Daniel C. Zacharda History 298 Dr. Campbell 12/4/2014 Analyzing the Significance of the Battle of Midway 1
In June of 1942 the United States was fresh off a major naval engagement at the Battle of the Coral Sea and still recovering from the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The United States Navy needed to turn the tide of the war in the Pacific and they would get their chance at the Battle of Midway. To fully understand the Battle of Midway an analysis of why the battle was necessary, the battle itself, and its aftermath is essential. The Battle of Midway would prove to be one of the most important battles fought during the course of the war in the Pacific and is often pointed to as the battle that changed the course of the entire war. The first aspect of the Battle of Midway that must be discussed is the reason for why the Imperial Japanese Navy decided that an attack on Midway Atoll was necessary. In April of 1942 the Imperial Japanese Combined Fleet command met and decided that an assault on Midway was necessary to try and destroy the ability of the United States to use its air craft carriers in the Pacific. 1 The Combined Fleet command would be initially skeptical of engaging the United States in a battle over Midway Atoll because they did not know if the United States would aggressively defend it. 2 When the Combined Fleet command was done meeting, the target of Midway was selected but preparations for the battle were slow because there was still debate over the validity of Midway as a target. 3 On April 18 th the debate in the Imperial Japanese Combined Fleet command over whether or not to attack Midway would end as the United States Navy was about to strike back. Perhaps the single greatest reason the Imperial Japanese Navy decided that an attack on Midway was necessary to coax the American air craft carriers into a decisive engagement would come on April 18 th. On this day the United States Navy would launch an air raid, famously referred to as the Doolittle Raid, to strike the Japanese home island. The results of the Doolittle 2
Raid from a military stand point were insignificant, but the psychological effect on both the American and Japanese sides would have long lasting effects. 4 The primary effect of the Doolittle Raid was that it would show the Japanese Combined Fleet command that the American carrier forces provided a legitimate threat to the home island and must be stopped. Imperial Japanese Naval Captain Mitsuo Fuchida and Commander Masatake Okumiya would write in their book about the Battle of Midway So far as Combined Fleet was concerned, the raid steeled its determination to press for early execution of the operation as originally proposed. 5 With the need for the destruction of the American carriers now agreed upon by the Combined Fleet command, the Imperial Japanese Navy and United States Navy were now on a collision course for the Battle of Midway. On June 3 rd, 1942 the Imperial Japanese Navy was steaming towards Midway Atoll to begin their attack. A Chicago Tribune article by Lloyd Went titled Midway Meets the Jap Attack provides a great accounting of what the objectives of the Imperial Japanese Navy were First, to capture Midway and its important airstrips, which could be used to bomb out and isolate the American base. Second, to lure the limited American fleet at Pearl Harbor into a battle against a vastly superior force. 6 The United States Navy would send out a task force of support ships plus three aircraft carriers, the USS Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown, to meet the Japanese force consisting of various support ships as well as carriers Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu, and Soryu. These forces would soon directly clash in the Battle of Midway. The Battle of Midway would start with a Japanese assault on the ground based aircraft residing on Midway Atoll. The successful Japanese attack would be short lived as the Japanese task force would soon have to defend against multiple squadrons of bombers and fighters from the three American carriers. The details on how the Japanese Fleet s location is provided by USS 3
Enterprise pilot Wade McClusky. Call it fate, luck or what you may, because at 1155 I spied a Jap Cruiser scurrying under full power to the north-east. Concluding that she was possibly a liaison ship between the occupation forces and the striking force, I altered my Group s course to meet that of the cruiser. At 1205 that decision paid dividends. 7 A Chicago Tribune article by Pat Frank and Joseph Harrington titled The Battle for The Pacific: Midway Midway Midway would provide a brief statement of the morning success. Yorktown s aircraft were the first to hit the Japanese carriers: her dive bombers scored four hits on the Kaga, and later in the day four on Hiryu. 8 Although the sinking of the Kaga and the Hiryu was widely reported and accepted, there was some debate as to which carrier was also sunk during this attack. Conflicting reports from the New York Times and Chicago Tribune have the American sinking of a third Japanese carrier either the Akagi or the Soryu. The Chicago Tribune reports the sinking of the Soryu in there article on June 12 th soon after the conclusion of the Battle of Midway. 9 In contrast, the New York Times reports the sinking of the Akagi in their article on September 19 th. 10 The correct reporting in this case would come from the New York Times as intelligence would report that it was the Akagi that had been sunk in the first exchange of the battle. The most likely reason for the confusion was that all four of the Japanese carriers would eventually be sunk. In either case, the United States Navy had scored a huge hit on the Imperial Japanese Navy, but the Japanese were not out of the fight yet. A series of two counterattacks by the Imperial Japanese Navy would strike back at the American Fleet, mainly the USS Yorktown. In the first counterattack the Yorktown was hit three times by bombs, one of which hit her engineering plant and left her dead in the water. 11 Yorktown s crew was able to make repairs and get the mighty carrier back under way. 12 A second Japanese counterattack would reach the American Fleet and once again go after the Yorktown. 4
The Frank and Harrington article provides a great insight into what happened to the Yorktown. The Japanese in a combination of skill and courage had managed to put not one put two torpedoes in Yorktown s firerooms. 13 The damage sustained by this attack would prove to be too much for the Yorktown as it would sink before the day s end. A picture of Yorktown s damage is displayed bellow. The United States Navy may have lost Yorktown, but they were determined to avenge the loss and eliminate the threat of the final Japanese carrier Soryu once and for all. USS Yorktown showing a major list as a result from damage sustained at Midway 14 The United States Navy would launch one final counterattack from the carriers Enterprise and Hornet to find and destroy the remaining the carrier Soryu and put an end to Midway threat. In order to put an end to the threat at Midway, the United States Navy had to first find Soryu s location. In a New York Times article by Charles Hurd the crew responsible for the discovery of the final Japanese carrier location is revealed. The location of the fourth Japanese carrier, flashed back by Yorktown s scouts, brought out the groups from our other carriers. 15 The scout planes from the soon to be destroyed Yorktown had found and reported the position of the Japanese carrier to the American Fleet and an attack was immediately launched. 16 This final attack would result in the sinking of the carrier Soryu and effectively put an end the Midway threat. A Chicago Tribune article provides the final toll taken on Japanese Fleet Japan had lost 5
four carries, a cruiser, 253 aircraft, 8,500 men. 17 The terrible losses suffered by the Japanese would have long lasting effects throughout the rest of the war in the pacific. With the American victory at Midway, the tide of the war in the pacific had significantly changed. H. P. Willmott describes the significance of the Battle of Midway as Midway initiated the process whereby the United States was transformed from a power in the Pacific to the power of the Pacific, and to a nation, the only nation, with the means to back her worldwide interests. 18 Another book, Miracle at Midway, includes the statement At Midway the United States laid aside the shield and picked up the sword, and through all the engagements to follow, never again yielded the strategic offensive. 19 Both of these quotes serve as examples of the importance that the results of that the Battle of Midway had in changing the war in the Pacific in favor of the United States. The Battle of Midway is one of the most influential and important battles in naval history. The United States and The Empire of Japan conducted a fierce naval engagement stemming from the desire of the Japanese to end the threat of American naval air power in the Pacific. In the battle both sides experienced major losses with the Japanese losing four major aircraft carriers and the United States losing USS Yorktown. The loss of four carriers would ultimately prove to be too costly for the Japanese and would signify the switch of momentum from the side of the Japanese to the Americans. All in all, the Battle of Midway changed the course of the war for both sides and will be forever known as the battle that changed the war in Pacific. 6
Notes: 1 Mitsuo Fuchida and Mastake Okumiya, Midway: The battle that doomed Japan, The Japanese Navy s Story, (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1955), 58. 2 Ibid., 59. 3 Ibid., 63. 4 H. P. Willmott, The Barrier and the Javelin: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies February to June 1942, (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983), 118. 5 Fushida, 71. 6 Lloyd Wendt, Midway Meets the Jap Attack, Chicago Daily Tribune, June 12, 1949, http://wsuproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.wsuproxy.mnpals.net/docview/177706220?acc ountid=15069 (accessed October 21, 2014). 7 Wade McClusky C. Wade McClusky, LCDR C. Wade McClusky: Battle of Midway USS Enterprise CV-6: The most decorated ship of the Second World War, http://www.cv6.org/company/accounts/wmcclusk y/ (accessed October 21, 2014). 8 Pat Frank and Joseph D. Harrington, The Battle for the Pacific: Midway Midway Midway, Chicago Tribune, June 4, 1967, http://wsuproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=http://search.proquest. com.wsuproxy.mnpals.net/docview/179230376?accountid=15069 (accessed October 20, 2014). 9 10 Charles Hurd, Yorktown Wrote Her Name in Fire Of Burning Japanese Warships: Carrier's Bombers Took Heavy Toll of 'Flat-Tops' and Other Craft in 104 Days She Fought Great Battles of Pacific, New York Times, September 19, 1942, http://wsuproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=http ://search.proquest.com.wsuproxy.mnpals.net/docview/106413497?accountid=15069 (accessed October 20, 2014). 11 Frank. 12 13 14 Photo #: 80-G-17061, photograph, 1942, Official U.S. Navy Photograph, U.S. National Archives Collection, http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/g10000/g17061.jpg (accessed October 20, 2014). 15 Hurd. 16 17 Lloyd Wendt, Victory at Midway- -The Japs Routed, Chicago Daily Tribune, June 26, 1949, http://wsuproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.wsuproxy.mnpals.net/docview/177751274?acc ountid=15069 (accessed October 20, 2014). 18 Willmott, 523. 19 Gordon W. Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon, Miracle at Midway, (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1982), 397. 7