The Brits have a small island and a thousand year navy. They’ve got Camperdown and the Nile and Trafalgar and Jutland.
Us? We’ve got Midway.
Sixty-four years ago today the Japanese Empire was on the march across the Pacific. Seemingly unstoppable, they’d thumped every power they’d come in contact with, again and again: the British at “fortress” Singapore, the US at Hawaii, the Java Sea and the Philippines, the Dutch in their Asian possessions, and the Chinese practically everywhere else. They rapidly consolidated their interior lines, and were hard a work stabilizing the peripheries of the “Greater Southeast Asia Co-prosperity Sphere.” Australia was eyed menacingly, as was a small island, half-way between the Japanese homelands and the main US carrier base at Pearl Harbor, where the remnants of the old battleship Navy still bubbled at the bottom of the harbor.
It is easy now, through the retrospective lens of more than a half century, to look at the successful conclusion of the war the Pacific as inevitable. Nothing could have been further from the truth for those who were engaged in it, however. Rear Admiral Ray Spruance’s sailors knew they were in a fight for their country’s survival in the theoretical sense, but also for their very lives in the here and now. They also knew that, apart from the bloody draw that was the recent battle of Coral Sea, they had been beaten in every clash of arms theretofore.
The US had critical intelligence, provided by cryptologic code-breakers - they knew where the Japanese fleet would attempt their next assault. They also knew that they would be outnumbered 3 to 1 in in a battle that they could literally not afford to lose. Fortunately, the Japanese fleet commander neutralized much of his own advantages in strength by dispersal of his forces in order to avoid detection, and by a sideshow assault on the Aleutian Islands far to the north. Unfortunately, Japanese carrier operations were in a much higher state of operational art then their US adversaries. So very much would depend upon luck.
The first defenders of the Japanese onslaught were the island’s army and Marine defenders. Obsolete Brewster Buffalos struggled in to the air against their much nimbler adversaries, while the anti-aircraft artillery mauled the attacking waves of naval bombers. Ten counter-attacking land based bombers managed to roil the waters around the Japanese attack force, without doing much in the way of material damage and losing seven of their own number in the attempt. The strike aircraft launched from a miraculously salvaged USS Yorktown - she’d been cruelly mauled at Coral Sea, nearly sinking - as well as those launched from the decks of Enterprise and Hornet struggled to join forces and find the foe. Abandoning the effort to join, they succeeded at finding the enemy, launching at first ineffective and uncoordinated attacks whose only real effects were to keep the Japanese flight decks in a state of indecision while pulling their combat air patrols out of position. The first two torpedo bomber attacks were shattered with one of the two attacking squadrons entirely obliterated and the other nearly so - VT-8 lost all fifteen of its TBF Avenger TBD Devastator (ed.: thanks, Paul) aircraft and all but one of its aviators - with no hits scored.
A long series of increasingly improbable but strategically favorable events culminated with two squadrons of dive bombers stumbling into the fight from opposite directions high overhead the Japanese carrier force just as the last torpedo squadron started its low altitude attack. Fuel hoses for recovering fighter CAPs littered the Japanese flight decks, and bombs for sequential attacks on Midway Island were stacked in her hangar bay as the Dauntless divebombers began their attack runs. In minutes, three of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto’s four carriers, the Kaga, Soryu and Akagi were ablaze and out of the fight, soon to be sunk or scuttled and leaving only his fourth deck, Hiryu to counterattack. This she did, raking Yorktown yet again before being herself found and sunk by patrol aircraft later in the afternoon. At day’s end, Yamamoto had lost all four of his carriers in the fight, all them veterans of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. The battered Yorktown would later succumb to a submarine’s torpedo attack during salvage operations.
The battle was over in a morning, with stragglers picked off over the course of the next few days. The war itself would not be over for three long years, and many more men would have to fight and die along the way. But from that point forward, the US Navy, hard pressed in a defensive fight since December, seized the strategic initiative.
 
 
 
Last night the Hobbit and I attended an event in commemoration of the battle of Midway aboard the USS Midway, now a museum ship in San Diego harbor. CNO was there, and gave a lovely speech. Survivors of the battle walked the deck and talked with us. One of them had been an ensign gun director on an escort cruiser during the battle, and had retired many years later as an admiral. I spoke with him briefly, amost reverentially - there was living history, standing before me. He looked closely at the name tag on my whites, asked me where I was from, asked me what my father’s name had been.
“I’m from Virginia, sir. And I share my father’s name,” I replied.
“I knew your father in the service,” he said, asking, “Is he still alive?”
“No sir, he died 24 years ago last month.”
“Ah. Well, he was a good man,” the grizzled veteran concluded.
Yes, I thought. He was. You all were.
17 responses so far ↓
1
Bryan Strawser
// Jun 4, 2006 at 10:56 am
My great uncle was there on my father’s side - he survived the attack on Pearl and then served throughout the Pacific in the Navy. His brother was a Marine that fought throughout the pacific as well. Their other brother (my grandfather) served in Europe in the Army. Such a fascinating generation.
What did your father do? I don’t think I’ve seen you write of him.
Bryan
2
CPT J
// Jun 4, 2006 at 11:14 am
“….they watched the friends of their youth cartwheeling into the ocean. And the slow, slow falling of the spray.”
Not a direct quote, but close enough. One of those phrases that stays with the heart.
from THE BIG E: The Story of the USS ENTERPRISE, by Edward P. Stafford
3
RPL
// Jun 4, 2006 at 12:54 pm
sniffle (wipes away a tear).
4
Curt
// Jun 4, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Living history…I hope we capture enough of those type of first person stories before they fade away.
I’m sure you are blessed by the accolade from the Admiral.
5
Paul Powondra
// Jun 4, 2006 at 3:49 pm
Allow me just one small nit to pick. VT-8 was using the old TBD Devastator, as were all carrier-based torpedo squadrons. The only TBFs
in the battle were six based out of Midway, of which only one returned. God bless the sacrifice of all those gallant aviators, particularly the torpedo squadrons.
I never tire learning about the Battle of Midway.
6
badbob
// Jun 4, 2006 at 5:44 pm
The US Navy’s finest hours and Naval Aviation’s entrance to the annals of military history.
Whenever I think about this battle I always think about Ensign George Gay, survivor of VT-8. Shot down and in a raft, he was an eyewitness up close and personal.
Whole squadrons didn’t come back….
Midway Island? I’ve been there- a mere speck.
B2
7
Chris Parkes
// Jun 4, 2006 at 6:53 pm
We will be forever thankful for their sacrifice. I have no illusions as to what membership in the ‘Greater Southeast Asia Co-prosperity Sphere’ would have meant for us here in Oz.
8
GEO6
// Jun 4, 2006 at 7:28 pm
Anybody out there read “Shattered Sword”? Best read I have ever encountered on Midway from the strategic, operational and tactical perspective. Does a thorough analysis of the Japanese side. Strongly recommended for you pros out there. Could be used as a reference text in any MEL 4 school house. Hat tip to my best bud Bill.
9
Chris Donald
// Jun 5, 2006 at 1:24 am
as another Aussie I second Chris Parkes’ statement
10
Kris, in New England
// Jun 5, 2006 at 4:11 am
Thank you Lex, for educating me on this pivotal battle. Of course I’d heard of it but, shameful as it is, it was never covered in all my school years (admittedly they WERE a long time ago, but I’d remember this if it had been taught). My dad was a big WWII history buff, but he kept what he read and learned to himself. His generation hold the stories and the history in their hearts.
11
Steeljaw Scribe
// Jun 5, 2006 at 5:20 am
GEO6:
Allow me to add a strong concurrence — Shattered Sword is excellent reading from a number of perspectives. From an naval aviation perspective, no other work has provided the insight into IJN combined fleet operations and carrier air ops. From a planner’s perspective, it is an excllent work in terms of lessons learned in the planning/gaming stages for a looming conflict. I’m keeping it on my shelf of permanent reference works.
- SJS
12
lex
// Jun 5, 2006 at 3:17 pm
On of my favorite things about Oz is that you guys never forget a good deed. Even when you’ve already paid it back, with interest.
Good on yez.
13
Mike Tyukanov
// Jun 5, 2006 at 7:38 pm
Have just finished rereading War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk. Naturally, as Midway was the pivotal point of the war in Pacific, it is the pivotal point of the book, too, and with the death of one of the novel’s main characters and the complete list of three torpedo bomber squadrons it shows both the victory and the dear price paid for it.
While historical details may be a bit outdated (although, for a fiction, it is extremely well-researched), it’s the human side that is so compelling that it keeps me rereading more and more this 2000-page novel.
“It was a perfect coordinated attack. It was timed almost to the second. It was freak accident.” is a solid aphoristical description of the combination of bad and good luck that led to the destruction of three Japanese carriers. But what matters is:
“What was not luck, but the soul of the United States of America in action, was this willingness of the torpedo plane squadrons to go in against hopeless odds. That was the extra ounce of martial weight that in a few decisive minutes tipped the balance of history.”
14
Shadow
// Jun 6, 2006 at 6:35 am
Oddball side note to George Gay, for many years he had a car dealership (Chrysler, I think) between Houston and Galveston.
At one point I had a down the street neighbor who had flown one of the dive bombers at Midway, his son ended up in the Marines.
15
lex
// Jun 6, 2006 at 7:40 am
Great inputs, Mike. As I was telling an email correspondent last night, it’s a source of continual amazement to me the sacrifices people of that generation walked willingly into certain death, like the Marines at Tarawa, or like the aviators of VT-8.
They grew up hard, survivors or the hard-time depression. One of out three US draftees were rejected by medical boards for being undernourished. I don’t know that they really expected life to be fair.
16
Subsunk
// Jun 6, 2006 at 3:27 pm
Dad always remembered his buddies from Burma. To this day, the few who are still alive send notes to Mom telling us how much they miss and admired my father, a First Sergeant in the Mars Task Force. “Crossed two mountain ranges and a river the Japanese thought white men couldn’t cross”, he always used to say.
I miss my Pop. I have yet to meet a WWII vet who can’t reduce me to tears in a heartbeat. And Death was their constant companion.
Subsunk
17
Albany Rifles
// Jun 13, 2006 at 9:07 am
Lex
I had a similar experience in June 1984. At the time I was an infantry 1st Lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Division (Forward) in Germany and we were in Normandy to take part in the 40th Anniversary D Day celebration. As it turned out, the Army sent a contingent of the 82d ABN over but did not send anyone from the 101st ABN. Instead, we were asked to represent them in Carentan, the site of their earliest major battle.
On 5 June 84 I had my honor platoon in the town rehearsing for the next day?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s parade. As you can imagine, the town was swarming with old GIs. When we finished I was marching the platoon towards the square when suddenly someone was walking beside me?¢‚Ǩ¬¶.he was about 5?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢6?¢‚Ǩ¬ù, 135 lbs but I could tell he was whipsaw tough. He looked me in the eye as if to ask permission and he then took over the platoon. I stepped aside and gave him the platoon. My soldiers, just average infantry grunts, not the Old Guard, snapped to when they heard this other voice start calling commands and calling cadence. For fifteen minuets he marched them all around the square.
When he was done, he called them to a halt and did a perfect about face and returned the platoon back to me. There was not a dry eye in the platoon. Found out afterwards e had been a platoon sergeant in B/1/506 Parachute Infantry Regiment (one of the Toccoa Men, if you remember Band of Brothers). He said it was the first time he had marched since he had been mustered out in late 1945. He said ?¢‚Ǩ?ìThanks, Looie!?¢‚Ǩ¬ù It was a real honor to have that WW II title bestowed upon me.
For the next three days my life was one continuous walk amongst the heroes of the Greatest Generation. And while I was lucky to stand at Pointe Du Hoc while President Reagan spoke, I consider that 15 minutes in that town square as the highlight of my 3 years in Europe.
As for family, my uncle was a Silver Eagle flying an FM-2 off of the Kalinin Bay and my dad had just left Great Lakes Naval Training Center as a Fireman 2d Class as a 17 year old and was off to join the fleet and serve aboard the USS Cabot?¢‚Ǩ¬¶.wheer he was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for his action when his ship was hit a by a kamikaze?¢‚Ǩ¬¶..on his 18th birthday. Sadly, we lost Dad 31 DEC 2000 and my uncle last Memorial Day.
Sorry to go on for so long?¢‚Ǩ¬¶..but I thought you folks could appreciate this.
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