When was midway fought

And they had torpedoes that, most of the time, did not work. In just minutes, Japanese ships and warplanes had shot down 35 of the 41 Devastators. Ensign George Gay , a pilot in the U. But in the midst of rearmament, Nagumo received an alarming report: A scout plane had spotted American ships just east of the atoll. The Japanese switched gears once again, readying torpedo bombers for an assault on the American naval units. On the American side of the fray, 32 dive bombers stationed on the Enterprise and led by Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky Luke Evans pursued the Japanese fleet despite running perilously low on fuel.

Dick Best Ed Skrein , commander of Bombing Squadron 6, was among the pilots participating in the mission. Unlike torpedo bombers, who had to fly low and slow without any guarantee of scoring a hit or even delivering a working bomb, dive bombers plummeted down from heights of 20, feet, flying at speeds of around miles per hour before aiming their bombs directly at targets. Dive bombers with the Yorktown , meanwhile, struck the Soryu , leaving the Japanese fleet with just one carrier: the Hiryu.

Close to noon, dive bombers from the Hiryu retaliated, hitting the Yorktown with three separate strikes that damaged the carrier but did not disable it.

Later in the afternoon, however, a pair of torpedoes hit the partially repaired Yorktown , and at p. Around p. Over the next several days, U. In return, "Dauntlesses" from Enterprise mortally damaged Hiryu in a strike around that afternoon. The destruction of the Carrier Strike Force compelled Admiral Yamamoto to abandon his Midway invasion plans, and the Japanese Fleet began to retire westward.

During the battle, Japanese destroyers had picked up three U. After interrogation, however, all three Americans were murdered. Both Akagi and Hiryu , damaged the previous day, were scuttled by Japanese destroyers early on the 5th. The last air attacks of the battle took place on 6 June when dive bombers from Enterprise and Hornet bombed and sank heavy cruiser Mikuma , and damaged destroyers Asashio and Arashio ,as well as the cruiser Mogami.

At Admiral Spruance's expressed orders, issued because of the destruction of three torpedo squadrons on 4 June, "Devastators" from VT-6 that accompanied the strike did not attack because of the threat to them from surface antiaircraft fire.

After recovering these planes, TF 16 turned eastward and broke off contact with the enemy. Meanwhile, on the 6th, Japanese submarine I interrupted the U. Screening destroyers depth-charged I but the Japanese submarine escaped destruction. Yorktown , suffering from numerous torpedo hits, finally rolled over and sank at dawn on 7 June. The tender rescued 35 Japanese survivors who, as members of the engineering department deep in the ship, had been left for dead in the abandonment of the carrier.

These were the last survivors of the Battle of Midway to be recovered. Thanks to American signals intelligence, judicious aircraft carrier tactics, and more than a little luck, the U. Navy had inflicted a smashing defeat on the Japanese Navy. Although the performance of the three American carrier air groups would later be considered uneven, their pilots and crew had won the day through courage, determination, and heroic sacrifice. The Japanese lost the four large carriers that had attacked Pearl Harbor, while the Americans only lost one carrier.

More importantly, the Japanese lost over one hundred trained pilots, who could not be replaced. Recognizing this defeat for what it was, Admiral Nagumo's Chief of Staff later wrote: "I felt bitter… I felt like swearing. The balance of sea power in the Pacific shifted from the Japan to an equity between America and Japan. Soon after the Battle of Midway the U. Naval History and Heritage Command. Print Friendly. The Sextant. Social Media. Toggle left navigation Nav.

Toggle navigation Menu. Toggle navigation. Navy Installations Historic Former U. Navy Women in the U.

Navy Hispanic Americans in the U. Navy Contributions of Native Americans to the U. The Navy Department Library. Thanksgiving '22 Nov. I part I Building the Navy's Bases, vol. Army pounder Howitzer No. Monitor and the C. From the Start": The U. Admiral William B. Caperton of the Influenza on Armored Cruiser No. The Influenza Epidemic of by Carla R. Truman to Secretary of the Navy James V. Navy, —Present U. Recollections of Ensign Leonard W. Rickover's Promotion to Admiral [H.

Pamphlet No. Alabama by U. Landing Boats Are Important! Background Info Vocabulary. Midway was an incredibly strategic location; the Imperial Japanese Navy planned to use it to secure their sphere of influence in the Pacific theater of the war. The Japanese had not lost a naval battle in more than 50 years, and had nearly destroy ed the American fleet just six months earlier in a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Pearl Harbor is about 2, kilometers 1, miles east of Midway.

American military and intelligence forces worked together to defeat the Japanese. Code-breakers were able to decipher Japanese naval code , allowing American leaders to anticipate Japanese maneuver s. The U. Navy was then able to launch a surprise attack on the larger Japanese fleet in the area. The Battle of Midway turned the tide of the war.

Japanese and American naval powers were roughly equalized. The war ended three years later, and today the battle is memorialized by such monuments as Chicago Midway International Airport and the Battle of Midway National Memorial. Pacific theater. World War II. More Dates in History January.