Midway: One of the greatest battles in naval history 

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This week 83 years ago, the most consequential naval engagement of World War II in the Pacific took place, the Battle of Midway. 

After Lt. Commander Joseph Rochefort and his team broke the Japanese Imperial Navy’s military code, overall Pacific Fleet Commander and Admiral Chester Nimitz knew the enemy's strategy, size and timing of their upcoming attack. So much for surprises! 

WHAT IT TAKES 

Business on an aircraft carrier is a choreographed military ballet like no other. It can take just 20 minutes of synchronized action to get a squadron of aircraft off a fight deck and into the air. 

Elevating the next group of fighters from the hangar deck to the surface may take longer but that gives the first launched squadron enough time to complete its mission and head home ... the ballet. 

Hanger deck handlers, the oil and gas crew, flight deck taxi drivers, mechanics, ordnance experts, flight deck handlers, flight deck officer, landing signal officer, pilots and crews all working professionally in concert, count on one another with military precision, all in a violent sea ... now perform your duties while the ship is under attack. 

THE BATTLE

The Japanese had three main task forces targeting the tiny atoll of Midway. To the Northwest was Admiral Chuichi Nagumo’s aerial assault fleet that consisted of four attack aircraft carriers the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, along with dozens of support ships including several submarines. Their mission was to raid Midway Island from the air, destroying the airfield and harbor facility, softening the island defenses for a planned landing. 

To the Southwest was the invasion task force with a group of cruisers and transports carrying 5,000 troops ordered to invade Midway, destroying what would be left of the 4,000 dug-in marines. 

Yet further East was overall Commander Isoroku Yamamoto’s fleet consisting of 7 battleships and heavy cruisers setting a trap, he thought, to surprise the American diminished naval response to the attack.

Yamamoto thinks he has America's number but in fact it’s Nimitz who’s lying in wait. The Japanese Admiral ordered complete radio silence to ensure success. 

Nimitz 'plan of action was to assemble two carrier task forces, setting the stage for an unexpected all out air battle. 

On the morning of June 4, 1942, Admiral Nagumo launched his bombers and escorts into the air to pound Midway ... they did. 

However as the Japanese planes were approaching Midway, the U.S. sent it’s land based bombers from the atoll to attack Nagumo. When they arrived over the Japanese fleet, the admiral knew something wasn’t right. How did they attack so quickly, it could not have been in response? The U.S. Navy must have known where the fleet was located before the attack, what else did they know? 

As the Japanese’s planes returned, a zero pilot broke radio silence stating there needed to be a second raid to complete the destruction. Fighters and bombers were re-arming and fueling, when a Japanese spotter plane located the Yorktown task force. Nagumo was stunned, he thought all the U.S. carriers were back at Pearl! 

The naval air battle of the century was on. Nagumo turned his attention to defending his carriers in attacking the newly discovered U.S. fleet. Back and forth it went as the ballet to get planes landed, refitted and back into action on both sides was under way, as the ocean swells rocked all ships. 

Joining the fray, unbeknownst to Nagumo, the Enterprise and Hornet carriers launched their aircraft in waves. Twenty-six U.S. Devastator Dive Bombers, not escorted by fighters, from the two undiscovered U.S. flattops attacked the Jap carriers with devastating Allied results, only six return. It appeared the Americans were overmatched. 

As the Japanese reloaded, out of nowhere 26 Dauntless Dive Bombers who took off first that morning from the Enterprise attacked the Kaga, bingo! This was Lt. Commander Wade McClusky’s squadron who followed his instincts and took a risk. After hours in the air, the enemy wasn’t where his coordinates told him they would be, his squadron was running low on fuel. The safe call was to return, as ordered to the Enterprise but he took a chance and gambled where he thought the enemy might be, chasing the American fleet. It was a hunch that changed the battle. 

McCluskey found them, breaking through the clouds the dive bombers dropped 9,500 pounders that hit the Kaga sinking it quickly. Minutes later fighters and bombers from the Yorktown arrived, striking the Soryu with three 1,000 pound bombs, igniting munitions, setting off a chain reaction fire that ultimately sank the enemy carrier.

The Akagi was next, Nagumo’s flagship ladened with planes on the flight deck trying to take off. U.S. fighters attacked, creating “a burning hell,” Nagumo was forced to evacuate to a cruiser, finally radioing Yamamoto relaying the devastating news. 

One carrier remained, the Hirya, 18 dive bombers and six Zeros launched an attack on the Yorktown, it’s what turned out to be the last gasp of the Japanese Navy in the battle. A dog fight ensued over open ocean with 14 enemy planes surviving, finally reaching the Yorktown. 

Two direct hits crippled the carrier, she tilted and almost capsized. Yorktown’s Captain Elliot Buckmaster, had no choice, “abandon ship!” In response 40 dive bombers off of the Enterprise and Hornet hit the Hirya with very little Zero protection, pummeling the carrier, forcing the Japanese to scuttle her the next day. 

Major combat at the Battle of Midway was over, Yamamoto called off all other planned action. The Japanese were handed a devastating loss that sent shock waves throughout Japan, whereas an energized America got the major victory the military and country desperately needed, six long months after Pearl Harbor. 

Japan lost four carriers, one heavy cruiser, 292 aircraft and 2,500 servicemen. The United States lost the Yorktown, 1 destroyer, 145 aircraft and 307 servicemen. 

The battle exemplifies the importance of code breaking, a move that put the Japanese on the defense for the rest of the war and showed the world what individual sacrifice, heroism and the unwavering resolve Americans had.

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Bob Ford’s History will appear in each edition of the Weekender and Midweek. You can find more of Bob’s work on his website bobfordshistory.com and videos on YouTube, TikTok or Clapper.