GREAT BATTLES Burning oil tanks hit by Japanese bombs on Sand Island in the Midway Atoll on 4 June Xxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxxx x xxxx xxx xx xx xxxxxx xx xxx xx xxx xxxx xxx Yamamoto wanted to extend the Japanese empire’s eastern perimeter into the Central Pacific to furnish a greater buffer for Japan’s home islands. To do this, he drew up a plan for his Combined Fleet to capture Midway Atoll, an outlier <strong>of</strong> the Hawaiian Islands located 1,300 miles northwest <strong>of</strong> Pearl Harbor. The objective <strong>of</strong> Yamamoto’s <strong>of</strong>fensive was to capture Midway in order to use its airstrip to project Japanese airpower deep into the Central Pacific Ocean. Yamamoto’s grand plan called for a two-pronged <strong>of</strong>fensive that would employ a vast array <strong>of</strong> surface warships, submarines, transports and support vessels. Operation Aleutian Islands (Operation AI) was a feint designed to draw one <strong>of</strong> the US carriers to the northern Pacific. To execute the operation, Rear Admiral Kakuji Kakuta’s Second Carrier Strike Force had 40 attack aircraft on the light carriers the Ryujo and Junyo. Kakuta was to send his carrier aircraft on 3 June to bomb Dutch Harbour, the principal port in the Aleutians, while Japanese amphibious forces landed on Attu and Kiska Islands at the tip <strong>of</strong> the Aleutian Chain. The main attack, known as Operation Midway Island (Operation MI), would go forward the following day. Yamamoto planned to devote the bulk <strong>of</strong> the Combined Fleet’s forces to the operation. Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, Right: Chuichi Nagumo was one <strong>of</strong> the Imperial Japanese Navy’s (IJN’s) most seasoned <strong>of</strong>ficers and hero <strong>of</strong> the Pearl Harbor attack the hero <strong>of</strong> the attack on Pearl Harbor, would once again have the same four heavy carriers – Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu – that he had used in the surprise attack six months earlier. On 4 June, Nagumo was to take up a position 300 miles northeast <strong>of</strong> Midway and launch aircraft from his First Carrier Striking Force to pulverise Midway’s defences in preparation for the amphibious landing. Nagumo’s carrier force would have 261 aircraft as its <strong>of</strong>fensive arm. Other large forces would follow behind Nagumo’s carrier group. Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka’s invasion force <strong>of</strong> 5,000 troops in a dozen transports would rendezvous <strong>of</strong>f west <strong>of</strong> Midway with Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo’s Second Fleet, which would escort them to their objective. Bringing up the rear would be the First Fleet’s Main Force under Yamamoto, which would deploy 300 miles west <strong>of</strong> Nagumo. Yamamoto would direct the various components <strong>of</strong> the operation from his flagship, the gigantic battleship Yamato. The unsinkable carrier Following the action in Coral Sea, US Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Chester Nimitz recalled Task Force 16, which was built around the carriers Hornet and Enterprise, to return to Pearl Harbor. Its veteran commander, Vice Admiral William Halsey, was seriously ill, and Nimitz replaced him with neophyte Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance. Overall command <strong>of</strong> the two task forces went to Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher, commander <strong>of</strong> Task Force 17, who had performed ably in the Coral Sea. The nucleus <strong>of</strong> Task Force 17 was the carrier Yorktown, which had sustained major damage in the same skirmish, and was in need <strong>of</strong> urgent repairs if she were to participate in Midway. She arrived in Pearl Harbor on 22 May to get patched up so that she could take part in the battle that was brewing. Meanwhile, Task Force 16 arrived in Pearl Harbor on 26 May for refuelling and resupply. Altogether, the two US task forces had a total <strong>of</strong> 233 carrier aircraft, which included 112 dive bombers, 42 torpedo bombers and 79 fighters. In addition, the Americans possessed an assortment <strong>of</strong> 115 Navy and Marine aircraft, many <strong>of</strong> which were obsolete, on Midway Atoll. US Navy Captain Cyril Simmard, the senior commander at Midway, had 3,650 troops <strong>of</strong> the Sixth Marine Defense Battalion and multiple anti- 60
MIDWAY A squadron <strong>of</strong> Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers unfold their wings in preparation for take<strong>of</strong>f from the Enterprise “YAMAMOTO’S GRAND PLAN CALLED FOR A TWO-PRONGED OFFENSIVE THAT WOULD EMPLOY A VAST ARRAY OF SURFACE WARSHIPS, SUBMARINES, TRANSPORTS AND SUPPORT VESSELS” Japanese Zero fighter aircraft on the deck <strong>of</strong> the heavy aircraft carrier Akagi in early 1942 61
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