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Battle of Midway

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Battle of Midway
At 04:30 on June 4, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, commanding the Japanese carriers, launched 108 planes to attack Midway Island, as well as seven scout planes to locate the American fleet. Brushing aside the island 's small force of fighters, the Japanese planes pounded Midway 's installations. While returning to the carriers, the strike leaders recommended a second attack. In reponse, Nagumo ordered his reserve aircraft, which had been armed with torpedoes, to be rearmed with bombs. After this process had commenced, a scout plane from the cruiser Tone reported locating the American fleet.
Upon receiving this news, Nagumo reversed his rearmament order. As a result, the hangar decks of the Japanese carriers were full of bombs, torpedoes, and fuel lines as ground crews scrambled to reequip the aircraft. As Nagumo vacillated, the first of Fletcher 's planes arrived over the Japanese fleet. Armed with sighting reports from scout planes, Fletcher had begun launching his aircraft at 07:00. The first squadrons to arrive were the TBD Devastator torpedo bombers from Hornet (VT-8) and Enterprise (VT-6). Attacking at low level, they failed to score a hit and suffered heavy casualties.
Battle of Midway - Aftermath:
On the night of June 4th, both sides retired to plan their next move. By 02:55, Yamamoto ordered his fleet to return to base. In the following days, American aircraft sunk the cruiser Mikuma, while the Japanese submarine I-168 torpedoed and sank the disabled Yorktown. The defeat at Midway broke the back of the Japanese carrier fleet and resulted in the loss of invaluable air crews. It also marked the end of major Japanese offensive operations as the initiative passed to the Americans. That August, US Marines landed on Guadalcanal and began the long march to Tokyo.

Works Cited
"Battle of Midway." Naval History and Heritage Command. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. <http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/midway/midway.htm>.
"Battle of Midway."


Cited: "Battle of Midway." Naval History and Heritage Command. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/midway/midway.htm&gt;. "Battle of Midway." History Learning Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_midway.htm&gt;. "Battle of Midway — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." History.com — History Made Every Day — American &amp; World History. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://www.history.com/topics/battle-of-midway&gt;. Lambert, Andrew. "BBC - History - World Wars: The Battle of Midway." BBC - Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/battle_midway_01.shtml&gt;. "The Battle of Midway, 1942." EyeWitness to History - history through the eyes of those who lived it. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. &lt;http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/midway.htm&gt;. MLA formatting by BibMe.org.
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