The Battle of Midway, the epic defeat of Imperial Japan against the United States.
One of Japan’s main goals during World War II was to remove the United States as a Pacific power in order to gain territory in east Asia and the southwest Pacific islands. Japan hoped to defeat the US Pacific Fleet and use Midway as a base to attack Pearl Harbor, securing dominance in the region and then forcing a negotiated peace.
The United States was aware that the Japanese were planning an attack in the Pacific (on a location the Japanese code-named “AF”) because Navy cryptanalysts had begun breaking Japanese communication codes in early 1942. The attack location and time were confirmed when the American base at Midway sent out a false message that it was short of fresh water. Japan then sent a message that “AF” was short of fresh water, confirming that the location for the attack was the base at Midway. Station Hypo (where the cryptanalysts were based in Hawaii) was able to also give the date (June 4 or 5) and the order of battle of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Early on the morning of June 4, aircraft from four Japanese aircraft carriers attacked and severely damaged the US base on Midway. Unbeknownst to the Japanese, the US carrier forces were just to the east of the island and ready for battle. After their initial attacks, the Japanese aircraft headed back to their carriers to rearm and refuel. While the aircraft were returning, the Japanese navy became aware of the presence of US naval forces in the area.
TBD Devastator torpedo-bombers and SBD Dauntless dive-bombers from the USS Enterprise, USS Hornet, and USS Yorktown attacked the Japanese fleet. The Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu were hit, set ablaze, and abandoned. Hiryu, the only surviving Japanese carrier, responded with two waves of attacks—both times bombing the USS Yorktown, leaving it severely damaged but still afloat. (A Japanese submarine later sank the Yorktown on June 7.) On the afternoon of June 4, a USS Yorktown scout plane located the Hiryu, and the Enterprise sent dive-bombers to attack. That attack left the Hiryu burning and without the ability to launch aircraft before it finally sank.
Over the next two days, the US troops at sea and on Midway continued their attacks, forcing the Japanese to abandon the battle and retreat. The Japanese lost approximately 3,057 men, four carriers, one cruiser, and hundreds of aircraft, while the United States lost approximately 362 men, one carrier, one destroyer, and 144 aircraft. This critical US victory stopped the growth of Japan in the Pacific and put the United States in a position to begin shrinking the Japanese empire through a years-long series of island-hopping invasions and several even larger naval battles.
Douglas TBD Devastator General characteristics
Crew: 3: (Pilot, Torpedo Officer/Navigator, Radioman/Gunner)
Length: 35 ft 0 in (10.67 m)
Wingspan: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
Height: 15 ft 1 in (4.60 m)
Wing area: 422 sq ft (39.2 m2)
Empty weight: 5,600 lb (2,540 kg)
Gross weight: 9,289 lb (4,213 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 10,194 lb (4,624 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-1830-64 Twin Wasp 14-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial piston engine, 900 hp (670 kW)
Propellers: 3-bladed variable-pitch propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 206 mph (332 km/h, 179 kn) at 8,000 ft (2,400 m)
Cruise speed: 128 mph (206 km/h, 111 kn)
Range: 435 mi (700 km, 378 nmi) with Mark 13 torpedo or
716 mi (622 nmi; 1,152 km) with 1,000 lb (450 kg) of bombs
Service ceiling: 19,500 ft (5,900 m)
Rate of climb: 720 ft/min (3.7 m/s)
Armament
Guns:
1 × forward-firing 0.30 in (7.62 mm) Browning machine gun or 0.50 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine gun
1 × 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun in rear cockpit
Bombs:
1 × Mark 13 torpedo or
1 × 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb or
2 × 500 lb (230 kg) bombs or
12 × 100 lb (45 kg) bombs
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46 Comments
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You know your on heels 👠 fighting when you have to go to Kamikazis as tactics to fight a war. Fanatics
Once the USA 🇺🇸 Got up to speed with her Arsenal of producing weapons of war. It was just a matter of time and man power until the war was won
War is Hell.
Whoever makes it the most Hellish first wins
William T Sherman . US Civil War. (The quote is not exact. But you get the jist )
Almost 80 years later and the united states fought the Wrong enemy (Japan)and helped the Wrong Ally (china).
🎉
Nobody ever wonders why Japan thought America would fold and give up if enough naval forces were sunk. Just 35 years earlier that strategy had worked against Russia, a huge country spanning 9 time zones.
Calling it the Empire of Japan is a real stretch.
Check out 1942 bombing of Tokyo aircraft hornet .and Jimmy Doolittle and his crue Jimmy said if any one doesn't want to go it's OK ,they all went , I probably wouldn't have gone . Not really ..my grandfather was black watch dad 1st airborne I just missed all maybe a good thing.
PBY saved a lot of sailors.
Me and my daughter were on the aircraft carrier intriped in Manhattan they had a simulation of a kamikaze attack it was upsetting. But the ship is amazing. Also 270 sailors died the best of us .
P 38 is crazy and shot down Yamamoto.
Can you say "over extended" I really can't imagine what they were thinking.
I also read that in 1937, for example, only 70 of the 1500 Japanese carrier pilot trainee applicants were accepted, of whom only 25 graduated.
I have watched many docs on Pearl Harbour. This is the best written.
In your video ( 1:10:22 ) and ( 1:10:45 ) you describe how on June 4, 1942, at approximately 10.20 in the AM, the first American bombs begin falling on Japanese carrier flight decks filled with strike aircraft, engines turning, awaiting takeoff for a second strike at the still functioning Midway Naval Air Station.
I think you are incorrect regarding these Japanese carriers having any strike aircraft on their flight decks when attacked that morning by the American forces.
Historians Jon Parcell and Anthony Tulley, authors of Shattered Sword, pretty much the definitive work currently today on the Battle of Midway have proved the flight decks were free of aircraft when USN bombs began falling that morning. The minor exception were the few CAP aircraft coming and going to rearm and to occasionally refuel, but all bombers and Midway Island bound attack a/c were all still down below in the crowded hanger decks being fueled and rearmed.
نرجو ترجمه فلم اللغه العربيه
You hear japanese people whine about the way the war ended….well they forget how it began
Just bear in mind that the secret Japanese code encryption was broken just in time for this battle
In this battle, the Americans knew three of the Japanese cards in 5-card poker. We broke their code, we had the Catalina plane, and the Japanese had really crappy intel. We can see you!!! When the Japanese first wave bombed Midway and saw that the Americans were aware of them coming, they should have skadattled with their 4 aircraft carriers. The Japanese Navy biggest mistake was assuming that the US aircraft carriers was stationed at Pearl even though there was no intel to support that assumption.
Misinformation at it’s worst based on 1950s propaganda
Yamamoto was a one trick pony. After Pearl, his performance was a lesson in incompetence.
This commentator sounds very sad Japan didn't win
Det är dax att Sverige ger Ukraina jas 39 gripen Sverige har ett av dom största flygvapnet i Europa och nu skickar Sverige stridsbåt 90 10 stycken plus archer 40 stycken dom har 8 stycken nu för nu kan Ukraina slå in sista stöten i Krimhalvön Ryssland har redan förlorat kriget mot Ukraina Putin har inte långt tid kvar
The turning point of the war. God bless America 🇺🇸.
7:00 They could acknowledge the agony of shame sweeping through the Japanese military high command for not protecting Tokyo and the emperor that they thought was a god (a god who needed glasses) but never acknowledged an agony of shame for the murderous deeds that their filthy armed forces did to Nanking, China. 8:05 There's old Tojo standing inside the Imperial Palace Hotel, an earthquake-proof building designed and built by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright between 1917 and 1920.
No self-sealing fuel tanks on the Zero doomed it.
This video is not done correctly, let alone several mistakes that I caught watching it. Especially stating that the flight decks were full of planes ready to strike. Ridiculous!!
Every battle is fierce and many losses.
I saw the 1976 movie, Midway, with Charleton Heston on TV many years ago. That was the first time I had known about that battle. The scene in that movie, was when one of his officers asked how the Emperor would be informed of such a devastating defeat at Midway. His answer was. It will be me to inform the Emperor. That had to be embarrassing?
26:36 you said the type 91 torpedo could be released at an altitude of 300 meters. That's 984.25 feet. Good luck with all that! Wikipedia says, release altitude is 66 feet. Just FYI
Roosevelt against the American wishes drug us into a war. His actions were the opposite of what he said in public.
This resembles a broken record. All you see is Japanese planes and ships and American Planes and ships. No action.
So picture you are in command of the pacific fleet of America. Now, most of the world is at war. You get a surprise attack? Bs.. bs..bs
The Japanese thought they were going to trap us at Midway we had broke their code their plan was wrong our carriers were supposed to be in pearl harbor we left early and messed up their plans
That is true but is also true that their decks were in fact littered with Bombs that were on there plains to be used against Midway and were swapped out fog naval bombs and torpedoes that they were going to send out before they could get tj😢
iloveyoutoo
nice
I remember it was Admiral Ohnishi who says that popular phrase ' Life is like a delicate flower Who can expect the fragranc to.last forever?
…and the winner of the Pacific War:
Emperor Hirohito.
The Americans weren’t outnumbered. The Japanese aircraft carriers carried 62 planes on average while the Yorktown class carried 90 this meant it was 270 planes versus 242 planes. Plus midway had another 90 planes.
I find that I am essentially an atheist. However, occurrences like Midway come very close to changing my mind. There were several similar strokes of bad luck and judgement for the evil Axis. I will concede that He didn't make it easy to prevail.
Background music too annoying to continue watching.
This imperfect video is perfect for falling asleep too.
The beauty of it all is if one falls asleep for nap just see how long the video ran.
I clocked a 50 minute nap from this one.
Airplanes take 1000's of hours to build, very expensive assets, the pilots who fly them are key to any war, the thought of crashing your countries airplanes intentionally is insane, especially the pilots, it takes a great deal of training to train pilots, our pilots and sailors and soldiers are important to us, not human bombs. God bless these brave men. 🇺🇸
The success of the battle of Midway was won by excellent intelligence, tactical positioning of carriers, timing, pilot skill and good fortune.