Impressive Facts About The Historic Battle Of Midway
Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched another assault, with plans to occupy Midway Atoll and eliminate the United States' naval power in the Pacific. However, things didn't go as planned. The result was a naval battle that became one of the most decisive in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
Take an in-depth look at the strategies used on both sides, the weaponry used and what made the Battle of Midway one of the most impactful of the war.
The Goal Was to Destroy America's Aircraft Carriers
The Battle of Midway occurred under the command of Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind behind the attack on Pearl Harbor and the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet. His ultimate goal was to destroy any American aircraft carriers that escaped destruction during the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor.
The Battle of Midway was also instigated after the Doolittle Raid, which was the first assault on the Japanese mainland by the US. It was launched from the USS Hornet.
The Pacific Fleet Was Led By Chester W. Nimitz
Already expecting an attack by the Japanese, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz made sure he was fully prepared before leading the Pacific Fleet. With him, he had the USS Enterprise and Hornet, and he had Rear Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher's task force with him, which included Yorktown.
Yorktown had been severely damaged in a previous battle and the Japanese assumed she'd been fully destroyed. Little did they know the ship was ready to fight and would play a decisive role in the action to come.
The American Fighter Pilots Were Outnumbered
To destroy the structures that had been built on Midway Island, the Japanese launched their bombers from aircraft carriers. In response, the US Navy, Marines and Army launched a defensive attack - and it didn't take them long to realize they were seriously outnumbered.
Regardless, the Japanese held their ground. After 27 minutes, they ended their first siege on the island. It was after this that they expressed their need for more fighters to continue their attack.
Seeing they were desperate, the American bombers began their own air raid.
The US Sunk All Four Japanese Aircraft Carriers
After the other three aircraft carriers had been sunk, Hiryu remained as the last Japanese carrier in the battle. After the US attack, she launched a counter-attack, hitting Yorktown, which was crippled by two torpedoes.
Enterprise sent 24 bombers against Hiryu, damaging theship with at least four bombs, causing her to sink. At that point, the US had succeeded in destroying all of the Japanese carriers involved in the battle.
One Decision Changed the Course of the Battle
When the American pilots went on the offensive, they went straight to where the Japanese were supposedly located. However, upon their arrival, they were met with nothing but the empty ocean. Instead of turning back to their own base, they made what Nimitz later called "one of the most important decisions of the battle."
They decided to check one more area, an unlikely one, and it was there that they found the Japanese carriers.
The United States Only Lost One Aircraft Carrier
Without even trying to land on Midway, Japan began to retreat after the destruction of the majority of their carriers. In an attempt to eliminate the Japanese forces, the United States led a search and destroy mission for the final enemy troops, but it didn't go as expected.
During the mission, Yorktown was struck by two torpedoes from a Japanese I-168 submarine, destroying the vessel. The submersible also fatally hit the destroyer, the USS Hammann.
Midway Was Chosen For Specific Reasons
Another attack on Pearl Harbor was considered too dangerous by Yamamoto, since the US had greatly increased their land and sea power in Hawaii. Instead, the Japanese looked to Midway Island, one of America's Minor Outlying Islands.
The location was chosen because it was out of range of almost all of the aircraft stationed in the Hawaiian Islands, and it was a significant outpost of Pearl Harbor. They believed its importance would draw the US fleet out into open water, where it could be destroyed.
Code Breakers Played an Integral Part in the Battle
Yamamoto had a lot of moving parts in his plan to attack Midway. His primary plan was to lure the Pacific Fleet into an attack in which they'd be unaware of how strong the Japanese fleet was. However, the Japanese were unaware the United States had broken their secret code to transfer information to each other.
This resulted in Nimitz learning of Japan's entire plan, how strong they were, and when and where they would attack. This code, broken by the US Navy's intelligent unit in Hawaii, is one of the key reasons the United States was victorious.
Japan Lost Many More Sailors Than the US Did
Over the course of the battle, the Japanese lost four aircraft carriers, one heavy cruiser and 248 aircraft. On top of that, 3,057 sailors were killed and 37 were taken captive.
The Americans' losses were significantly less. They lost one carrier, a single destroyer and150 aircraft. Just 307 men had died, while three were captured and executed.
An Acclaimed Hollywood Director Shot Footage
Known for his Westerns and for working with John Wayne, director John Ford was an officer in the US Naval Reserve, tasked with making documentaries during World War II. Nimitz stationed him on Midway during the battle, where he suffered a concussion and gunshot wound from a Japanese raid.
It's reported Ford didn't leave his post until he'd gotten the footage necessary. It was featured in the film, The Battle of Midway, for which he won the Oscar for Best Documentary.
There Were Several Reasons Japan Lost the Engagement
While the American victory at the Battle of Midway is usually attributed to their intelligence, there are several reasons why Japan lost.
One of these reasons was the country's most technologically advanced carries, Shokaku and Zuikaku, weren't present. Furthermore, the military were also unaware of the American carriers' capabilities.
Another reason for Japan's failure was it had slowed production of their two main strike aircraft, which resulted in them using inferior aircraft during the battle. Finally, their aircraft carriers were caught off guard while refueling when they were attacked by American fighters.
Radar Greatly Helped the United States
On top of breaking the naval code that gave Nimitz knowledge of Japan's attack, another tool that benefited the United States was radar. The first prototype had been developed by the US Naval Research Laboratory in 1938, and the earliest systems were placed on military vessels in the lead up to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
At Midway, radar was of significant use to the three carriers and other vessels, which detected Japanese aircraft from long distances away. In contrast, the Japanese had to rely on only human lookouts, which put them at a great disadvantage.
The Battle Was One of Two Simultaneous Attacks
While the Battle of Midway was being waged, the Japanese were also attempting to invade the Aleutian Islands. Many believe this was part of a strategy to confuse the United States and even lure troops away from Midway, making it easier for them to invade.
The Aleutian Islands Campaign lasted until mid-1943, in which US troops attempted to remove Japanese sailors from two US-owned islands off the western coast of Alaska.
It would be the only American land Japan claimed during the war.
Bombers Played a Massive Role
In 1942, the Japanese had the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, which, at the time, was considered to be the best carrier-based fighter on the planet. However, the United States had the best dive-bomber, the Douglas SBD Dauntless, and throughout the Battle of Midway, it proved to more effective. The Dauntless allowed the Americans to land direct hits on Japanese carriers.
The Battle Changed the Shape of Naval Warfare
The Battle of Midway ushered in a new kind of warfare that's remained to this day: the carrier battle. This is when two opposing forces use their aircraft carriers to launch assaults on one another using aircraft, although the carriers are never visible to each other.
The Battles of Midway and the Coral Sea in 1942 demonstrated that this new kind of fighting had replaced battleship warfare and made the carrier the most important vessel of WWII.
The Japanese Were Under Strict Radio Silence
As the Japanese made their way to Alaska to attack the Aleutian Islands, they were under strict radio silence, so as to not be picked up by the US forces and ruin their element of surprise. However, during a recon flight, a naval pilot spotted the enemy forces through dense Pacific fog. He assumed he'd located the main forces of an attack, which, in reality, were a distraction for the upcoming attack on Midway.
As such, the US sent out B-17s to fight the enemy, and because of the strict radio silence, the Japanese ships engaged them without letting command know.
The United States Had Little Luck With Torpedoes
While the Japanese forces were focusing their attack on Midway Island, the American carriers saw it as an opportune time to attack. Their first wave of aircraft were torpedo bombers, which were ordered to fly low and drop torpedoes at the side of the carriers, intending to sink them.
However, the Japanese managed to keep the torpedo attacks at bay, with many of the torpedo bombers being shot down and not a single torpedo hitting its target.
The Japanese Made Adjustments After the Battle
After their devastating defeat the Japanese made changes to their naval strategy, to ensure such a loss never occurred again. They made it so more aircraft could be refueled and re-armed on the flight deck, rather than the hangar, and built new aircraft carriers that had only two flight deck elevators, as well as fire-fighting equipment.
They also made sure to train their troops on how to handle and prevent fires. In addition, they now understood the importance that carriers had from then on.
Several Films Have Come Out About the Battle
Several movies and even video games based on the Battle of Midway have been made. A few of them stand out. One is John Ford's The Battle of Midway, a documentary film using the actual footage he took during the engagement featuring numerous narrators.
Another is 1976's Midway, which starred Henry Fonda, Charlton Heston, James Coburn and Glenn Ford. Finally, there's 2019's Midway, which featured an ensemble cast that included Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Ed Skrein and Patrick Wilson.
Significance of the Battle of Midway
As a result of the United States' victory over Japan, the latter abandoned their plan to extend their reach in the Pacific. Japan was on the defensive for the remainder of World War II.
Furthermore, America's victory helped boost the morale, whereas it was a crushing defeat for the Japanese. In the end, it was a major turning point of the war, in favor of the Allies.
Japan Owned the Pacific Before Midway
Before the Battle of Midway, the US remained on the defensive. During the first half of 1942 alone, Japan seized Burma, Indonesia, the Malayan peninsula and the Philippines. The war looked bleak for American troops.
Midway changed everything. The defeat gave the US forces enough time to regroup and mobilize. Since the Japanese were taken by surprise, American military leadership used the breathing room to their advantage. It wasn't just a battle win - it was the turning point of the entire war, especially in the Pacific.
The Battle Sparked Other US Campaigns
The Battle of Midway gave the US military more time to mobilize and it didn't waste the opportunity. In November 1943, the country's forces began their "island hopping campaign."
Led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, troops attacked islands that weren't strongly guarded. This allowed the Americans to regain some islands from the enemy. MacArthur then hatched another plan, codenamed "Cartwheel," to seize the Solomon Islands and New Guinea.
None of this would have happened without the decisive defeat in Midway.
Japan Had Overwhelming Success Before Midway
Before the Battle of Midway, Japan's striking force, Kido Butai (the 1st Air Fleet), had won most of the battles their partook in They started off with Pearl Harbor before successfully raiding the Indian Ocean and attacking Allied shipping.
Kido Butai expected Midway to be another easy win. At the time, they were considered to be the most powerful naval fleet in the world.
Both Navies Were Recovering From a Previous Fight
A month before Midway, the Americans and Japanese fought at the Battle of the Coral Sea. Both sides endured heavy losses. The Japanese lost two carriers, Zuikaku and Shokaku, meaning that, while they usually had six flattops, they only brought four to Midway.
The US also had fewer vessels from the Battle of the Coral Sea. The carriers Lexington and Yorktown both took nasty hits during the scuffle. However, the US forces managed to repair Yorktown enough for it to partake in Midway.
Experience Helped
Air Group Commander C. Wade McClusky, who led the USS Enterprise, was 40 years old during the Battle of Midway. Most of his fellow pilots were in their 20s with few years of battle experience. McClusky's helped him make important decisions during the fight, as he was the one who decided to check an unlikely area for Japanese carriers.
As the pilots' fuel tanks ran dangerously low, and with no enemy carriers in sight, McClusky decided to push forward. He began a box search and eventually found the destroyer Arashi, which led him to the other enemy carriers. The rest is history.
The US Faked a Plea For Help
On May 20, 1942, American sailors at Midway sent out this message: "At the present time we only have enough water for two weeks. Please supply us immediately." In reality, they were not low on supplies. It was all according to a plan.
As part of the US Army's code-breaking mission, the forces at Midway sent out fake messages. Cryptoanalyst leader Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort created the "low supplies" ruse to alert the US Navy to take action because the Japanese were targeting Midway. It also tricked the Japanese into thinking that the US base was vulnerable.
The Japanese Plan Was Flawed
While preparing for the fight, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto assumed the Battle of Midway would force the US to sent reinforcements from Pearl Harbor. He left Japanese battleships and cruisers available to plan a joint strike on Pearl Harbor, eliminating the US fleets for at least a year.
The plan, however, was flawed. For one, Yamamoto never suspected an intelligence breach. He also assumed the USS Yorktown was out of commission after the Battle of the Coral Sea. She was actually ready for battle by the time Midway rolled around.
The Japanese Weren't Ready For Defense
Frank Blazich, a military history curator at the Smithsonian, claims that Japan's forces were built for offense, not defense. He asserted that their carriers were designed to "throw a punch but not take a blow." This ended up kicking them when the Americans launched their surprise attack during midway.
Why didn't they prepare fa defense? According to Blazich, military officers followed the "tried and true" tactics of traditional Japanese warfare. As they'd won so many previous battles, the Japanese assumed they didn't need to work on their defensive strategies.
American Sailors Thought They Wouldn't Survive
From the American sailors' perspective, they were doomed from the start. Since they'd just recovered from the Battle of the Coral Sea, their Douglas TBD-1 Devastators weren't in peak condition. Their torpedoes didn't even work half the time.
Plus, the fly formation was risky. The bombers had to fly incredibly close to the water, slowly, and close to their fellow comrades. "Those men went into this fight knowing that it was very likely they would never come home," historian Laura Lawfer Orr told Smithsonian Magazine.
The First Counterattack Had One Survivor
On June 4, the Americans devised a counterattack. Some 41 torpedos flew to the Japanese cruisers, but they were no match for enemy squadron. Within minutes, 35 of the Devastators had gone down.
Only one pilot survived the counterattack. His name was George Gay, a pilot from the USS Hornet's Torpedo Squadron 8. After a fight with five Japanese fighters, he crash-landed in the middle of the Pacific. He swam for 30 hours before being rescued.
Today, his life jacket is on display at the American History Museum.
Caught Off-Guard By US Aircraft Carriers
The Japanese assumed America had fewer aircraft carrier available than they did. After the country's failed counterattack, Vice Adm. Chuichi Nagumo assumed no US carriers were nearby. However, a scout pilot alerted him that some were actually waiting for them to arrive.
Nagumo switched gears, leaving his sailors confused. They had no idea that McClusky had been approaching them the entire time. Unprepared and panicked, Japanese troops scrambled to ready themselves, while the Americans were already ready to attack.
Dive Attack Into Destruction
During the Battle of Midway, the American Douglas SBD Dauntlesses engaged in dive attack. The bombers would fly up to 20,000 feet into the air before pointing down and diving. They'd drop at around 275 MPH.
Dive-attacking was designed to help pilots target ships en masse. However, it was incredibly risky. From the pilots' height, the Japanese cruisers appeared as small as ladybugs. The pilots also had to pull up before they crashed head-first into the Pacific Ocean.
The Battle Lasted Several Days
The Battle of Midway officially began on the afternoon June 3, 1942. The most notable turnaround occurred the next day, when the American sailors surprised the Japanese cruisers and took out most of the ships.
Afterward, the battle continued for several more days, until June 7.
The Americans May Have Outnumbered the Japanese
The majority of accounts of the Battle of Midway explain the Americans were largely outnumbered, but historian Gordon W. Prange argues against this. In terms of naval forces, Japanese cruisers and destroyers outnumbered American ships, but when you add to that the American aircraft, that point of view changes.
In his book, Miracle at Midway, Prange argues that, if you add in America's carriers, they actually had a slight advantage over Japan. On top of that, Yamamoto had ordered his main fleet to trail behind the first, meaning the Americans ambushed the Japanese in sections.
Pearl Harbor Still Lingered
The Battle of the Coral Sea wasn't the only fight that hung over the Americans' heads. The US forces were still recovering from the attack at Pearl Harbor.
Eight battleships were damaged, two were lost and the rest were taken out of commission - they couldn't have backed up the Battle of Midway if they'd wanted to.
The Mysterious AF
By the time the Battle of Midway occurred, US Naval Intelligence had decrypted most of Japan's Imperial Fleet codes. However, there was one piece missing.
They didn't know what "AF" meant. They theorized that it was either Midway or the Pacific as a whole, so officer Jasper Holmes hatched a plan. They sent out a fake message, saying that Midway was low on water. The Japanese then sent messages that AF had fresh water problems. Therefore, AF was Midway.
The US coders were able to interpret the Japanese fighting plan from there on out.
Yorktown Wasn't Supposed to Show Up
The Japanese weren't expecting the USS Yorktown to appear at Midway. It had taken a beating during the Battle of the Coral Sea, but Adm. Chester Nimitz went against protocol by getting it ready.
Within three days, Yorktown was repaired into a barely-operational carrier. As the ship headed for Bremerton, workers continued to work on the damage.
Fires Were Inevitable
Since the Japanese had no idea they were being approached by American fleets, they were left vulnerable. After a successful attack, Adm. Chuichi Nagumo ordered his troops to re-stock for a second strike. As the aircraft were being refueled, the Americans attacked.
The Japanese cruisers were left susceptible to fires: torpedoes and bombs were left out, and fuel hoses lay across the deck. George Gay, the pilot survivor who'd watched the battle from the ocean, said, "The carriers during the day resembled a very large oil-field fire [...] Big red flames belched out this black smoke."
News of Midway Leaked Information
After the Battle of Midway, American newspapers reported on the victory. One report by the Chicago Sunday Tribune caused some trouble. The 14-paragraph story suggested that the Americans had deciphered Japanese naval codes. They had, in essence, revealed America's trump card.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was less than thrilled about the report. He launched an espionage investigation to discover who'd learned about their Battle of Midway techniques. It was the only case in American History where the government prosecuted a media member under the Espionage Act.
A Piece of a Larger Puzzle
When Yamamoto approached Midway, he intended to take down Pearl Harbor, as well. But that was only a piece of the plan. The Japanese Army intended to remove the US from the Pacific Ocean. By doing so, they would hypothetically force America into a negotiated peace.
While "forcing into peace" may not sound like the most friendly option, it was Japan's best bet at removing the United States from the war. By pushing them out of the Pacific, Japan would also take the US out of the Allied Forces. The Allies were fortunate that American won the Battle of Midway.
'Tora! Tora! Tora!'
When flying over Pearl Harbor, Japanese Cmdr. Mitsuo Fuchida called out, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" a code word that meant the attack was coming as a complete surprise. Tora also means tiger and is an abbreviation of the words "totsugeki raigeki," which means "lightning attack."
In 1970, directors Kinji Fukasaku, Toshio Masuda and Richard Fleischer made the film Tora! Tora! Tora!, which showed both the Japanese and American viewpoints of the incident. The movie was a huge hit in Japan. Some of the footage from the film was featured in a 1981 TV episode of Magnum P.I.
