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Battle of Midway

Conclusion

Introduction

Before Battle

The Americans Won the Battle! YAY!

The Battle of Midway, in World War II, was fought between the Americans and the Japanese. This took place on June 5, 1942 in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United States Navy defeated a Japanese attack against Midway Atoll, marking a turning point in the war.

American Reinforcements

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

Vice Admiral William Halsey

Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance

Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher

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 sustained three bomb hits, and was in drydock undergoing repairs.

Allied Code-Breaking

Admiral Nimitz had one priceless advantage: cryptanalysts 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"

The Battle Continued

Background

Order of Battle

Attacks on Japanese Fleet

The Americans had already launched their carrier aircraft against the Japanese. Spruance judged that, though the range was extreme, a strike could succeed and gave the order to launch the attack at around 06:00.

Japanese Conterattacks

Hiryū's first attack wave, consisting of 18 dive bombers and six fighter escorts, followed the retreating American aircraft and attacked the first carrier they encountered, Yorktown, hitting her with three bombs, which blew a hole in the deck, snuffed out her boilers, and destroyed several anti-aircraft turrets.

American Counterattack

Despite Hiryū being defended by a strong cover of more than a dozen Zero fighters, the attack by Enterprise was successful: four, possibly five bombs hit Hiryū, leaving her ablaze and unable to operate aircraft.

Yamamoto's Plan

Yamamoto's plan was to attack Pearl Harbour, so pretty much everyone hated him.

Aleutian Invasion

The Aleutian Invasion (Operation AL) was considered as a feint to draw American forces away. Research also suggests that AL was supposed to be launched simultaneously with the attack on Midway.

Air Attacks

At about 09:00 on 3 June, Ensign Jack Reid, piloting a PBY from US Navy patrol squadron VP-44, spotted the Japanese Occupation Force some 500 nautical miles (580 miles; 930 kilometres) to the west-southwest of Midway. He mistakenly reported this group as the Main Force.

Nagumo's Problem

Nagumo quickly reversed his order to re-arm the bombers with general purpose bombs and demanded that the scout plane ascertain the composition of the American force. However, another 20–40 minutes elapsed before Tone's scout finally radioed the presence of a single carrier in the American force. This was one of the carriers from Task Force 16. The other carrier was not sighted.

Aftermath

American Prisoners

Casualties

Japanese

At the Battle of Midway, Japan lost four carriers, a cruiser, and 292 aircraft, and suffered 2,500 casualties.

American

The U.S. lost the Yorktown, the destroyer USS Hammann, 145 aircraft, and suffered 307 casualties.

Three U.S. airmen, Ensign Wesley Osmus, Ensign Frank O'Flaherty, and Bruno Gaido were captured by the Japanese during the battle. Osmus was held on the Arashi, with O'Flaherty and Gaido on the cruiser Nagara. All three were interrogated, and then killed by being tied to water-filled kerosene cans and thrown overboard to drown.

Battle of Midway

By Gwyn and Emma

Impact

How did the war change things?

The Battle of Midway has often been called "the turning point of the Pacific". However, the Japanese continued to try to secure more strategic territory in the South Pacific, and the U.S. did not move from a state of naval parity to one of increasing supremacy until after several more months of hard combat. Thus, although Midway was the Allies' first major victory against the Japanese, it did not radically change the course of the war; instead it was the cumulative effects of the battles of Coral Sea and Midway that reduced Japan's ability to undertake major offensives.

Works Cited

"Battle of Midway." World History. Ed. Robert Cowley and Geoffrey Parker. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 1 Jan. 1996. Web.

"Battle of Midway". HistoryLearningSite.co.uk. 2014. Web.

Weinberg, Gerhard L. (1994). A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II. Cambridge U P.

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