the battle of midway 3-6 june 1942 dr. charles h. marston professor emeritus department of...
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The Battle of MidwayThe Battle of Midway3-6 June 19423-6 June 1942Dr. Charles H. MarstonDr. Charles H. Marston
Professor EmeritusProfessor EmeritusDepartment of Mechanical EngineeringDepartment of Mechanical Engineering
Villanova UniversityVillanova University
“Midway was the . . . battle . . . that made everything else possible”
Admiral Chester Nimitz, CinCPac
Modern Japan
• Commodore Perry, 1853
• Adopted western technology
• 52 years later: Battle of Tsushima
Road to War • Japanese expansionism Hakko Ichiu
• Naval limitation treaties
• U.S. economic pressure
• Japan’s perceived choices
- Commander in Chief Combined Fleet
- “I can run wild for 6 months but . . .”
- Advocated Pearl Harbor attack
Admiral Yamamoto
7 December 1941
• Carriers were at sea• Oil supply & submarines spared• “REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR”
Admiral Nagumo
- Led Pearl Harbor attack
- Commanded carriers at Midway
Admiral Nimitz
• Replaced Admiral Kimmel
• Kept Kimmel’s staff
• Organized carrier task forces
Pacific Ocean Area, Spring 1942
US
Tokyo Raid (Doolittle)18 April 1942
• NOT a surprise
• TriggeredMidway plan
• Port Moresby first
American Response To Operation MO
• Japanese JN-25 code broken (partly)
• Nimitz sent two carrier task forces - Lexington (1927) - Yorktown (1938)
Battle of the Coral Sea 7-11 May 1942
• Historic: Fleets never in visual contact
• Tactically to Japanese (but not by as much as they thought)
• Strategically to Americans
Japanese PreparationsFor Operation MI (Midway)
• Conflicting Objectives - Capture Midway - Decisive Battle
• Affected by “Victory Disease” - Fudged war games - Limited training - Stonewalled criticism
Japanese Carrier Striking Force(Kido Butai)
Carrier Division 1
Akagi (Nagumo Flagship)
Kaga
Carrier Division 2
Hiryu
Soryu
Absent From Kido Butai
• Shokaku
• Zuikaku
(Fought at Coral Sea)
Main Body• Most of the battleships
•Cruisers, destroyers, light carrier
• 300 miles behind striking force
Japanese Aircraft(Allies recognition names)
Mitsubishi A6M2 “Zeke”
• Fighter, better known as the Zero• Performance a shock to USA
Nakajima B5N “Kate”
• Torpedo and level bomber
Aichi D3A2 “Val”
Dive bomber
Nakajima E8N “Dave”
Observation seaplaneCatapulted from surface ships
Yokosuka D4Y “Judy”
- New high speed reconnaissance A/C- Based on Soryu
MidwayAtoll
Garrison told to expect an attack
LCDR Joe. Rochefort
- Codebreaker
- Water Shortage ploy
- Conflict with Washington
American Preparations
• Carrier force made ready
• Battleships to U.S. west coast
• Unaware of Japanese Main Body
American Commanders
RADM Fletcher RADM Spruance
Nimitz’s Orders
• Take station northeast of Midway
• “. . .you will be governed by the principle of calculated risk . . . “
American Aircraft
Brewster F2A Buffalo
• Marine squadrons got Navy castoffs
• Inferior to Zero
Grumman F4FWildcat
- Simple
- Rugged
- Could fight Zero with right tactics
Douglas TBD Devastator
• Torpedo Bomber
• Slow, underpowered, vulnerable
Grumman Avenger
• Replacement for Devastator
• New, 6 planes flew from Midway
Douglas SBD Dauntless
• Dive Bomber
• “Slow But Deadly”
Vultee SB2U Vindicator
• Marine Dive Bomber
• Obsolescent
Consolidated PBY-5
• Long range reconnaissance
• Search and rescue
Boeing B-17E
• Army Heavy Bomber
• High altitude, level bombing
• No ships hit
Martin B-26 Marauder
• Army medium bomber
• Jury rigged as torpedo bomber
Technology Edges
Japan
- Zero fighter
- Superior torpedoes
USA
- Code Breaking
- Radar
Problems for Japanese
• Dual Objective - Invasion (rigid plan)
- Fleet Action (need flexibility)
• Command vs. Radio silence• Kido Butai a day late
Bad Omens for Nagumo
• No information on enemy
• Two key leaders incapacitated
• Dense fog
Location of Japanese Forcesat Time of Discovery
3 June
• Carriers warned to wait for Striking Force
•B-17s and PBYs from Midway attack Occupation Force
4 June
• “Many planes heading Midway”
• All Midway aircraft airborne
• Marine fighters slaughtered
• Facilities damaged
Fuel Farm BurningNote the Gooney Birds
Attacks from Midway• Chaotic• No hits
-Zeros
-Excellent ship Handling
-Flyers inexperience
• Disrupted Kido Butai
B-17s vs Hiryu
Nagumo’s Dilemma I
• Need second strike at Midway
• No hint of American carriers - Sub screen late - Operation K cancelled - Inadequate search plan
• Order to rearm for 2nd strike
Nagumo’s Dilemma II
• Report of American ships
• Go with what’s available or recover Midway strike?
• Order to stop rearming
American Carrier Attacks
• Spruance: “ . . surprise. . full strength . . early . .”Hornet and Enterprise launched
• Fletcher (Y’town) waited for scouts
Hornet
- New, aircrew inexperienced- Carried the B-25s
Torpedo Squadron 8
LCDR Waldron ENS Gay
Enterprise
Accompanied Hornet on Tokyo raid
Enterprise Attack Force
Yorktown
Patched up in 3 days after Coral Sea
Yorktown Attack Force
Coordinated Attack 1020 (P&T)
• SBDs strike - Kaga - Akagi - Soryu
- No radar - CAP low
1025
Strike on Yorktownfrom Hiryu
• Launch 1050, Strike 1230
• Yorktown prepared
Yorktown under Attack
After the Attack
• Effective Damage control
• Back in operation by 1350
Second Strike on Yorktownfrom Hiryu 1440
- Kates, two torpedo hits
-Abandon ship
- Fletcher yields to Spruance
Later, 4 June
- Hiryu located and Destroyed
- Yamamoto ordered night attack
- Spruance retired eastward
Hiryu Wrecked
Evening and Overnight
- Nagumo relieved
-Night attacks ordered/cancelled
- Midway operation cancelled
- All 4 KB carriers scuttled
- Spruance turned west
5 and 6 June
• Yorktown still afloat
• Yorktown torpedoed
• Japanese cruisers collided
Heavy Cruiser Mikuma
Japanese Defeat
• 4 of 6 big carriers gone
• Cover up
• Capture of Attu and Kiska touted
• Initiative lost
American Victory
• Army claimed credit
• Intact Zero recovered
• Lessons leaned
• Offensive possible (Guadalcanal)
The Battle was not over
Hiryu attacked Yorktown
Hiryu demolished
Spruance avoided night battle
All four KB carriers scuttled
Yorktown torpedoed
Japanese cruiser sunk