Battle of Midway

The Japanese carrier Akagi under attack.

The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle fought over three days - June 4–7, 1942 - between the United States of America and the Empire of Japan

Planning

After Pearl Harbor Isoroku Yamamoto requested to attack Midway Island, but was denied and again he requested to attack Midway Island after the American Naval Carrier Hornet launches 16 B-25s to attack the Japanese home islands in the Doolittle Raid. If his plans were not accepted he threatened to resign his commission, in which Imperial Command gave the go ahead.

Admiral Nimitz sent a message to Midway Island "Midway has a shortage of H2O (Water), request replenishment." after receiving intelligence that the Japanese were planning an attack on target AF, but he didn't know what was AF. After the Japanese intercepted a message from Midway saying that "Midway has a shortage of Water" and sent a message to Admiral Yamamoto saying that "Target AF has a drastic shortage of Water supply." Then the Americans receive and intercept a message to Yamamoto saying that "Target AF has a drastic shortage of Water supply.", Admiral Nimitz sends his Carriers of Task Force 16 and 17 which consists of Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown to the North-East of Midway Island at Point Luck.

The Battle

The Americans first spotted the Japanese at 9:00 a.m. on June 3, when a PBY Catalina observed two enemy cargo ships. Another Catalina spotted the Invasion Force of admiral Nobutake Kondō  at 9:05. The decision was made at 12:30 to send nine US Army B-17 Flying Fortresses operating from Midway Island in order to attack this force. However, they instead found and bombed the Transport Group under the command of Raizō Tanaka. They scored no hits, and caused no damage.

On June 4 the IJN launch an attack to take out the Airfield and weaken the defenses on Midway Island (Jap Code Name: Target AF).

The USS Yorktown in battle.

Outcome

Midway was a major victory for the United States of America, which dealt a crushing blow to the Empire of Japan, and arguably proved to be the turning point of the War in the Pacific. The destruction of four of the Empire's carriers led to the conversion of the Yamato class battleship Shinano into an aircraft carrier, and opened the door for the air raids on the Japanese mainland, as well as the nuclear strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.