Today in WWII History – The Battle of Midway
World War II History for June 4
Audio: MBS News – The Battle of Midway 06.04.1942
Jun 04, 1940 “We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. War’s are not won by evacuations.” – Winston Churchill – To Parliament
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – PBYs attack Occupation Force northwest of Midway; one PBY torpedoes fleet tanker Akebono Maru.
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – Japanese carrier fleet – Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu – sends its aircraft against defensive installations on Midway. Although defending USMC F2A’s and F4F’s suffer disastrous losses, damage to facilities on Midway is comparatively slight.
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – Japanese carrier fighters and antiaircraft fire annihilates the USMC SBD’s and SB2U’s, Navy’s new TBF’s, and USAAF torpedo-carrying B-26′s sent from Midway Island to attack the Japanese carriers. USAAF B-17′s likewise bomb the Japanese carrier force without success.
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – Concentrating on the destruction of Midway air forces, the Japanese carriers were caught unprepared for the U.S. carrier air attack.
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – Torpedo bombers (TBD’s) from American carrier striking force Hornet (CV-8), Enterprise (CV-6), and Yorktown (CV-5) attack the enemy carriers. Although mauled by the defending combat air patrol and antiaircraft fire, they draw off the former and leave the skies open for dive bombers (SBD’s) from Enterprise and Yorktown.
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – SBD’s from Enterprise sink carrier Kaga and bomb Akagi (flagship) SBD’s; SBD’s from Yorktown bomb and sink carrier Soryu.
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) torpedoes carrier Kaga but her “fish” do not explode.
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – Hiryu escapes destruction that morning, launches dive bombers that temporarily disable Yorktown. Fletcher transfers flag to Astoria (CA-34) .
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – A second Japanese counter attack 2 hours later, damages Yorktown with bombs and torpedoes so severely that she was abandoned.
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – In the late afternoon, SBD’s from Enterprise, including Yorktown planes, hit the Japanese Force again, striking Hiryu, the fourth and last of the Japanese carriers.
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – TF-16 (Spruance) released at dusk.
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – With control of the air irretrievably lost, the Japanese are compelled to abandon Midway invasion plans and the invasion force retires westward.
Jun 04, 1942 – Jun 05, 1942 Battle of Midway – Overnight – Three Japanese fleets, with ten battleships, including Yamato, the world’s largest battleship, two escort carriers, cruisers, and destroyers race to engage the U.S. carriers.
Jun 04, 1942 – Jun 05, 1942 Battle of Midway – Overnight – The U.S. fleet withdraws till midnight, then returns to the protective air cover of Midway.
Jun 04, 1942 – Jun 05, 1942 Battle of Midway – Overnight – Finding nothing, the Japanese battle fleets also withdraws.
Jun 04, 1942 Battle of Midway – 4:1 win in favor of US
