Battle of midway why

Also on the 26th, the Japanese Northern Force, which included two light carriers, sailed from Ominato toward the Aleutians. The next day, Japanese forces began getting underway for Midway. These forces were supported by 17 patrol seaplanes. Spruance , formed around Enterprise and Hornet , departed Pearl Harbor on 28 May to take up a position northeast of Midway. Spruance replaced Halsey for this operation because Halsey was suffering from a painful attack of shingles.

The three American carriers, augmented by cruiser-launched floatplanes, provided aircraft afloat. These were supported by fighters, bombers, and patrol planes at Midway. As part of pre-battle disposition, 25 fleet submarines under the command of Rear Admiral Robert H. English were deployed around Midway. The presence of U. Although the Japanese could not visually confirm the departure of Task Forces 16 and 17 from Pearl Harbor, American preparations to defend Midway were on the verge of discovery anyway.

Japanese COMINT stations not only learned of carrier movements in and out of Pearl Harbor, simply by listening to increased air-ground radio chatter, but traffic analysis of "Urgent" American radio messages coming out of Pearl Harbor suggested at least one Task Force was at sea. On 3 June, in the preliminary moves of the Battle of Midway, American land-based aircraft from Midway located and attacked Japanese transports about miles west of Midway Island. In an event whose importance became clear only later, one Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" carrier fighter was disabled by antiaircraft fire and made an emergency landing on Akutan Island.

The pilot, fooled by the flat ground, flipped the plane over upon landing in a bog and was killed. American intelligence analysts later studied the plane to discover its strengths and weaknesses. Just after midnight on 4 June, Admiral Nimitz, based on patrol plane reports, advised Task Forces 16 and 17 of the course and speed of the Japanese "main body," also noting their distance of miles from Midway.

Shortly after dawn, a patrol plane spotted two Japanese carriers and their escorts, reporting "Many planes heading Midway from degrees distant miles!

Although defending U. Army Air Force "Flying Fortresses" likewise bombed the Japanese carrier force without success, although without losses to themselves. Although nearly wiped out by the defending Japanese fighters and antiaircraft fire, they drew off enemy fighters, leaving the skies open for dive bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown.

American submarine Nautilus SS then fired torpedoes at the burning Kaga but her torpedoes did not explode. At , the one Japanese carrier that escaped destruction that morning, Hiryu , launched "Val" dive bombers that temporarily disabled Yorktown around noon. Three and a half hours later, Hiryu's "Kate" torpedo planes struck a second blow, forcing Yorktown' s abandonment.

In return, "Dauntlesses" from Enterprise mortally damaged Hiryu in a strike around that afternoon. The destruction of the Carrier Strike Force compelled Admiral Yamamoto to abandon his Midway invasion plans, and the Japanese Fleet began to retire westward. During the battle, Japanese destroyers had picked up three U. After interrogation, however, all three Americans were murdered.

Both Akagi and Hiryu , damaged the previous day, were scuttled by Japanese destroyers early on the 5th. The last air attacks of the battle took place on 6 June when dive bombers from Enterprise and Hornet bombed and sank heavy cruiser Mikuma , and damaged destroyers Asashio and Arashio ,as well as the cruiser Mogami.

At Admiral Spruance's expressed orders, issued because of the destruction of three torpedo squadrons on 4 June, "Devastators" from VT-6 that accompanied the strike did not attack because of the threat to them from surface antiaircraft fire. After recovering these planes, TF 16 turned eastward and broke off contact with the enemy. Meanwhile, on the 6th, Japanese submarine I interrupted the U. Screening destroyers depth-charged I but the Japanese submarine escaped destruction. Yorktown , suffering from numerous torpedo hits, finally rolled over and sank at dawn on 7 June.

The tender rescued 35 Japanese survivors who, as members of the engineering department deep in the ship, had been left for dead in the abandonment of the carrier. These were the last survivors of the Battle of Midway to be recovered. Thanks to American signals intelligence, judicious aircraft carrier tactics, and more than a little luck, the U. Navy had inflicted a smashing defeat on the Japanese Navy. Although the performance of the three American carrier air groups would later be considered uneven, their pilots and crew had won the day through courage, determination, and heroic sacrifice.

The Japanese lost the four large carriers that had attacked Pearl Harbor, while the Americans only lost one carrier. More importantly, the Japanese lost over one hundred trained pilots, who could not be replaced.

Recognizing this defeat for what it was, Admiral Nagumo's Chief of Staff later wrote: "I felt bitter… I felt like swearing. The balance of sea power in the Pacific shifted from the Japan to an equity between America and Japan.

Soon after the Battle of Midway the U. Naval History and Heritage Command. Print Friendly. The Sextant. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The 18, U. Marines sent to Army and U. Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island of Okinawa In late January , a combined force of U.

Marine and Army troops launched an amphibious assault on three islets in the Kwajalein Atoll, a ring-shaped coral formation in the Marshall Islands where the Japanese had established their outermost defensive perimeter in World War On September 15, , U. Over the next several weeks, ferocious Japanese resistance inflicted heavy casualties on U. In June , Japan had seized the remote, sparsely inhabited islands of Attu General Douglas Marines stormed the beaches of the strategically significant Japanese island of Saipan, with a goal of gaining a crucial air base from which the U.

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Background Info Vocabulary. Midway was an incredibly strategic location; the Imperial Japanese Navy planned to use it to secure their sphere of influence in the Pacific theater of the war.