Special Sub-Topic: The Battle of Midway Click Here To Play: The Battle of Midway

In early 1942, the Americans had broken the Japanese Naval Code. They knew something was up because a specific identifier was appearing in many messages. This identifier was the code for Midway Island. What was the identifier?

AF. The Japanese used many unique identifiers throughout the war, but in early 1942 they had no idea that the Americans had broken their top secret code. The only problem the Americans had was that they had no idea what AF meant. They knew it was a location, but where? In order to find out, the commander on Midway Island was told to send a message that their Water Purification plant was not working. Within days, Japaneses coded messages started to state the AF was getting thirsty. By May the Americans knew AF was Midway Island.

The Imperial General Headquarters issued what special command to Admiral Yamamoto to proceed with the capture of Midway Island and the invasion of Alaska?

Naval Order No. 18. Admiral Yamamoto received Naval Order No. 18 on May 5th, 1942 directing him to capture Midway Island and key areas of the Aleutian Islands. The date originally envisioned was much later in the year, but due to the Doolittle Raid on the homeland of Japan, it was imperative that Midway be taken as soon as possible. The Japanese never expected to be bombed and their morale was shaken by that raid. The capture of Midway would extend their sphere of control further from the homeland.

The Marine Air Group on Midway had at their command 54 aircraft. Which of the following type of aircraft made up the majority of the planes?

Brewster Buffalo. The Marines had 20 Brewster Buffalos on Midway versus 7 Wildcats, 16 Dauntless Dive Bombers and 11 Vindicators. The Buffalos were old, slow and were no match for the faster, better equipped and piloted Zeros. However, the Buffalos did account for 17 Japanese aircraft shot down, but at a cost. The Marines of VMF-221 lost 15 pilots killed in action, including the commanding officer, Major Floyd B. Parks. The squadron was effectively destroyed. For their action during the Battle of Midway, the Squadron received a Presidential Unit Citation.

The Japanese had four aircraft carriers at Midway. All four ships were attacked by American dive bombers and torpedo planes. This ship's commander, Captain Okada was killed by a bomb blast, but how did the ship actually sink?

Japanese destroyers torpedoed her.. We are talking about the carrier, Kaga, the largest of the the four aircraft carriers the Japanese had at Midway. Dive bombers from USS Enterprise hit her with at least four 1,000 lb bombs, which set off explosions throughout the ship. Captain Okada was killed by a bomb that hit the bridge. The ship was abandoned around 14:00. An American sub attacked her, but the torpedoes did not explode and did no damage. With the fires out of control, the Kaga was scuttled by two torpedoes from Japanese destroyers, and sank.

Prior to the battle, one key element of the Japanese battle plan failed to be executed properly. This specific failure proved disastrous for the outcome of the plan.

Submarine shield was deployed late. The Japanese would have loved to have had the Shoho as their 5th carrier at Midway, but she was resting on the bottom of the Coral Sea after being sunk on May 7th, 1942. The Japanese did have spies in Hawaii, but none that were captured or had information critical to this operation. As for some missing oil tankers, all the ships were accounted for: they were either with the strike force or with Admiral Yamaoto 600 miles from Midway. That leaves only the submarine shield that failed to be set up in time. This was due to the fact that the American carriers left Pearl Harbor early so they could set up the trap Nimitz had planned. Had the Americans not broken the code, there would have been a good chance all three American carriers would have been lost on their way to Midway.

One of the first attacks of the battle was not made by Japan, but by American B-17 bombers. They attacked the Japanese about 700 miles from Midway Island and actually scored hits on two ships. What kind of ships were damaged?

A crusier and a transport. Nine B-17's took off from Midway shortly after the Japanese Fleet was spotted by the US Navy patrol plane, Jane 3. Though no ships were sunk, the Japanese knew that their secret was out. Later that night, the Japanese were also attacked by Navy Catalina PBY's.

The battle lasted but four days, ending on June 7th, but when were the last servicemen involved in the battle rescued? o Bu

June 21, 1942. Survivors from the Japanese Cruiser Mikuma were rescued by the submarine SS-202 Trout on June 9th. The Mikuma had been sunk on June 6th with the loss of over 600 crew members. Ten days later the USS Ballard picked up 35 Japanese sailors from the Japanese carrier Hiryu. On June 21st, a PBY from VP-24 rescued the last two survivors of the Battle of Midway, two American airmen from the USS Enterprise. Thus ended one of the finest hours in American history. By the way, June 24th is my birthday.

What was the last American ship lost in the Battle of Midway?

USS Yorktown. During the battle of Midway, the US forces lost only two ships. The USS Ballard actually rescued many Japanese sailors after the battle. The USS Enterprise, CV-6, went on to be the most decorated US warship during World War 2. The USS Hammann was along side the USS Yorktown, assisting her crew which was trying to save the ship. It was then that four torpedoes fired by the Japanese submaring I-168 struck both the Hammann and the Yorktown. The Hammann split in two and sank very fast, while the Yorktown, now listing heavily, would sank later in the day and was the last American ship to go down.

Besides losing four carriers at Midway, what other event occured during the Japanese execution of their battle plan that changed the course of the war in the Pacific?

Mitsubishi A6M (Zeke) recovered. Admiral Yamaguchi was killed on board the Hiryu during the Battle of Midway and was not captured. He went down with the ship. All the Japanese ships were sunk in over 10,000 feet of water, so it was impossible to recover any code books. Emperor Hirohito was in good health at 40 years of age, even after receiving news of the losses at Midway. The key event, though not immediately realized, was the recovery of an almost intact Mitsubishi Fighter aircraft (Zeke). The plane made an emergency landing in Alaska as part of the Japanese Overall Battle Plan to take both Midway Island and the Alaskan islands of Attu and Kiska. As a result, American Intelligence was able to discover what this world class fighter plane could really do, and not do.

He died 52 years after the Battle of Midway on October 21st, 1994, taking with him some very vivid memories of the Battle of Midway. Who was it?

Ensign Gay. Ensign Gay was part of Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8) assigned to the US aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8). His squadron, commanded by Lt Cmdr Waldron was annihilated during the battle, with 29 of 30 airmen killed. After his plane went down, he witnessed the attacks that destroyed three of the four Japanese carriers while bobbing in the Pacific. He was later rescued by a PBY. When he died, the US Navy honored his final request and scattered his ashes over the site were his fellow airmen had died defending their country. In terms of ships lost, the totals were not that high. Sunk during the battle: four Japanese carriers, one cruiser and one destroyer. The US lost only two ships, a carrier and a destroyer, (other ships may have been scuttled later) but Midway was the turning point for the war in the Pacific.