Battle 360: Battle of Midway Leads to WWII Victory (S1, E2) | Full Episode | History

japan strikes pearl harbor and america is at war the aircraft carrier enterprise  leads the u.s navy as it strikes back   now enterprise is about to face the  massive japanese fleet at midway uss enterprise a fighting city of steel she is the  most revered and decorated ship of world war ii on this 360 degree battlefield where threats loom  on the seas in the skies and in the ocean depths   the enterprise's enemies could be anywhere and everywhere there's nowhere to  run when the war is all around you battle 360 uss enterprise vengeance at midwestern this series is brought to you with limited  commercials by the men and women of enterprise   rent-a-car june 4th 1942 10 20 am bombers from  uss enterprise find their target in the middle   of the pacific they are japanese carriers kaga  and akagi part of an enormous japanese fleet japanese zero fighters have been  distracted with earlier assaults   they tear apart the slower planes but  leave their home carriers unprotected perfect prey for the hunting  dive bombers of enterprise   26 year old dusty cleese spots his  target carrier kaga everything was ideal   we were up about like 20 000 feet  and they were coming towards us cleese begins his dive but all 32 bombers in  the squadron plunge at exactly the same time   nearly causing mid-air collisions to make matters worse some dive too steeply our plane is jerking around and i don't know  what's going on or why my pilot had the throttle   at the firewall just as hard as he could go i  could smell the water he was just that close it is payback for pearl harbor and it may  be doomed before a single bomb is dropped   the overeager flyboys of enterprise are looking  for vengeance they are diving into a trap flashback the battle called midway  had actually begun 24 hours before   on june 3rd 1942 uss enterprise sails 900 miles  from her home base in hawaii accompanied by fellow   carriers yorktown and hornet she is heading for  a tiny american outpost on a remote atoll called   midway 175 miles west four japanese carriers  steam southeastward on a collision course imperial admiral isuroku yamamoto plans to  finish the job he started at pearl harbor   the uss enterprise is what the japanese  really wanted to take out yamamoto knew   that if he could take out our carriers  they essentially would win the war   the main force of japanese ships headed toward  midway include four aircraft carriers kaga akagi   soryu and hiroyu seven battleships 150  support ships cruisers destroyers and tankers   248 carrier aircraft 16 float planes and some 15 submarines the american armada is substantially smaller three  aircraft carriers 50 support ships 233 carrier   aircraft 127 land-based aircraft on midway island  and eight submarines outnumbered nearly two to one   six months after pearl harbor this  is all that is left of america's navy   the carriers were not present at the  sneak attack to yamamoto's dismay   he said we have no idea what we've done  he was definitely disappointed and worried sinking those american carriers really became  an obsession of admiral yamamoto's as the months   after pearl harbor continued those aircraft  carriers come back to make a bit of a pain   in the neck of themselves by attacking the  japanese in february at the marshall islands   three weeks later the uss enterprise strikes  the japanese force occupying wake island and a   week after that enterprise strikes at marcus  island just one thousand miles from tokyo then in april enterprise escorts uss hornet in  the doolittle raid against mainland japan b-25   bombers launch from hornet and drop bombs on tokyo  and several other cities japanese realize the home   islands are vulnerable u.s navy aircraft carriers  are still out there and are still dangerous   so what we need to do is get rid of their aircraft  carriers and then set up one more outpost further   out into the eastern pacific one carrier  lexington has already been sunk a month ago and now admiral yamamoto plans to lure the rest of  them into a trap he'll target midway island midway   is close enough to hawaii that it will be seen as  a threat to the security of oahu and pearl harbor   and yet it's far enough away that american air  power in the hawaiian islands can't really make   its presence felt during the forthcoming battle  the american fleet has also lost one of its best   leaders vice admiral bol halsey has kept the navy  afloat for six months on nothing but sheer guts   now he is out of action felled by a rare variant  of psoriasis so severe he is hospitalized   his very life threatened admiral chester  nimitz is still in command of the pacific nimitz a texas native and a 41-year veteran of  the navy is a shrewd and efficient commander   and though nimitz is outnumbered and  outgunned he has an ace up his sleeve the japanese code the us navy has worked round the clock  to crack the imperial navy's code   they determined that the japanese plan an attack  on a target called af but what is af washington   bureaucrats insist af is alaska's aleutian islands  the beginning of an assault on the u.s mainland   but admiral nimitz believes the japanese want  the pacific not alaska the code breakers come   up with a ruse they broadcast a radio alert  saying that midway has a drastic water shortage   within 24 hours the code breakers have  their answer the japanese navy sends a   coded message reporting a water emergency on  target af nimitz is right af is midway island admiral nimitz has evened up the odds the  japanese navy is arriving in full force   but the americans will be waiting for  the u.s it is a true 360 degree battle   target midway island objective protect the  american base and inflict as much damage   as possible on the superior japanese fleet  strategy ambush with air sea and sub attacks   nimitz knows that the japanese will  approach midway from the northwest   so he sends his aircraft carriers enterprise  hornet and yorktown to a staging point 200   miles northeast of the island when the japanese  carriers come within range american bombers will   attack and all signs point to the 4th of june as  the day the enemy ships will reach the battle zone dawn june 4th 1942 it's clear  and quiet as uss enterprise   floats near the exact center of the pacific scout planes search for the enemy  carriers but they are too late   japanese bombers kates and vows  get the first hit at midway a force of 109 japanese aircraft appear over  the atoll they tear into the american base   exploding hangars and cratering runways  it is like pearl harbor all over again back with enterprise and her task force sailors prepare for action but haven't  gotten word of the midway attacks over on uss yorktown 21 year old  oklahoma native floyd childers   a radio man gunner dressed  alongside his brother wayne childers had an odd sense that his chances  of surviving his mission today were slim   i put my wallet in my pocket started to put my  wrist whites on and my brother was standing there   we were sharing a locker i took my wall down  to my pocket put the rest of it put it in the   locker and i said wayne if i don't come back these  are yours he got a funny look on his face and it   but didn't say a word the morning's ominous  tone gets worse when they reach the mess hall   it's a hearty meal of steak and eggs a sign  to the airmen that real trouble is ahead   dive bomber pilot dusty cleese is a 26 year old  naval academy graduate from coffeyville kansas now we always knew that anytime we ever had  steak and eggs that was going to be a busy day somebody behind me says last  meal for the condemned men   7 a.m reports of the attack on  midway reached the enterprise   the flyers scrambled to prepare for  their launch in enterprises ready room   pilots shake hands with one  another many for the last time the ideal launch order is for the wildcat fighters   to climb into the sky first to  protect the planes that follow then the torpedo bombers punch  followed by the dive bombers the dive bombers are faster than  the torpedo planes and can catch up but it doesn't come off  like clockwork this morning   problems with plane jockeying  on the flight deck cause delays some squadrons don't properly  coordinate and become scattered   the problem from the american standpoint  is that at this point in the war we really   don't understand how to use our carriers in  company with each other so when the american   carriers finally begin launching their aircraft  they put them up in such a way that you have   squadron-sized groups going off and doing their  own individual searches for the japanese rather   than putting together a coordinated strike with  torpedo bombers dive bombers and fighter escorts sbd scout bomber pilot dusty cleese  says goodbye to his friend tom eversole   eversoul pilots one of the slow vulnerable torpedo  bombers his odds returning from the battle are low he knew that he was on a suicidal thing you know   the torpedo bomber aircraft the men are flying the  tbd devastator is not a good airplane for the job in the torpedo plane department the  americans have real deficiencies   it's underpowered it's slow it has to launch its  torpedoes at very low altitude and very low speed over on yorktown radio man  gunner lloyd childers climbs   into the back of his torpedo bomber  with his pilot harry coral up front we were strapped in and everything ready to go  i picked up the mic and i told mr coral today   is my 21st birthday theoretically today i'm a  man so let's celebrate moments later coral and   children's tbd devastator lugging a 2 000  pound torpedo roars down the flight deck   and fights its way into the air they'll have to  fly nearly two hours to reach the japanese ships while the torpedo planes lumber into the   sky american forces have already  begun the assault on the japanese 7 10 am the first wave of the american attack  begins bombers have launched from midway island   to attack the japanese carriers the enemy  warships open up with anti-aircraft fire a typical japanese aircraft carrier is bristling  with weaponry the kaga an important carrier in   this fight wields five eight-inch guns  that can reach out more than 10 miles   for medium range work it has 16 120 millimeter  batteries and for the close in flight 22 25   millimeter cannons this anti-aircraft arsenal  can unleash a murderous hailstorm of lead six miles southwest and just under the surface   american submarine uss nautilus scans the  horizon the sub is a scout for u.s forces smoke from the japanese anti-aircraft  fire soon draws the attention of nautilus   the sub moves closer looking to make an attack of  its own but 180 degrees and some 800 feet overhead   a japanese fighter plane spots nautilus the zero  swoops down to 200 feet and opens up with machine   gun fire anything to damage the sub or force it  below periscope depth so it cannot fire a torpedo 90 degrees and 2 000 yards off nautilus port bow  the japanese destroyer arashi spots the encounter it charges in and starts dropping depth charges a depth charge is an explosive device designed  to sink a submarine with a powerful underwater   explosion a fused set will activate at a  predetermined depth detonates the explosive now the hunt is on with a speed of 35  knots and armed with eight torpedo tubes   and 26 depth charges arashi is a sub-killer depth charges don't have to be direct hits   the explosions are designed to  rupture or crack the subs hull even a minor crack can compromise  a sub safety and sink it the explosions miss nautilus but the sub  takes no chances and dives temporarily the u.s submarine soon resurfaces  though and strikes back   it spots a battleship she sets up  her target then unleashes a torpedo the american torpedo misses its mark   but it's threatening enough that arashi devotes  the next few hours to stalking the submarine   this is a small encounter in a massive  engagement but the sub hunt will have   repercussions that will turn the tide of  battle and determine the fate of the fleet 160 miles west the japanese continue to midway  but at mid-morning japanese scout planes   report the presence of the american aircraft  carriers the japanese fleet immediately breaks   from its south easterly horse and heads  north east toward the american warships   but the destroyer arashi stays behind to  continue hunting the u.s submarine nautilus with arashi in the area nautilus will not come  near the surface for fear that the destroyer   will detect it and drop depth charges if the  submarine cannot come near the surface it cannot   use its periscope to site targets and take aim so  it cannot fire torpedoes effectively in changing   course the japanese carriers soon steam right into  the path of two american torpedo bomber squadrons   the torpedo bombers of uss hornet  spot the enemy carriers first   all 15 tbd devastators roll in for the attack most  of the lumbering airplanes do not even get close swarming zero fighters and flack  from enemy destroyers and battleships   send them crashing into the briny water below a single pilot ensign george gay actually gets  his devastator close enough to drop his 2 000   pound torpedo but it doesn't explode as he  approached he got a bullet in the arm then he   released his torpedo and then he was so close that  he had to come up to go across the japanese care   just as he got over the japanese carrier his  engine quit so he splashed down on the other side   and he tried to get his gunner out but  he thought the gunner was dead because   he had talked to him at one point and  then he never heard from him again over the next few hours george gay will stay   afloat using his life raft as  camouflage the sole survivor 15 torpedo bombers and 29 men from the  hornet are all lost in a single attack ensign gay is in the water less than 20  minutes when the torpedo bombers of uss   enterprise reach the battle area as they drop  close to the water to begin their attack they   too slam into ferocious anti-aircraft  fire and attacks from zero fighters most go down but four enterprise torpedo bombers  managed to escape the deadly barrage   and will eventually make it back to the  ship unfortunately tom eversole friend of   sbd pilot dusty cleese is not  among the surviving air crewmen   i always cried thinking about it he was my you  know very very best friend and he didn't come back but at this point in the battle dusty  cleese has more things to worry about   dusty is part of a dive bomber group well behind  the torpedo planes heading up dusty's air group   is lieutenant commander wade mccluskey  a 40 year old buffalo new york native he normally flies a fighter not a bomber and  he's leading this group like a bat out of a hill he was a fighter pilot his whole idea was you  know if the one that hits first is the one that's   going to win so we're going at 190 knots dauntless  dive bombers usually fly at 160 knots at 190 knots   they may run out of fuel before they can return  also among mccluskey's air group is bruno guido back in february gaido's quick action and heroism  diverted disaster when a suicide bomber targeted   enterprise at the end of the marshall islands  raid guido scrambled from his catwalk battle   station to the machine gun in the rear seat of a  dauntless dive bomber parked on the flight deck   he opened fire on the japanese  suicide bomber forcing it to crash also flying in the squadron is 19 year  old radio man gunner don hoff he is   still getting adjusted to life aboard the  massive floating city called enterprise the   enlisted men's quarters are deep in the bowels  of the big e it's nearly 2 000 bunks four deep   where hoff got a rude awakening on his very  first night my bunk was a bottom bunk the   one right on the floor i was in there just in  my shorts and i woke up about midnight or so   and there was hot water that was splattering on  me splattering in my face and i just hot on my   chest my stomach then i realized that i wasn't in  a dream looking up there and this guy is standing   there urinating on me he wasn't sleepwalking he  was one of the local squadron drunks they pushed   this guy and he staggered on down there still  urinating so that was my introduction and i   i thought to myself i want how long i'm  going to be able to put up with this now hop is in mccluskey's squadron  and they're in for a surprise   when mccluskey's bombers reach the point  where the japanese carriers are supposed to be   they see nothing but empty ocean we got out there  and the sun was shining and there were the few   scattered clouds around but you could see for a  long ways and there was nothing absolutely nothing   in the water the dive bombers are unaware that  the japanese fleet has changed course toward the   northeast heading not for midway but for their  real prey enterprise and her sister carriers   mccluskey faces a dilemma if he keeps going  his squad will run out of fuel we were getting   right about the end of where if we have to  continue to fly with a bomb load like this   we're going to have difficulty getting back it  was going to be close if he doesn't turn back   soon his men will probably have to ditch  in the ocean with no guarantee of rescue on the other hand the enemy can't be too  far away and the damage his air group   could do to those carriers might save  a lot of american lives in the long run mccluskey makes a gutsy choice he keeps going  risking a crash landing for his entire crew   for a chance to find the enemy and  destroy him and the decision soon   pays off within minutes mccluskey spots  a tiny white wake in the ocean below i saw mccleskey point out to the side and i  looked down there and all i could see was what   looked like a little tiny  miniature ship down in the water   it's the japanese destroyer arashi the vessel  that had been stalking the submarine nautilus   it has given up its search and  is now powering back to the fleet   and that ship was not zigzagging it was going at  what they call flank speed which means a big bunch   of water coming up behind it they were doing  35 knots or more and he was heading straight   mccluskey wisely decides that if i just follow  this ship back he'll probably take me back to   the japanese carrier task force  mccluskey changes course and tails   the arashi if the enterprise flyers can keep  from running out of gas they may hit pay dirt the arashi points directly at the  target but before mccluskey gets there   another attack begins the japanese  carriers are hit by bombers pilot harry coral and rear seat gunner lloyd  childers buzz in with 13 other tvd's to drop   their payloads but japanese zeroes intercept them  in an instant zeros have a top speed of 330 miles   per hour a rate of climb of 3 100 feet per minute  two 20 millimeter cannons in the wings to make   this agile predator even more lethal there are two  7.7 millimeter machine guns in the engine cowling it was a giro coming head on he came  right in the real steam bank over us   so i wanted to get a burst in a bit of press the  trigger gun was still on safety didn't fire and   so i corrected that situation very quickly because  there were several other zeros in the area and the   best description that i can think of of what what  it looked like was a bunch of bees attacking us   japanese zero pilots are talented and  disciplined flyers with years of experience   21 year old lloyd childer struggles  to outgun some of the most skilled   aerial warriors the world has ever seen  and being a rear-seat gunner isn't easy   it's really difficult to figure out where  to shoot you're sitting backwards and   you're trying to shoot a moving target from a  moving target a gunner aims his weapon visually   using dead reckoning without the aid of  electronics so he must lead the target aim   in front of it like a hunter shooting a bird  the gunners and bombers are brave but doomed for the third time today american  torpedo planes begin to fall from the sky harry karl said look at the  skipper look at the skipper   and i've been around to look and i then i  was looking right in the face of my boss   the chief radioman and the plane was in flames  and i was looking at the chief's eyes at first   his expression was what's going on question mark  and then fear he had figured it out the airplane   was burning furiously obviously flying very very  low and then the skipper's airplane hit the water   as a rear seat gunner childers is facing the back  of the plane so he can shoot at zero's attacking   from behind the japanese fighter planes normally  swoop down from above so he's scanning upward but   he soon gets a surprise from the opposite  direction 180 degrees below children's aim   an enemy plane is closing in for the kill i looked  down and the hair stood up on the back of my neck   in an instant the enemy has climbed to children's  level here's a zero slowed down to 80 knots behind   us bobbling a little bit he's out of ammo and  he's trying to cut our tail off with his problem   childers can't just open up wildly because he'll  shoot the stabilizers off his own plane he takes   careful aim through his machine gun's pepper  or sight i had the paper below our horizontal   stabilizer and using the japanese pilot's face  as target i pushed the trigger and he disappeared   but lloyd childer's 21st birthday is far from  over another wave of zeroes is coming at him   i was shooting at the attacking zero when i felt  that i was hitting a leg and i thought it was one   one bullet hit me but actually it was two in  the fleshy part of my thigh that was a surprise   for some reason i didn't expect  it also the surprise because   it didn't hurt moments later childers is hit  yet again this time just above the ankle of   the other leg this wound is painful but the  young man keeps up his fire at the enemy the yorktown torpedo bombers score no hits most  are shot down before they ever get close enough   to drop their torpedoes the score the japanese  have shot down 25 planes americans none but   the yorktown's disastrous attack inadvertently  brings a lucky turn of events for the americans   the japanese fighters were focusing on an incoming  torpedo plane attack from vt-3 yorktown's torpedo   squadron and were forgetting to look around them  to see if there were additional attacks coming in   the zeros have temporarily left the  japanese carriers without air cover   and at just that point wade mccluskey and his  enterprise dive bombers appear on the horizon like   the cavalry riding to the attack mccluskey has  followed the japanese destroyer arashi directly   to the big prize the japanese carrier fleet this  is the moment bomber pilot dusty klies recognizes   his target the kaga i could see these two great  big ships you know that were closest to us   and then a smaller one that was farthest away the two one's closest had  to be the hoggy and the kaga lieutenant commander mccluskey immediately orders  an attack giving instructions for the air group   to split in two with one squadron attacking  the kaga and the other attacking the akagi   well sticked forward and nosed over and  they looked down on the japanese fleet   it had to have been an incredible feeling   they were headed directly into the wind boy that's  the perfect place to make an aiming spot on ships   heading into the wind helps a bomber and  bomb stay on course a crosswind can alter   the trajectory of both the air group begins  its dive but there's confusion initiative   everyone goes for the same ship first the kaga  we almost had some mid-air collisions because   we had two squadrons that were both starting  to try to dive on the same aircraft here   fortunately one of the  squadron commanders dick best   alertly recognizes the error and breaks off  with two other planes to attack the akaki at the same time back with the main bomber group  diving on the kaga confusion has caused the pilot   of donald hoff's plane james dexter to dive his  bomber at a much steeper angle than he'd intended   rather than angling straight down in a 70 or  80 degree dive he ended up over on his back   so he was over 90 degrees hoff is pinned to a  seat diving backward at more than 90 degrees   when his ammunition belts begin to fall out of the  plane they started to come out of the can like a   big old snake and i couldn't do anything with the  guns and hang on to them because you don't want   to have a thousand round ammunition belt hanging  out the back of the plane as you're diving this   could be a disaster hoff's pilot drops his bombs  and pulls up steeply bringing the ammo belts back   into the plane unfortunately the pilot's bomb  has missed next in line is pilot lewis hopkins   the georgian native is only 23 years old  but he dives as steeply as the rest of them   13 000 feet straight down it takes about 22  seconds to go from altitude to a drop point and   in that period of time it would be three or four  planes in the same dives and so you could see the   dives and you could see the bombs where they were  falling normally you're dropping 1500 feet i think   everybody went right down to 1500 feet radio men  gunners like 25 year old los angeles native ed   anderson experienced the dive facing backwards  going pretty fast and you're pulling out a hard   pull out and when you pull out you're  just glued to the seat you can't move   until he straightens out enough i watched  mccluskey and his two wingmen dropped their bomb they missed and then earl gallagher was the next  one it hit directly about like 200 feet from the   stern of the caga now here was the first fighter  plane taken off now this 500 pounder landed   back right on top of it and it exploded  next it is dusty cleese's turn and he's   willing to risk his life to hit the target i  aimed at the big red circle at the front now   of course you don't aim where it  is you aim for it's going to be   i wanted to make sure i was going to hit so i only  pulled out that thing you know at a thousand feet nine g pullout to just  barely miss hitting the ocean it hit this the rear rim of that big red  circle this thing went way way down below deck james dexter and don ha also pull out very close  to the water i was looking right at the side of   the ship and of course there were other planes  that had hit a good bomb there was explosions   and there was smoke and fire and about that  time he made a real sharp turn to his left dexter has pulled the sharp left to  avoid a japanese cruiser up ahead   what they started doing they started janking  which means that they made a series of movements   like this here trying to make it a very  difficult target for that cruiser to hit them   but dexter and hoff soon confront a new threat suddenly in front of us are these big columns  of water exploding coming up in front of us and   of course he's zig-zagging and he starts  zig-zagging to get our jinxing again the enemy cruiser is firing shells out in  front of the retreating planes to alert zeros   overhead to their presence the columns of water  caused by the explosions are deadly obstacles and if you're not watching  it you fly into a column   of water and it's just like flying into concrete about that time one of those  shells hit in the water right below   us and it exploded and it lifted us right  straight up in the air about 40 or 50 feet even so dexter and hoff  managed to escape unscathed   the other pilots also make it  clear without serious mishap uss enterprise is still 150 miles ahead of them now the question was do we have  enough gas to get back to the ship the victors have hit hard but  they may not survive the return   and there's one more japanese carrier  still out there preparing for an attack june 4th 1942 the battle of midway enterprise's first attack on the  japanese fleet is breathtaking the outnumbered flyers of enterprise have  wreaked havoc on the imperial aircraft carriers   kaga has been hit by the better part of  two dive bomber squadrons from enterprise   and she is utterly demolished she has  left burning from stem to stern almost   instantaneously with a very heavy loss of life akagi takes longer to brew up but  eventually consumed by the same sort of   catastrophic fires that are  also consuming for sister kaga and while enterprises bombers are tearing up  these two a third carrier soryu some five miles   northeast has also fallen victim to the strike  dive bombers from uss yorktown have ravaged her   they end up singling out the carrier soryu  and hitting her three times with one thousand   pound bombs and turn her into a floating  wreck as well 20 miles away dusty cleese   feels it's now safe to take a look back  at the results of his squadron's attack he could look back and he could see the three big   balls of fire there was the three  japanese ships that were on fire   and as he was looking back all  of a sudden one of those ships   actually exploded it must have hit  the ignition that was aboard the ship the huge mushroom cloud came up and over the top the surviving dive bomber crews  are ecstatic with their success but they're still in harm's way they  must make it free of the kill zone the air is filled with angry zeroes that have  just lost their home carrier they're desperate   and they're dangerous bomber pilot hopkins checks  to see whether his backseat partner is still   okay ed anderson gives the thumbs up the sbd rear  seat gunners have their work cut out for them   and this leads to some remarkable personal actions  rear seat gunner was firing his machine gun and it   broke loose from its mouth so we actually had  to manhandle it like it was a shotgun he was a   little guy so most of the time he couldn't even  carry it by himself to get it to his airplane   but uh i know from personal experience you  can do some amazing things when you're scared but no extraordinary physical effort can  save rear seat gunner bruno guido and his   pilot frank o'flaherty this air crew will pay  a high price for the morning's accomplishments as the buzzing japanese zeroes  counter-attack ferociously   bullets from the guns of the zeroes perforate  the fuel tanks on o'flaherty and gaido's plane fuel leakage eventually causes the duo  to ditch in the ocean they survive the   crash but they're discovered by the japanese  and fish from the water by an enemy warship the japanese crew isn't happy about the loss of  three of the imperial navy's aircraft carriers now there's only one japanese carrier left  the hear you hear you remains untouched by the   morning's attack from yorktown torpedo bombers and  now she wants revenge now a japanese scout plane   has just informed hear you of the whereabouts of  uss enterprise and her sister warships just before   11 am here you launches its bombers a retaliatory  strike two squadrons of val dive bombers each   carrying 550 pounds of explosives head for  their targets navigation is simple for them   they simply trail some of the returning  american bombers back to the u.s carrier group it's quiet at midday near enterprise  and her task force then a faint humming   sound develops in the far distance it grows  louder gradually becoming an ominous roar   three miles and 180 degrees to the rear the attack planes close in the first line of defense are  the destroyer anti-aircraft guns   if the enemy bombers make it through that they  become targets for the enterprise wildcats   circling the sky to shoot down bombers  before they can drop their payloads aboard uss enterprise ships bugler james barnhill  watches enterprise fighter aircraft rush to   intercept the enemy attackers what i could  see was japanese planes coming in after us   in our guns and planes going out like a shield  and keeping them away from the enterprise   the first american carrier that lands in  the here you bomber sites is uss yorktown some of the enemy planes make  it through the ship's defenses and three bombs make direct  hits on yorktown's flight deck one bomb kills 17 gunners and tears a 10-foot  square hole in the center of the flight deck   another bomb drilled its way through to the  base of the smoke stack before exploding   and extinguishing the boilers multiple fires  erupt american carrier flight decks in world war   ii have a top layer of wooden planks it is a  way to lighten the weight of the overall ship   but the wooden surface compounds  the danger when fires erupt but the yorktown damage  control crew leaps into action   unreeling hoses and dousing burning  surfaces with extinguishing foam and they patched the hole in the deck  they got the waters working again   a couple of hours later the fire is completely  extinguished the hole in the deck is patched   and yorktown is back underway at 19 knots  but her new lease on life is cut short at mid-afternoon a second wave of  bombers arise from the hear you   these carry torpedoes again they reach  yorktown first but since the vessel   is no longer burning and has been patched so  quickly they believe it is a different carrier five bombers make it through intense  anti-aircraft fire and drop their torpedoes two of the torpedoes scored direct  hits on yorktown's port side again the fires are extinguished but this time  the damage is too severe to be repaired quickly   the listing deck is a serious problem for  yorktown's flyers one air crew that must   bypass yorktown is wounded rear seat gunner lloyd  childers and his pilot harry coral we came back   to the yorktown and looking at it noticed  immediately there was about a 30 degree list   and she was dead in the water the angle means  the yorktown's aircraft have no place to land   childers and coral buzzed the deck desperately  seeking a safe landing children's brother wayne   is on deck he fears his brother's foreboding  from this morning has come true as the plane   buzzes past wayne waves to show that he's  okay running the whole length of the ship   trying to get his brother to wave back there  is no response badly wounded in both legs   a bullet lodged just above his right ankle  the young gunner has lost an alarming amount   of blood and is struggling to remain conscious  his brother can't tell if he's alive or dead   i had my head down and when i'd straighten up i'd  start to pass out so i didn't look up very often   i was keeping down like this and that's why  i didn't wait but i did look there's only one   hope for the stranded flyers of yorktown the deck  of enterprise now the big e does double duty home   base for both her planes and those of yorktown  but childre's torpedo bomber is badly damaged   they are forced to ditch in the  ocean within sight of the carriers a relieved wayne childers can see his brother  as safe as he is fished out of the water   lloyd childers began the day  thinking it would be his last   in fact it has been one of the most  successful days in the fleet's history so far but there's one more enemy carrier out there and  attacks from her bombers must be put to a stop enterprise launches her squadrons for  a final run their goal the carrier hear   you the enemy vessel that has mortally wounded  yorktown and some of the pilots carry a grudge   it's a composite group from yorktown flyers  being launched from the enterprise and   enterprises own flyers that discover  they hear you later in the afternoon after more than an hour in  the air the dive bombers from   enterprise and yorktown come in range of hear you pilot earl gallagher is leading this attack he  plunges toward the carrier just as he dropped   his bomb they hear you made a tight turn you know  like this thing and so he his bombs landed exactly   right where it would be you know if the if the  ship hadn't made that type turn so i had made   these corrections to hit the bow when cleese dives  he doesn't make the same mistake it's a direct hit it just took that front end of the hear you  and it like a taco it just rolled it back on   on top of itself and of course it made that ship  totally useless the bow of here you is torn apart   fire spreads below decks the  japanese navy chooses to sink her   admiral yamamoto's plan to trap the american  carriers has backfired spectacularly in a single   battle four japanese carriers are sunk one cruiser  is scuttled 228 japanese aircraft destroyed   and 3 000 japanese sailors and crewmen are  killed although the american losses include   one destroyer and the carrier yorktown it is the  most surprising victory in the annals of u.s naval   warfare yamamoto is forced to call  off the attempted invasion of midway 24 hours after the battle there is still one  american floating alone in the sea ensign george   gay was shot down in the first attack and has  kept himself afloat as the battle raged around him   he is finally fished from the water by a float  plane gay is taken back to enterprise where he   soon tracks down fellow torpedo bomber crewman  lloyd childers recovering in sickbay he didn't   know me the reason he came down up first was he  heard there was a kid down there from the torpedo   squadron and he thought maybe from my squadron  so he came down to find me as quickly as he could   the two survivors become friends george gay came  down every day to visit with me and talked to ben   and he told me exactly what happened  everything from beginning to end   word comes later that rear seat gunner bruno  guido and his pilot franco flaherty were not   so fortunate the two men are interrogated  aboard the japanese destroyer makigumo   angered by their crushing defeat  the japanese crewman aboard makigumo   buying gaido and a flaherty with ropes tie weights  to their feet and toss them overboard to drown back aboard enterprise bomber pilot dusty  cleese discovers the fate of his best friend   torpedo bomber pilot tom eversole   he didn't come back and and well if there's  any saints in heaven he's up there now for the fortunate men who survive the battle  the experience creates a connection unlike   any other when you've served time in a military  unit you forge a bond that lasts for life you get   to this level of camaraderie that i think your  average civilian just can't really understand   you lose your sense of self it's not about  you it's about the bigger picture it's about   the unit it's about your buddies pilot lewis  hopkins and his rear seat gunner ed anderson   faced death in the attack that brought down  the kaga but they lost touch after the war   when our producers contacted them each was  surprised the other was alive now after 65 years   of separation the two men are about to meet for  the first time since they fought side by side i've   been waiting for this for a long time they've kept  you out there a long time wonderful to see you aging warriors bonded souls eternally  linked by the brave deeds of their youth   some of those fellows never made it you  know yeah we were one of the luckiest the epic naval clash off midway island  changed the face of the pacific war   it proved that america could  not only fight back it could win the japanese navy has faced tremendous loss  they sent their finest fighters and failed   hundreds hundreds of them were their super  very very best pilots and they never recovered the japanese don't possess the capability of  replacing those assets whereas the sleeping giant   sitting back in north america  was just getting started   admiral yamamoto and the  japanese high command are shaken   they have awoken the giant and felt its wrath in his headquarters at pearl harbor admiral  nimitz can admire the results of enterprise's   work at midway but code breakers have bad  news the japanese intend a new assault   with its eventual goal the invasion  and occupation of australia   enterprise gets new orders head  off the imperial navy and stop   her the location is an island called guadalcanal  enterprise is about to get her baptism of fire you

Channel: HISTORY

Views: 1,178,842

Rating: 4.8366656 out of 5

Keywords: history, history channel, history shows, history channel shows, battle 360, history battle 360, battle 360 show, battle 360 full episodes, battle 360 clips, full episodes, battles, war, tom, tom oar, THC, Nowhere to Run, wildfires, wrestles, season 1, Battle 360 season 1 episode 2, Battle 360 s01 e2, Battle 360 s1 e2, Battle 360 se1 e2, watch Battle 360 full episodes, Battle 360 se01 e2, watch Battle 360 season 1, battle strategy, Battle of Midway, Leads to WWII Victory

Id: Xtgggq1l8o4

Length: 54min 44sec (3284 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 18 2021