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Minnesota Morning Tribune, June 5, 1942

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Minnesota Morning Tribune, June 5, 1942

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Dauntless from Hornet over burning Mikume at Midway, 1942/06/06 from ILN

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Pacific 1942 from Australia to Aleutians Islands - bg

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Japan perimeter from Newsweek, 1942/08/17

Midway - June 4

• Japan naval code JN25 broken since April
• naval intelligence officer "Hypo" (Commander Joe Rochefort)
• "AH"= Midway - test message that needed fresh water decoded May 12
• Hypo had told Nimitz about Japan force for Coral Sea
• again told Nimitz about date of Japan fleet attack on Midway - did not tell King
• May 14 - Nimitz put fleet on alert
• TF16 under Ray Spruance( Halsey itched) - Enterprise, Hornet from Doolittle raid
• TF17 under Jack Fletcher - Yorktown repaired from Coral Sea May 27-30
• Yamamoto - 185 ships (8 carriers, 10 battleships)
• mistake - divided force - kept back battleships instead of using them first
• Yamaguchi most experienced Japan carrier commander, critical of Yamamoto's plan
• sent Aleutian force to take Attu, Kiska June 9-10
• Nagumo's 4 carriers attacked Midway June 4 with all planes but was mistake - Nagumo did not know US carriers were nearby
• Spruance located Nagumo 200 miles west - launched all planes 7:00 am, including Torpedo 8 squadron that was shot down - George Gay watched battle from ocean
• U.S. planes from Midway attacked but all fail
• Nagumo located U.S. fleet 7:40 am, but waited to recover planes
• 10:24 - only 5 minutes before Nagumo ready, U.S. planes began attack
• in 4 min., sank 3 carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu)
• Wade McCluskey with 37 Dauntless planes from Enterprise made some lucky turns to find Japan fleet
• also bombers from Yorktown found the Japan fleet, but Yorktown damaged by Japan planes in counterstrike and later sank
• 5:00 pm - bombers hit 4th carrier Hiryu and Yamaguchi went down tied to the bridge
• U.S. lost 150 planes & 307 men
• Japan lost 322 planes & 3500 men, esp. pilots
• Spruance reversed course - too cautious - feared night attack - allowed Yamamoto to escape
• Midway from John Crossen explains the significance of the battle
• Battle of Midway from Naval Historical Center
• Return to Midway from National Geographic
• Midway tactical maps of June 3 - big - and June 4 - big

After Midway:

• Japan emphasized defense, especially the Southwest Pacific, fortified Rabaul and airfield on Guadalcanal
• King ordered carriers to operate singly, not jointly like Nagumo's
• ABDA and ANZAC gone - Pacific war to be fought by US Navy
• According to John Keegan, Midway "transformed the climate of war in the Pacific" - shift to the offensive, new axis of attack, victories at Guadalcanal, Aleutians, Buna and Gona in Papua, Op. Cartwheel against Rabaul with Kenney's low-level bombers, Halsey up the Solomons to Bougainville, "there had never been a campaign such as Nimitz now attempted" for the atolls in the central Pacific from Tarawa to Saipan.

July 2 - JCS approved Pacific strategy - dual army/navy attack

1. Nimitz to attack Guadalcanal
2. MacArthur to attack New Guinea
3. both to attack Rabaul

Next - Guadalcanal

Sources:

• Dallek, Robert. Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979, 1995. 671 p.
• Keegan, John. The Second World War. London: Hutchinson, 1989.

Links:

• WWII Conferences
  
• Pacific Map - big