Today is June 4, 2022, 80th anniversary of the Battle of Midway - the battle the United States wasn’t supposed to win, the battle the Japanese believed would secure their new empire. When he was ordered to attack Pearl Harbor, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto promised “I will run wild for six months. After that, I can promise nothing.”
Midway happened three days short of six months from the Pearl Harbor attack.
This is from my book, “I Will Run Wild: The Pacific War From Pearl Harbor to Midway”:
Had it not been for the fact that the U.S. Navy had broken the Japanese naval codes, history might have recorded Yamamoto’s operation to take Midway victorious as planned. Even knowing the Japanese plan and its target, the American response was incredibly close-run. While the cryptoanalysts at HYPO were confident that “AF” in the Japanese messages referred to Midway, higher commanders demanded confirmation that “AF” did in fact refer to Midway. Using the undersea cable that connected Midway to Hawaii in order to prevent the possibility of the Japanese intercepting the order, the island was directed to send an uncoded message that the water purification system had broken down. Amazingly, no one in Japanese intelligence questioned that such an important piece of information would be broadcast in “clear,” while none seemed to remember that the island had access to secure undersea cable for communications. HYPO soon decoded a message to Japanese forces that “AF” was short of water. With that, Admiral Nimitz went “all in” and bet the family homestead on the outcome of battle.
Seven of the F4F-3As that Enterprise’s Fighting Six had traded for F4F-4s before leaving on the Doolittle Raid, as well as the 18 war-weary Bombing Six SBD-2s Dick Best had replaced with factory-new SBD-3s, were sent on to the Marines at Midway as reinforcements for VMSB-241's obsolete SB2U-3 Vindicators and VMF-221's F2A-3s. The aircraft were loaded aboard the aircraft transport Kitty Hawk on May 22, 1942. VMF-221 received the seven Wildcats and VMSB-241 took the SBD-2s when they were offloaded four days later, along with 12 brand-new 2nd Lieutenants right out of flight school who were divvied up between the two units. The squadrons had only nine days to familiarize themselves with the new airplanes before being launched against the Japanese fleet.
B-17s were flown from California to Pearl Harbor to increase the island’s offensive force, and other Flying Fortresses flew on to Midway. The six brand-new TBF-1 Avengers with which Hornet’s VT-8 had been re-equipping when the carrier was rushed to the Pacific in March had arrived in Hawaii while their carrier was launching Jimmy Doolittle’s B-25s and had been sent on to Midway as a separate detachment. By the end of May, VMF-221's Captain Marion Carl, who was very happy to be the recipient of one of the well-worn Enterprise F4F-3s, recorded that the airfield on Midway Atoll’s Eastern Island was filled beyond capacity with Marine fighters and dive bombers, Army Air Force B-17s and six B-26 Marauders armed with torpedoes, as well as Navy PBY Catalinas that ceaselessly patrolled to the north, west and south
When Task Force 16 returned from their unsuccessful attempt to reinforce Lexington and Yorktown, Admiral Halsey was suffering from what some called dermatitis and others called shingles, most likely caused by the stress he had been in since the beginning of the war. “America’s fightin’est Admiral” would be unable to lead anyone into combat. In an act of generosity, Halsey recommended to Nimitz that he be replaced by his surface force commander, Rear Admiral Raymond A.Spruance,. To the argument that Spruance lacked experience in naval aviation, Halsey pointed out that he would be working with Chief of Staff Captain Miles Browning, a naval aviator whose history went back to the first group of pilots to operate from the Langley, who had been intimately involved during the 1930s with all the planning and strategizing that went into the development of the Navy’s strategy and tactics for fighting the Pacific War. Nimitz assented, and Raymond Spruance, a very different admiral from the man he replaced, moved into the flag stateroom aboard Enterprise.
Yorktown returned to Pearl Harbor from the Coral Sea on May 27, and entered dry dock the next day. The damage she had sustained at Coral Sea was so extensive that the yard inspectors initially estimated she would need a minimum of two weeks for the necessary repairs. Admiral Nimitz replied that she had to be ready to depart with Enterprise and Hornet in three days. Ensign John Bridgers remembered, “When we members of Bombing Three went aboard Yorktown after she came out of dry dock, there were still construction workers aboard busily finishing their repairs. In fact, they would accompany us to battle in their effort to get the ship ready for war.”
Task Force 16, with Enterprise and Hornet, sortied from Pearl Harbor on May 29, followed by Admiral Fletcher’s Task Force 17 with Yorktown on May 31. The picket line of Japanese submarines had been delayed in taking up their patrols north and west of Hawaii, and did not arrive on station until June 1, thus completely missing the American departure. The lack of reported American movement by the submarines contributed to Japanese complacency that their operation remained undiscovered as they had expected and planned for. Operation K, a planned flight over Pearl Harbor by two H8K flying boats that would depart their base at Kwajalein and be refueled by a submarine at French Frigate Shoals, was aborted when the submarine reported the presence of American warships, sent there to patrol following the “second Pearl Harbor” raid by flying boats that had used the same tactic back in March. Thus, the two American task forces were able to rendezvous at “Point Luck” northeast of Midway on June 2, completely undetected by their opponents.
While American codebreakers had been reading the Japanese JN-25 code successfully since early 1942, the Japanese had issued a new code book on May 24; however it was not uniformly in use until May 27, which marked the last date the U.S. Navy would ever “read the enemy’s mail” for the rest of the Pacific War. Fortunately, HYPO had been able to obtain all needed information, including the Imperial Navy’s Order of Battle and the expected attack date: June 4, 1942. While the Americans knew everything they needed to know about their opponent, the Imperial Navy had no warning, and no idea, of what lay in wait.
Dawn came to the Central Pacific the morning of June 4, 1942, revealing clear weather over the four carriers of Kido Butai, with building clouds of a storm front to the east and northeast. The carriers began launching the strike at 0430 hours. Thirty-six dive bombers, accompanied by 36 B5N bombers loaded for level bombing rather than torpedo attacks, were escorted by 36 Zero fighters. At the same time, eight floatplanes were launched from the cruisers Tone and Chikuma to conduct a search for the unlikely presence of enemy forces. Tone was able to launch three of four of her Aichi E13A Type 0 Reconnaissance Seaplanes on time, but engine problems delayed the launch of Tone Number 4 for 30 minutes. Crucially, the eight seaplanes were an insufficient force to adequately cover their assigned search area, particularly with the bad weather to the northeast.
At 0545 hours, a message was received from a PBY Catalina searching for the enemy that they had spotted the strike force inbound to the island. At 0555 hours, the wail of Midway’s air raid siren sent the defenders scrambling. VMF-221's Duty Officer, 2nd Lieutenant John C. Musselman Jr., raced along the line of revetments in the command post pickup truck, yelling “Get airborne!” At 0600 hours, the order was given for VMF-221 to scramble. As soon as the 23 fighters were airborne, VMSB-241's commander, Major Lofton R. Henderson, led his mixed formation of SBD-2 Dauntlesses and SB2U-3 Vindicators to the runway. His orders were to attack the carriers.
The 23 fighter pilots of VMF-221, known as the “Fighting Falcons,” were a mixed lot. Eight were recent graduates of flight school who had only arrived on the island nine days earlier; another five had been recent flight school graduates when they arrived on the island in March, while the rest had arrived on the island in December 1941 when they had flown off Lexington after failing to get to Wake Island as reinforcement. The Brewsteer F2A-3 they flew was underpowered and lacked maneuverability; the recently-arrived F3F-3As were barely an improvement. The squadron’s leader was 31-year old Major Floyd B. “The fighters were vectored on a bearing of 320 degrees, directly toward the incoming strike, now reported by radar at 11,000 feet.
At 0612 hours, Captain Carey’s three Wildcats were at 14,000 feet when he sighted the enemy formation 40 miles north of Midway, below his altitude. The B5N level bombers were in a “vee of vees” formation at 11,000 feet, followed by the dive bombers at a slightly higher altitude while the escorting Zeros were stepped-up behind the dive bombers; the disposition gave the Marines a clear shot at the bombers for at least the first pass.
Carey put his Wildcat into a steep dive for a “high side pass” and caught the lead bomber in his gunsight. He waited until it filled his gunsight and then fired a long burst, shredding the enemy plane and setting it a fire, while its gunner’s return fire cracked his windshield with a bullet. An instant later, the bomber blew up, filling the air with debris. Carey made a high wingover to repeat the attack on the next when suddenly his fighter was raked by a burst of fire that hit his right knee and left leg. On the verge of passing out in excruciating pain, “I dove at about a 40-degree angle and headed for a large cloud about five miles away.”
Lieutenant Canfield followed his leader through the enemy formation, recalling, “I fired at the number three plane in the number three section until it exploded and went down in flames.” An instant later, the Zero escort hit him. “My Wildcat was hit on the right elevator, left wing and flap and just ahead of the tail wheel by three 20mm cannon shells. There was also a .30-caliber hole through the tail wheel and one that entered the hood on the right side about six inches up, passing just over the left rudder pedal and damaging the landing gear.”
Marion Carl had been left behind by Carey and Canfield. As he rolled into an overhead pass against the bombers, “I caught sight of these damn Zeros…the air was full of them!” He made a high-side firing pass on one; when he looked back, “I was surprised to see several Zeros swinging into position on my tail, so I dived straight down at full throttle, then zoomed back up to 20,000 feet.” As he headed back toward Midway, he spotted three Zeros below him. “They didn’t see me drop astern and to the inside of the circle made from one of the fighters. I gave him a long burst, until he fell off on one wing…out of control, and headed almost straight down with smoke streaming from the plane.”
“I looked around and couldn’t find a friendly airplane any place… and the next thing I know, I’ve got a Zero on my tail that’s shooting away. I headed for a cloud, chopped the power, and threw the plane into a skid. When I came out of the other side, the Zero had overrun me. I pulled the trigger on my guns—and got nothing! My guns had jammed, but the maneuver scared him so badly that he gave up the fight.” Despite being badly shot up, Carl was able to limp back and land safely.
Not only were the 23 Marines outnumbered by the 36 Zeros, they were completely outclassed by the faster and more agile enemy fighters, whose experienced pilots quickly shot down 16 Buffalos and a Wildcat, as well as putting Carey and Canfield’s Wildcats out of action
Fourteen pilots were killed in action. Of the survivors, four crash-landed on Eastern Island and six managed to evade the enemy and land after the air raid was over. Only two planes were fit to fly again. VMF-221 was out of action. The 23 pilots were each awarded the Navy Cross, all but nine posthumously. Against these losses, the Japanese admitted the destruction of seven B5N2 torpedo bombers and two A6M2 Zeros.
For his heroic leadership, Major Parks was one of those posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. The citation reads as follows:
"For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous devotion to duty as Squadron Commander for Marine Fighting Squadron TWO TWENTY-ONE, in action against enemy Japanese forces during the Battle of Midway, June 4, 1942. Leading his squadron in a dauntless and aggressive attack against a vastly superior number of Japanese bomber and fighter planes, Major Parks aided in disruption the plans of the enemy and lessening the effectiveness of their attack, thereby contributing materially to the success of our forces. As a result of his courageous and daring tactics and because of the circumstances attendant upon this engagement, there can be little doubt that Major Parks gallantly gave up his life in the service of his country. He displayed the characteristics of a fine leader and excellent airman in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."
Midway knew that any strike against the Japanese must be made before the arrival of the attackers. The torpedo-armed Army Air Force B-26 Marauders and the six Torpedo Eight TBF Avengers were ordered to take off and attack the enemy fleet as soon as the Marine dive bombers waiting at the runway departed.
At 0605 hours, just after the 23 fighters had climbed into the morning sky, Major Henderson gunned his SBD-2 down the runway and lifted off. As he circled the island, the others joined up. The enemy carriers were "180 miles out, bearing 320 degrees, enemy course 135 degrees, speed 20 knots." Because his pilots were all inexperienced in actual steep-angle dive bombing, he had briefed them before takeoff that when the enemy carriers were found, they would execute a glide-bombing attack. Such a tactic would expose the attackers to defensive fire for longer than would be the case in a dive bombing attack, but it was the only maneuver Henderson knew his pilots were capable of that afforded any chance of success.
Marine 2nd Lt. Sumner H. Whitten had been at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. In late December, he and 14 of his fellow brand-new Marine aviators were assigned to MAG-22 at Midway, seven to VMF-221 and seven to VMSB-241. They had shipped out for Midway the first week of January, 1942, on the only troop-carrying destroyer the Navy had. Whitten later recalled the Vindicator: “The SB2U-3 was a slow plane, as far as speed went, and a lousy bomber. They didn’t know much about dive brakes when they built the SB2U. Up until then, dive bombers had been biplanes, and they produced enough drag to keep down the speed in a dive, but with a cleaned-up monoplane like the SB2U series, you’d easily see 390-400 knots on your airspeed indicator in a dive from 8,000 feet. It was like riding a rock! You could hardly maneuver - the ailerons became stiff as a board. We would drop our landing gear, which slowed us down a bit - 15 to 20 knots - but you still had to be very strong to operate an SB2U in a dive.”
The Vindicators were in three four-plane sections, in a step-down formation. Whitten recalled that when the Japanese Combat Air Patrol came in, “Zelnis was a damn good gunner, and I was greatly relieved by that. He was firing almost continuously, in two to three-round bursts so as not to waste the 90 rounds in his drum, which he would then have to change. You had to be awfully adept at doing this in a slipstream, with fighters firing at you. During the fight, a Zero went under my right wing with black smoke pouring from the junction of the engine and fuselage and wing. That is probably the one with which he was officially credited. Another Zero came down at a 90-degree angle, burning back down the whole fuselage. I personally believe that Zelnis should have been credited with two kills, but for a gunner, one is more than normal, and we lost several gunners before we got to the fleet.”
Once above the Japanese fleet, the Vindicators dove down in column formation through cloud breaks, still under attack by Zeros. They emerged into clear air at about 3,500-4,000 feet, in the vicinity of a battleship, which Norris ordered them to attack; going after the carriers would have meant flying across the entire fleet under attack.
Whitten remembered, “I made a lousy attack-from 4,000 feet, I could not get a good approach. Making too shallow a dive, diagonally from starboard aft to forward port, I dropped my bomb off the bow of the ship, but didn’t hit it. But we scared ’em! Major Norris, 2nd Lt. George T. Lumpkin and 2nd Lt. Kenneth O. Campion dived on the battleship, too. Norris managed to score a near miss that caused it some damage. I think there was a direct hit made amidships. I then made a sharp right turn and started home at 100 feet. We made it back okay. Ours was the only plane in the squadron that was not damaged during the battle.”
Major Henderson’s SBD formation was faster than the Vindicators. The 16 Dauntlesses arrived over Kido Butai just before 0800 hours, some 50 minutes after the Marauders and Avengers had made their attacks around 0710 hours. Without fighter cover, five of the six Avengers and two of the four Marauders were shot down, with no damage to the enemy.
When Henderson pushed his control stick forward to send the Dauntless into its glide, two enemy fighters hit him and set the bomber afire. The others in the formation lost sight of him as the Dauntless steepened its dive and disappeared into the clouds below. Three other SBDs went down on fire shortly after Henderson disappeared. The survivors continued on as the Zeros circled for new attacks. Anti-aircraft fire from the ships below exploded other dive bombers as the fighters cut into their ranks. By the time they were over the carriers and in position to release their bombs, the formation had been cut in half. Those remaining dropped their bombs as best they could and endeavored to escape the cauldron of enemy fire.
While the efforts of the Marines on June 4 may seem to have been in vain, the truth is that they made quite a contribution to the ultimate American victory. Postwar analysis of Japanese records show that, at 0810 hours on June 4, damaging hits were scored on Akagi and Soryu; the damage was quickly brought under control. However, the Dauntlesses had a greater effect on the enemy than a few bomb hits. Admiral Nagumo and the rest of the officers on the bridge of Akagi were deeply impressed by the determination of the Americans in their Marauders, Avengers and Dauntlesses, none of whom turned away from their attacks despite the heavy opposition they faced in making their attacks without any diversionary support. One burning B-26 had dropped its torpedo and lifted over the carrier’s deck, missing the island where the admiral stood on the bridge by a matter of yards. Nagumo’s new-found respect for his enemy’s determination to fight had a major effect on subsequent events.
For their actions at Midway, the Marines of MAG-22, were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.
"For conspicuous courage and heroism in combat at Midway Island during June 1942. Outnumbered five to one, Marine Aircraft Group 22 boldly intercepted a heavily escorted enemy bombing force, disrupting their attack and preventing serious damage to island installations. Operating with half of their dive-bombers obsolete and in poor mechanical conditions, which necessitated vulnerable glide bombing tactics, they succeeded in inflicting heavy damage on Japanese surface units of a large enemy task force. The skill and gallant perseverance of flight and ground personnel of Marine Aircraft Group 22, fighting under tremendously adverse and dangerous conditions, were essential factors in the unyielding defense of Midway.”
Admiral Nimitz recognized the Marines' contribution to victory at Midway as follows: "Please accept my sympathy for the losses sustained by your gallant aviation personnel based at Midway. Their sacrifice was not in vain. When the great emergency came, they were ready. They met, unflinchingly, the attack of vastly superior numbers and made the attack ineffective. They struck the first blow at the enemy carriers. They were the spearhead of our great victory. They have written a new and shining page in the annals of the Marine Corps."
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Looks like another book for the collection. Thanks TC.
Well, I have read several books that cover Midway, but yours is now on my list. You make those days come alive. I appreciate your details about the various aircraft and their crews.
One of my father Vic's friends, a classmate at USNA, was on the Yorktown. I knew Bud and his family for many years - but Vic and Bud never talked about Midway. I finally asked Vic about it after reading one of his books about the Enterprise, and he mentioned that Bud was a great swimmer, and went over the side of the Yorktown. Vic and the Enterprise AA crews did not have much action that day, but they were shocked by the low number of planes that made it back to the ship. And they were very worried by that column of smoke from the Yorktown's direction.