Pearl Harbor plus six months

[DeeEss57]

June 5th, 1942

The battle for Midway comes to an end. After attempting to set a trap for the carriers of the US Navy, Yamamoto, instead, found himself entrapped by the Americans. As a result, the Japanese Imperial Navy suffered iirreparable damage to its forces.

Although outnumbered, the US Navy sunk four Japanese fleet carriers and one cruiser, destroyed 264 aircraft, and killed 3,057 seamen and aircrews. Meanwhile, the US lost one fleet carrier (USS Yorktown), one destroyer, 98 aircraft and 307 personnel.

The battle of Midway was a decisive victory for the US Navy, coming a mere six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This victory stopped the Japanese expansion into the Pacific and made the end result inevitable. Japan could not hope to match the manufacturing might of the United States and its battles now turned defensive, while the US Navy began to dominate the Pacific.



Dawn

[TrenchGoon]

thank you, thats interesting.

[BGM]

The victory at Midway relied heavily on pure luck and a major intelligence breakthrough. The Allies had just broken the Japanese Naval code and Adm. Nimitz knew the Japanese would attack Midway and what their order of battle was as well. After the initial Japanese attack on Midway, Adm. Spruance made contact with the enemy and decided to launch his attack piecemeal instead of coordinating it among the different types of aircraft. This caused higher casualties to the American flyers, but it resulted in attacking the Japanese at their most vulnerable, while their combat air patrol planes (the fighters that protected the fleet) refueled and rearmed.

BGM

[DarthBrooks]

***WWII Geek alert***

It worked out nearly perfect for the American air crew in the Dauntless dive bombers. The torpedo planes had attacked and been shot down but that took all the Japanese fighters down to sea level. The dive bombers came out of the clouds to clear air.

Meantime the Japanese Admiral was dithering between options. They were prepared to attack Midway Island again when he got reports of American Carriers. He hurredly brought his returning air crew in and switched out to torpedoes to attack the carriers.

It meant that the flight deck was littered with bombs, torpedoes, planes and gasoline when the Dauntlesses turned over to attack. Three carriers went down in the space of few minutes. The fourth was hit later that day.

Probably the most remarkable part of the story was the USS Yorktown. She had been hit in the previous battle of the Coral Sea and reported sunk by the pilots who attacked. She limped into Pearl Harbor and expert opinion said it would take three months to repair her. Three DAYS of intense effort later she left for Midway, with construction workers still onboard.

At the Battle of Midway she was hit twice. Both times the Japanese command assumed she was sunk. Both times damage control teams took control and stopped the fires. Finally a enemy sub found the repair effort. It fired a torpedo into a destroyer that was assisting in the rpair effort.The ship sank and exploded underwater. The explosion was enough to finish off the Yorktown.

They made them tough in those days.

[DeeEss57]

Probably the most remarkable part of the story was the USS Yorktown. She had been hit in the previous battle of the Coral Sea and reported sunk by the pilots who attacked. She limped into Pearl Harbor and expert opinion said it would take three months to repair her. Three DAYS of intense effort later she left for Midway, with construction workers still onboard.

At the Battle of Midway she was hit twice. Both times the Japanese command assumed she was sunk. Both times damage control teams took control and stopped the fires.

And the Japanese thought they were on equal footing with the American fleet, each having only one fleet carrier left. How wrong they were!

About the Japanese being caught with planes on the deck... If the Japanese plane who had spotted the carriers had reported he saw carriers, Yamamoto woudn't have been caught trying to change armaments on his planes. They were already armed with torpedoes for the carriers, but not realizing the US carriers were so close, he decided to change to bombs and go after Midway Island again. It was a mistake which cost them dearly.


Dawn

[Minniman]

And the Japanese thought they were on equal footing with the American fleet, each having only one fleet carrier left. How wrong they were!

The Imperial Japanese Navy came into the Battle of Midway with four fleet carriers: Hiryu, Soryu, Kaga, and Akagi. The United States Navy had the Enterprise, Hornet, and the Yorktown. They also had the airfield at Midway to sortie from, but the B-17 aircraft and outdated fighters and fighter-bombers were inaffective and no match for the IJN Zeros. That was four flight decks each, which was a great surprise to Yamamoto. Even worse, Admiral Nagumo, who commanded the IJN carrier strike force, did not receive critical intelligence from Tokyo that Yamamoto, with his flag on the trailing Yamato battleship group, had received about increased American naval activity in the area. Nagumo was unaware that the Yorktown had been salvaged but also that the Americans had commenced both submarine and surface fleet operations near Midway.

After the Enterprise SDB (Dauntless) dive-bombers destroyed the Akagi's forward hangar and flight deck, and completely destroyed the hangers and decks of the Kaga, Yorktown's SDBs found the Soryu and finished her for the battle. That left only the Hiryu in operation for the IJN against the four decks of the United States Navy.

Rear Admiral Yamaguchi ordered a strike toward the area that the Yorktown had been spotted by IJN aircraft. This strike punished the Yorktown, but her damage control crews actually had her ready for limited operations within an hour. When a second strike from the Hiryu found the Yorktown, the Japanese had mistaken her for a second carrier. With Yorktown reported as ablaze or sunk earlier, and this second carrier heavily damaged by two direct hits, the Japanese Navy had mistakenly believed that the Hiryu was now facing only one carrier.

After recovering its aircraft from the strike on the Yorktown, Hiryu hanger and deck crews prepared for a strike against the last American carrier, but the American dive-bomber force from the Enterprise found her first. This strike included strike aircraft, from the Yorktown, which had landed on the Enterprise to refuel after an earlier attack. Not only was the Enterprise still undamaged, but flight crews of the Yorktown were still flying. After the Enterprise SDB strike, the Hiryu was ablaze. The Americans had put four bombs into her including three to her forward flight deck. She would not recover and was scuttled the next day. Both Rear Admiral Yamaguchi and Hiryu ship's Captain Kaku stayed aboard as she sank.

About the Japanese being caught with planes on the deck... If the Japanese plane who had spotted the carriers had reported he saw carriers, Yamamoto woudn't have been caught trying to change armaments on his planes. They were already armed with torpedoes for the carriers, but not realizing the US carriers were so close, he decided to change to bombs and go after Midway Island again. It was a mistake which cost them dearly.

Note here that Admiral Nagumo was in charge of the IJN carrier strike force, and the decisions made were his. With the intelligence at hand, his actions were logical, but the combination of the fog of war, better American military intelligence, and the timing of the battle as it unfolded would doom his task force and its four carriers to a historical fate.

[Raptorman]

The ship sank and exploded underwater. The explosion was enough to finish off the Yorktown.

There may have been an explosion but she didn't break up. She rests in 16,650 ft of water. Robert Ballard found her on May 19, 1998. She is in one piece with some major holes in the sides.

[DarthBrooks]

The destroyer is the ship that exploded. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. I've seen pics of the Yorktown. She looks like she could be refloated and repaired back to station even after all this time.

[VikingMachine]

The victory at Midway relied heavily on pure luck and a major intelligence breakthrough. The Allies had just broken the Japanese Naval code and Adm. Nimitz knew the Japanese would attack Midway and what their order of battle was as well. After the initial Japanese attack on Midway, Adm. Spruance made contact with the enemy and decided to launch his attack piecemeal instead of coordinating it among the different types of aircraft. This caused higher casualties to the American flyers, but it resulted in attacking the Japanese at their most vulnerable, while their combat air patrol planes (the fighters that protected the fleet) refueled and rearmed.

BGM

Which part was luck?

[jackal]

world war2 was amazing we took such amazing risks in battle. The majority
of the pacific air battles our planes were already in route to islands we didn't
have run ways on or totally control yet. Basically if the runway finished the planes
went in the ocean. I have a Japanese 7.7 riffle my grandfather brought home
from one of the big island battles.

[Minniman]

Which part was luck?

Finding the enemy before he finds you, the timing of aircraft on patrol and on task, weather over the target, and other factors can be attributed to luck because they are based on factors that people really don't have control over. In the case of Madway, this includes having torpedo bombers arrive on target off schedule which was unfortunate for the torpedo bombers' crews, but it brought the CAP down which allowed the late arriving dive bombers to have great effect. The Japanese had a scout plane problem that caused it it launch much later than the other scout planes. That scout plane was launched in the direction of United States forces. Had that aircraft launched earlier, or if any other scout plane had been directed that way, the tide of battle could have tuned to the Japanese. Late in the battle, an incomplete sighting transmission and other miscommunication between American ships pushed the Enterprise/Hornet task force away from an area that likely would have had them run into the Yamato battleship surface fleet at night, which would have been catastrophic for the carrier task force.

The Battle of Midway was a triumph for the United States because of intelligence, placement of the forces, and other factors, but there is not a single historian of the subject that I have read or talked to that does not believe the Americans were on the high side of those uncontrolable factors. Call it luck, or call it the variable dynamic, but either way, the Amercans got the better die rolls in a battle that had the odds stacked against them.

[VikingMachine]

Finding the enemy before he finds you, the timing of aircraft on patrol and on task, weather over the target, and other factors can be attributed to luck because they are based on factors that people really don't have control over. In the case of Madway, this includes having torpedo bombers arrive on target off schedule which was unfortunate for the torpedo bombers' crews, but it brought the CAP down which allowed the late arriving dive bombers to have great effect. The Japanese had a scout plane problem that caused it it launch much later than the other scout planes. That scout plane was launched in the direction of United States forces. Had that aircraft launched earlier, or if any other scout plane had been directed that way, the tide of battle could have tuned to the Japanese. Late in the battle, an incomplete sighting transmission and other miscommunication between American ships pushed the Enterprise/Hornet task force away from an area that likely would have had them run into the Yamato battleship surface fleet at night, which would have been catastrophic for the carrier task force.

The Battle of Midway was a triumph for the United States because of intelligence, placement of the forces, and other factors, but there is not a single historian of the subject that I have read or talked to that does not believe the Americans were on the high side of those uncontrolable factors. Call it luck, or call it the variable dynamic, but either way, the Amercans got the better die rolls in a battle that had the odds stacked against them.

Interesting info and thanks for the reply.

[BGM]

Finding the enemy before he finds you, the timing of aircraft on patrol and on task, weather over the target, and other factors can be attributed to luck because they are based on factors that people really don't have control over. In the case of Madway, this includes having torpedo bombers arrive on target off schedule which was unfortunate for the torpedo bombers' crews, but it brought the CAP down which allowed the late arriving dive bombers to have great effect. The Japanese had a scout plane problem that caused it it launch much later than the other scout planes. That scout plane was launched in the direction of United States forces. Had that aircraft launched earlier, or if any other scout plane had been directed that way, the tide of battle could have tuned to the Japanese. Late in the battle, an incomplete sighting transmission and other miscommunication between American ships pushed the Enterprise/Hornet task force away from an area that likely would have had them run into the Yamato battleship surface fleet at night, which would have been catastrophic for the carrier task force.

The Battle of Midway was a triumph for the United States because of intelligence, placement of the forces, and other factors, but there is not a single historian of the subject that I have read or talked to that does not believe the Americans were on the high side of those uncontrolable factors. Call it luck, or call it the variable dynamic, but either way, the Amercans got the better die rolls in a battle that had the odds stacked against them.

Answered this far better than I could have. Thanks!

BGM

[Minniman]

If anyone is interested in playing this out, Matrix Games and SSG have updated Carriers at War for the PC.

Carriers at War

[DeeEss57]

If anyone is interested in playing this out, Matrix Games and SSG have updated Carriers at War for the PC.

Carriers at War

That might be an interesting game to play. I'll have to look into it more carefully. Do you play it, Minniman?


Dawn