The Battle of Midway was and is the most overlooked battle during WWII. This paper is going to explain how the nine principles of war were used during the victory at the Battle of Midway based on the experiences of the American Navy. The Battle of Midway happened only 6 short months after the bombing of Peal Harbor had taken place, however this was not considered at the time a counterstrike against the Japanese. This would take place at a much later date, August 6, 1945, to be exact. The bombing of Pearl Harbor would be avenged by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But this is not a paper telling of those major battles; this is paper is to describe the bravery and the pure intelligence the American Navy used in winning one of the most influential …show more content…
The Japanese Imperial Navy had managed to eliminate most of the obstacles in the Pacific Ocean. Tensions were becoming high in the Pacific and the only thing that stood between the Japanese Imperial Navy and the coast of the United States was the American Navy. Luckily the American Navy had a little help to decode the Japanese naval codes, which helped in the upsetting victory at the Battle of Midway. The goals were clear and precise in that the American forces were badly outnumbered and they had suffered major losses at Pearl Harbor. Although the mission was carried out completely at sea, there had been some major advantages on our side to help carry us into victory. But before we get to how the battle was won we need to discuss the thought process that was taken to ensure that victory was inevitable. The commander of the American Pacific Naval Fleet was Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. He (Admiral Nimitz) rose to become one of only four Admirals to ever reach the five star Fleet Admiral rank so we can bet that with this mans credentials and background history there is more going on in his head than we will ever know about. He was not promoted to this high of a ranking until after the bombing at Pearl …show more content…
This is where Admiral Chester Nimitz really showed his intelligence and his character while being in charge. He seemed to have kept his cool during the entire operation/battle. And although he himself was not actually at the battle his bravery and sense of urgency was as though he was seeing the battle first hand when giving his orders to his men. The Admiral is one of only four other people in military history to ever make the rank of a five star admiral. His credentials alone consider him one of the most famous and influential people ever in the American Military
This ultimately showed that Marines would prevail, regardless of cost, even when called to serve in places far outside of their traditional roles, and despite having every reason to stop and reconsider the wisdom of what they had been tasked to
This was a well-earned victory for the US, all of the countless hours of decoding the Japanese naval code was well worth it in the end, because without the intelligence provided to the Pacific fleet the outcome of the war could have been substantially different. Throughout the battle we saw the importance of aircraft in naval battles. They were of great importance to ships due to their ability to spot upcoming subs, bomb enemy ships, and shoot down other enemy aircraft as well. This battle was a major turning point in the war in the Pacific, but it was also a major eye opener to the navy about the importance of aircraft and intelligence. Without these two things we easily could’ve lost the war in the Pacific, but it all goes back to the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor.
The battle of midway was a major battle in the pacific ocean during world war 2 that involved the united states and japan. This was a major turning point that gave the united states there first win against Japan after taking major loss in pearl harbor. The united states was able to break the code of the Japanese and send a fake massage for a ambush in midway.(Benson, Sonia,) The significances of the battle of midway were using cryptography and was the first battle aircraft carriers were used in and was the first win for the united states against japan. Using cryptography the united states was able to break the code that the japanese would use to communicate and send messages through.
The Japanese sunk five of our eight battleships, all three of our destroyer ships, destroyed 200 of our aircrafts, and killed 2,400 of our brave American Troops. On the other side of things, the Japanese suffered little damage, “Japan’s losses were some 30 planes, five midget submarines, and fewer than 100 men” (“Pearl”). This quote proves how one-sided this attack was. Fortunately for the U.S, we were able to revive the USS Oklahoma, USS California, USS West Virginia, USS Maryland, USS Pennsylvania, USS Tennessee and USS Nevada, but these ships still sustained significant damage. Finally, it is clearly evident that Japan’s plan to destroy America's pacific fleet was successful, due to the damage that it did to our ships and
These code breakers sent the information, from all the time consuming, hard work to the heads of the war department in Hawaii and it was then that battle for Midway had been forced on them and they had to defend it at all costs. As the Japanese were planning their attack on Midway, they were under the assumption that it would not be guarded with aircraft carriers and battleships. The American Pacific Fleet, utilizing the information gleaned from their cryptographers, planned a monumental defense. Admiral Nimitz and Commander Fletcher were in command of the defense of Midway carrying out their orders they placed carriers, destroyers, their many other viable ships and resources strategically around the island; waiting for the advancing Japanese Navy. The battle took four long days with the losses to the Americans in ships and personnel was minimal, but the Japanese were hit with a tremendous blow of four carriers, numerous other ships, over two
The Battle of Midway was fought almost entirely with aircrafts. The battle began on June 3, 1942, when U.S. bombers from Midway Island struck at the Japanese invasion force about 220 miles southwest of the U.S. fleet. The U.S. planes quickly sank three of the heavy Japanese carriers and one heavy cruiser. Analysts often point to Japanese aircraft losses at Midway as eliminating the power of the Imperial Navy’s air arm, but in fact about two-thirds of air crews survived. The Battle of Midway brought the Pacific naval forces of Japan and the United States to approximate parity and marked a turning point of the military struggle between the two
This Battle was the culmination of 4,000 miles of ocean, and more than three years of war that separated Okinawa from Pearl Harbor. In 1942 and 1943 the Americans had contained the enemy and thrown him back; in 1944 their attack gathered momentum, and a series of fierce island campaigns carried them toward the Japanese inner stronghold in great strides. The ultimate goal of American operations in the Pacific was the industrial heart of Japan, along the southern shores of Honshu between the Tokyo plain and Shimonoseki. American strategy aimed to reach this
They completed their desire and made themselves look strong (at the moment) and killed many Americans. But in the end, the United States went and declared war on Japan, and the United States had won the WWII war. Japan may have looked strong for a while and they may have had Germany and Italy as their allies, but the United States came back with Great Britain, France, and Russia. So, in all, there is an agreement with President Franklin D. Roosevelt that they day Pearl Harbor attack will be “a day which will live in infamy” and hopefully the readers agree as well, and received the answers to the questions they had on why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. An interesting fact is two of the battleships were eventually repaired that they were able to return to the U.S. Navy’s fleet, these two resurrected battleships were the U.S.S West Virginia and the U.S.S California and they completely sank, but they were repaired and
One of the most amazing naval victories to ever occur was the American victory at Midway. Four Japanese carriers were lost in comparison to the one carrier lost by the Americans, and thousands of Japanese were dead compared to around three hundred dead Americans. Midway island defended against a massive Japanese fleet, compared to the American fleet. The United States Navy trapped Japanese forces at Midway and caused the most decisive battle in its history. Midway Island played more of an important role in the Pacific campaign than anyone could have known.
Rough Draft #1 Battle of the Coral Sea was an air and naval engagement between the U.S. fleet and Japanese invasion force. “It was the world’s first all-carrier battle, and the first sea battle which neither side could see each other” (Pacific Aviation). The Battle of the Coral Sea helped the Battle of Midway (occurred on the following month)by destroying 2 Japanese carrier ships (Shokaku and Zuikaku.) The battle thwarted the invasion of Port Moresby to July 3 1942 (until the Battle of Midway settle the invasion). Japanese forces had been planning to invade Port Moresby in New Guinea.
Many battles were fought over Pacific islands as the U.S. tried to seize back control of the Pacific and ensure the victory over the Axis Powers. The production of newly advanced aerial and naval military craft helped the United States defeat Japan during World War II. Japan attacked over the Pacific Ocean by using their superior aircraft carriers to block and counter strike the U.S. and Allied forces. Japan war commissioner commissioned a new project to influence japan's authority over by use of their deadly destroyers and surgical attacks by their Navy. The article aircraft carrier (2018) states, “The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor by carrier-based planes on December
Political leadership, military strategy, organizational capacity, fighting skills and effectiveness, technology, mass production, resources, ideology, and morale, all were essential factors that influenced the war victory. The war at sea saw mainly the US and Japan competing in the Pacific and the US and Great Britain competing against Germany in the Atlantic. The offensiveness of the Japanese Empire could be contained and defeated by the US only after the fortunate victory of Midway in 1942 and the following buildup of an overwhelming superiority of the American forces. In the Atlantic, the German U-boats inflicted embarrassing losses to the British and American Navies. Only technological improvements and effective adaptation of the tactics (naval convoy tactics and dedicated anti-submarine airplane) allowed the Allies to recover the situation, regaining control of the sea.
Fuchida brought up the question of “what should we have done that we did not and why did we fail?” Ironically as it may have been, it was said that the Midway Islands would post the greatest threat to American naval power in the Pacific.” Yet, somehow the American naval power won the battle in the pacific. Fuchida blamed that the plans for the operation were studied and drawn up by the Combined Fleet Headquarters and the Naval General Staff in Tokyo. Fuchida said that Admiral Yamamoto did not want his fleet commanders, whose energies were fully occupied with the conduct of the first-phase operations in so many far-flung theaters, to be bothered by other
Japan’s fleet of ships managed to stay undetected throughout the journey to Hawaii that began in November of 1941. Braving gales, high seas, and fog, the fleet took a far-northern course beyond range of island-based U.S. patrol planes, and remote from shipping lanes. Should and American merchantman be encountered, orders were explicit and ruthless--sink it on sight, before it could radio an alarm (“The Secret Weapons”). Thus if the U.S. would have had the technology to find out about these weapons sooner, Pearl Harbor could have been
There are four battles that as a whole make up the Battle of Leyte Gulf : Battle of Sibuyan Sea, Battle of Surigao Strait, Battle of Cape Engano and Battle of Samar. After General MacArthur’s arrival, Japan went on the defensive and constructed the Sho-Go or Operation Victory. Their goal was to “decoy the U.S. Third Fleet north away from the San Bernardino Strait, while converging three forces on Leyte Gulf to attack the landing” (Britannica). Once this was