![]() ![]() Without any fighter escort, the slow flying torpedo bombers were attacked by Japanese Navy A6M2 Type 0 fighters and defensive anti-aircraft fire from the warships. Waldron sighted the enemy fleet at a distance of 30 miles and ordered his squadron to attack. Waldron, Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8) flew at low altitude toward the expected position of the attacking Japanese fleet, while the fighters escorted the dive bombers at high altitude. Lieutenant Commander John Charles Waldron, United States Navy. Navy photograph published in LIFE Magazine)Ĥ June 1942: At the Battle of Midway, beginning at 0702 hours, fifteen Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bombers were launched from the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) along with squadrons of Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers and Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters. The pilots of Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8) aboard USS Hornet (CV-8) shortly before the Battle of Midway. The entire 15-volume series has TDiA’s highest possible recommendation. Very Highly Recommended: History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IV, Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, May 1942-August 1942, by Samuel Eliot Morison, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, September 1949. IJN Hiryu heavily damaged and on fire, shortly before sinking, 4 June 1942 (IJN photograph) It was fought almost entirely by aircraft. The Battle of Midway was the most decisive naval battle in history. From this point forward, the Empire of Japan was on the defensive with its defeat inevitable. Though they could replace the men, they could not replace their years of combat experience. Also lost were 248 aircraft and 3,057 sailors and airmen killed.įor the rest of the War, the Japanese Navy suffered from the loss of these highly experienced naval aviators. ![]() The Imperial Japanese Navy lost 4 aircraft carriers and one cruiser, with other warships, including battleships, so heavily damaged that they were out of the war for some time. The island outpost was saved and would never again be seriously threatened. The Americans lost 1 aircraft carrier and 1 destroyer, about 150 aircraft, with 307 soldiers, sailors and airmen killed. It would go on until 7 June. However, the outcome was clear. Navy SBD Dauntless dive bombers and was badly damaged, set on fire, and sank later in the day. She would later be sunk by the Japanese submarine I-168. ![]() She listed sharply, lost power and was out of action. USS Yorktown (CV-5) was hit by two aerial torpedoes from Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers. Planes from the fourth carrier, IJN Hiryu, were launched to attack the American aircraft carriers. Navy)Ĥ June 1942: The Battle of Midway: By the afternoon American planes had heavily damaged three Japanese Aircraft carriers. USS Yorktown (CV-5) immediately after aerial torpedo hit, 4 June 1942. ![]()
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