Posted on 06/04/2002 1:16:43 AM PDT by Snow Bunny
For three days, American dive bombers and fighter pilots fended off the Japanese naval fleet's attempt to gain Midway as an outpost.
After Midway, the crippled Japanese fleet withdrew, never again to gain the offensive.
The battle of Midway was the most important in the fight for the pacific in the WW2, finishing the Japanese rule over on the last six months since the Pearl Harbour attack the 7th. of December of 1941.
Having achieved its initial military goals by early 1942, the Japanese decided to take more Pacific outposts--including Midway Island in the central Pacific and islands off Alaska--in order to establish an outer defense line. The Japanese fleet, under Adm. Yamamoto Isoroku, also hoped to draw the remaining U. S. aircraft carriers into battle.
Yamamoto erred in dividing his force of more than 160 vessels. The U.S. commander, Adm. Chester Nimitz, with 76 ships available, including the carriers Hornet, Enterprise, and Yorktown, was stronger than the Japanese thought. Searches by U.S. aircraft established the position of the Japanese fleet.
Early on June 4, Vice Admiral Nagumo, in command of the Japanese carriers, launched 108 planes for an attack on Midway, 240 miles (386 km) to the southeast. American fighters sent to intercept them were outmaneuvered by Japanese fighters. Bombs damaged Midway, but the runways were not put out of action.
But the maneuvers of the Japanese carriers had kept their bombers from taking off, and their fighter planes were out of position because of their fight with the attackers. At 10:26, 37 U.S. bombers struck with devastating effect. The Agaki took direct hits, was abandoned, and sank, and the Kaga and Soryu were also destroyed. The Hiryu escaped, launched bombers that damaged the Yorktown, but was itself destroyed from the air at 5 pm The Yorktown was later destroyed by a Japanese submarine. The Americans lost 150 planes and 307 lives; the Japanese, 253 planes and 3,500 lives.
After Midway the Japanese fleet withdrew, never again to regain the offensive.
The strike force, closed on Midway, and appeared shortly before 0600 on the radar at t Midway. Midway's base commander launched all available planes, including the twenty-seven fighters led by Marine Major Floyd B. "Red" Parks, which would jump the enemy bombers on their run in. Six Avenger torpedo-bombers, four Army Marauder medium bombers, eleven Marine Vindicator dive-bombers and sixteen Douglas Dauntlesses, and a total of nineteen B-17 bombers, augmented the rest of the 32 total Catalinas.
Even before the Japanese planes attacked Midway, Nagumo's carrier lost their most important defense when Lt. Howard Ady, piloting a PBY Catalina spotted them. Ady immediately broadcast the sighting report, which was received at 0553 by USS Enterprise, Yorktown, and Intelligence back at Pearl Harbor.
US flattops waited on. But Nagumo's carriers would see their very first action. On Midway Lt. Langdon K. Fieberling led six VT-8 Avengers, re-routed to Midway when they had been unable to catch up with their mother ship, the Hornet, Midway's planes took off with orders to attack the enemy carriers along with four B-26 Marauder bombers They flew into the fray of AA and Japanese Fighters as the first US attack group. And above them, old Vindicator dive-bombers, SDB Dauntlesses, and B-17 level bombers approached for their attacks.
Fieberling's planes attacked first at 0700, but there was no way around the Zero fighters, much less away through them. Four Avengers fell even before they were able to release their torpedoes. The other planes continued, but three more fell to AA, and the rest, an Avenger and two Marauders, scoring no hits, retired damaged to Midway.
Unknown to Nagumo, his fate was being sealed. Admiral Spruance, his flagship Enterprise having intercepted the report from Ady, had been steaming toward the enemy to reduce the range. When the Japanese planes left the air space over Midway at around 7 o'clock, quick calculations made it clear that if the US carriers launched immediately, they would probably hit the Japanese carriers with planes loaded on the deck, a most vulnerable condition. Accordingly, both carriers launched their planes between 0700 and 0755, full deckloads of bombers with a fighter escort. Twenty minutes past seven, Spruance ordered the new Rear-Admiral Mitscher to take Hornet and an escort and maneuver independently.
Nagumo's ships underwent more attacks in rapid succession, first Major Loften Henderson's Marine Dauntlesses, then B-17s from the Army, and finally the Vindicators. None scored a single hit, but the more planes attacked, the more convinced was Nagumo that a second strike was needed against Midway. Already at 0715, Nagumo had ordered to arm his ready planes with bombs instead of torpedoes. But by 0730, Tone's No. 4 scout had radioed Nagumo that there were "ten enemy surface ships" in the vicinity. Though worried about the unplanned presence of this force, Nagumo regarded the Midway forces as the main threat and continued the re-arming.
Nagumo was greatly hampered by the incapable crew of Tone No.4, which took an hour to find out what it had really sighted, the Yorktown group. Only by 0820 did the plane inform Nagumo that the force included "what appears to be a carrier". Nagumo now had to worry but didn't for too long, and soon ordered armament changed back to torpedoes. Only half of the Japanese planes were affected, for only half of them had been loaded with bombs after the first of Nagumo's rearm orders had been given. Due to the time pressure, however, bombs were not being properly stored. The Japanese carriers slowly became floating, unprotected arsenals.
It was VT-8 from Hornet, under the command of Lt.Cmdr. John C. Waldron. His planes were old, slow, and sluggish TBD Devastators, once the finest plane in the fleet ,but after seven years it had become a deathtrap., Waldron had trained his pilots to the last - and, before the battle, suggested to them that they should write a letter to their families. This brave but hopelessly outnumbered force approached Admiral Nagumo's carriers. Zeros were soon between them, and no single plane survived the massacre, as the Devastators approached in the "low and slow" manner necessary for them to conduct a successful attack, an approach forced upon the men by their torpedo load, the Mk13. Only one of the pilots, Ensign George Gay, survived, and was picked up alive by a PBY the next day.
The salvage party was making excellent progress when the protective screen was penetrated by a Japanese submarine after noon on 6 June. Four torpedoes were loosed two missed, one passed under Hammann and hit Yorktown, and the fourth hit the destroyer amidships, breaking her back.
Have a look at the sunken Yorktown, and judge for yourself.
At the bow, two 20-millimeter antiaircraft guns are dimly visible in a gun tub below the flight deck. Lines through the hawser hole may have been used to haul in a towing cable in an attempt to save the carrier.
Three miles (4.8 kilometers) beneath the Pacific, the Yorktown still points her guns skyward, toward the Japanese warplanes that bombed her. (This and the other photos were taken by cameras on a U.S. Navy robot submersible.)
The wooden flight deck, which would have jutted over the stern, was apparently ripped away when the ship plunged into the seafloor.
Guns top part of the island, the superstructure housing the bridge and pilothouse. The circular object is a wiper used to clear a foggy porthole. Countless coats of paint keep the ship gray and free from corrosion.
On the port side, a hole shows where two aerial torpedoes hit on June 4, 1942, ripping away armor plate and opening the hull. Oil stains above the hole indicate that the torpedoes ruptured fuel tanks.
The Yorktowns identifying numeral5appears on her bow. Also visible is a crack that probably opened when the carrier hit bottom at a speed estimated to be about 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour.
Sort of makes your eyes mist up don't they?
Here you are. :-)
Basically, in 1942, one deck-load strike (all offensive aircraft based on one carrier) could be expected to sink one enemy carrier. Finding the enemy was the critical factor. Allocate too few aircraft to search, and the odds are that the enemy will elude you; allocate too many, and your firepower will be diluted (the Dauntless was a scout-dive bomber).
The Japanese had four carriers; the US had three. Whoever attacked effectively first would win.
The US had a "force multiplier" in place at Midway: PBY Catalina flying boats, intended for maritime search and patrol. To attack Midway, the Japanese fleet would need to draw within range of Midway's search planes; this meant that Spruance could allocate his dive bombers to the attack mission instead of expending them in penny packets to find the enemy.
In early going, the Japanese had the better of the battle, with Torpedo 8 from the Hornet losing all but one man, Ensign George Gay. However, the torpedo attack drew the fighter cover down low, and kept them from engaging the dive bombers.
Additionally, Midway served as a valuable decoy, distracting Nagumo (he had TWO missions: aid in the seizure of Midway and destroy the remainder of the US fleet). He ordered several ordnance changes, and thus delayed his own strike against the American fleet until the dive bombers arrived.
Let's go back to Hughes' analysis that one carrier deckload could sink one enemy carrier.
Let's look at Scenario A, which the Japanese desired. They hoped to find the Americans and attack effectively before the Americans could locate them. With four deckloads on the attack, the Japanese would easily sink all three US carriers without loss to themselves. No more capital units in the US Pacific Fleet; the Japanese the war would probably extend well into 1946, or even 1947.
Scenario B is no less appetizing for the US. In this scenario, both sides detect and attack simultaneously. The Japanese sink all three American carriers; three Japanese carriers also sink. The one remaining carrier establishes enough air supremacy to allow the Japanese to sink Midway; the war goes on into 1946.
The third option is one the Japanese fear the most. Scenario C presumes that the Americans locate the Japanese task force while their own carriers remain safely hidden. A surprise attack by 3 undetected carriers would sink 3 Japanese carriers; a Japanese counterstrike would sink one carrier; and the US second strike would sink the remaining Japanese carrier.
Attack effectively first. That is the most importannt rule in naval warfare.
The Battle of Midway shows many glimpses of future warfare, from over-the-horizon targeting (a major issue in the 1980s as the Tomahawk antiship missile--which could fly out much further than the launching ship's sensors could see) to modern concept of "network-centric warfare" (where remote sensors communicate their reports to the commander).
(it will grow on SAM..:)))
It was also, IMHO, Frank Jack Fletcher's best day, albeit I am not a fan of his. He was barely competent, IMHO.
Some things just fall into place. Some were quick and easy to make, and those I did first. Others I had to think for a bit to decide what 'side' of the FReeper I wanted to show......which is why yours, and LadyX', were a couple of the last ones I did.
Also, of all the dollz we've seen here, my very favorite will ALWAYS be, not the first one Louie gave me, but the cowgirl, which I use on my page in a prominent spot. :)
Speaking of profile pages, check out "the wolf's" latest. Something for everyone. (almost!) LOL
I had the same problem, but it just takes a while to load.
Pull up another screen or play Hearts or something while you allow it to do its thing -
go out and water the flowers - play a round of golf - it WILL load!
It truly is worth the effort.
Sippin' and sssssshakin'.
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Large doses of Caffeine can turn you into a power tool(women must notice this about me...They're always calling me a "tool" as they walk briskly away from me on some errand...their slaps of encouragement are so invigorating!LOL) Drink a Quad or a Quintuple short and you can sand an entire desk by just sitting on it with a piece of sandpaper under your butt!
doing a little remodel job? need a new door cut in a non load bearing wall? No problem!!! Just take a number two pencil and start tracing the outline of the cut you want to make over and over again...stepping forward as you machine your way through the wall...Your shaking will act on the point of the pencil like a Jackhammer tip to a Concrete Pool Demolition!!! Later DUDE!!!
Well, you're so affectionate and outgoing, blowing kisses was the ticket for you - sorta like, that's what that X stands for in your screenname. :)
Tanaka was a tactical commander, and used his advantages (torpedoes, night optics) superbly.
Probably the best US tacticians were Moosbrugger and Arleigh Burke; and Burke was the only one to have two battles where he exercised tactical command.
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