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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Midway

On Christmas Day 1941 Admiral Chester Nimitz arrived by Catalina flying boat to take command. He did not bring any staff with him. When the door opened, he was assailed by a poisonous atmosphere from black oil, charred wood, burned paint, and rotting flesh. The boat ride to shore engulfed the party in the panorama of sunken hulls and floating wreckage, punctuated by the bodies of dead sailors still surfacing from the blasted ships. He spent the first days learning everything he could about his new assignment and confirmed the general perception was wrong. The dry-docks, repair shops, and fuel...

You can't visit Midway anymore, or Iwo Jima or wake. Those are the only three major battle sites from the Pacific War I've not managed to visit. You can watch the movie account on Amazon. Midway w/Charleton Heston, Henry Fonda et al.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the whole Chinese assessment is a few sentences near the end when the issue of war termination from the Japanese perspective is broached. It is noted that the entire goal of the Japanese war effort in spring 1942 was how to get the Americans to engage in “negotiations to end the war.” [停战谈判] Here, there is the ironic observation that the more victories that the Japanese side was able to achieve, the less palatable was the idea in the United States that Washington could negotiate with Tokyo. This point then shows a recognition that...

Some thing to remember(73 years ago today)

U.S. Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers from the USS Hornet about to attack the burning Japanese cruiser Mikuma for the third time on 6 June 1942 REMEMBER: June 4–7, 1942: the Battle of Midway, a turning point in World War II in the Pacific. The Imperial Japanese Navy had been undefeated until that time and out-numbered the American naval forces by four to one. Timeline of the Battle of Midway (acc. to William Koenig) 4 June 04:30 First Japanese takeoff against Midway Islands 04:30 10 planes (Yorktown) begin to search for the Japanese ships 05:34 Japanese ships detected by Yorktown...

Drachinifel, Naval Histriographer and Naval Historian Jonathan Parshall discuss the Battle of Midway

Battle of Midway, (June 3–6, 1942), World War II naval battle, fought almost entirely with aircraft. The Midway Islands were claimed for the United States on July 5, 1859, by Capt. N.C. Brooks. The coral atoll—consisting of Eastern Island and the larger Sand Island to the west—has a total land area of just 2.4 square miles (6.2 square km). Midway was formally annexed by the U.S. in 1867. A coal depot was established for transpacific steamers, but it was never used. It was World War II which conclusively demonstrated the strategic importance of Midway. In 1940 the U.S. Navy began...

It would stand to reason that a battle as momentous as Midway—and a defeat as calamitous as the one the Japanese suffered—would have led to a major re-evaluation of their naval practices and, most likely, to lessons learned that would have improved Japanese performance in future battles. Learning can take place on a number of levels, and the effects of Midway were felt across the board, from the halls of power down to the level of the navy’s operational personnel. Third Fleet’s doctrine emerged in late July 1942. It contained a number of important recognitions and tactical innovations.2 Most important,...

Which side received higher leadership marks on its Battle of Midway report card is no surprise, but the illuminating ‘why’ behind the grades reflects crucial differences between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of Japan’s Combined Fleet, was the architect of Midway and arguably the chief author of its failure. An inveterate gambler, accomplished bureaucratic infighter, and air-power advocate, he was also an outspoken opponent of the Axis alliance with which Japan had entered the war. Yet the outbreak of the conflict he feared had been coincident with his most spectacular achievement: the attack...

In October 2021, a woman in the US state of Arkansas allegedly typed out a simple Facebook message: "Just out of curiosity, would you know anyone in the market for a fully intact, embalmed brain?"The woman was a staffer at Arkansas Central Mortuary Services, and according to prosecutors, the message was sent to an antique dealer in Pennsylvania.A search of his home would later uncover multiple buckets containing human remains, including pieces of brain, heart, livers, skin and lungs.Investigators say the pair were part of an underground community spanning multiple states across the US, made up of both morgue staff...

Dated May 25 and delivered by plane while the Yorktown was about a hundred miles from Oahu, the report that Nimitz read was sobering...One day ahead of schedule, on May 27, the Yorktown limped into Pearl Harbor. The next morning, after Nimitz had cut orders voiding the safety rule of spending a day purging her tanks of stored aviation fuel, the Yorktown eased into Drydock Number One. The caissons closed behind her, and pumps began draining out the water. With at least a foot of water still remaining in the drydock, men in waders gathered to inspect the hull. One...

This week Seth, Bill, and frequent and always welcome Wingman Jon Parshall take a look at the recently released underwater archaeological video footage of the wreck sites of AKAGI, YORKTOWN (CV-5), and KAGA. The trio breaks down what we see in the footage, how the damage shown relates to the battle, what happened in these historic locations, and much more. Tune in and see what the team has to say about the incredible video footage and (we think) pretty cool commentary.

A Great Talk on the Battle; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9rkKtK1b44&t=193s

Battle of Midway, (June 3–6, 1942), World War II naval battle, fought almost entirely with aircraft. The Midway Islands were claimed for the United States on July 5, 1859, by Capt. N.C. Brooks. The coral atoll—consisting of Eastern Island and the larger Sand Island to the west—has a total land area of just 2.4 square miles (6.2 square km). Midway was formally annexed by the U.S. in 1867. A coal depot was established for transpacific steamers, but it was never used. It was World War II which conclusively demonstrated the strategic importance of Midway. In 1940 the U.S. Navy began...

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — Names of the 31 people arrested for conspiracy to riot in downtown Coeur d’Alene have been listed on the Kootenai County Jail roster.Coeur d’Alene Police said those arrested were members of the white nationalist group “Patriot Front.”Here are some of their names: Kerry Lamont Arnold Jared Michael Boyce Nathan David Brenner Colton Michael Brown Josiah Daniel Buster Devin Wayne Center Dylan Carter Corio Winston North Durham Joseph Garret Garland Branden Mitchel Haney Richard Jacob Jessop James Michael Johnson James Julius Johnson Connor Patrick Moran Kieran Padraig Morris Lawrence Alexander Norman Justin Michael Oleary Cameron Kathan Pruitt...

In late December 1941, Navy Secretary Frank Knox and FDR met and selected Chester Nimitz to command the Pacific Fleet, which at that time the public perceived as residing at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt said, “Tell Nimitz to get the hell out to Pearl and stay there until the war is won”. Knox informed Nimitz by saying, “You’re going to take command of the Pacific Fleet, and I think you will be gone a long time”.On Christmas Day 1941 Admiral Chester Nimitz arrived by Catalina flying boat to take command. He did not bring any staff with him....

Like most Freepers, I don’t particularly care for youtube postings. But in watching this documentary, the rare Freeper with an attention span will take away a deeper appreciation of the events faced by Vice Admiral Nagumo and Rear Admiral Yamaguchi on June 4th. I suggest scheduling an hour or so when you can view it without interruptions. You’ll want to hit the pause and occasionally rewind to absorb the fateful decisions and fog of war at sea before the widespread use of a new technology called radar. The Battle of Midway was a closer run thing than the outcome, the...

“We refer to the ship as ‘assault carrier 7.’ And assault is traditional for an LHD, LHA,” Capt. Joel Lang, the ship’s commander, said during an April 3 media event aboard Tripoli. “We have the space for a battalion landing team, we have about 1,000 infantrymen. And typically the air combat element is a blend of rotary and tilt-rotor in order to enable that assault force to go ashore. What we’re doing right now is lightning carrier, and we are proving the operational concept. … We are proving the tactics and the techniques and the procedures to employ the lightning...

On June 4, 1942, the US and Imperial Japanese navies faced off a few hundred miles from Midway Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean. The US Navy learned many lessons from the battle that helped win the war. Even now, 79 years later, the battle is still studied extensively — including by China. Today, however, a similar fight between the US and Chinese navies would likely play out much differently. Longer-range weapons would increase the distance over which both sides' could operate. Anti-ship missiles in particular have raised the stakes for surface ships and added to the importance of airpower...