What Is The Battle Of Midway?
The day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor is “a date which will live in infamy.” It is the day that will change the course of the U.S. Navy and Naval Aviation. Prior to the attack, Japan invaded nearby Southeast Asian countries, like French Indochina, because it needed natural resources to maintain its military, growing economy, and industry. The United States embargoed and froze Japan’s assets, so Japan did not have the resources that they needed, especially oil. Japan was in dire need of these resources and planned to attack the United States Pacific Fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor because they were the only force capable of challenging the Japanese Navy. And ever since this attack by Japan, the United States struggled to be on the offensive and
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successfully attack the Japanese military. However, with the U.S. Navy aviation, the U.S. was able to turn the tide of the War in the Pacific in several major battles, such as the Battle of Midway. Naval Aviation was seen as important from this point and is still the same right now because they are the U.S. militaries aerial strike force overseas as seen in the Pacific. In the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese crippled and paralyzed the U.S. Pacific Fleet after sinking and damaging eight battleships. Now that Japan has temporarily stopped the U.S. Navy from functioning, the Japanese began to conquer territory around them, such as Guam, the Wake Islands, and Formosa, now known as Taiwan, which was crucial to Japan’s invasion of the Philippines. One of Japan’s goal’s was to capture the Philippines not only because of the abundant resources that were present but also that a substantial U.S. military force was present to threaten the Japanese and allow the U.S to have an overseas base of operations in the Pacific Theater of war. When Japan invaded the Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur was in command of the Commonwealth forces in the Philippines. After the Japanese landed in Luzon, Philippines largest island, General MacArthur withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula to reorganize a proper resistance for the Japanese invaders by delaying and holding off the Japanese invasion force and wait to be relieved by American forces. However, MacArthur was order by President Roosevelt to move to Australia and the American-Filipino force was left under Lieutenant General Wainwright and Major General King whom surrendered weeks later to the Japanese forces. This marked the end of the Battle for the Philippines. However, this end marked the horrific march of U.S. and Filipino prisoner’s, known as the “Bataan Death March,” which 600 Americans and 10,000 Filipino prisoners were killed. Now that Japan was on the offensive, the Japanese military went on to capture the Dutch East Indies, Singapore, Malay Burma, and many other South East Asian countries. This success that the Japanese had in the beginning of the war tempted them to go even further by capturing the Solomon Islands and New Guinea and Midway Island. However, this overconfidence and greed of the Japanese will be the causes of Japan’s downfall. One of the first mistakes the Japanese made was at the Battle of Coral Sea. The Japanese believed that they could take New Guinea in order to have a base of operations against Australia. After breaking the Japanese codes, the Americans were able to intercept the Japanese fleet before they could invade Port Moresby on New Guinea. This was the first major war where carrier based aircrafts fought one another. This battle marked the first air battle in history to be fought entirely over the sea. The two Japanese and American fleets were not visible to one another and did not fire a single round at each other. The battle was fought entirely by the naval aircrafts launched from the carriers. These naval aircrafts proved to be a useful for the U.S. ships because they do not need to fire a single shell onto the Japanese fleet; they only need to launch planes to search and destroy Japanese ships. During the battle of Coral Sea, the U.S. was able to kill almost 100 hundred irreplaceable skilled Japanese pilots because the Japanese did not have an efficient way to train skilled pilots like the Americans. The U.S. Naval aviation played a vital role in this battle when they badly damaged the Japanese aircraft carrier, Shokaku, and destroyed most of the planes onboard the Zuikaku. These damages done to the two Japanese aircraft carriers will greatly affect the outcome of the Battle of Midway. Although the Japanese tactically won the Battle of Coral Sea by destroying more U.S. ships, the United States won strategically by preventing the Japanese from taking New Guinea. Although the Battle of Coral Sea was not a tactical victory for the United States, it allowed the United States Navy to change its tactics and strategies that would give them advantage over the Japanese at the Battle of Midway.
The battle of Midway was the naval aviation’s finest moment. The Japanese planned to take the last American base in the Pacific, not including Hawaii. The Japanese knew that the American’s could not afford to lose Midway because of its strategic importance and distance from Hawaii. Admiral Yamamoto, of the Japanese, assembled the biggest fleet in the Pacific war with 160 ships, including eight aircraft carriers, and 400 aircrafts. Yamamoto’s plan was to divert the Americans to the Aleutian Islands, while attacking Midway. However, the American’s, much like in the Battle of Coral Sea, knew that Japanese were going to attack Midway after breaking the Japanese codes. The Japanese were caught off guard when a swarm of American planes were headed straight for the Japanese fleet. These planes consisted of torpedo planes and were mostly shot down. However, these torpedo planes made the Japanese make a tactical error by switching planes armaments from bombs to torpedoes to attack the U.S. aircraft carriers; this left the Japanese carriers covered with fuels and bombs. Luckily, 33 dive bombers led by Lieutenant McClusky from the USS Enterprise, arrived on time after the torpedo planes were shot down. Although Lieutenant McClusky and his 33 dive bombers were low on fuel, they knew that they had to attack the Japanese off-guard. Additionally, dive bombers from the USS Yorktown arrived on time with Lieutenant McClusky and they proceeded to attack the Japanese carriers, which were basically a sitting bomb. The result of the dive bomber attack was devastating. Three Japanese carriers quickly became engulfed in flames. The fourth Japanese carrier was destroyed later after the initial American attack. Yamamoto, without his carriers, wanted to fight the
Americans with his battleships but the Japanese had to abandon the attack on Midway because the American fleet withdrew. The Japanese lost over 300 aircraft and approximately 3,500 skilled pilots, which is more devastating than the hundred lost at the Battle of Coral Sea. The Battle of Midway is clash between old and new styles of naval warfare. The Japanese centered on the use of battleships and the aircraft carriers as a supporting unit, however the American’s believed the aircraft carrier to be the center of the navy as it was seen at Midway. Now the tide of war has changed because naval aviation played a decisive factor by destroying 4 of 6 Japanese carriers and killing many skilled Japanese pilots. Naval aviation also proved to be the main choice of the naval force because now the Americans began using aircraft carriers as its projection of power rather than battleships, like the Japanese did. The Battle of Midway was the great turning point in the Pacific because it was detrimental to the Japanese military, it was one of the first major and crucial victories of the war, and it showed that the Americans can defeat the Japanese. Naval aviation proved to be a crucial part of the war in the Pacific for the American’s. It allowed the American navy to search and destroy enemy fleets from a far distance rather than being up close and fighting ship to ship with battleships. Naval aviation and the aircraft carrier allowed the U.S. to change how to effectively fight enemy fleets. Shown from both the Battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, Naval aviation was crucial to the battle because it made the use of battleships almost obsolete. Naval aviation in the pacific was important to the outcome of the war because without it the Battle of Midway would not have been won, and without the Battle of Midway the American‘s might not have gotten another chance to change the tide of war in place of American naval forces. In conclusion, naval aviation played a major and important role for the Americans in the pacific war against the Japanese.
successfully attack the Japanese military. However, with the U.S. Navy aviation, the U.S. was able to turn the tide of the War in the Pacific in several major battles, such as the Battle of Midway. Naval Aviation was seen as important from this point and is still the same right now because they are the U.S. militaries aerial strike force overseas as seen in the Pacific. In the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese crippled and paralyzed the U.S. Pacific Fleet after sinking and damaging eight battleships. Now that Japan has temporarily stopped the U.S. Navy from functioning, the Japanese began to conquer territory around them, such as Guam, the Wake Islands, and Formosa, now known as Taiwan, which was crucial to Japan’s invasion of the Philippines. One of Japan’s goal’s was to capture the Philippines not only because of the abundant resources that were present but also that a substantial U.S. military force was present to threaten the Japanese and allow the U.S to have an overseas base of operations in the Pacific Theater of war. When Japan invaded the Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur was in command of the Commonwealth forces in the Philippines. After the Japanese landed in Luzon, Philippines largest island, General MacArthur withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula to reorganize a proper resistance for the Japanese invaders by delaying and holding off the Japanese invasion force and wait to be relieved by American forces. However, MacArthur was order by President Roosevelt to move to Australia and the American-Filipino force was left under Lieutenant General Wainwright and Major General King whom surrendered weeks later to the Japanese forces. This marked the end of the Battle for the Philippines. However, this end marked the horrific march of U.S. and Filipino prisoner’s, known as the “Bataan Death March,” which 600 Americans and 10,000 Filipino prisoners were killed. Now that Japan was on the offensive, the Japanese military went on to capture the Dutch East Indies, Singapore, Malay Burma, and many other South East Asian countries. This success that the Japanese had in the beginning of the war tempted them to go even further by capturing the Solomon Islands and New Guinea and Midway Island. However, this overconfidence and greed of the Japanese will be the causes of Japan’s downfall. One of the first mistakes the Japanese made was at the Battle of Coral Sea. The Japanese believed that they could take New Guinea in order to have a base of operations against Australia. After breaking the Japanese codes, the Americans were able to intercept the Japanese fleet before they could invade Port Moresby on New Guinea. This was the first major war where carrier based aircrafts fought one another. This battle marked the first air battle in history to be fought entirely over the sea. The two Japanese and American fleets were not visible to one another and did not fire a single round at each other. The battle was fought entirely by the naval aircrafts launched from the carriers. These naval aircrafts proved to be a useful for the U.S. ships because they do not need to fire a single shell onto the Japanese fleet; they only need to launch planes to search and destroy Japanese ships. During the battle of Coral Sea, the U.S. was able to kill almost 100 hundred irreplaceable skilled Japanese pilots because the Japanese did not have an efficient way to train skilled pilots like the Americans. The U.S. Naval aviation played a vital role in this battle when they badly damaged the Japanese aircraft carrier, Shokaku, and destroyed most of the planes onboard the Zuikaku. These damages done to the two Japanese aircraft carriers will greatly affect the outcome of the Battle of Midway. Although the Japanese tactically won the Battle of Coral Sea by destroying more U.S. ships, the United States won strategically by preventing the Japanese from taking New Guinea. Although the Battle of Coral Sea was not a tactical victory for the United States, it allowed the United States Navy to change its tactics and strategies that would give them advantage over the Japanese at the Battle of Midway.
The battle of Midway was the naval aviation’s finest moment. The Japanese planned to take the last American base in the Pacific, not including Hawaii. The Japanese knew that the American’s could not afford to lose Midway because of its strategic importance and distance from Hawaii. Admiral Yamamoto, of the Japanese, assembled the biggest fleet in the Pacific war with 160 ships, including eight aircraft carriers, and 400 aircrafts. Yamamoto’s plan was to divert the Americans to the Aleutian Islands, while attacking Midway. However, the American’s, much like in the Battle of Coral Sea, knew that Japanese were going to attack Midway after breaking the Japanese codes. The Japanese were caught off guard when a swarm of American planes were headed straight for the Japanese fleet. These planes consisted of torpedo planes and were mostly shot down. However, these torpedo planes made the Japanese make a tactical error by switching planes armaments from bombs to torpedoes to attack the U.S. aircraft carriers; this left the Japanese carriers covered with fuels and bombs. Luckily, 33 dive bombers led by Lieutenant McClusky from the USS Enterprise, arrived on time after the torpedo planes were shot down. Although Lieutenant McClusky and his 33 dive bombers were low on fuel, they knew that they had to attack the Japanese off-guard. Additionally, dive bombers from the USS Yorktown arrived on time with Lieutenant McClusky and they proceeded to attack the Japanese carriers, which were basically a sitting bomb. The result of the dive bomber attack was devastating. Three Japanese carriers quickly became engulfed in flames. The fourth Japanese carrier was destroyed later after the initial American attack. Yamamoto, without his carriers, wanted to fight the
Americans with his battleships but the Japanese had to abandon the attack on Midway because the American fleet withdrew. The Japanese lost over 300 aircraft and approximately 3,500 skilled pilots, which is more devastating than the hundred lost at the Battle of Coral Sea. The Battle of Midway is clash between old and new styles of naval warfare. The Japanese centered on the use of battleships and the aircraft carriers as a supporting unit, however the American’s believed the aircraft carrier to be the center of the navy as it was seen at Midway. Now the tide of war has changed because naval aviation played a decisive factor by destroying 4 of 6 Japanese carriers and killing many skilled Japanese pilots. Naval aviation also proved to be the main choice of the naval force because now the Americans began using aircraft carriers as its projection of power rather than battleships, like the Japanese did. The Battle of Midway was the great turning point in the Pacific because it was detrimental to the Japanese military, it was one of the first major and crucial victories of the war, and it showed that the Americans can defeat the Japanese. Naval aviation proved to be a crucial part of the war in the Pacific for the American’s. It allowed the American navy to search and destroy enemy fleets from a far distance rather than being up close and fighting ship to ship with battleships. Naval aviation and the aircraft carrier allowed the U.S. to change how to effectively fight enemy fleets. Shown from both the Battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, Naval aviation was crucial to the battle because it made the use of battleships almost obsolete. Naval aviation in the pacific was important to the outcome of the war because without it the Battle of Midway would not have been won, and without the Battle of Midway the American‘s might not have gotten another chance to change the tide of war in place of American naval forces. In conclusion, naval aviation played a major and important role for the Americans in the pacific war against the Japanese.