Transcription
[Music] it was 9:00 a.m. on June 4th, 1942, as the final Japanese planes from the Midway strike returned to their carriers. Aboard the fleet, Admiral Nagumo faced mounting chaos. Orders to rearm for a second strike on Midway collided with alarming reports of US carriers nearby. As Nagumo's fleet altered course to the Northeast, a new threat emerged in the distance: a squadron of Devastators from Hornet appeared. This was the first of many, as the battle was only [Music] beginning.
It is June 4th, 1942, at Midway. The waiting was over. The time for uncertainty had passed. The night before, the Japanese bombing raid against Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians made it clear a full-blown offensive was on its way. And the early morning bombing raid against Midway, destroying not just the power station and hangar but also leading to the loss of at least 10 American fighter aircraft, meant everyone was on edge. The Midway garrison realized that within hours, they would likely face another devastating air assault, which would precede a Japanese amphibious invasion. Midway aircraft had already launched several waves of strikes against Nagumo's carriers in retaliation. However, none of the strikes had inflicted serious damage. In fact, the American losses were disproportionately high, losing another 19 aircraft.
Meanwhile, American task forces 16 and 17, under Admirals Fletcher and Spruance, positioned themselves 200 miles north of Midway. At 5:34 a.m., a reconnaissance plane from Midway Island struck gold. It detected Nagumo's fleet. The pilot reported it to Rear Admiral Spruance. Calmly assessing the situation, Spruance plotted the fleet's position, noting they were within the range of his torpedo planes. With Nagumo's carriers recovering their Midway strike group, their vulnerability was at its peak, a moment Spruance was determined to exploit. As Spruance's pilots took to the skies, he learned a Japanese scout plane had sighted his carriers. A race for the first strike was now underway. At 7:45 a.m., Spruance gave the order for Enterprise and Hornet's aircraft to head toward the enemy immediately, foregoing a coordinated attack. His gamble was clear: striking first would be more valuable than striking as one overwhelming force. Aircraft were launched piecemeal, and by 7:50, 67 dive bombers, 29 torpedo bombers, and 20 Wildcats had taken off. 18 fighters remained on combat air patrol over Task Force 16.
30 minutes later, 25 miles behind Spruance, Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher aboard the Yorktown launched his aircraft: 17 bombers, 12 torpedo planes, and six fighters. The torpedo pilots, flying outdated and underpowered aircraft, knew the odds were stacked against them. Some of Hornet's aircraft were the first to reach their anticipated interception point, only to find an empty expanse of ocean. Nagumo had ordered the carrier force to the Northeast shortly before. War Commander Stan Hope Ring led his planes towards Midway, expecting to find the enemy fleet, but they came up empty. The entire flight failed to make contact with the Japanese forces, and some planes were forced to land at Midway to refuel. It was a missed opportunity for the Japanese.
Just past 9:00 a.m., the last Japanese plane from the Midway strike returned to its carrier, signaling the end of the day's initial assault. Aboard, chaos reigned after Nagumo had ordered the time-intensive swapping of torpedoes and bombs for a second strike against Midway before learning of the US carrier's presence. He issued orders for his fleet to change course to the Northeast, but a squadron from the Hornet was able to find him nonetheless.
The first attack occurred at 9:25. 15 obsolete Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers from Hornet attacked. This wave, commanded by Commander John Waldron, met with harrowing resistance. The squadron faced a nearly impossible task as they approached the Japanese carriers in a low-altitude attack. When Waldron sighted three enemy carriers, he gave the signal to descend. His target was the Soryu, the nearest of Nagumo's ships. For the next 20 minutes, the skies erupted in chaos. His 15 planes flew in formation. 30 Japanese Zero fighters, faster and more agile, descended like a swarm, while anti-aircraft fire churned the sea below. As the squadron closed the distance, Waldron's plane was hit, igniting its fuel tank. Moments later, his aircraft spiraled into the ocean. He was not the only one. The carnage continued as one by one, the Devastators fell. Among them, Ensign George Gay flew through the hail storm of bullets. Even as his radioman was struck and his own arm wounded, he managed to release his torpedo at close range, pulling his damaged plane upward to narrowly clear the enemy carrier. He was one of the few pilots who had been able to actually release his torpedoes. A moment later, four Zeros overwhelmed Gay's Devastator, sending it plunging into the sea. Gay, bleeding and battered, managed to escape the wreckage, grasping a seat cushion for cover. He floated amidst the enemy fleet. Torpedo Squadron 8, Waldron's group, lost every single aircraft, with only Ensign George Gay surviving, floating in the Pacific amidst the wreckage of his comrades. Despite their lack of success, the torpedo bombers served an unintended but critical purpose: they drew Japanese fighters away from altitude, leaving the skies open for the incoming dive bombers. The squadron disrupted the Japanese formation, forcing ships to execute evasive maneuvers. As the final plane of Waldron's squadron was shot down, more planes arrived. Commander Eugene Lindsay led 14 Enterprise Devastators in another torpedo attack at 9:30. The sky buzzed with Zeros, their numbers overwhelming the Americans. As the assault continued, the pilots prepared for the worst, hoping to inflict as much damage as possible before the end. Lindsay's group met a fate similar to Waldron's, with 10 planes destroyed and no hits recorded. The remaining four torpedo bombers survived, possibly due to the Japanese pilots' distraction as they responded to new reports of incoming American aircraft. Flight decks were now strewn with bombs, torpedoes, and refueling hoses, volatile hazards that would magnify the consequences of a well-placed American strike.
At 10:00 a.m., Lieutenant Commander Lance E. Massey led 12 Devastators from Yorktown into the fray. Their target was now in sight: the Japanese carriers. With Zeros launching a brutal assault on the six Wildcats escorting them, a fierce dogfight ensued, but the focus remained on the torpedo bombers. Massey's intended target remains a point of contention among historians, though it is most likely the Hiryu, which presented the most favorable angle for an attack. Five torpedoes were launched at the carrier from starboard, but none found their mark. Massey lost 10 planes, further depleting the already thinned ranks.
While first strikes were ongoing, Commander McClusky, leading the Enterprise Air Group, flew toward the expected location of the Japanese carriers. But like Ring, he found no trace of the enemy. With fuel running low, McClusky made the decision to press on for another 35 miles rather than turn back. At 9:35, he altered course, heading north. It was not until 20 minutes later, at 9:55, that he spotted the wake of a Japanese destroyer, the Arashi, which had just completed a depth charge attack on the American submarine USS Nautilus. Realizing the destroyer was likely hurrying to catch up with Nagumo's fleet, McClusky decided to follow it. At 10:02, McClusky's patience was rewarded. He finally spotted the Japanese carriers, 35 miles to the Northeast. Within moments, Lieutenant Commander Maxwell F. Leslie, leading Yorktown's Bombing 3, also made visual contact. The two groups of American bombers soon found themselves in the same airspace. In the distance, they could see the black puffs of anti-aircraft fire and the burning wrecks of Waldron and Lindsay's torpedo bombers spiraling toward the ocean, the last remnants of the doomed initial strike.
By 10:30, 41 American torpedo planes had launched attacks on Nagumo's fleet. Only six had survived. Of the 81 men who had taken to the air that morning, 69 were dead, either in combat or as a result of the unforgiving ocean. The American attack waves, uncoordinated as they were, created chaos among Nagumo's fleet. Each successive strike disrupted the rearming process and forced evasive maneuvers, buying crucial time for the high-altitude dive bombers to position themselves undetected. The Zeros still airborne were badly engaged and running dangerously low on fuel and ammunition. Their pursuit of the slow-moving Devastators had dragged them to the wave tops, and they could not regain the necessary altitude to defend against the incoming American dive bombers. With his carriers' decks cluttered with armed and fueled aircraft, Admiral Nagumo was defenseless against a high-altitude assault.
As Massey's attack came to an end, McClusky and Leslie sprang into action. 37 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers from Enterprise and 17 from Yorktown began their dives toward the Kaga. Originally, the plan was to split the squadrons and hit both Kaga and Akagi simultaneously, but a communication error led to all the bombers focusing on the same target. Realizing the mistake, three Dauntlesses aborted their dives, redirecting them toward the Akagi. At the same time, Leslie's Yorktown dive bombers approached from the Northeast, setting their sights on the Soryu.
On the Akagi, the flight deck buzzed with activity as aircraft were prepared for a strike against the American carriers. Planes sat armed, fueled, and ready to launch. A white flag signaled the first Zero fighter to take off, its engine roaring as it sped down the deck. But before the launch could continue, the bombers came in sight. Crew members looked up to see three Dauntless dive bombers plunging toward the ship, as the bright sky only showed their silhouettes. The calm, methodical preparations erupted into chaos. Bombs fell from the sky. The first bomb missed, narrowly striking the water beside the ship and drenching the bridge with a spray of seawater. The second, dropped by Lieutenant Richard Best, slammed directly into the amidships elevator. It punched through to the hangar deck, where unsecured munitions and fuel erupted into devastating explosions, sending plumes of flame and smoke into the air. A third bomb tore into the edge of the flight deck on the port side, feeding the growing inferno. Explosions engulfed the carrier, turning it into an inferno within moments.
Nearby, McClusky's dive bombers descended upon the Kaga, their steep dives wreaking havoc. Lieutenant Earl Gallaher's 1,000lb bomb slammed into Kaga's starboard flight deck, igniting aircraft and fuel and turning the area into an inferno. Two additional bombs struck near the forward elevator, causing a gasoline truck to explode in a fireball that engulfed the bridge, killing all personnel within. A fourth bomb hit amidships on the port side, spreading destruction to every corner of the ship. Hit by four bombs, including one that obliterated its bridge, the Kaga was overwhelmed by flames, its crew trapped in a fiery death trap.
While McClusky's dive bombers obliterated the Akagi and Kaga, Lieutenant Commander Maxwell F. Leslie led his Yorktown squadron against the Soryu. Of the 17 planes Leslie led into the attack, only 13 carried live bombs due to malfunctioning arming switches. Nevertheless, their assault was devastating. Leslie strafed the carrier's bridge with machine gun fire until his guns jammed. Lieutenant Paul "Lefty" Holmberg dropped a bomb from under 3,000 feet. It struck the hangar deck amidships, triggering a massive explosion that flung the forward elevator into the bridge. Another bomb tore through the flight deck, destroying a Zero in the act of taking off, while a third smashed into the aft elevator. Fires quickly engulfed the Soryu, consuming her from bow to stern. Explosions cascaded across the Soryu's flight deck, igniting fuel and munitions. Flames roared through the ship, and within 20 minutes, the crew began abandoning the sinking vessel. Within a few minutes, the once mighty carriers were transformed into burning hulks. Three of Japan's frontline carriers, Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu, were fatally crippled. Nagumo's strike force was effectively neutralized.
As the dive bombers pulled away and the cacophony ceased, sailors aboard the Japanese vessels realized the bombers had already left their range. Akagi's shattered deck was a scene of utter devastation. Fires consumed the carrier, twisted metal jutted into the air, and the remains of aircraft and crew were strewn across it. Nagumo's command structure was in disarray. Aboard his flagship, radio communications had been destroyed. Torn between loyalty to the ship and the need to maintain leadership, he reluctantly abandoned Akagi for the cruiser Nagara. The ship's captain, Taiho Aoki, determined to meet his end with his command, lashed himself to a bulkhead as flames engulfed the carrier. Kaga, heavily armored, limped at minimal speed, engulfed in flames and smoke. Soryu, crippled by a direct hit to her engineering spaces, was dead in the water. Captain Yanagimoto Ryusaku ordered his crew to abandon ship but chose to remain on board.
By 7:00 p.m., the order was given to abandon all three carriers. Japanese damage control efforts were hindered by poor equipment, leaving the crew with ineffective manual pumps as their only means of fighting the inferno. Soryu sank beneath the waves at 7:13 p.m., taking 718 of her crew with her. 12 minutes later, elsewhere, torpedoes from Japanese destroyers finished the job, sinking Kaga. Of her crew, 811 men perished. The next morning at 5:00 a.m., Japanese destroyers scuttled Akagi's smoldering wreck on Admiral Yamamoto's orders. 263 of Akagi's crew perished, a tragic but relatively small toll given the magnitude of the disaster.
The American dive bombers had delivered a crippling blow to three of Japan's four carriers. The fourth carrier, Hiryu, initially escaped detection, concealed by cloud cover. The Battle of Midway was not over yet, as within hours, both the American carriers and the elusive Hiryu would have to fight for their survival.
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