Battle of Midway Tactical Overview - World War II - History
video description
1. After Doolittle's raid on Japan in April of 1942, all of Japan was shocked forcing Yamamoto to come up with a plan to prevent another attack thus Midway.
2. However there was also the battle of the coral sea, the first engagement where neither fleets saw each other all action done by aircraft and while the Coral Sea battle was pretty much a draw it did however result in the IJN Shokaku aircraft carrier sustained enough damage and had to return to Japan thus missing the Battle of Midway (4 IJN carries instead of five.
3. The USS Nautilus caused nagumo to dispatcher destroyer leaving it behind to search for the Nautilus and that destroyer eventually gave up and returned to nagumo's fleet but in the process McCluskey followed it.
4. The main battle did follow as presented in the video however one key element again is missing, at that point the U. S. Navy flexibility to naval officers and in this case Adml Spruance used his analysis to launch immediately and then run at full and/or flank speed to catch up with his aircraft so his planes were in the air fast.
Finally a word should be stated about US naval versus IJN damage control technique. The IJN left their fuel lines strewn about as they put out the hanger and deck fires which meant that there was aviation fuel readily available to burn. In contrast the US Navy would flush their fuel lines at eminent attack with carbon dioxide which then proceeded to render any possibility of major fires inert (CO2 prevents oxygen from reaching flame) so when the Yorktown is first hit the damage control teams can easily put out the fires so when the next attack comes from the IJN Hiryu they believe it to be a second carrier not the damaged Yorktown and focus solely on attacking the Yorktown a second time leaving the USS Enterprise and USS Hornet virtually undetected.
Date: 2022-09-14
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Comments and reviews: 19
LeonG
Ingenuity? Ok the admirals were flexible, to ignore doctrine, and sent the squadrons out as they are launched, rather than as one big wing, but it was not any sort of -ingenius scheme-. It required the IJN to make the mistakes. to stick to doctrine, to not launch anything available immediately even if Yamamoto had instructed the USN carriers was the highest priority and worth taking losses for, . and also to make mistakes like to try to attack Midway a second time also against Yamamoto instructions, to return destroyers back straight back to the Kido Butai instead of have it take a wandering path, to have the hangers of the carriers so filled with fuel and bombs that a single hit to a hanger I think just having the planes on board was the bad thing, they of course had to have some loadout and all their fuel. the way to survive being hit is to have emptied the hangers totally. the IJN had to make numerous mistakes the Americans just had to keep mistake rate down, there were mistakes. some of no help to the USN at all, and some just utterly unclear eg that McClusty's delayed approach somehow helped it? . its obvious that dive bombers do well at attacking IJN carriers. But before hand, that was not known, all that was known was that they were trying torpedoes and dive bombers. and that both torpedoes and bombs have explosives, which tend to wreck ships. ingenuity? cold risk taking.
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Ingenuity? Ok the admirals were flexible, to ignore doctrine, and sent the squadrons out as they are launched, rather than as one big wing, but it was not any sort of -ingenius scheme-. It required the IJN to make the mistakes. to stick to doctrine, to not launch anything available immediately even if Yamamoto had instructed the USN carriers was the highest priority and worth taking losses for, . and also to make mistakes like to try to attack Midway a second time also against Yamamoto instructions, to return destroyers back straight back to the Kido Butai instead of have it take a wandering path, to have the hangers of the carriers so filled with fuel and bombs that a single hit to a hanger I think just having the planes on board was the bad thing, they of course had to have some loadout and all their fuel. the way to survive being hit is to have emptied the hangers totally. the IJN had to make numerous mistakes the Americans just had to keep mistake rate down, there were mistakes. some of no help to the USN at all, and some just utterly unclear eg that McClusty's delayed approach somehow helped it? . its obvious that dive bombers do well at attacking IJN carriers. But before hand, that was not known, all that was known was that they were trying torpedoes and dive bombers. and that both torpedoes and bombs have explosives, which tend to wreck ships. ingenuity? cold risk taking.
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JJohnston
80 years ago today. OK first off, McClusky followed a Japanese destroyer which had been hunting the Nautilus and was now rushing to catch up to the fleet. Secondly, the second air attack on the Yorktown occurred because their damage control parties had become so good after the Battle of the Coral Sea, that they had the fires out and the engines re- started so the Japanese believed it to be another carrier which was what they were looking for. They knew by the number of aircraft that there must be more than one American carrier.
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80 years ago today. OK first off, McClusky followed a Japanese destroyer which had been hunting the Nautilus and was now rushing to catch up to the fleet. Secondly, the second air attack on the Yorktown occurred because their damage control parties had become so good after the Battle of the Coral Sea, that they had the fires out and the engines re- started so the Japanese believed it to be another carrier which was what they were looking for. They knew by the number of aircraft that there must be more than one American carrier.
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Justin
Nagumo decision is what cost them the battle. You shouldn't attack the stationary enemies no matter how easy it is especially if you crippled them already. You don't have to finish the job when danger is lurking from every side. Fight the battle in front of you. I watched this many many times and other documents on Midway, read many books and Nagumo's decision is still the absurd one. It's not the big rock that's gonna make you fall. It's the small rock that makes you trip and hit your head with the big rock.
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Nagumo decision is what cost them the battle. You shouldn't attack the stationary enemies no matter how easy it is especially if you crippled them already. You don't have to finish the job when danger is lurking from every side. Fight the battle in front of you. I watched this many many times and other documents on Midway, read many books and Nagumo's decision is still the absurd one. It's not the big rock that's gonna make you fall. It's the small rock that makes you trip and hit your head with the big rock.
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Doug
Great video! A minor detail left out of this video deals with the intelligence gathering. The US knew that the Japanese were going to attack site AF, but they weren't sure if it was Midway or not (they suspected it was. A brilliant idea was implemented - they had the base on Midway broadcast in the clear that they were having trouble with their desalinization plant. The Japanese foolishly broadcast that site AF was having water problems. The US had the confirmation it needed - and the rest is history.
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Great video! A minor detail left out of this video deals with the intelligence gathering. The US knew that the Japanese were going to attack site AF, but they weren't sure if it was Midway or not (they suspected it was. A brilliant idea was implemented - they had the base on Midway broadcast in the clear that they were having trouble with their desalinization plant. The Japanese foolishly broadcast that site AF was having water problems. The US had the confirmation it needed - and the rest is history.
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Jacob
The biggest mistake the Japanese committed was so separating their individual task forces that they were completely incapable of assisting each other. Keeping the battleships in reserve to mop up the Americans was a good idea, but by staying so far away, Yamamato's aggregate numerical advantage became individual numerical parity.
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The biggest mistake the Japanese committed was so separating their individual task forces that they were completely incapable of assisting each other. Keeping the battleships in reserve to mop up the Americans was a good idea, but by staying so far away, Yamamato's aggregate numerical advantage became individual numerical parity.
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Harry
Overall this video was ok. Whomever did the research/script writting got it mostly right. I never knew the TBD Devestator Torpedo Bomber, was a dive bomber -(Its a Torpedo/Level Bomber. Hornets Torpedo 8 was the first to hit tge Japanese Carriers and none survived, shown different in video. Little inaccuracies tend to spoil it. -
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Overall this video was ok. Whomever did the research/script writting got it mostly right. I never knew the TBD Devestator Torpedo Bomber, was a dive bomber -(Its a Torpedo/Level Bomber. Hornets Torpedo 8 was the first to hit tge Japanese Carriers and none survived, shown different in video. Little inaccuracies tend to spoil it. -
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Bert
14: 37 False. First the Japanese morale was never broken, every battle 90%+ would fight till death. Secondly the bad news of the battle of Midway was never brought to the Japanese public. Only very few (leaders) new what exactly had happend.
But fancy graphics and animations is - ofcourse - more important than history itself.
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14: 37 False. First the Japanese morale was never broken, every battle 90%+ would fight till death. Secondly the bad news of the battle of Midway was never brought to the Japanese public. Only very few (leaders) new what exactly had happend.
But fancy graphics and animations is - ofcourse - more important than history itself.
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Jonny
I wouldn't call it the finest example of American strategic ingenuity. More like a dominant intelligence success. Japan was doomed to lose because America has already cracked Japan's naval codes. It's like playing football game and the defense already knows what play the offense is going to run.
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I wouldn't call it the finest example of American strategic ingenuity. More like a dominant intelligence success. Japan was doomed to lose because America has already cracked Japan's naval codes. It's like playing football game and the defense already knows what play the offense is going to run.
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gtoycoma
You da man, Chester! He didn't take the bait. I never tire of watching The Battle of Midway. We stuck it to Japan. We basically outsmarted them. The Battle of Midway pumps me up. One of those videos that makes you yell, -YEAH! Damned good job guys! -
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You da man, Chester! He didn't take the bait. I never tire of watching The Battle of Midway. We stuck it to Japan. We basically outsmarted them. The Battle of Midway pumps me up. One of those videos that makes you yell, -YEAH! Damned good job guys! -
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Valued
It-s all about damage control. The USN preaches It and the IJN took the position that you destroy the enemy before he can harm you and you don-t need to worry about damage control because there will be no damage. You can see the results
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It-s all about damage control. The USN preaches It and the IJN took the position that you destroy the enemy before he can harm you and you don-t need to worry about damage control because there will be no damage. You can see the results
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Tommy
Mc Cluskey wasn't following his instinct he was following a Japanese destroyer that had given up it's search for the US sub, the Nautilus. He figured the ship would be joining up with the fleet
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Mc Cluskey wasn't following his instinct he was following a Japanese destroyer that had given up it's search for the US sub, the Nautilus. He figured the ship would be joining up with the fleet
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Michael
I wonder if they ever all lined up, the navy
crew, maybe celebrating on deck, then
relieving themselves there, with arcs of
twisted yellow going over the railing?
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I wonder if they ever all lined up, the navy
crew, maybe celebrating on deck, then
relieving themselves there, with arcs of
twisted yellow going over the railing?
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Doyle
Trying to replicate this strategy is probably every Fleet Admirals dream, just as the Battle of Cannae lies in the back of every General of the Army's head.
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Trying to replicate this strategy is probably every Fleet Admirals dream, just as the Battle of Cannae lies in the back of every General of the Army's head.
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Uh
Crazy how humans fought each other, could you imagine what the aliens were thinking looking down on the earth and seeing wars and death at a scale of millions
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Crazy how humans fought each other, could you imagine what the aliens were thinking looking down on the earth and seeing wars and death at a scale of millions
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jacobo
I always find it baffling that Midway was decided in the very beginning when code breakers deciphered Japanese codes.
-Bro, that's cheating! - ---
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I always find it baffling that Midway was decided in the very beginning when code breakers deciphered Japanese codes.
-Bro, that's cheating! - ---
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Albert
Yamamoto: maybe the Americans will come defend the islands
Me: maybe the Americans will be at midway already so they can be ready for the attack.
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Yamamoto: maybe the Americans will come defend the islands
Me: maybe the Americans will be at midway already so they can be ready for the attack.
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Kurto
It was definitely western intelligence agencies that won a lot of WW2 from this to D day not discounting American bravery saving us Australians
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It was definitely western intelligence agencies that won a lot of WW2 from this to D day not discounting American bravery saving us Australians
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Chitrasen
The cameraman is invincible and immortal. He is faster than these aircraft. See he recorded everything--------------from sky to ground
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The cameraman is invincible and immortal. He is faster than these aircraft. See he recorded everything--------------from sky to ground
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Alfread
Those dive bombers are one of the MVPs
Just imagine if they didn't spot and sunk those ships
How many casualties will be added
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Those dive bombers are one of the MVPs
Just imagine if they didn't spot and sunk those ships
How many casualties will be added
reply
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