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Midway, 4–7 June 1942

In June 1942 Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto sent most of the Combined Fleet against Midway Atoll, 1,100 nautical miles north-west of Pearl Harbor. He meant to seize the atoll and draw out the US Pacific Fleet to destroy it. US Navy codebreakers had read enough of the plan for Admiral Chester Nimitz to place three carriers, Enterprise, Hornet and the hastily repaired Yorktown, north-east of Midway. In about six minutes on the morning of 4 June, dive bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown wrecked three of Vice Admiral Nagumo's four fleet carriers. The fourth, Hiryu, crippled Yorktown before she too was caught that afternoon. Japan lost four carriers and the heavy cruiser Mikuma; the United States lost Yorktown and the destroyer Hammann. This is the atlas's first ocean-scale battle. Its fleet positions combine US action reports, Japanese sinking positions and wreck finds with plotted estimates. The sources disagree by tens of miles, so treat the Japanese tracks before 10:22 and most positions away from the wrecks as approximate. Times are Midway local time; Japanese records used Tokyo time, 21 hours ahead.

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Dauntlesses over the burning Mikuma
Dauntlesses over the burning Mikuma — U.S. Navy photo (NHHC) - public domain

The battle, stage by stage

  1. 3 June

    The transports are sighted

    At 09:25 Ensign Jack Reid's PBY Catalina, 700 nautical miles out from Midway on bearing 261, reported the 'main body'. It was in fact Tanaka's transport group carrying the Midway landing force. Army B-17s from Midway bombed it that afternoon without hitting anything. Nagumo's four carriers were still unseen, coming in through fog from the north-west. Yamamoto's battleships followed some 300 nm behind them. Warned by codebreaking, the three US carriers were waiting north-east of Midway. They had met at 'Point Luck' on 2 June. Positions are approximate except the carriers' evening position and Reid's bearing and distance.

  2. 04:30

    Nagumo launches on Midway

    Before dawn the Kido Butai was about 240 nm north-west of Midway. It launched Lt. Joichi Tomonaga's strike: 108 aircraft, 36 each of dive bombers, torpedo bombers and fighters, with the torpedo bombers carrying bombs. Seven floatplanes went out on the morning search. Tone's No. 4 plane, which flew the leg that would find the Americans, was launched about 30 minutes late. Spruance's TF16 was at its rendezvous of 31 30N 176 30W, with Fletcher's TF17 close by. At 05:34 a Midway PBY reported carriers, and at 05:52 it reported 'two carriers and battleships, bearing 320, 180 miles'.

  3. 06:30

    The air raid on Midway

    Radar picked up the raid at 05:53. Twenty-five Marine fighters of VMF-221 (Maj. Floyd Parks), mostly Buffaloes with a few Wildcats, met it about 30 miles out at 06:16 and were shot to pieces: only 10 came back and 2 could fly again. From 06:30 the bombers hit both islands. On Sand Island the seaplane hangars burned and the oil tanks to their north were set alight. On Eastern Island bombs wrecked the powerhouse, the mess hall and the post exchange, and a hit on the Marine command post killed Maj. William Benson. The 6th Defense Battalion's guns fired throughout. The runways were left usable, and Tomonaga radioed at 07:00 that 'there is need for a second attack'. Battery and building positions here are placed from written descriptions to about 300 m; the two airfield points are fixed.

  4. 07:00-08:20

    Midway strikes back; Spruance launches

    Midway's own aircraft attacked the Kido Butai one group after another: six new TBF Avengers and four torpedo-armed B-26s at about 07:10, Maj. Lofton Henderson's 16 SBDs of VMSB-241 at 07:55, 15 high-level B-17s at about 08:10, and Maj. Benjamin Norris's 11 old SB2U Vindicators at about 08:20. They scored no hits and many were shot down, Henderson among them. They did keep Nagumo's decks busy. At about 07:00 Spruance launched early from TF16, putting up 116 aircraft by about 07:55. He accepted a long range (about 155 nm) to strike first. Nagumo ordered the reserve aircraft rearmed with bombs for a second Midway strike. Then Tone No. 4 reported US ships at 07:28 (received about 07:40) and, at 08:20, 'what appears to be a carrier'.

  5. 08:38-09:17

    Fletcher launches; Nagumo turns north-east

    Nagumo faced a dilemma. He had to recover Tomonaga's returning strike and the planes on his flight decks were rearming. He chose to recover first and then strike the US ships with a full, properly armed blow. Fletcher held Yorktown back until 08:38, then launched 17 SBDs of VB-3, 12 TBDs of VT-3 and 6 fighters, keeping VS-5 in reserve. At 09:17 the Kido Butai finished recovering and turned to about 070 to close the Americans. Hornet's air group, flying a course of about 265, would miss it entirely. Japanese positions in this stage are back-plotted and approximate.

  6. 09:20-10:20

    The torpedo squadrons are cut down

    The TBD Devastator squadrons arrived one after another with little fighter cover. At about 09:20 Waldron's VT-8 from Hornet attacked first: all 15 were shot down and only Ens. George Gay survived. Lindsey's VT-6 from Enterprise followed at about 09:40 and lost 10 of 14. Massey's VT-3 from Yorktown, with six Wildcats under Lt. Cdr. John Thach, came in around 10:00-10:10 and lost 10 of 12. No torpedo hit. But the attacks pulled the Zero combat air patrol down to sea level and to the south-east. They also kept the Japanese carriers turning hard and unable to launch.

  7. 10:22

    Six minutes: Kaga, Akagi and Soryu are wrecked

    Lt. Cdr. Wade McClusky found nothing at the expected intercept. He turned north-west, then followed the destroyer Arashi as she hurried north-east after chasing the submarine Nautilus. At 10:22 his Enterprise SBDs came in from the south-west and split. Most dived on Kaga, which took four or five hits. Lt. Richard Best's three-plane section dived on Akagi: one 1,000-lb bomb set off fueled and armed aircraft in her hangar, and a near miss jammed her rudder. At the same moment Lt. Cdr. Maxwell Leslie's VB-3 from Yorktown hit Soryu three times from the east. Within minutes all three carriers were burning beyond saving. Hiryu, farther north under cloud, was missed. The formation is placed between the Japanese-recorded sinking positions. The US estimate at the time (30 05N 178 50W) is about 25 nm farther south-east.

  8. 12:00-14:40

    Hiryu strikes back at Yorktown

    Rear Adm. Yamaguchi's Hiryu launched alone. Lt. Michio Kobayashi's 18 dive bombers and 6 Zeros found Yorktown at about 12:00 and hit her with three bombs. Her radar had picked them up on bearing 250 at 46 miles. Yorktown was dead in the water for a time, then repaired and made about 19 knots again. Tomonaga, with 10 torpedo planes and 6 Zeros, launched at about 13:30 and reached her at about 14:40. Mistaking the patched Yorktown for a second, undamaged carrier, his planes put two torpedoes into her port side, and Tomonaga himself was shot down. She listed 26 degrees and was abandoned. At 14:45 Lt. Sam Adams of VS-5 sighted Hiryu at 31 15N 179 05W. TF16 was 20-30 miles to the south-east. Yorktown's position is approximate.

  9. 17:00

    Hiryu is caught

    At about 15:30 Enterprise launched 24 SBDs under Lt. Wilmer Earl Gallaher, 10 of them Yorktown's VB-3 refugees. At about 17:00, at 31 40N 179 10W by Enterprise's report, they hit Hiryu four or five times from out of the sun. Her forward elevator was blown against the island. Hornet's late strike and B-17s from Midway hit nothing. That evening Soryu sank at about 19:13 and Kaga at 19:25, Kaga after torpedoes from Hagikaze. Akagi drifted, abandoned. Spruance turned east for the night rather than risk a night surface action with Yamamoto's battleships. Sinking positions are from Japanese records and sit 10-20 nm west of the 10:22 formation. That gap is navigation error between sources, not movement.

  10. 5 June

    Withdrawal: Akagi and Hiryu go down; Mogami rams Mikuma

    Yamamoto called off the operation at about 00:15 (02:55 on 5 June, Tokyo time). Cruiser Division 7 had been sent to shell Midway. It was about 90 miles west of the atoll and turning back when the submarine Tambor was sighted at about 02:15, and in the emergency turn Mogami rammed Mikuma. Japanese destroyers scuttled Akagi at about 05:20 and torpedoed Hiryu at 05:10. Hiryu sank at about 09:12, and Yamaguchi chose to go down with her. Marine SBDs and SB2Us from Midway attacked the two damaged cruisers at about 08:05: Capt. Richard Fleming was killed, and his burning plane struck near Mikuma's after turret. Spruance pursued to the north-west and found little. Yorktown, still afloat, was taken under tow.

  11. 6-7 June

    Mikuma sunk; I-168 finishes Yorktown

    On 6 June Enterprise and Hornet launched three strikes south-west against the two damaged cruisers. The first contact was reported at 29 33N 174 50E. Mogami was hit and escaped. Mikuma was wrecked by bombs and her own torpedoes, and the famous photographs of her were taken at 17:15 at 29 28N 173 11E. She sank that evening with heavy loss of life. Far to the east, at 13:36 Lt. Cdr. Yahachi Tanabe's I-168 slipped through the screen around the salvaged Yorktown. He hit her with two torpedoes, and one broke the back of the destroyer Hammann, alongside. Hammann sank in four minutes. Yorktown rolled over and sank at about 05:01 on 7 June (07:01 in the ship's zone +10 time), near 30 36N 176 34W where Robert Ballard found her in 1998. Spruance turned for home that evening.

Weapons

Douglas SBD Dauntless

Douglas SBD Dauntless

Carrier dive bomber · 1940–1945

DOPE HISTORY — Five minutes at 10:22: Between about 10:22 and 10:26, dive bombers led by Wade McClusky from Enterprise and Max Leslie from Yorktown arrived over the Japanese carriers just as their decks were crowded with armed and fuelled aircraft. Kaga, Akagi and Soryu were left burning wrecks.

A slow, rugged two-seat dive bomber that put its bomb almost straight down onto a ship from a 70-degree dive. At Midway Dauntlesses from Enterprise and Yorktown sank or fatally damaged all four Japanese carriers.

Bomb load
one 1,000 lb bomb (plus small wing bombs)
Crew
pilot and radioman-gunner
Dive
near-vertical at about 70°, perforated dive flaps
Photo: U.S. Navy · Public domain

Imperial Japanese Navy

Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero

Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero

Carrier fighter · 1940–1945

At Midway: Nagumo's combat air patrol of Zeros shot down most of the American torpedo planes and Midway's attackers, but was pulled down to sea level doing it, leaving the sky above open.

The Zero outclimbed and outturned every American fighter of 1942 and gave Japan control of the air in the Pacific's first six months. Its light build and lack of armour and self-sealing tanks were the price.

Armament
two 20 mm cannon, two 7.7 mm machine guns
Range
about 1,600 nm with drop tank
Strength
exceptional climb and turn, little armour
Photo: NACA (the captured Akutan Zero, 1943) · Public domain

US Navy and Marines

Douglas SBD Dauntless

Douglas SBD Dauntless

Carrier dive bomber · 1940–1945

At Midway: Dauntlesses from Enterprise and Yorktown wrecked Kaga, Akagi and Soryu in the morning and Hiryu that afternoon.

A slow, rugged two-seat dive bomber that put its bomb almost straight down onto a ship from a 70-degree dive. At Midway Dauntlesses from Enterprise and Yorktown sank or fatally damaged all four Japanese carriers.

Bomb load
one 1,000 lb bomb (plus small wing bombs)
Crew
pilot and radioman-gunner
Dive
near-vertical at about 70°, perforated dive flaps
Photo: U.S. Navy · Public domain
Douglas TBD Devastator

Douglas TBD Devastator

Carrier torpedo bomber · 1937–1942

At Midway: Torpedo Squadrons 8, 6 and 3 attacked first and were almost wiped out without scoring a hit; of VT-8's fifteen planes, only Ensign George Gay survived.

Already obsolete in 1942. To drop its unreliable Mark 13 torpedo the Devastator had to fly low, slow and straight, which made it an easy target for fighters and anti-aircraft guns.

Weapon
one Mark 13 aerial torpedo
Crew
three
Attack speed
about 100–110 knots for the torpedo run
Photo: U.S. Navy (80-G-21668) · Public domain

Paintings and photographs

Dauntlesses over the burning Mikuma
Dauntlesses over the burning Mikuma SBD dive bombers from Hornet pass over the burning heavy cruiser Mikuma on 6 June 1942. U.S. Navy photo (NHHC) - public domain · source
Mikuma wrecked, 6 June
Mikuma wrecked, 6 June Mikuma photographed from an Enterprise SBD on the afternoon of 6 June 1942, shortly before she sank. U.S. Navy photo (NHHC) - public domain · source
Hiryu adrift and burning
Hiryu adrift and burning Hiryu, adrift and burning early on 5 June 1942, photographed by a plane from the light carrier Hosho. Her forward flight deck is wrecked. Imperial Japanese Navy photo, via U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command (NH 73065) - public domain · source
Yorktown hit by a torpedo
Yorktown hit by a torpedo Yorktown is hit by an aerial torpedo from Hiryu's second strike on the afternoon of 4 June 1942. U.S. Navy photo (NHHC) - public domain · source

Sources and method

Battle of Midway, 4-7 June 1942. Times are Midway local (zone +12). US action reports used zone +10 and Japanese records Tokyo time (+21 h); both are converted here.

Positions. US ship and contact positions come from the Naval History and Heritage Command transcriptions of the Enterprise (CV-6), Yorktown (CV-5), Hornet (CV-8) and Task Force 16 action reports. They supply TF16's 3 June evening position and its 4 June rendezvous, the 10:22 attack position, Adams' 14:45 sighting of Hiryu, the 17:05 Hiryu attack, and the 6 June contacts with Mogami and Mikuma. Japanese sinking positions are from the Wikipedia ship articles and the combinedfleet.com Tabular Records of Movement: Kaga, Soryu and Akagi, Hiryu, and Mikuma (29 28N 173 11E, also given as 29 20N 173 30E). Yorktown's wreck position is from Robert Ballard's 1998 discovery. The RV Petrel found Kaga (16 Oct 2019) and Akagi (20 Oct 2019) at about 5,400 m inside Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (NOAA). Exact wreck coordinates were not published, so the landmarks use the sinking positions. Midway's airfields are from Pacific Wrecks (Sand Island seaplane base) and Wikipedia (Henderson Field, Eastern Island).

Narrative and times. Robert J. Cressman et al., A Glorious Page in Our History (1990); Lt. Col. R. D. Heinl, Marines at Midway (USMC Historical Section, 1948) and History of US Marine Corps Operations in WWII, vol. I, Part V, for the raid on Midway and the Marine attacks; NHHC H-Gram 006; Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully, Shattered Sword (2005); John B. Lundstrom, The First Team (1984) and Black Shoe Carrier Admiral (2006); the Naval War College analysis (1948); Wikipedia, Battle of Midway.

What is estimated. Back-plotted or schematic, not from a primary source: the Kido Butai's track before 10:22, the 10:22 formation (placed between the Japanese sinking positions; the US estimate is about 25 nm south-east), TF16 at 07:00, 12:00 and 15:30, Yorktown's 4 June position, the 5 June positions, and all of Yamamoto's, Kondo's, Tanaka's and Kurita's forces. Midway ground positions other than the airfields come from written descriptions, to about 300 m. Photographs are US Navy or Japanese Navy images in the public domain via NHHC and Wikimedia Commons.

Where the positions come from

Approximate locations