Midway: Factors Leading To U.S. victory Quiz

Answer: Fresh water supply shortage

USN Commander Joseph Rochefort and his team of cryptanalysts spent long days working in an underground bunker, located in Hawaii. Some of his men would not emerge from the bunker for days at a time.

Answer: Yorktown

Yorktown's bomb damage from the Coral Sea battle was thought to require 3 months to repair. Both navy and civilian workers took on the challenge around the clock. Yorktown was badly needed for the ensuing battle.
Lexington was lost at the Coral Sea battle.
Hornet and Enterprise (task force 16) had just conducted the Doolittle Raid.

Answer: A Japanese sub would refuel recon floatplanes

After a failed second attack against Pearl Harbor, the US Navy determined the floatplanes used in the attack may have been fueled at French Frigate Shoals. As a result, it was decided to keep a surface patrol force nearby. This caused the recon mission to be aborted. The Japanese had hoped to determine if U.S. carriers were at or near Pearl Harbor.

Answer: The subs were late forming up

By the time the subs assembled, the US carrier task forces had already passed their patrol zones. Enterprise, Hornet and Yorktown remained undetected.

Answer: Bureaucratic mishandling of the report

It was once thought that the heavy cruiser Tone had a catapult problem which delayed the search in the zone US ships were located. Decades later the Japanese say the delay was due to mishandling by the bureaucracy.

Answer: False

The stand-by strike force had its "Kate" torpedo planes loaded with torpedoes, in case any US surface ships were detected. The second strike required the "Kates" to be re-armed with bombs before they could accompany the "Val" dive bombers and "Zero" fighters on a second Midway strike. Nagumo's decision to re-arm the "Kates" would have grave consequences.

Answer: Re-arm Kates back to torpedoes while first strike is recovered

The orders he gave were irrelevant. Within minutes, US carrier aircraft began a series of attacks which would change the course of the Pacific war.

Answer: 1

Only pilot Ensign George Gay, Jr. survived the slaughter torpedo 8 suffered from Zeros and anti-aircraft fire. He crashed at sea shortly after launching his torpedo at the carrier Kaga. Kaga avoided the torpedo. While alone for 30 hours, Gay was able to witness much of the rest of the battle. He was rescued by a US Catalina floatplane.

Answer: They followed the direction of a speeding enemy desroyer

The destroyer IJN Arashi had been attacking the submarine USS Nautilus. She abandoned her attack and was headed back to her task force at flank speed. Had Nautilus not attacked and drawn the attention of this destroyer, these 30 dive bombers would almost certainly have returned to the Enterprise with no action taken.

Answer: The Zeros were near sea level, pursuing the last of US torpedo bombers

Forty one torpedo planes had attacked the Japanese carriers, only a few would return to their carriers. No hits were scored by these brave crews. But they did manage to draw the CAP down near sea level just before their brother dive bombers arrived thousands of feet higher in perfect attack formation.

Answer: 1

Lt Commander Richard Halsey Best led two other planes in the attack on Akagi. One bomb missed. The second was a near miss which jammed Akagi's rudder. One of the most crucial single bomb hits of the war was the third. It detonated in the hanger deck among some 18 Kate torpedo planes.

Their fuel and ordinance soon caused a chain reaction of fires and explosions. Improperly stored bombs and torpedoes added to the conflagration. Yorktown's bombing 3 squadron would leave Soryu crippled and burning. Only the fourth carrier, the Hiryu, was not attacked and able to continue the battle.

Answer: Carrier Yorktown

Yorktown suffered three bomb hits. Boiler damage had her quickly dead in the water. Good fire safety practices had no fuel fires or ordinance exploding. Within an hour, she was able to steam at 20 knots and resume flight operations.

Answer: They hit the damaged Yorktown again

Some Japanese could easily have thought the battle was won at this point. It was believed the Coral Sea battle was the end of Yorktown, or at least she was to be out of action for a very long time. Now their pilots think they sank one of the two active US carriers in the first counterattack, and just scored two hits on the last active US carrier in the Pacific.

The Japanese navy would see Hawaii as a ripe target if the Americans could not sortie any ship larger than a heavy cruiser.

Answer: Carrier dive bombers

Dauntless dive bombers from Enterprise and several orphans from Yorktown scored four or five hits on Hiryu, engulfing her in flames. With only cruiser based search planes available, the Japanese carrier strike force had no aircraft for strikes or even combat air patrol.

Their only hope was for the First Fleet Main Force's three battleships to close with the American task forces and destroy them with their 16 and 18 inch guns. They would easily overwhelm US cruisers whose biggest guns were 8 inches.

Answer: Withdraw eastward, keeping a distance from enemy surface units

Admiral Spruance wanted to keep his ships safe from a surface engagement. He also wanted to be in a position to launch strikes at first light, if there were any targets. Overnight, four Japanese heavy cruisers were to bombard Midway, but were ordered to withdraw. Two of them collided and were slowed.

The next day, the last attacks of the Battle of Midway had carrier dive bombers sinking one cruiser and heavily damaging the other.