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19. Disaster Strikes the Japanese (Part 2)
On the morning of June 4th, 1942, Japanese carrier warplanes raided Midway. Significant damage was inflicted, but a second strike was necessary. While readying their airplanes, the Japanese discovered that American carriers were nearby. Midway dead-ended and destroying aircraft carriers became increasingly important. So orders were given to switch the airplanes’ munitions from ground attack bombs to anti-ship bombs and torpedoes. While that continued, the American carriers launched their own strike. First to arrive were Devastator torpedo bombers: slow planes that flew low, steady, and straight, to launch their torpedoes. 41 Devastators attacked the Japanese carriers without fighter escort. 35 went down, without scoring a hit. The Japanese resumed refueling and rearming their planes to strike the American carriers. While the American torpedo bombers got slaughtered, a flight of American Dauntless dive bombers went in. The American bombers failed and went down while trying to locate the Japanese.
Following the Bread Crumbs to the Enemy
Although near the point beyond which their fuel would be insufficient to make it back to their carriers, their commander, Wade McClusky, kept going. He was rewarded by spotting a lone Japanese destroyer below. Guessing that it was heading to rejoin its fleet, he used its wake as an arrow that led him to the Japanese fleet. It was caught at the worst possible time for an attack from dive bombers. The carriers were rearming and refueling, so their decks were full of bombs and torpedoes and gas. There was also no fighter protection – the Japanese fighters had gone down to intercept and destroy the torpedo bombers that had attacked at low level. They had not regained altitude, when the American dive bombers showed up high above and dove down. Within 5 minutes, 3 of the 4 Japanese aircraft carriers were burning. The fourth was sunk later that day. It turned the tide in the Pacific, and dealt the Japanese a defeat from which they never fully recovered.