Battle of Midway & Beyond | April - June 1942 | World War II Colorized | Subtitled

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With the main focus in the early years of World War II on Europe and North Africa, Adolf Hitler's actions had been the main driving force, while the Allies fought to resist the Nazi advance across the continents. However, as 1942 progressed, the Second World War was taking on global proportions, with the ramifications of the surprise Japanese attack on the American Naval force at Pearl Harbor in December 41 becoming increasingly evident. Events in the Pacific Theater of War were escalating. As the Empire of the Rising Sun extended its reach further south, expanding its defensive perimeter towards Australia and to the north east, began venturing dangerously close to the western coast of America. The seemingly unstoppable force of Japanese expansionism was nevertheless about to face a serious challenge. As we look a little more closely at the months of April to June 1942, you'll discover that the Japanese didn't have things their own way for long. A sleeping giant had truly been awakened at Pearl Harbor and as the Americans fully entered the arena of war, they quickly began to make their presence felt. From the daring American Doolittle Raids on Tokyo through to the Battle of the Coral Sea and the dramatic events at Midway, any advantages gained by Japan at Pearl Harbor, were about to be countered in some style by US Forces as the tide of war in the Pacific slowly but surely began to turn. The creation of an East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, free from the shackles of the Western empires, had long been the desire of those ruling Japan. By April 1942, it seemed that the Empire of the Rising Sun was vaster than it had ever been before. The war in Southeast Asia and the Pacific had been highly successful and the Japanese were now in control of the most strategically important parts of the Chinese coast and had occupied Malaya, Thailand, the Dutch East Indies, and most of Burma. In the Pacific, they held Wake Island, New Britain, the Gilbert Islands and Guam. While the drive to seize new territory continued, the outlook was grim for the Allies. In the first few months of the war with Japan, valuable British and American outposts had swiftly fallen to the invading forces, and thousands of people were now prisoners of war, helplessly caught behind enemy lines. Even Singapore, once regarded and impregnable British fortress, had been crushed by the Japanese, dealing a devastating blow to Allied commanders. America in the meantime, had lost valuable military bases and would soon lose its foothold in the precious Philippine Islands. After invading the capital of the Philippines, Manila, the Japanese were now advancing further south, hot on the heels of the retreating Allied troops and there seemed to be little in the way of halting Japan's drive to completely dominate the Pacific. With a string of victories to boast of, many of the Japanese troops were in fact so satisfied with what they'd accomplished so far that in some regions of the New Empire, they took time out to relax. For the time being, the Western threat to their Pacific domain seemed to have been eliminated and the Japanese were confident that they could hold their newly won territories with ease. Britain and America were however, preparing to strike back and would not take such belligerence without some form of retaliation. Days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, had rushed to Washington to begin discussions with President Roosevelt. On December the 26, 1941, in a speech before the US Congress, he stated his unwavering determination to crush the new Eastern enemy. What kind of a people do they think we are? Is it possible they do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson that they and the world will never forget. Britain had been alone in its fight against the Axis since the fall of France in the summer of 1940. The entry of America into the global conflict had been met with great relief by Churchill. Now Roosevelt, Churchill, and the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who'd been fighting the Nazi forces since June 1941, were united against the Axis, and there was at last, real hope that the Allies could win the war. As commanders were allocated to the Pacific Theater of War, however, there was no doubt that the challenges that lay ahead were great. Fleet Admiral, Chester W. Nimitz had assumed command of the Pacific Fleet two weeks after the Japanese attack on the American naval base in Hawaii. With many battleships and destroyers sunk during the raid, he was well aware it would take some time to salvage the ruins at Pearl Harbor and reinstate the US Fleet to its former glory. Faced with coordinating an attack across the Pacific, an ocean that covered over 65 million square miles, there was no doubt that in the early months of the war, Nimitz was operating at a considerable disadvantage. However, there was one thing that the Americans had in their favor, the aircraft carriers that were destined to play such a vital role in the Battle of the Pacific, hadn't been at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese planes had swarmed in. An advantage that the US Navy would exploit to the full. Meanwhile, as fears grew that Japan would soon move further south towards Australia and New Zealand, the first response from the Allies called for the establishment of bases in the far reaches of the Pacific, so a counterattack could be launched. The remote islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Espiritu Santo, which lay to the northeast of Australia, had long been within the western sphere of influence and work was soon underway to establish military bases there. With fierce battles being undertaken in the European Theatre of War, finding sufficient air and naval reserves to send to the Pacific proved extremely challenging for the Allies and valuable supplies came at less than ideal pace. All the while, the Japanese raced to expand the boundaries of their empire as Allied engineer units raced against the clock to complete their work, often attempting to accomplish the impossible as they negotiated the difficult terrain. There would inevitably be the occasional setback. However, the Allies never wavered in their determination to halt the Japanese in their tracks. By April 1942, the situation could not have been at a more critical point. Since the invasion of the Philippines on December the 8th, 1941, American and Philippine forces, led by General Douglas MacArthur, had been fighting a desperate battle against the Japanese invaders. As the situation had deteriorated, President Roosevelt had ordered MacArthur to leave, to take command of operations in the Southwest Pacific from the relative safety of Australia. Although he had been reluctant to leave his men, MacArthur finally obeyed his president's orders on March the 11th, but not before he had vowed to return. It was of little consolation to the troops left in the Philippines who'd been backed into a corner on the Bataan Peninsula, off the main island of Luzon by the beginning of April. Allied Naval Forces in the area had been destroyed in a series of battles around Java and with almost all neighboring territories under Japanese control, the troops were now cut off from most of their supplies and surrounded by the enemy. When the Japanese launched their new air and artillery assault breaking through allied air defenses, the men who were worn out from malnutrition, sickness, and combat fatigue were too weak to counterattack and surrendered. Some of the Allied servicemen managed to escape to Corregidor Island, to the south of Bataan, but the battalions of Japanese infantry swiftly moved in and pushed the defenders back to Malinta Hill. To the despair of all those left fighting, the American flag was soon lowered, and General Jonathan Wainwright, who'd taken over from General MacArthur, had no choice but to accept General Masaharu Homma's terms of surrender. As a result, by May the 8th 1942, the Philippines had been officially lost. There was an even greater tragedy for the Allies to face as the Philippines fell. The Japanese had captured 80,000 Allied prisoners, all of whom needed to be transported to prison camps. Faced with such a huge task, it was decided they should walk 60 miles to a railhead at San Fernando. What was soon dubbed the Bataan Death March, began on April the 10th, and it proved to be a terrible ordeal for the men who were already malnourished and sick. Thousands lost their lives as a result of exhaustion, hunger, dehydration, and sickness, while many others were brutally murdered by their captors. It was a stark warning that going to war with Japan would be costly in terms of casualties as the POW's were treated with bitter contempt by the Japanese soldiers who regarded surrender as dishonorable. Meanwhile, as the news of the brutal treatment of the men at Bataan reached America, posters were circulated to advertise the atrocity, and emotions were soon running high amongst the American population. The resolve of the Allies to crush the Japanese was now more determined than ever, and President Roosevelt had already set in motion plans to strike at the very heart of Japan by bombing its capital city, Tokyo. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt had been keen to restore public morale. In light of the later events in the Philippines he was now eager to demonstrate to the Americans and the people of Japan, the Empire of the Rising Sun was not invulnerable to attack. With such an ambitious project in mind, Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, one of the most famous aviators and aeronautical engineers in America, had been chosen to plan and execute the attack. Over the years, Doolittle had won an array of awards for his achievements and have made many important contributions to aviation technology. However, the task that lay ahead would be one of his greatest challenges yet. The main problem he faced was that America had no bases within bomber operating range of Tokyo. Although an attack could be launched from aircraft carriers, planes which were typically used with these ships, would not be able to cause a great deal of damage. After long deliberation, an idea was eventually conceived to adapt giant B-25 bombers, so they were light enough to take off from carrier decks. By the beginning of April, these highly modified planes were aboard the USS Hornet and on their way to the Pacific. Vice Admiral Mark Mitscher captained the courier from which Doolittle would launch his attack while the task force would be led into enemy waters and protected by Vice Admiral William Halsey aboard the USS Enterprise. Halsey in fact, had a particular bone to pick with the Japanese. When Pearl Harbor had been attacked, Halsey had been delivering planes to Wake Island and was 250 miles west of Hawaii. On hearing of the strike, he'd vowed to avenge the thousands of Americans killed at the naval base, and his determined drive to defeat the Japanese soon earned him a reputation. While the USS Hornet and the USS Enterprise ventured close to the gates of the Japanese Empire, Halsey would however, face a drawback in his quest for revenge. On April the 18th, a Japanese picket boat spotted the task force, and while warning signals were sent back to Japan, there was now the danger that Japanese land-based planes could be launched, putting the precious American carriers at risk. Halsey decided that the attack on Japan should commence immediately and soon, the crew aboard the USS Hornet were rushing to prepare their planes. The aircraft had less than 470 feet of runway and none of the pilots, including Doolittle, had ever taken off from a carrier before. In fact, no one had ever attempted to launch a bomber the size of a B-25 from the deck of a carrier before. Making the task a challenge, to say the least. However, the rigorous training the volunteer army crews had received had clearly paid off, and all 16 B-25s carrying their deadly payloads of incendiary bombs and high explosives, were launched successfully. Although the Japanese alert meant the planes were now setting off 180 miles from their original launch site, favorable weather would help them along the way. The bombers would soon be closing in on their targets with Doolittle's plane at the helm. Six hours after takeoff, the planes reached Tokyo and at noon they began dropping bombs on the capital and the surrounding areas. They met with little resistance, and the impact made was exactly what Roosevelt had hoped for. The Japanese were so shocked by the attack that high level military commanders began blaming each other, and the mortified commander of Tokyo's Air Defense was shamed into committing suicide. In the meantime, Japanese fighter squadrons were returned home and a carrier group was withdrawn from the Indian Ocean to protect home waters. While America hailed the pilots of the Doolittle Raid as national heroes, not all the men who'd braved the attack would make it back alive. Two crews would be imprisoned by the Japanese after landing in enemy territory and three of those men would eventually be executed. Meanwhile, Doolittle, along with many of the other crews, were helped by Chinese military and civilians in the east of China who sheltered them and ensured they reached safety. This would, however, have tragic consequences for the Chinese, as Japan launched a campaign in retaliation, which would kill a quarter of a million villagers in the region. Such vicious retribution revealed just how much the attack on Tokyo had injured Japanese pride. Although the damage to Japan itself was not as severe as Doolittle had hoped, the fact that US bombers had reached the homeland at all would have a profound effect on Japan's decision making in the next step of their Pacific War. As the boundaries of the empire had grown ever greater in the early months of 1942, there'd been much disagreement among senior Japanese commanders over the next course of action to take. Fleet Admiral Osami Nagano, Head of the Naval General Staff, had keenly supported spearheading further territorial gains, a strategy which had the full support of the Imperial Japanese Army. They wanted the next attack to be centered on isolating Australia, which could be used as a potential American base. It was proposed that as part of its empire building, Japan should occupy Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. This would strengthen Japanese defensive positions in the South Pacific and provide a base from which to attack Australia, which would then be within the range of land-based aircraft. The Japanese had already begun edging close to the Australian mainland, and after seizing New Britain, the largest island in New Guinea back in January 1942, they'd established a major base at the city of Rabaul. The Australians were well aware of the dangers that this posed to their country, and in February 1942, their fears were more than justified as Japanese planes gathered from the same task force that had attacked Pearl Harbor flew towards the northern coast of Australia. These were soon joined by powerful land-based bombers, and as they closed in for the attack, the Port of Darwin faced a bombardment which would be even more devastating than the attack on Pearl Harbor. By seizing new bases in the Solomon's and New Guinea, Nagano hoped that Australia would be further isolated and the occupation of Port Moresby and Tulagi would not only ensure the defense of Rabaul but would serve as jumping off points for the conquests of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Samoa. This in turn would cut supply and communication lines between the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Not everyone in Japan was in accordance with Nagano however, and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who had masterminded the attack on Pearl Harbor, believed that rather than continue to drive for more territory, Japan should concentrate on creating a defense buffer for their new empire. There was now an endless supply of resources at the disposal of the Japanese, which could be gathered from the territory they held around the Pacific and beyond. The supply routes between the Japanese mainland and the occupied countries needed to be protected. To do this Yamamoto was eager to eliminate the threat of American intervention. The Japanese admiral was aware that the failure to destroy valuable carriers at Pearl Harbor had been a fatal mistake. To ensure the survival of the empire and indeed, of Japan itself, it was essential to finish what he'd started in December 1941 and complete the destruction of the American Fleet. Yamamoto began to conceive a plan to lure US carriers within range of a Japanese Task Force for a monumental battle which would ensure Japanese control of the Central Pacific. He selected as his target Midway Atoll, two tiny coral islands which lay on the extreme northwest of the Hawaiian island chain. The American base here was far enough from Hawaii to lessen the risk of heavy land-based air power threatening Japanese ships. Not only would valuable US carriers be sent out to protect the Atoll if captured, Midway would further extend the Japanese defensive perimeter and even provide a useful base to launch attacks on the west coast of America. Yamamoto had however, struggled to convince Admiral Nagano that an attack on Midway should take priority. Until April the 18th 1942, preparations had been focused on advancing further south towards Australia rather than on destroying the American Fleet. It was only when Jimmy Doolittle launched his daring raid on Tokyo that opinion swung in favor of an attack on Midway. With fears growing that the homeland was vulnerable to air attacks, the Prime Minister of Japan, General Tojo, agreed that resources should be focused on the defense of the empire and the elimination of the American threat. By mid-April it was too late to withdraw the forces preparing to advance on Port Moresby and Tulagi, and for the time being, the Battle of Midway would have to wait. The drive towards Australia, codenamed Operation Mo, was scheduled for the beginning of May and the entire campaign was placed under the command of Yamamoto's protege, Admiral Inoue. He, in turn, would coordinate several groups, which included a Carrier Strike Force commanded by Vice Admiral Takagi and Tulagi Invasion Force commanded by Rear Admiral Shima, and there would also be a Port Moresby Invasion Force. What the Japanese didn't realize was that the Americans had cracked their codes. As signal traffic was intercepted by US and British intelligence, Admiral Nimitz was informed of the imminent attack on Port Moresby. The news was treated very seriously by the American commander, who was aware that Australia would be left vulnerable if the Japanese established bases so close to the country. After consulting Admiral Ernest King, head of the US Navy, it was decided that the invasion should be opposed with all the aircraft carriers, the Allied Forces could muster. A fleet centered on two carrier groups was rapidly assembled and included Task Force 17, based around the carrier USS Yorktown and Task Force 11 based around the carrier USS Lexington. Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher, who had already seen action in the Pacific after the Marshall and Gilbert Islands raid back in February, was placed in command of Yorktown and would also be in overall command of the mission. Meanwhile, Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch would command Lexington and there would also be a joint Australian American Cruiser force to provide additional support. Task Force 44 would be commanded by Rear Admiral John Crace of the Royal Navy. As the ships headed towards New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, they would encounter many dangers along the way with high seas and heavy winds to combat. However, there was no doubt that every man on board was willing to brave the worst of storms. It meant he was given the opportunity to strike back at the Japanese. While the carriers moved further west, soon preparations were made for the attack. Bombs were loaded onto planes and pilots prepared for the mission ahead. Then finally, on May the 3rd, news arrived that Shima's invasion force had arrived in the Solomon Islands. While Japanese troops began to pour onto Tulagi, Fletcher altered course to head due north towards the enemy. On May the 4th, 60 aircraft were launched in three waves from Yorktown, taking Shima's forces completely by surprise. The attack was a success, and as well as hitting three minesweepers and four sea planes, the Americans managed to sink an important Japanese destroyer. Nevertheless, the Japanese would continue to hold Tulagi, as they set to work establishing a seaplane base on the island. After inflicting a considerable amount of damage on the Japanese fleet, Fletcher took his task force due south to meet up with Crace and Fitch's ships. Now the Japanese were aware of the presence of American carriers in the area. Eager to accomplish what Yamamoto hoped to do at Midway, it was now Admiral Takagi's turn to take part in the action. He led his carrier strike force from its position 350 miles north of the Solomon Islands and entered the Coral Sea to hunt for the Allies. It was a journey into the unknown as the scene was set for the first ever aircraft carrier battle in history. One US commander would later comment that the Battle of Coral Sea was without a doubt the most confused battle area in world history. Indeed, as search planes were sent out from both sides to look out for enemy ships, the Americans and Japanese were playing a game of cat and mouse. In the confusion of the hunt, some planes would fire on their own forces. Others would try to land on enemy ships, but finally, on the 8th of May, the decisive battle was fought. At about 8:20 that morning, each side spotted the other almost simultaneously and rushed to launch their aircraft. The Japanese in a combined strike and each American carrier in separate strike forces. By 9:25, all aircraft had been launched and as the carriers headed for each other, Yorktown Strike Force attacked at 11 a.m. To be met by 16 Japanese Zero Fighters protecting the carrier Shokaku and her sister ship. While planes lunged and swooped through the air, avoiding anti-aircraft fire, Shokaku was hit by two 1,000 pound bombs, which caused heavy damage to her flight deck. Before long, with further attacks from Lexington, she was out of the battle. However, the Japanese soon struck back and 14 planes swept in to attack USS Lexington in a pincer movement. She was hit twice by torpedoes before dive bombers moved in, hitting the ship again. Meanwhile, a bomb exploded on Yorktown's deck. However, while Fletcher's carrier would survive another day, Lexington would not be so lucky. The bombs had ruptured a fuel tank and as sparks ignited the fumes that had built up in the carrier, a series of dramatic explosions followed, leading to uncontrollable fires. As ships were called up to help with the evacuation. Over two and a half thousand men rushed to escape from Lexington. By this stage, each side had suffered considerable damage, and as survivors were pulled to safety, both the Americans and the Japanese decided to withdraw their forces. The results of the battle had been costly for the Americans. With the loss of USS Lexington, as well as other ships and many planes, it appeared that the Japanese had won a tactical victory. However, the Battle of Coral Sea would in fact give the Americans the greater advantage with a strong Allied Force in the area and with two of their carriers damaged, the Japanese now feared that many of their landing craft might be destroyed if they went ahead with the invasion of Port Moresby. The attack was called off and with it the advance towards the northern approaches of Australia. Nimitz's mission had been a success and for the time being, Australia was safe. Although Japanese progress had been checked in the South Pacific, in the South-East Asian Theater of War, the advance continued. The British Eastern Fleet had already been driven out of the Indian Ocean by the Japanese, allowing the Empire of the Rising Sun to further extend its western defensive perimeter. The Allies could do little to stop the enemy from pushing further west through the British colony of Burma and towards India, the crown jewel of Britain's Asiatic empire. By now, Britain had lost a great deal of territory to the forces of the Axis, and Winston Churchill was clearly concerned about this additional threat to British colonialism. The Indian subcontinent had been ruled by the British since 1858, and Churchill was reluctant to lose such a precious part of the empire. His American ally, President Roosevelt, meanwhile, had other concerns. Burma provided the supply route for aid and arms into China, and it was important to keep this open so the Chinese leader, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, could continue his war with Japan unhindered, keeping enemy troops occupied and preventing their redeployment to the South Pacific. Roosevelt had assigned General Joseph Stilwell the role of Chief of Staff to the China Burma India Theater. However, while the conflict in Burma continued, it was soon evident that the Allies were fighting a losing battle. By the end of April, Lashio, in northeast Burma had been taken cutting off the Burma road, and Stilwell had no choice but to order an emergency evacuation. On May the 6th, the American general began to retreat towards India on foot, while British troops tried to slow down the progress of the advancing Japanese soldiers before crossing over to India themselves. Before long, all hope of holding Burma had been lost, and as the country fell, the buffer protecting India was no more. Despite Churchill's fears of losing more British terrain, the Japanese actually had no intention of invading India. As May drew to a close, it was clear that there were other more ambitious plans to occupy their commanders. Yamamoto was by now finalizing preparations for the Battle of Midway, and it would soon be time for the next stage of Japan's attack on the American fleet. Although Yamamoto's superior fleet, Admiral Nagano, had finally agreed to the attack on Midway, there were still disagreements between the Japanese naval commanders. Nagano had decided that Yamamoto should launch a separate mission at the same time as the Midway battle to capture some sparsely inhabited volcanic islands, which extended over 1,000 miles west of the Alaskan Peninsula. The Aleutian Islands lay far to the north of Midway, and Yamamoto realized that the extra mission would extend his vast battle zone to unmanageable proportions, but Nagano would not be dissuaded. The Aleutian Islands appeared to have little economic, military, or strategic value because of their barren, mountainous terrain and harsh weather. However, seizing them would further extend the defense of Japan and make it harder for ships to slip through the northern Pacific. There was also the hope that launching this second attack, far from Midway, might serve as a distraction, leading some American ships north and therefore weakening the US fleet. Yamamoto must have eventually seen that there were some advantages to Nagano's plan. Though reluctant, he finally agreed to extend to the area of battle to incorporate the islands near Alaska. The Japanese admiral now faced coordinating the most challenging naval conflict ever undertaken by the Japanese and set to work gathering the largest fleets to have ever sailed the Pacific Ocean for the mighty battle that lay ahead. The element of surprise was a vital part of Yamamoto's plan. He split the immense fleet into four separate groups so the Americans would have no idea how vast Japanese forces actually were when the battle commenced. The first carrier striking force would be led by Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, who had led the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and had also forced the British to abandon the Indian Ocean after successful attacks on their fleet in early 1942. Nagumo's force would operate in close support of the Midway Invasion Force commanded by Vice Admiral Kondo. Meanwhile, the main force which followed behind these other two would be led by Yamamoto himself and would attack the American carriers once they'd been lured out into the open. Finally, the fourth section of the naval fleet, Northern Force, was to detach from the main body and head north for the Aleutians before the Midway battle commenced. Unfortunately for Yamamoto, the disposition of his forces would be the greatest flaw in his plan, as the groups would be too far apart to support each other. Yamamoto's ships would, in fact, sail 300 miles behind Nagumo's Striking Force and be of little help when the Americans launch their defense. Meanwhile, far across the Pacific Ocean, the US Navy's Combat Intelligence Unit at Pearl Harbor had once again intercepted Japanese codes, and all Yamamoto's efforts at deception would be in vain. By May 1942, Admiral Nimitz had been provided with confirmation that Midway was the next target for the Japanese. He even had the complete Japanese order of battle, as well as the dates of the attack, which were expected on either June the 4th or the 5th. While the Imperial Fleet set sail for Midway with little idea that their mission had already been revealed to the enemy, US forces rushed to prepare for the battle that lay ahead. Midway was second only to Pearl Harbor in the defense of the West Coast of America. After the devastating raid on the Hawaiian base, the Americans would ensure that this time they were more than ready for the impending attack. Unlike the Japanese, they had the advantage that Midway itself could be used as a launching platform as well as their own planes, additional air power had been sent from Hawaii, further strengthening defenses. The aircraft carriers were also called up to protect Midway, and Fletcher's Task Force 17 was immediately recalled from the Coral Sea. Although severely damaged, Yorktown had survived the battles against the Japanese. After arriving in Pearl Harbor on May the 27th, work crews from the shipyard had worked around the clock to ensure she was repaired and ready to defend Midway within days. Halsey's Task Force 16 with the carriers USS Hornet and Enterprise were already at Pearl Harbor, although Halsey himself would not be well enough to take part in the battle. He would be replaced by Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance, who would operate under the overall command of Admiral Fletcher. As well as calling on as many army and naval personnel as he could muster, Nimitz requested photographers, so the events at Midway could be recorded. The famous film director, John Ford, knew Nimitz well and would capture some of the most memorable footage of the conflict. By the end of May, all possible preparations had been made for the battle that lay ahead. With defenses in place, American forces could do little more than watch and wait for the Japanese offensive to begin. Air Corps Units searched the skies for the first sign of a Japanese attack, while far out to sea, Yamamoto's Armada edged ever closer to the naval base. Compared to the Americans, the Japanese had little idea of what they were up against. They believed that only two aircraft carriers, the USS Enterprise and USS Hornet, would be available for the defense of Midway. They were convinced that USS Yorktown had been sunk at the Battle of Coral Sea. Underestimating the strength of their opponent would be an expensive mistake. In reality, the Japanese faced not two but three American carrier groups, and the challenge that lay ahead would be much harder than Yamamoto had imagined. By May the 30th, US search planes were launched from Midway to hunt for the giant enemy fleet, and after scanning the seas for a number of days, the ships of the Imperial Navy were finally spotted. As the alarm rang out across Midway early hours of June the 4th, Nagumo ordered dive bombers, torpedo bombers, and zero fighters to launch their attack on the American base. In less than two hours, the onslaught had begun. American planes flown by Marine Pilots scrambled to intercept the attack and would destroy many of the enemy planes despite heavy losses. Meanwhile, as dive bombers from Nagumo's attack force swooped across the island, those defending the ground fought back fiercely. The anti-aircraft fire would prove much more deadly than the Japanese expected. The base was thrown into chaos as bombs rained down on the island, destroying fuel storage tanks and aircraft hangars. However, the defenders continued to battle back against the enemy forces. As the first attack on the island ended, it was the Americans turn to strike back and two torpedo squadrons headed for the Japanese carriers. Without fighter escorts, they were no match for the Japanese Zeros and were almost all shot down, but as the waves of American attacks continued, the Japanese were kept distracted. They were too busy focusing on the defense of their ships to launch a strike against the American fleet and soon US planes had broken through Japanese defenses. The Enterprise Air Group hit two carriers, including Nagumo's, while Yorktown's bombers attacked a third. Before long, there was only one Japanese carrier still operational, and she counterattacked, sending a wave of dive bombers towards Yorktown. Compared to the Japanese carriers, Yorktown was better prepared for the attack and swiftly launched her fighters to intercept the enemy planes. Many of the Japanese aircraft were shot down, and although Yorktown was repeatedly struck by bombs, fires were controlled and she continued to launch more fighter planes. While a second wave of Japanese bombers headed for the American carrier, Rear Admiral Spruance launched a final strike on the Japanese fleet with 40 dive bombers. Within an hour, they found the last Japanese carrier. Despite several attempts to defend her, American planes delivered a deadly blow which left her ablaze and sinking. By the end of the day, it was clear that Yamamoto's mission had failed miserably. With casualties mounting and more and more planes being lost to the enemy, he would have no choice but to call off the invasion of Midway. Four Japanese carriers had been destroyed and their loss would have grave consequences for the Imperial Navy throwing the balance of power firmly in America's favor. There had nonetheless been heavy losses on both sides, and Yorktown, the flagship of Fletcher's Task Force 17, which had been so important at Coral Sea and at Midway, would not survive to see another battle. After being hit by torpedoes, the crew was forced to abandon ship amidst fears she would capsize. After a final deadly blow from a Japanese submarine, Yorktown sank on June the 7th. The Americans had suffered just over 300 casualties at the Battle of Midway, but the Japanese had lost many more with over 2,000 men killed, and there was little doubt that the Americans had won an overwhelming victory. As the injured US Marines and sailors were tended to, and survivors were brought to safety, President Roosevelt congratulated those who'd bravely fought off the enemy, clearly relieved that the Battle of Midway had checked the advance of the Japanese. However, far to the north, the threat from the Eastern Empire was not yet over. The Japanese forces that had headed to the Aleutian Islands would have greater success than Nagumo's Midway defeat. On the 3rd and 4th of June, their carriers launched air attacks on two military bases on the island of Unalaska. Hindered by bad weather, the planes hadn't caused as much damage as hoped. On June the 6th and 7th, the Japanese had landed at Kiska Island and Attu Island and had soon established bases there. This now placed the Japanese dangerously close to US territory with fears that attacks could now be launched on the west coast of America, every precaution was taken for the defense of the mainland. Although a resounding victory had been won at Midway, it was clear that the war against Japan was far from over, and the months that followed would reveal just how hard the battle against the empire of the Rising Sun was going to be. From the freezing terrain of the Aleutian Islands to the sweltering jungles of New Guinea and the Solomons, the toughest battles in the history of the Second World War were still to be fought, and the Pacific conflict was only just beginning.
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Channel: Best Documentary
Views: 1,208,514
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: reportage, documentary, series, second world war, history, war, historical, hitler, germany, conflict, countdown to victory, europe, allies
Id: iCvX1wepNF8
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 53min 44sec (3224 seconds)
Published: Tue Jan 31 2023
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