The Heroes of Midway
The characters in the story of the Battle of Midway include codebreaking math geniuses and a brilliant admiral who turned the tables on Yamamoto. A streak of good luck helped carry the day, and throughout the battle there were heroic actions and small decisions that had large consequences.
But in the end, credit for the success of the Battle of Midway goes to the men of Midway and the U.S. carrier forces. The outcome was built on their heroism and sacrifice.
Japan’s “Perfect” Plan
The Japanese Naval Command expected to surprise the U.S. fleet and take Midway in a few days. The American fleet, they thought, would be snoozing in Pearl Harbor and take several days to get into defensive position. By then, Midway would be controlled by Japan. No matter how much the U.S. fleet tried to stop it, they would never get Midway back.
Spoiler Alert
What the Japanese command didn’t know was that U.S. intelligence teams had cracked their communication code. They knew when, where, and how the Japanese planned to take Midway. Using this information, Admiral Nimitz set up an ambush, sending his carriers to wait for the Japanese at Point Luck.
Junior officer poses with a 20mm gun on USS Yorktown (CV-5), during the morning of 4 June 1942. This gun is one of five in Yorktown’s after port 20mm battery. Several SBD-3 Dauntless scout bombers are parked on the flight deck alongside these guns. Note the officer’s leather jacket, goggles and barely visible rank bar on his collar. Also note the white rubber eye cup on the gun’s open sight. These eye cups were still present on some of Yorktown’s 20mm guns when she was examined in May 1998. (Credit: National Archives #:80-G-312008).
3 June – Enemy Spotted
Midway seaplane pilots spotted two Japanese minesweepers 470 miles southwest of the atoll on the morning of 3 June. A bit later they reported seeing the “main body” of the Japanese fleet 700 miles to the west. This got everyone’s attention.
B-17s took off from Eastern Island to strike first just after noon. Four hours later, they found their targets and got into position to attack from a high altitude. This strategy kept them out of the range of anti-aircraft fire, but it was hard to score a hit.
U.S. Army Air Force B-17E Flying Fortress bombers take off from the airfield on Eastern Island, Midway Atoll, on 3-4 June 1942. (Credit: U.S. Air Force Photograph #USAF 22635 AC).
Gearing Up
As dawn approached on June 4, the three American carriers were about 300 miles north-northeast of Midway. The four Japanese carriers were 250 miles northwest of the atoll.
Meanwhile, at Midway Naval Air Station, the crews of F4F Wildcats were taking off to fly defense over the atoll. Patrols of PBY seaplanes joined them and went looking for the Japanese fleet.
Soon reports of Japanese movement came in. There were two carriers, four cruisers, and between six and eight destroyers. Fifty planes were heading toward the atoll, flying in formation.
Midway scrambled to prepare for the oncoming attack. At about 0600, the air raid siren sounded. Most of the men and all the working aircraft took to the skies to meet enemy planes or attack enemy carriers.
A Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat fighter, part of Fighting Squadron 41 (VF-41), in early 1942. (Credit: National Archives # 80-G-7026).
Brief Pause
After all the planes were in the air, Midway was suddenly quiet.
Hollywood director Lieutenant Commander John Ford was on the atoll with his film crew to document the battle. He remembered sitting on the power plant on Sand Island. It was, he said, “quiet and serene… there was nothing moving… just a lazy sort of tropical island.”
Watch the film John Ford made during his time on Midway. View Film
First Contact: Battle in the Air
In the first air wave of 4 June, twenty U.S. F2A Buffalos and five F4F Wildcat fighters swept through the tight V-formations of the Japanese bombers. They left two in flames and three trailing smoke.
After this first pass, the faster, nimbler Japanese A6M2 Zeroes were on them. Only two American fighter planes were still flying after this attack.
Japanese bombers began targeting Midway. Anti-aircraft fire from shore and from PT boats circling in the lagoon hit back. This fierce attack lasted about 18 minutes.
When it was over, many of the structures on Sand and Eastern Islands were damaged or destroyed. The Japanese had targeted the power plant on Eastern and the seaplane hangar and oil tanks on Sand Island. Fortunately, the vital airfield on Eastern Island had some craters, but was still usable.
Six Marines had been killed and 20 were wounded.
At 0700, seeing that Midway’s defenses were stronger than expected, Japanese airstrike commander Lieutenant Joichi Tomonaga radioed for a second attack wave.
This diorama by Norman Bel Geddes shows the Japanese carrier air attack on Midway on the morning of 4 June. Two Type 00 carrier fighters are at left. Eastern Island airfield is under attack in lower center. Sand Island in the upper left center is being hit near the seaplane hangar. (Credit: National Archives #80-G-701852)
Damage on Sand Island, 4 June 1942. This view looks roughly southwest along Sand Island’s southern shore. The building in the foreground is the laundry, which was badly damaged by a bomb. Oil tanks burn in the distance. (Credit: National Archives #: 80-G-17057).
Midway Bombers Try Again
Next, Midway’s torpedo-laden Grumman TBF Avengers and B-26 Marauders began an attack on the Japanese carrier Akagi. Japanese Zeroes jumped them and shot them up. None of their torpedoes hit their target.
Marine SB2U dive bombers and Navy TBF Avengers joined the attack on Japanese carriers. Zeroes launched a withering attack, and this group too was unable to make a hit.
The Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi at sea during the summer of 1941, with three Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters parked forward. (Credit: Naval History #: NH 73059).
Fateful Decision
Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo was the commander of the Japanese carriers. He had kept about half the carrier aircraft in reserve in case of an American attack. With no U.S. carriers reported, he decided to send the reserve planes in for a second attack on Midway.
As the Japanese aircraft returning from the initial attack on Midway were landing, Japanese crewmen began re-arming the reserve aircraft with land-fused bombs. About half the planes were ready when a patrol plane reported a U.S. Naval ship to the east.
To meet this new threat, Nagumo ordered the fleet to change ammunition. The crews had to remove the land-fused bombs and swap them out with torpedoes for ship attacks.
Imperial Japanese Navy portrait of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo taken 1941-42, when he was commander of the First Air Fleet. (Credit: Naval History #: 63423).
Incoming US Bombers
By mid-morning, all hands on Nagumo’s carriers were busy with returning planes, frantically refueling, re-loading, and preparing to launch them.
At that moment, the first wave of Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bombers from Hornet and Enterprise began attacking. The low-flying bombers were swarmed by Zeroes, and all 15 were shot down.
The second wave of fifteen planes from the Enterprise attacked 20 minutes later. None of their torpedoes found a target. The good news was that the U.S. air strikes put the Japanese carriers briefly on the defensive. Fearing another attack, they moved out of formation.
Timing is Everything
Following behind the torpedo planes, Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky and Lieutenant Richard Best led 32 SBD Dauntless dive bombers from Enterprise.
At 0920, they reached the spot where they were to intercept the Japanese carriers. There were no ships in sight. Running low on fuel and oxygen, the group looked for a sign.
The sharp-eyed McClusky spotted the long wake from the Japanese destroyer Arashi. It was speeding back to the fleet after shooting at the U.S. submarine Nautilus. The Arashi’s wake pointed directly at the main body of the Japanese fleet.
USS NAUTILUS (SS-168), 1 August 1943. (Credit: National Archives #: 19-N-49950).
Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6) TBD-1 aircraft are prepared for launching on the USS Enterprise (CV-6) at about 0730-0740 hours on 4 June 1942. (Credit: National Archives #: 80-G-41686).
Successful Bombing Raids
By the time the 32 SBDs led by McClusky and Best found them, the Japanese ships were scattered over a large area and couldn’t easily give each other anti-aircraft cover. Moreover, because they’d had to rush to re-arm, many of their fighter planes didn’t have their torpedoes safely stowed in their magazines. The moment finally had come for the U.S. to take advantage of Japanese vulnerability.
With no enemy fighters to get in their way, McClusky and Best’s SBD squadron began their attack runs on the two closest Japanese carriers, Kaga and Akagi. They hit Kaga an estimated six times.
Best led only three planes to attack Akagi, but that was enough. One 1,000-pound bomb penetrated Akagi’s elevator at mid-ship. It exploded on the hangar deck and in the process detonated aircraft, bombs, and fuel.
At almost the same time, the dive bombers from the Yorktown flew in from the southeast. Led by Lieutenant Commander Maxwell Leslie, they attacked the easternmost carrier in the Japanese formation, the Sōryū.
They, too, faced no opposition. They scored perhaps five hits, with their bombs landing on a deck crowded with aircraft prepped for launch. The fuel tanks erupted into flames. Twenty minutes later, Sōryū’s captain gave the order to abandon ship.
Diorama by Norman Bel Geddes depicts the attack by USS Enterprise (CV-6) and USS Yorktown (CV-5) dive bombers on the Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu on the morning of 4 June 1942. The diorama was created during World War II on the basis of the information then available. (Credit: National Archives #: 80-G-701869).
The Japanese aircraft carrier Soryu circles while under a high-level bombing attack by USAAF B-17 bombers from the Midway base on 4 June 1942. (Credit: U.S. Air Force Photograph, #USAF ID 4845).
Return To Home Base
With the mission completed, the airmen’s next task was to return to their carrier base. Many had to make forced landings in the sea due to damage, lack of fuel, or both. Others knew they didn’t have enough fuel to make it back to their carriers. Instead, they flew to Midway.
Midway Atoll is like a speck of sand in the vast expanse of the Pacific. Here again, luck played a role. The burning fuel tanks at Midway signaled its location to the returning dive bombers.
Oil tanks burning on Sand Island, Midway after the Japanese attack on 4 June 1942. (Credit: National Archives #80-G-17056)
Attack on the Yorktown
As the U.S. pilots were returning to Yorktown, they were waved off and told to get out of gun range. The sole surviving Japanese carrier, Hiryū, launched a counterattack.
The Japanese pilots began their dive attacks on Yorktown with eighteen Aichi D3A1 Val dive bombers and an escort of six Zeroes. On the first wave, they damaged the flight deck and the boilers. The Yorktown weathered this first attack, but their returning aircraft were forced to land on the other carriers.
The hastily-repaired Yorktown was setting sail at 1445 when a second, smaller wave of Japanese planes attacked. They struck the Yorktown with two torpedoes.
Scene on the flight deck of USS Yorktown (CV-5) shortly after she was hit by two Japanese aerial torpedoes, 4 June 1942. Men are balancing themselves on the listing deck as they prepare to abandon ship. (Credit: National Archives #: 80-G-14384). Filename: Yorktown listing_NA_80-G-21666
USS Yorktown (CV-5) being abandoned by her crew after she was hit by two Japanese Type 91 aerial torpedoes, 4 June 1942. USS Balch (DD-363) is standing by at right. (Credit: National Archives #: 80-G-17061).
Returning to Finish the Job
With the battle still undecided, Rear Admiral Spruance ordered pilots from the Enterprise and the Hornet to launch a new strike on the last undamaged Japanese carrier, the Hiryū.
The Enterprise dive bombers struck first. They scored four hits that collapsed the forward half of the flight deck, sent a hangar elevator flying into the bridge, and left the ship burning out of control.
The Hornet’s bombers came along behind. Seeing the extent of the damage to Hiryū, they targeted the cruiser Tone instead, but they scored no hits.
Bombing Squadron Six, Lt. Dick Best in center. (Credit: Horan)
End of Day, 4 June
As the sun set, Japanese destroyers used torpedoes to scuttle Sōryū and Kaga. Akagi and Hiryū were still burning, but their crews were hopeful that the fires could be brought under control.
The burning Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryu, shortly after sunrise on 5 June 1942. Hiryu sank a few hours later. (Credit: Naval History #73065)
5 June – Second Attack on Midway
The Japanese submarine I-168, which had been stationed off Midway for several days suddenly surfaced and fired on the atoll with her deck cannon, early in the morning of 5 June.
Sand Island’s 5-inch two-gun Battery C “Charlie,” returned fire. Battery D joined in, along with Batteries E and B. The skirmish was brief. No hits were scored by either side.
Battery C, “Charlie” with center pins that held the 5” gun. (Credit: USFWS 2009-11-09:014).
Pillbox on Sand Island shore. (Credit: USFWS 2009-02-01:085)
Another Bit of Luck
In the pre-dawn hours of 5 June, four Japanese heavy cruisers were sailing to bombard the atoll. Ninety miles west of Midway, they were spooked by a submarine running on the surface. This was the submarine USS Tambor.
As the Japanese cruisers maneuvered to take evasive action, two of them crashed into each other in the dark. The cruiser Mogami turned sharply and ripped a huge gash in Mikuma’s port side near the bridge. Mogami’s bow was bent nearly 90 degrees to port at her first turret.
The USS Tambor reported the ships and the situation to Midway and withdrew.
Diorama by Norman Bel Geddes depicts the attack by SBD dive bombers from USS Hornet (CV-8) and USS Enterprise (CV-6) on the Japanese cruisers Mogami and Mikuma and two destroyers, on 6 June 1942. The two Japanese cruisers had collided the day before. (Credit: National Archives #80-G-701897).
Midway Waits
Back on Midway, repairs and preparations had been going on all night. With structures and fuel lines damaged, the men had to pump nearly 45,000 gallons of gasoline by hand from 55-gallon drums. Tensions ran high. They didn’t know when the Japanese would attack again or when the landing force would arrive.
At dawn, 10 PBY seaplanes took off to begin the day’s patrols. They were followed by the 10 remaining B-17s, which were ordered to find and attack the ships spotted by Tambor.
The PBY crews spotted the Mogami and Mikuma at 0630 about 125 miles west of Midway and reported in. Six SBD Dauntlesses and six SB2U Vindicators took off immediately from Midway to attack.
They arrived at about 0800, but only scored one near miss and lost one Vindicator to anti-aircraft fire. Midway’s B-17s found the two damaged cruisers, but they too scored no hits.
Damaged and partially disassembled Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter on Sand Island, Midway. This view looks roughly southwest. The heavily damaged seaplane hangar is in the left background. (Credit: National Archives #80-G-11636).
Japan Changes Strategy
By dawn on 5 June, it was clear that the fires on the Akagi and Hiryū could not be put out. The crippled ships were perilously vulnerable to daylight air attacks, so Nagumo gave the order to scuttle them both. Akagi sank at 0520 and Hiryū at 0912, torpedoed by their own escort destroyers.
By this time, the Japanese operation was hamstrung by the loss of all four carriers. Nagumo ordered the cruisers to withdraw. The ships and troop transports turned west towards Japan.
At this point, Rear Admiral Spruance wasn’t sure how many viable Japanese carriers were left. He ordered Enterprise and Hornet closer to Midway. He also kept his bombers in reserve in case the Japanese launched another attack over the course of the morning.
By late morning, however, air patrols reported that the Japanese Navy was retreating.
Admiral Raymond Spruance; Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher; Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, and Vice Admiral Willis Lee, Jr. (Credit: Naval History #49705).
Dawn on 6 June – The Yorktown
The Yorktown was still afloat at dawn on 6 June, with her crew transferred to escort destroyers. Crews went aboard to try to save the carrier. The USS Hamman came alongside to help.
Some crews worked to put out remaining fires, repair the jammed rudder, and correct the list by counterflooding the ship. Other crews manned anti-aircraft machine gun positions and jettisoned heavy equipment, including the 5-inch guns and the aircraft remaining in the hangar.
One sailor wrote of his experience of this day. “Yorktown was dark and dead and silent. Darkness isn’t black enough for the void that was in her. The silence was overwhelming. You got an eerie, unearthly, dream-like feeling when you walked her decks and went below. I can’t quite put into words the lonesome, dead feeling that was in her…”
Firefighters at work on board USS Yorktown (CV-5), after the ship was hit by three Japanese bombs shortly after noon on 4 June 1942. This view was probably taken in the hangar as crewmen were extinguishing fires set by a bomb that detonated on the flight deck just aft of the midships elevator. (Credit: National Archives #: 80-G-11642).
The Final Air Strike
At dawn on 6 June, the Hornet and Enterprise were steaming about 340 miles northwest of Midway, searching for the retreating Japanese fleet. Sure enough, morning patrol aircraft soon spotted the damaged heavy cruisers Mogami and Mikuma, along with their destroyer escort of Asashio and Arashio.
At about 0800, Hornet launched 25 SBD dive bombers to attack with an escort of eight Wildcat fighters. They scored two hits on Mogami and one on Asashio. Enterprise dive bombers attacked next, scoring two more hits on the Mogami and five hits on the Mikuma. The torpedo warheads in Mikuma’s storage exploded.
Another wave of dive bombers from Hornet struck at about 1445, scoring one more hit on Mogami and damaging the two destroyers with near misses.
After recovering some of Mikuma’s survivors, the rest of the Japanese ships hurried west and out of danger. They left Mikuma for lost. The crippled cruiser sank about two hours later.
Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters flying in tactical formation of four-plane divisions, comprised of two-plane sections, circa mid-1943. (Credit: Naval History NH 97484).
Last Carrier to Go Down
Early on 6 June, the last of the Japanese cruiser-based seaplanes directed submarine I-168 to the location of the Yorktown. By that time, salvage operations were well underway on the Yorktown.
Having spotted the Yorktown at dawn, I-168 sub reached the carrier’s destroyer screen by early afternoon. Just after 1330, the sub fired four torpedoes at Yorktown from about 1,200 yards. One of the torpedoes missed, but two hit Yorktown and one hit Hammann, which was standing alongside her.
Hammann was broken in two. She also suffered massive underwater explosions—probably depth charges set to explode at a pre-set depth as she sank.
At first, Yorktown seemed to weather the attack, but over the next few hours she slowly listed even further. She sank at 0500 the next day. The remaining U.S. escort ships took on survivors, while others hunted for I-168. But, the submarine slipped away unscathed.
Diorama by Norman Bel Geddes depicts USS Hammann (DD-412) alongside USS Yorktown (CV-5) assisting her salvage team, immediately before both ships were torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-168, on 6 June 1942. (Credit: National Archives #80-G-701899).
USS Hammann (DD-412) sinking with stern high, after being torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-168 in the afternoon of 6 June 1942. Photographed from the starboard forecastle deck of USS Yorktown (CV-5) by Photographer 2nd Class William G. Roy. (Credit: National Archives #80-G-32320 ).
Turning Point
The Battle of Midway was a major turning point in World War II. The Imperial Japanese Navy lost two thirds of its aircraft carriers and many of the crews and officers aboard them. Japan remained a threat, but after losing Midway, their strategy turned to defense.
The losses at Midway were considerable and the sinking of USS Yorktown was a major blow to the U.S. Navy. The loss spurred U.S. wartime production of new ships, airplanes, and equipment that soon outpaced that of the Japanese.
World War II continued for several more years with hard-fought battles. But, thanks to the success at the Battle of Midway, the U.S. won back the Pacific and the balance of power had shifted.