It's June 4, 1942, at 6:16 in the morning, and high above the Pacific, 72 Japanese bombers and their fighter escorts mercilessly blast through the defending American aircraft and barrel on towards their target. It's an idyllic atoll, home to an important American air and naval base. The air raid sirens howl across the island. Its defenders look up to see Japanese fighters and bombers swarming from above. Bursts of flak blossom overhead, multiplying with each minute as the Americans rush to their stations and anti-aircraft guns open fire. Both sides know that the outcome of this battle will have far reaching consequences. Today the Japanese attack Midway. Bombs and bullets rain down on the island airbase, tracers zip skywards and targets are decimated one by one: the powerplant, the oil storage facility, the seaplane hanger, and then the hospital, alongside warehouses and the marines command post. But the Americans put up a fierce resistance, bringing down at least five Japanese aircraft and damaging many more. Despite causing great destruction, the Japanese fail to neutralise US air power, with the American runways remaining intact. From the cockpit of his SBD Dauntless dive bomber, Lieutenant Richard Halsey Best looks out across the blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean. He’s commanding a squadron of 15 Dauntless bombers. In another plane, Earl Gallaher commands another 15 aircraft. Both squadrons are part of a flight of 33 bombers led by Lieutenant Commander McClusky. Thanks in part to the cracking of Japanese naval codes, American commanders are aware of some of the Japanese operations to attack Midway. The only way to stop the Japanese is to find and destroy their most powerful assets: the aircraft carriers, known as the Kido Butai. The Japanese aim is to use these carriers to neutralise and capture Midway and then to use the island as a trap, luring in the last of the severely weakened American Pacific naval forces that have survived Pearl Harbour into a decisive battle. McClusky leads the flight over the area he estimates Kido Butai to be, only to find an empty square of ocean. But that’s not his only problem. He looks down at his controls to see his fuel levels are dangerously low. He presses on, determined that this flight will not be for nothing, turns the formation to fly west, then to fly northwest, intending to conduct a standard box search. McClusky grits his teeth, praying for a change in fortune. He spots a white streak in the ocean, the trail of a Japanese destroyer making at great speed. Its white wake paints an arrow in the blanket of the blue sea. "I see them, boys. I finally see them." The ship is clearly trying to catch up, to the Kido Butai. Best, McClusky and Gallaher feel a surge of optimism and McClusky leads the flight north. As they draw closer and the dark shapes fade to the clear outlines of Japanese aircraft carriers, they know they found the Kidö Butai. But Best notices the impressive formation appears to be in some disarray. Far below at sea level there are American planes already attacking the fleet, it’s Lem Massey's torpedo squadron from the Yorktown! Best soon realises: it’s the conclusion of a disaster. The slow and vulnerable TBD Devastators are no match for the defending Japanese zeros and countless anti-aircraft guns. The TBDs are cut down mercilessly and what’s left of them flies in disarray, with every man for himself. High above, McClusky observes the four Japanese carriers. The southernmost and nearest is the giant Kaga. Two miles ahead of it and five to seven miles to the right is the Akagi, flagship of the Kidō Butai's commander, admiral Nagumo. 14 miles beyond them, it's the Hiryū . Another 6 miles beyond her is the Sōryū Although the Japanese defense is impressive, the box formation of the Kidō Butai has completely disintegrated. Each ship is several miles away from the next, having maneuvered to avoid the American torpedo attack, crammed with planes still being rearmed and unable to take off. Do you want to take on the legendary carriers and battleships? Test your skills by becoming a captain in World of Warships - the sponsor of today’s video! For this animation World of Warships provided us with the actual models of aircraft carriers and battleships that you can play in the game! They release new content every month so you can always count on enjoying fresh gameplay experiences in World of Warships’ stunning arenas. Yarnold loves playing innovative collaborations like Godzilla vs. Kong, Transformers, and Azur Lane. Although Yarnold is still waiting for the call when he’ll be put in the game! The stunning new water effects and textures make it so you can almost feel the sea spray on your face. And don’t forget - the game is available on console! In December members of the World of Warships Discord server have an opportunity to win premium items like supercontainers and more. Support the channel and join the great game today using the code YARNHUB to receive a huge starter pack including 500 Doubloons, 1,000,000 Credits, 7 days Premium Account time and a ship! But the fish is not included. McClusky’s American dive bombers have the crucial element of surprise. Not only that, but unknown to any in McClusky’s group, another dive bomber squadron from Yorktown has arrived on scene at the same time by pure chance. Both squadrons are unaware of each other's presence, and if they did attack the same ship, there could be mid air collisions. "Earl, you and I take the carrier on the left. Best, you take the carrier on the right”. As luck would have it, McClusky heads for the Kaga and Akagi while the other squadron head for the distant Sōryū. Although the Japanese are yet to spot the dive bombers, another problem threatens to throw away the advantage of surprise. “Wade, i'm taking the left hand.
Let's show them what we've got!” Best doesn't hear McClusky's command. Neither party hears each other. Both Best and McClusky now prepare to dive on Kaga, Best prepares his squadron. They form an echelon and the pilots prepare to dive by shifting to low blower and low prop pitch, opening their canopies in case they need to bail out. Best has no idea that right above him, McClusky and Gallaher are doing exactly the same thing. Danger mounts as the two squadrons are now on a path for collision. Best eases forward, entering a dive just as McClusky and Gallaher’s swarm of Dauntlesses barrel down in front of him, missing a catastrophic collision with him and his squadron by mere yards. Best reels backwards, stunned by the pure luck of his survival. But there’s no time for him to truly digest what’s just happened. He assumes McClusky and Gallaher have decided to jump his target. Thinking quickly, he closes his flaps and waggles his ailerons to try and signal to the rest of his squadron to abort. But he’s too late. Ten of his pilots join the cascade of dive bombers. Only Best's two wingmen, Ed Kroeger and Ensign Frederick Weber, are close enough to see his frantic signals and hold up. McClusky, Earl Gallaher, and 25 other Dauntlesses hurtle towards the Kaga. Lacking radar, the only warning the Japanese aboard the ship have is the thundering of planes as they turn their eyes skywards. “Kyūkōka! Kyūkōka!” The first three bombers miss, but the Kaga is plunged into chaos as orders are screamed across the deck for the men to crank every gun skyward. Earl Gallaher grips his sight, trained on the immense aircraft carrier. This has to be a hit. The ship’s outline fills up his sights as he gets closer and closer. He clenches his jaw and releases. The 500 pound armour-piercing bomb hurtles towards the ship and slams squarely in the middle of the flight deck. Bomb after bomb find their marks in succession. The next comes for the Kaga’s bridge. It’s obliterated by a direct hit, Full of planes being rearmed and refueled, A chain reaction of catastrophic explosions rocks the ship. One carrier is down. From 12,000 feet above, Best watches the drama unfold. Single dive bombers from the American carrier Yorktown dive for another Japanese carrier, the Sōryū. Hit after hit tears the Sōryū apart, unleashing internal explosions that tear through the men and planes alike. The first two carriers are being pummeled, at four or five second intervals, smoke pouring into the sky. Amidst the chaos, Best carefully plans his next move. With only two pilots having remained at his side, he leads the three plane formation to bank right. Climbing back up to 14, 000 feet, Best and his wingmen prepare to make an attack run on the Akagi, admiral Nagumo's flagship. The Japanese are focused on the conflict at sea level. Yet despite holding the advantage of surprise, Best is unsure of what he can do with just three planes. He can’t divide them to attack at different angles with such a small number and the dire fuel situation means he can’t maneuver for a bow-on attack. Best and his wingmen must hit the ship across its relatively narrow 100-foot width rather than its 850-foot length. Even a small miscalculation could leave the bombs missing the hull. Memories of Pearl Harbor are fresh in his mind, Best is determined to give the Japanese a taste of their own medicine. He makes a decision. “Let’s get them, boys!” On his signal, the planes open their flaps and ease into a long dive. “It was a calm and placid morning," he would later recall, thinking that it just felt like "regular individual battle practice drill". As they near the ship, Best puts his bombsight in the middle of the Akagi's flight deck. He watches one zero fighter taxi and take off from the ship. He’s determined to make it the last. Bombs soar towards the aircraft carrier, as one bomb hits the
bow, the other near the stern. At 15,000 feet, Best
wrenches the release lever. and his bomb lands square
in the middle of the flight deck As a plane levels he can't resist to look back. A chain of explosions rocks the ship, igniting a flood of aviation fuel from carts and wrecked planes. Under most circumstances, a big carrier like this could be expected to absorb four or five bomb hits and still function, but Best's one bomb has just hit in the right place, at the right moment. The Akagi has been obliterated. Having descended to low altitude, Best and his two wingmen zip through the carnage of zero fighters, who continue to target the hapless devastator torpedo bombers. Best resists the urge to dogfight: his job is to bomb the aircraft carriers. As Best turns for home leaving the devastated Kidō Butai behind him, he spots a black shape looming on the horizon. His heart races and he speeds for home as fast as he can. Touching down on the Enterprise, Best sprints to the flag bridge to find Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance, commander of the American task force. On his way, he comes face to face with McClusky, who’s just landed. Best notices that blood is running down McClusky's arm and dripping onto the deck. McClusky has parts of five bullets in his arm and shoulder, and before he can hear Best’s news, he’s rushed off to the sick bay. Best makes it to the bridge and quickly makes his case to Admiral Spruance. "There are three carriers aflame and burning, But there's a fourth one up to the north. Permission to rearm and take off right away, sir?” “No. Wait for the orders. We will get them.” “Yes, sir.” Best has to wait several hours before he can take off again. At 2:45 pm a report comes in “Admiral, we have their position.” “One carrier, two battleships, three heavy cruisers, four destroyers. Course north, speed 20 knots." The enemy ships bear 278 degrees from Task Force 16. The Americans immediately scramble what they have. The force is a shadow of its former self. Just 27 SBDs were available. With McClusky is staying behind due to his injuries, Gallaher is now in charge. leading 6 SBDS, with Best leading 4 and Lieutenant Dave Shumway in charge of 14 from Yorktown. Now it's five o'clock in the evening. They spot what remains of the Kidō Butai on the darkening horizon. Gallaher orders Shumway “Shumway, you take the battleships.” “Roger that.” leaving him and Best’s 10 aircraft to take out the Hiryü, the last of the carriers. Although the Japanese have Zeros patrolling at altitude, it's only as Gallaher eases forward and plunges into a dive that they discover the Americans. Kyūkōka! Kyūkōka! For a second time today, the Japanese are caught by surprise. Yet the Hiryū's guns put up an impressive resistance. Gallaher watches the fire from the anti-aircraft's muzzles light up both sides of the carrier as he fixes his bombsight. But, just as he commits to his dive angle, the Hiryū turns sharply. She’s surprisingly agile for a big ship and it catches Gallaher off guard. He's already committed to the dive. He attempts to compensate by pulling up as he releases the bomb. The bomb misses a stern and Gallaher wrenches his back pulling out of the hard G’s. After witnessing the next two bombs also miss the ship, Shumway decides to forget about the battleships and leads his squadron against the carrier. It’s the right decision, but it throws the pilots into confusion as Shumway’s group and Best's four-plane section both dive on the Hiryū at the same time. Once again, Best finds himself having to maneuver at the last moment while he’s preparing to dive. Turning to come at a different angle gives the enemy zero fighters a second chance to attack. Best and his planes hold their turn He looks to his side to see bullets rake his wingman Fred Weber’s aircraft. Best watches his friend hurtle towards the ocean, a wave of rage racing through him. He points his plane straight for the starboard bow. For the second time that day, Dick Best’s bomb slams into a ship, striking her forward elevator and blowing part of it into Hiryū’s small island. Three more bombs strike in succession, all in the same area, creating a single, massive crater in her flight deck. From high above, it looks as if a giant's hand has reached down and scooped out the Hiryū’s bow section. leaving a gaping cavern in its wake. Like her sister ships, she’s been wrecked beyond recovery. Dick Best prepares to return to the Enterprise in a bittersweet victory mourning the loss of Weber and glancing down to survey the devastation. In just a day, the Battle of Midway had been won. Thanks again to World of Warships! Check out the link in the description.
