in service. .
The loss of Midway would have hampered the submarine campaign against Japan as the fleet subs used Midway as a topping off point for fuel and provisions both coming and going.
Without the use of Hornet and Enterprise the Guadalcanal campaign would probably not have been fought. With the Japanese occuping the Solomons the supply line to Australia is subject to interdiction. To prevent this is why Nimitz and the US launched the Guadalcanal Campaign.
Yes I do believe the the US Navy would have prevailed against the IJN eventually but it would have been a lot longer and bloodier campaign.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
23
posted on
06/04/2008 11:46:56 PM PDT
by
alfa6
(One mans magic is another mans engineering... L.L.)
To: eekitsagreek
Although the US was outnumbered, they had the advantage of reading the Japanese code traffic and knew that Midway was the target. The decisive factor in the battle.
To: mavfin
The sun begin to set on the IJN at Midway. Glad we beat them back then, glad they are on our side nowadays as China continues to grow.
Coming in 2009, the new "Helicopter Carrying Destroyer" Hyuga.
![Photobucket](http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll237/Spudskie/16ddh2.jpg)
Hmmmm.....looks like she could carry more than just a few choppers. A few JSF's perhaps?
25
posted on
06/04/2008 11:51:28 PM PDT
by
eekitsagreek
(Give me a Stanley Cup (or Amy Grant) PLEASE!)
To: eekitsagreek
They had three carriers (one of them crippled); the enemy had eight. The maintainers at Pearl did a monumental job at getting the battle damaged Yorktown back into battle.
Oh, and the Japanese had 5 carriers at the battle of Midway.
To: Red Steel
Ok, stand corrected make that 4 carriers.
To: mavfin
Fletcher was basically taken out of fleet command functions after leaving the transports uncovered at Guadalcanal, and at Midway, he basically left it up to Spruance. When you think of US admirals, Nimitz, King, Spruance and Halsey come to mind, but never Fletcher. Fletcher has received criticism for his actions, whether justified or not. There is a very good book on Fletcher that is worth reading.
28
posted on
06/05/2008 12:00:33 AM PDT
by
eekitsagreek
(Give me a Stanley Cup (or Amy Grant) PLEASE!)
To: eekitsagreek
They thought of Fletcher enough to name a destroyer class after him.
To: Red Steel
Yorktown undergoing repairs at Pearl Harbor just prior to Midway.
![Photobucket](http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll237/Spudskie/CV-5_Yorktown-PH.gif)
The men did one heck of a job patching her up, though she was not 100% at Midway.
30
posted on
06/05/2008 12:05:44 AM PDT
by
eekitsagreek
(Give me a Stanley Cup (or Amy Grant) PLEASE!)
To: eekitsagreek
Frank Jack Fletcher, for whatever reason, suffered an incredible run of, for lack of a better phrase, bad luck.
IIRC, from Edwin Hoyt’s book on Nimitz, Adm King recalled Fletcher back to the States after Guadalcanal for a “chat”
It was after this evaluation that Fletcher eneded up on the beach more or less.
I will have to look up the name of the book when I get home from work in the am
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
31
posted on
06/05/2008 12:09:42 AM PDT
by
alfa6
(One mans magic is another mans engineering... L.L.)
To: Red Steel
They thought of Fletcher enough to name a destroyer class after him. The WWII Fletcher class destroyers were actually named after his uncle, Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher. As for Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, a Spruance class destroyer is named in his honor.
32
posted on
06/05/2008 12:09:59 AM PDT
by
eekitsagreek
(Give me a Stanley Cup (or Amy Grant) PLEASE!)
To: eekitsagreek
Learn something new everyday. ;-)
To: verklaring; eekitsagreek
The other advantage we gained from the Midway/Aleutian campaign was finding the
"Akutan Zero" five weeks after the battle. The Akutan Zero had crashed more or less intact and was repaired. It was then flown against all of the american aircraft used in the Pacific.
34
posted on
06/05/2008 12:41:40 AM PDT
by
eeman
To: eekitsagreek
Thank you for starting this thread. For some additional Midway comments and pictures
here is a link to a Midway thread from few years ago. Self disclosure (and self vanity): It was my thread.
35
posted on
06/05/2008 1:08:01 AM PDT
by
eeman
To: eekitsagreek
Shattered sword is awesome book on the battle of midway.
To: eekitsagreek
To: eekitsagreek
One more link: This is a
Video of Torpedo Squadron 8 posted on Youtube. All members of Torpedo Squadron 8 who flew from the Hornet on that day perished, except for Ensign George Gay. The movie was orginally a memorial for their families. At about the three minute mark shows the Douglas TBD Devastators taking off from the Hornet on June 4, 1942 and was the last time the planes were seen
38
posted on
06/05/2008 1:58:17 AM PDT
by
eeman
To: eekitsagreek; All
I've read about the Battle of midway from several souces / accounts and have seen the movie several times, not to mention the theater when it first came out.
All I can say is we were dang lucky then, extremely lucky, almost like, if not, Divine Intervention.
May God Bless those who fought and died in WWII....the World's Greatest Generation.
39
posted on
06/05/2008 2:12:31 AM PDT
by
RSmithOpt
(Liberalism: Highway to Hell)
To: mavfin
The battle of the Coral Sea also contributed to the victory at Midway. It put those two Japanese carriers (Shokaku and Zuikaku) out of action. The Japanese had planned to use those at Midway, and thought the Yorktown was too damaged to fight, leaving the US with only two carriers. The Japanese losses at Coral Sea coupled with the heroic efforts by the shipyard workers at Pearl Harbor on the Yorktown made the odds more even. Also, the Yorktown's sailing later than the Enterprise and Hornet caused confusion to the Japanese who expected all US carriers to be in one group.
40
posted on
06/05/2008 3:43:42 AM PDT
by
fredhead
(4-cylinder, air cooled, horizontally opposed......THE REAL VW!!!)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-58 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson