Marine Aviators at the Battle of Midway

[Draggingtree]

June2, 2012

Marine Aviators at the Battle of Midway

 

By Mike Johnson

Early June, 1942

The Japanese Empire was at the height of its expansion. One last, insignificant possession of the United States remained to be cleared from the western Pacific Ocean. A mighty Japanese fleet was steaming to do battle and capture Midway. If things went truly well, the Japanese would lure the American fleet into a decisive naval engagement. There was little doubt, at least in Tokyo, that the numerically superior, better-equipped, and much more experienced Japanese fleet would be triumphant.

The Japanese fleet included four of the aircraft carriers that had performed so ably at Pearl Harbor: the Akagi, the Hiryu, the Kaga, and the Soryu. These were accompanied by two huge battleships: the Haruna and the Kirishima. They proceeded as an integrated battle group, their speed constrained by the top speed of the battleships. The time advantage conceded to the Americans would prove costly.

The Japanese had planned on all six carriers from the Pearl Harbor raid, but Shokaku had been badly damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea in early May. Zuikaku, while not damaged herself, had lost most of her planes and pilots and been forced to return to Japan for refitting. The United States lost the carrier USS Lexington. The Japanese were forced to turn back from their planned invasion of Port Moresby, so the Battle of the Coral Sea was a strategic victory for the Americans. Material loses on both sides, while certainly not trivial, were not decisive.

The Japanese were seeking a decisive victory at Midway.

So were the Americans.

The U.S. forces were deployed in two Task Forces

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/06/marine_aviators_at_the_battle_of_midway.html#ixzz1wfIWqLNr

[Valin]

@Draggingtree

 

 

Playlist 1-8

[Valin]

@Draggingtree

 

FYI Alert

You might be interested in this

Refighting the Pacific War: An Alternative History of World War II

 

U.S. Naval Institute

Contributors to this alternative WWII history include the noted military historians William Bartsch, John Lundstrom, Douglas Smith, Barrett Tillman, and H. P. Willmott, among others. In a roundtable discussion format, more than thirty veterans and historians address "what if" questions about the war in the Pacific. Their differing views on possible outcomes of various campaigns and the implications of those changes on the course of history are certain to provoke debate. All major naval campaigns and key battles are discussed along with such questions as whether Japan could have inflicted even greater damage at Pearl Harbor, how Admiral Yamamoto might have won at Midway, and the impact of that victory on the direction of the war. The book also explores whether the war was inevitable and whether the conflict could have ended without the use of the atomic bomb. Vice Admiral Yoji Koda, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (Ret.), provides the book's introduction.

[Draggingtree]

@Draggingtree

 

FYI Alert

You might be interested in this

Refighting the Pacific War: An Alternative History of World War II

 

U.S. Naval Institute

Contributors to this alternative WWII history include the noted military historians William Bartsch, John Lundstrom, Douglas Smith, Barrett Tillman, and H. P. Willmott, among others. In a roundtable discussion format, more than thirty veterans and historians address "what if" questions about the war in the Pacific. Their differing views on possible outcomes of various campaigns and the implications of those changes on the course of history are certain to provoke debate. All major naval campaigns and key battles are discussed along with such questions as whether Japan could have inflicted even greater damage at Pearl Harbor, how Admiral Yamamoto might have won at Midway, and the impact of that victory on the direction of the war. The book also explores whether the war was inevitable and whether the conflict could have ended without the use of the atomic bomb. Vice Admiral Yoji Koda, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (Ret.), provides the book's introduction.

I will take a look at this thanks

[Valin]

@Draggingtree

 

Pritzker Military Library

 

Really good site

[Valin]

A Good Summation Of Midway and What It Meant

 

Plus Some Nice Photos