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The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place 4–7 June 1942, six months after the Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea.
- Midway Order of Battle
This is the order of battle for the Battle of Midway, a...
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- Midway Atoll
Map showing the location of Midway Atoll in the Hawaiian...
- Naval Air Facility Midway Island
Naval Air Station Midway Island, also known as NAS Midway,...
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- Chūichi Nagumo
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- Pacific Theater Aircraft Carrier Operations During World War II
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- Midway Order of Battle
- Background
- Prelude to Battle
- Battle
- Japanese Casualties
- Aftermath
- Impact
- Codebreaking Success
- Other Websites
Japan had reached its first goals quickly, taking the Philippines, Malaya, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). This gave Japan petroleum, which it needed to make more war. Planning for a second part of the operations started in January 1942. However, disagreements between the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy, and among naval comman...
American reinforcements
To battle with an enemy expected to have four or five carriers, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, needed every U.S. carrier he could get. He already had Vice Admiral William Halsey's two-carrier (Enterprise and Hornet) force. Halsey was sick with psoriasis and had to be replaced by Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. Nimitz also called back Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher's force, including the carrier Yorktown (which had major damage at Coral Sea), from the S...
Japanese shortcomings
During the Battle of the Coral Sea one month earlier, the Japanese light carrier Shōhō had been sunk and the fleet carrier Shōkaku had three bomb hits, and was in drydock undergoing repairs. Although the carrier Zuikaku was undamaged, she had lost almost half her airplanes and was in port in Kure awaiting new planes and pilots. No new pilots were available because none had been trained.Flight instructors were used in an effort to make up the missing aircrew. Japan's two most advanced aircraft...
Allied code-breaking
Admiral Nimitz had one advantage: code experts had broken the Japanese Navy's JN-25b code. Since the early spring of 1942, the US had been decoding messages stating that there would soon be an operation at objective "AF". They guessed that it was Midway and sent an uncoded radio message that Midway needed fresh water. The code breakers then picked up a Japanese message that "AF was short on water." HYPO was also able to determine the date of the attack as either 4 or 5 June, and to tell Nimit...
Initial air attacks
At about 09:00 on 3 June, a US Navy patrol plane spotted the Japanese Occupation Force 500 nautical miles (580 miles; 930 kilometres) to the west-southwest of Midway. Three hours later, the Americans found the Japanese transport group 570 nautical miles (660 miles; 1,060 kilometres) to the west. They attacked, but none of the bombs hit and no major damage resulted. Early the following morning the Japanese oil tanker Akebono Maru was hit by a torpedofrom an attacking PBY. This was the only suc...
Nagumo's decision
Admiral Nagumo had kept half of his aircraft in reserve. These were two squadrons of dive bombers and torpedo bombers. At 07:15 Nagumo ordered his reserve planes to be re-armed with bombs for use against land targets. At 07:40 a scout plane from Tone saw a big American naval force to the east. It seems that Nagumo did not receive the report until 08:00. Nagumo reversed his order, but it took 40 minutes before Tone's scout finally radioed that there was a carrier in the American force. This wa...
Attacks on the Japanese fleet
The Americans had already launched their carrier aircraft against the Japanese. Admiral Fletcher, in command aboard Yorktown, and having PBY sighting reports from the early morning, ordered an attack on the Japanese as soon as possible. He held Yorktown in reserve in case any other Japanese carriers were found.(Fletcher's directions to Spruance were sent by Nimitz, who had remained ashore.) Spruance thought that even though the range was far, an attack could succeed. He gave the order to laun...
By the time the battle ended, 3,057 Japanese had died. Casualties aboard the four carriers were:Akagi: 267; Kaga: 811; Hiryu: 392; Soryu: 711; a total of 2,181. The heavy cruisers Mikuma (sunk; 700 casualties) and Mogami(badly damaged; 92) accounted for another 792 deaths. In addition, the destroyers Arashio (bombed; 35) and Asashio (strafed by air...
After winning a victory, and as pursuing the Japanese ships became too dangerous near Wake, The American forces pulled back. Spruance pulled back to the east to refuel his destroyers and meet with the carrier Saratoga, which was carrying replacement aircraft. The American carriers eventually returned to Pearl Harbor. Historian Samuel E. Morison wro...
The Battle of Midway has been called "the turning point of the Pacific". However, even after Midway, the Japanese continued to try to get more territory in the South Pacific. The U.S. did not become the more powerful navy until after several more months of hard combat. Midway was the Allies'first major victory against the Japanese. However, it did ...
Yamamoto did not know that the U.S. had broken the main Japanese naval code (JN-25). This let the U.S. fleet go to the right place at the right time. Yamamoto scattered his forces to keep the attack secret, but that meant his formations could not help each other. For instance, Nagumo's fleet had few big ships. When the carrier planes were carrying ...
The course to Midway: turning point in the Pacific Archived 2014-10-23 at the Wayback MachineAnimated history of The Battle of Midway Archived 2006-05-03 at the Wayback MachineMay 27, 2024 · Discover how the U.S. Navy defeated Japan's fleet to check Japanese expansion in the Battle of Midway. In June 1942, one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, U.S. naval airplanes stopped the advance of the Japanese Imperial Navy near Midway Island.
Oct 29, 2009 · The U.S. Navy’s decisive victory in the air-sea battle (June 3-6, 1942) and its successful defense of the major base located at Midway Island dashed Japan’s hopes of neutralizing the United ...
This is the order of battle for the Battle of Midway, a major engagement of the Pacific Theatre of World War II, fought 4–7 June 1942 by naval and air forces of Imperial Japan and the United States in the waters around Midway Atoll in the far northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Jun 3, 2021 · In June 1942, US and Japanese naval forces engaged in a five-day battle in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that changed the course of the war in the Pacific.
The First Bombardment of Midway, or the First Bombardment of Sand Island, or Attack on Midway, was a small land and sea engagement of World War II. It occurred on the very first day of the Pacific War, 7 December 1941, not long after the major attack on Pearl Harbor.
