Battle of Midway - World War II: A History From Beginning to End (World War 2 Battles Book 7) by Hourly History

Author:Hourly History [History, Hourly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hourly History
Published: 2018-10-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Preparing for Battle

“The whole course of the war in the Pacific may hinge on the developments of the next two or three days.”

—CinCPac Command Summary for June 3

Pearl Harbor had been a success for the Japanese, but it was not complete. Admiral Yamamoto developed a plan, Operation Mi, that would lure the U.S. Pacific Fleet out with an attack on Midway Island. The plan was intricate: five different groups of warships had to be coordinated over an expanse of territory that reached from Alaska to the Central Pacific. By attacking the Aleutian Islands off Alaska’s western coast, Yamamoto’s intention was to distract the Americans away from Midway. The Aleutians also held a strategic interest for Japan; controlling the Aleutians could prevent the United States from launching an attack across the Northern Pacific.

The fleet for the Midway and Aleutian offensives consisted of 200 Japanese warships, transports, and oilers. The armada included eleven battleships; five large fleet aircraft carriers and three light aircraft carriers; twenty-two submarines; twenty-three cruisers; sixty-seven destroyers; and several hundred fighters, torpedo planes, and bombers. The overwhelming force would be what Japan needed to wipe out the Pacific Fleet and achieve dominance in the region.

The attack was to take place in three stages. On June 4, 1942, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo’s First Carrier Striking Force would approach Midway from the northwest in the darkness before dawn. Phase One would involve his four carriers launching aircraft to attack the defenses on Sand and Eastern Islands. After the defenses of Midway were taken out, Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo would undertake Phase Two. Warships and transports, approaching Midway from the southwest, would land troops to eliminate any remaining resistance and prepare the airfield for Japanese combat aircraft. With Midway neutralized and prepared for occupation by the Japanese, Phase Three had Vice Admiral Nagumo and his carrier force waiting to ambush the United States Pacific Fleet, which the Japanese guessed would arrive sometime around June 6. Their arrival would be their destruction. Waiting in reserve would be Admiral Yamamoto with the battleships of his Main Force west of Midway to come to Nagumo’s support if needed.

The amphibious landing on Midway was the plan of Commander Yasumi Toyama, but his planning was impeded by drawbacks. His maps of Midway were out of date. He had no aerial photographs of Midway; the Japanese flying boat that had been assigned to carry out the photographic reconnaissance of Midway had been shot down by a Marine Fighter Squadron back in March. He was unaware of the number of defenders on Midway; the Navy expected 750 Marines, the Army expected 2,000. Toyama’s plan was to simultaneously attack Sand and Eastern Island from the southern side with a landing force of 5,000, led by a pair of elite assault units totaling approximately 3,500 men.

Convinced that Pacific Fleet warships would come from Hawaii to defend Midway once news of the attack was known, the Japanese planned that Admiral Nagumo’s First Carrier Striking Force would destroy the fleet. The work that had begun at Pearl Harbor would be concluded at Midway.

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