1942
Battle Of Midway Ends
On June 7, 1942, the Battle of Midway–one of the most decisive
U.S. victories in its war against Japan–comes to an end. In the four-day sea
and air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four
Japanese aircraft carriers with the loss of only one of its own, the Yorktown,
thus reversing the tide against the previously invincible Japanese navy.
In six months of offensives, the Japanese had triumphed in lands
throughout the Pacific, including Malaysia, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies,
the Philippines, and numerous island groups. The United States, however, was a
growing threat, and Japanese Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto sought to destroy the
U.S. Pacific Fleet before it was large enough to outmatch his own. A thousand
miles northwest of Honolulu, the strategic island of Midway became the focus of
his scheme to smash U.S. resistance to Japan’s imperial designs. Yamamoto’s
plan consisted of a feint toward Alaska followed by an invasion of Midway by a
Japanese strike force. When the U.S. Pacific Fleet arrived at Midway to respond
to the invasion, it would be destroyed by the superior Japanese fleet waiting
unseen to the west. If successful, the plan would eliminate the U.S. Pacific
Fleet and provide a forward outpost from which the Japanese could eliminate any
future American threat in the Central Pacific.
Unfortunately for the Japanese, U.S. intelligence broke the
Japanese naval code, and the Americans anticipated the surprise attack. Three
heavy aircraft carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were mustered to challenge
the four heavy Japanese carriers steaming toward Midway. In early June, U.S.
command correctly recognized a Japanese movement against Alaska’s Aleutian
Islands as a diversionary tactic and kept its forces massed around Midway. On June
3, the Japanese occupation force was spotted steaming toward the island, and
B-17 Flying Fortresses were sent out from Midway to bomb the strike force but
failed to inflict damage. Early in the morning on June 4, a PBY Catalina flying
boat torpedoed a Japanese tanker transport, striking the first blow of the
Battle of Midway.
Later that morning, an advance Japanese squadron numbering more
than 100 bombers and Zero fighters took off from the Japanese carriers to bomb
Midway. Twenty-six Wildcat fighters were sent up to intercept the Japanese
force and suffered heavy losses in their heroic defense of Midway’s air base.
Soon after, bombers and torpedo planes based on Midway took off to attack the
Japanese carriers but failed to inflict serious damage. The first phase of the
battle was over by 7:00 a.m.
In the meantime, 200 miles to the northeast, two U.S. attack
fleets caught the Japanese force entirely by surprise. Beginning around 9:30
a.m., torpedo bombers from the three U.S. carriers descended on the Japanese
carriers. Although nearly wiped out, they drew off enemy fighters, and U.S.
dive bombers penetrated, catching the Japanese carriers while their decks were
cluttered with aircraft and fuel. The dive-bombers quickly destroyed three of
the heavy Japanese carriers and one heavy cruiser. The only Japanese carrier
that initially escaped destruction, the Hiryu, loosed all its aircraft
against the American task force and managed to seriously damage the U.S.
carrier Yorktown, forcing its abandonment. At about 5:00 p.m.,
dive-bombers from the U.S. carrier Enterprise returned the favor,
mortally damaging the Hiryu. It was scuttled the next morning.
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto still had numerous warships at his
command, but without his carriers and aircraft he was forced to abandon his
Midway invasion plans and begin a westward retreat. On June 5, a U.S. task
force pursued his fleet, but bad weather saved it from further destruction. On
June 6, the skies cleared, and U.S. aircraft resumed their assault, sinking a
cruiser and damaging several other warships. After the planes returned to their
carriers, the Americans broke off from the pursuit. Meanwhile, a Japanese
submarine torpedoed and fatally wounded the Yorktown, which was in the
process of being salvaged. It finally rolled over and sank at dawn on June 7,
bringing an end to the battle.
At the Battle of Midway, Japan lost four carriers, a cruiser,
and 292 aircraft, and suffered 2,500 casualties. The U.S. lost the Yorktown,
the destroyer USS Hammann, 145 aircraft, and suffered 307 casualties.
Japan’s losses hobbled its naval might–bringing Japanese and American sea power
to approximate parity–and marked the turning point in the Pacific theater of
World War II. In August 1942, the great U.S. counteroffensive began at Guadalcanal
and did not cease until Japan’s surrender three years later.