After a loss at the battle of Coral Sea, plans for the invasion of Midway were advanced. On April 3, 1942, the plans for the attack were approved by the Naval General Council, and "Operation MI" was ready to go.
On May 27, 1942, the numerous Japanese fleets left Hashirajima for Target AF (Midway Island). This force consisted of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo’s First Mobile Force, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s Main Body, and the Midway Occupation Force. Together, the entire Japanese force consisted of over 100 different ships leaving for one area.
Meanwhile, back in Pearl Harbor, the CINCPAC was working to decrypt the Japanese JN25 coding system. At the time, CINCPAC could read parts of Japanese transmissions, and could tell that there was a force preparing to invade Island AF. Admiral Chester Nimitz believed it was Midway, while other Navy commanders thought it was another target. Nimitz found a way to test this, and secretly sent a plane to Midway Island to send out a standard transmission indicating that the Midway Freshwater Plant had broken down. Shortly after the message was sent out, a Japanese transmission was received that saying that AF was low on water.
Once the target was chosen, all available United States Naval Forces were sent to Midway in an effort to stop the Japanese advance.
Between May 29 and May 30, the United States forces left Pearl Harbor for Midway Island. These ships will wait to the north of Midway to ambush the Japanese force.
On June 3, 1942, the carriers Ryuho and Junyo attacked the Aleutian Islands in an effort to draw carriers toward the Aleutians, but the Japanese did not realize that the JN25 code had been broken and there were three American carriers waiting for the Japanese forces to the north of Midway.
On June 4, 1942, the Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, and Soryu launch their aircraft to bomb Midway’s airfields. By 5:00 a.m., all of the aircraft were on the way to their targets.
Six F-4f Wildcats and 11 PBY Catalina Flying Boats were launched at 4 in the morning for patrols, and the remainder of the islands airfields were divided into two, in the event that the Japanese attack came from several directions.
The Japanese attack did come, and Midway’s defenses readied themselves, and the majority of the aircraft were launched to find and attack the Japanese carrier task force. One hour after leaving, at 7:10 a.m., the aircraft spotted the Invasion force about the time that the carrier Akagi noticed the incoming aircraft and sent 10 Zero fighters to deal with the threat. Out of 6 torpedo bombers, only one made it back, piloted by Lieutenant Earnest with his radio operator managed to use a column of smoke from burning buildings on Midway to navigate a return to the base. This aircraft was heavily damaged, having lost many of its electrical systems, and some parts of the aircraft were shot off.
The Japanese aircraft came in at 12,000 feet and in one large group. These aircraft were met by three Wildcats about forty miles from Midway Island. The Wildcats were all shot down, and the bombers hit Midway, and by 6:43 a.m. the aircraft were returning to the carriers, and aircraft for a second strike were being readied.
At 7:30 a.m., a scout aircraft from the Tone reported the presence of 10 enemy surface ships. but the ship classifications were not reported by the scout plane. The torpedoes were traded for bombs on some aircraft, and the flight deck was cluttered with various armaments and fuel for the aircraft on the flight deck. All of the aircraft on the flight deck were fully armed and fueled and the aircraft were clustered on the stern of the ship. One bomb hit on the back of the carrier could set off a chain reaction that would destroy the carrier, but the Japanese seemed confident. At 7:48 a.m., 16 SBD Dauntless Dive Bombers appeared over the Japanese force. These aircraft were shot down, and while the pilots claimed numerous hits, as of 8:00 a.m., none of the ships had been touched.
Another report from the Tone scout aircraft was received, announcing a change in course of the American vessels. This movement was caused by the carriers turning into the wind to launch the aircraft, but the scout mistook the force for a group of 5 cruisers and 5 destroyers, forcing Chuichi Nagumo to re-arm his aircraft into the bomb loading for the attack on Midway Island, followed by an attack on the American ships. Twenty minutes after the scout aircraft last reported, Nagumo received another message, this time announcing that the force was escorted by a carrier. Once again, the aircraft on the carriers had the torpedoes loaded, and prepared to attack the carriers. The aircraft had to wait on the flight deck for all the aircraft to return from Midway, or else force them to crash the aircraft in the water and wait to be picked up.
During this news, more aircraft were reported, having been launched prematurely by the American carriers, with the launch order given at 6:07 a.m. and launching beginning at 7:00 a.m. The aircraft were launched, but the attack was disorganized and ineffective at first.
In the first waves of the attack, the losses were staggering. VT-8, the torpedo squadron belonging to the USS Hornet, lost all planes and pilots except for Ensign George Gay, who spent the majority of the battle watching from the water. The other torpedo squadrons fared only slightly better. Only six aircraft out of 41 made it back. Most of the survivors were wounded, and couldn’t fly for a while. For all the losses, the torpedo squadron didn’t have one successful strike on any of the Japanese ships, although the pilots gained the admiration of the enemy, both the commanders and the pilots.
The next ones to start the attack were the dive bombers. The dive bombers reached the destination, but couldn’t find the Japanese ships. The commanding officer of the aircraft decided to move on 35 miles before making a turn to the northwest. Just before 10:00 a.m., the destroyer Arashi is spotted in an attempt to re-join the main body of the ships. At 10:22 a.m., the dive bombers began their attack, but VB-6 didn’t experience the Zeroes that the torpedo bombers had faced. The Zeroes flying low in a search for more torpedo bombers, leaving the higher altitudes unprotected. As the aircraft began the attack, the Japanese could only watch as the bombs began to fall. The first three missed, the but fourth bomb smashed through the armed and fueled aircraft on the Kaga, which, in a matter of moments, had rendered the majority of the flight deck and the aircraft useless.
The Akagi was selected as the next target. After a near miss, a bomb exploded in the carrier’s hanger, followed by a bomb strike on the loaded flight deck, which destroyed this carrier as well. Admiral Nagumo transferred his flag to the cruiser Nagara, and continued to watch the battle.
A third group of dive bombers carried out the attack on the carrier Soryu. The Soryu was hit 5 times, with three more near misses. This also managed to set the Soryu on fire, leaving the Hiryu as Japan’s sole operational carrier, with the Shokaku in drydock after the battle of Coral Sea, with the Zuikaku having it air group replenished after the same battle, and with the Soryu, Akagi , and Kaga all burning furiously, the Hiryu somehow managed to escape all attention.
Several of the dive bombers returned to the USS Hornet or to Midway, with the Hiryu undamaged, and still having all of the armed aircraft aboard it. At 10:54 a.m., the Hiryu launched its aircraft. One hour later, the USS Yorktown’s air raid sirens went off when the radar picked up a large group of aircraft. The Wildcats that were responsible for Combat Air Patrol duty left to intercept the enemy aircraft.
Some of the Japanese dive bombers managed to hit the USS Yorktown. The first bomb set a couple of aircraft on fire, and a second one exploded several decks below, drastically reducing the USS Yorktown’s speed to around 6 knots. The third bomb exploded next to the magazine for the USS Yorktown’s 5-inch magazines.
Fifteen minutes later, the aircraft are either destroyed, or are returning to the Hiryu to be re-armed. At 2:10, a second wave of attacking aircraft shows up on the radar. Half an hour later, the Yorktown’s Combat Air Patrol Wildcats engaged the attacking aircraft, and the escorts are firing again, but two minutes into the battle, two torpedoes slipped through the defenses, both hitting in the same area on the port side.
After the attack ended, the Yorktown was again stopped and the list was at 26 degrees when the order to abandon ship was given. While the destroyers were pulling the crew off of the damaged carrier, the USS Enterprise and the USS Hornet were preparing to launch a strike against the Hiryu. The carrier aircraft from the USS Hornet and Enterprise struck at Hiryu, and despite missing against the Hiryu and a battleship, the aircraft teamed up and managed to hit the carrier a total of four times, creating the fires that would claim it and the other three Japanese fleet carriers that had started with the force.
While the Japanese forces are retreating, the United States Naval Forces managed to sink the cruiser Mikuma and damage the Mogami. The United States lost the majority of the starting air support, but otherwise suffered few losses. The USS Yorktown didn’t sink right away. The destroyer USS Hammann and three other destroyers returned a few days later to discover that the Yorktown was still afloat, and some repairs were being carried out while the carrier was being towed to Pearl Harbor when the pair of ships were attacked by I-168. I-168 was ordered by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to sink the carrier, since the Yorktown was the only one of the five carriers that remained afloat that could still be salvaged.
Carriers: Akagi(Sunk), Kaga(Sunk), Hiryu(Sunk), and Soryu(Sunk)
Battleships: Haruna and the Kirishima
Cruisers: Tone and the Chikuma
Destroyers: Nagara, Kazagumo, Yugumo, Makigumo, Akigumo, Isokaze, Urakaze, Hamakaze, Tanikaze, Arashi, Nowaki, Hagakaze, and the Maikaze
Fleet Oilers: Kyokuto Maru, Shinkoku Maru, Toho Maru, Nippin Maru, and the Kokuyo Maru
Carriers: Hosho
Battleships: Yamato, Nagato, and Mutsu
Destroyers: Sendai, Fubuki, Shirayuki, Hatsuyuki, Murakumo, Isonami, Uranami, Shikinami, Ayanami, Amagari, Asagari, Yugari, and Shirakumo
Seaplane Tenders: Chiyoda and Nisshin
Battleships: Kongo and Hiei
Cruisers: Atago, Chokai, Myoko, and Haguro
Destroyers: Murasame, Harusame, Yudachi, Samidare, Asagumo, Minegumo, Natsugumo, and Yura
Carriers: Zuiho
Destroyers: Mikazuki
Fleet Oilers: Genyo Maru, Kenyo Maru, Sata, and Tsurumi
Repair ship-Akashi
Cruisers: Suzuya, Kumano, Mogami(Damaged), and Mikuma(Sunk)
Destroyers: Asashio and Arashio
Fleet Oiler: Nichei Maru
Destroyers: Jintsu, Kuroshio, Oyashio, Hatsukaze, Ukikaze, Amatsukaze,Tokitsukaze, Kasumi, Arare, Kagero, and Shiranuhi
Patrol Boats: 1, 2, and 34
Fleet Oilers: Akebono
12 Transports
Carriers: USS Enterprise and USS Hornet
Cruisers: USS New Orleans, USS Minneapolis, USS Vincennes, USS Northampton, USS Pensacola, and the USS Atlanta
Destroyers: USS Phelps, USS Worden, USS Monaghan, USS Aylwin, USS Balch, USS Connyngham, USS Benham, USS Ellet, and the USS Maury
Cruisers: USS Portland and the USS Astoria
Destroyers: USS Hammann, USS Hughes, USS Morris, USS Anderson, USS Russel, and the USS Gwin
Fleet Oilers: USS Cimarron and USS Platte
Destroyers: USS Dewey and the USS Monsson
Submarines: USS Cachalot, USS Flying Fish, USS Tambor, USS Trout, USS Grayling, USS Nautilus, USS Grouper, USS Dolphin, USS Gato, USS Cuttlefish, USS Gudgeon, USS Grenadier, USS Narwhal, USS Plunger, USS Trigger, USS Tarpon, USS Pike, USS Finback, and the USS Growler
See a list of sources used in the making of this report
