The Battle of Midway represented a major shift in power in the Pacific Front during WW2. The battle started on June 3rd, 1942, and would eventually result in one of the most decisive naval battles of WW2. After the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese wished to both destroy the American carriers that it missed during the attack on Pearl Harbor, as well as gain full naval control over the bases on the Aleutian Islands. By attacking the Island of Midway, Japan hoped to draw the American carriers out and destroy them, while taking a key island in the Pacific.
Although the Americans were outnumbered in terms of Naval ships, the cracking of the Japanese naval codes allowed for the Americans to have a total overview of Japanese plans before the fighting even started. On Midway Island, the Americans had stationed 115 land-based planes, in addition to 3 heavy aircraft carriers.
The fighting started when land-based bombers sent an attack force to face the Japanese Navy, proving mostly ineffectual and resulting in a Japanese counterattack that heavily bombed the island. Caught in a dilemma whether to finish off Midway Island and catch the bombers or attack the recently spotted US Navy, the Japanese Naval Carriers decided to go after the US carriers, and were caught in the middle of changing ammunition and refueling when the first US attack began. The initial US strike of torpedo bombers was cut off from the US dive bombers and were torn to shreds. After this initial strike, 36 more US dive-bombers were launched and were able to sink 3 heavy carriers, the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu, and then a heavy cruiser as well. The Japanese lost numerous skilled mechanics, pilots, and seamen, and this loss of men turned the tide of the Pacific War. Afterwards, the Allies would go on to be victorious at the Battle of Guadalcanal and shifted the balance in the Pacific theater towards the Allies.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalcanal_Campaign
Great post McKinley. I feel like the Battle of Midway was a very interesting part of the War and it's always nice to learn more about it. I also find the man in charge of the Japanese, Isoroku Yamamoto, quite interesting. While Yamamoto grew up in Japan, he would attend Harvard in his early years. Later, he would also serve in multiple tours in America, where he grew distasteful of the American Navy. After returning to Japan, he would eventually be promoted to one of the top authorities in Japan's navy and lead the attack on Pearl harbor.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Yamamoto-Isoroku