Why Japan lost the Battle of Midway 

Just to add, the US torpedo bombers not only drew away and exhausted the Japanese combat air patrol, but more importantly brought the Zeros down to sea level, so they weren't in position to attack the dive bombers at their height before the US planes made their attack dives.

One thing that is over looked in most videos about Midway is that it wasn't so much the loss of the four aircraft carriers , but the loss of the pilots and aircrew . Later in the war Japan was able to build new carriers but was never able to replace the highly skilled veteran aircrew . What replacements that were put aboard were easily shot down .

Lest we forget the acts of incredible heroism by the likes of McClusky, Kleiss, Best, and their comrades. Great men all.

The Japanese planes did not finish off the USS Yorktown, but it was a japanese submarine that did. She was able to stay afloat after being bombed by the japanese. She was, then, being pulled by one of her allied ships, but was hit by a torpedo attack.

Wade McClusky, from Buffalo, NY, made a gutsy call that allowed it all to happen.

Any hardcore history fans going to mention that Yorktown was still afloat after Hiryu's first counter-attack and its damage repair crews did such a good job putting out the fires that the second attack wave mistook it for an untouched carrier, saving Enterprise and Hornet. Even after the second attack it was STILL afloat, they attempted to salvage it but a submarine finally finished the job.

God bless these men. And let us never forget the their sacrifices....we owe these men everything.

Let's not forget Roosevelt. He pushed to start building those carriers in the late thirties.

I love Catalinas/PBYs. They're slow, they're ugly in a way, but they always seem to be in the right place at the right time, like 6:47 and 8:13 of this video and during the hunt for the Bismarck. Only recently have I learned about the "Black Cat" night operations in the Pacific, which increased my love for them even more.

This is the best (and briefest) explanation of the Battle of Midway of those I have watched on RU-vid.

This was such a tremendous event in the war. Thanks for covering it. Well made video. This is also the best narrator in The imperial war museum ❤❤

Montemayor has an excellent set of animated videos showing how Midway proceeded from the Japanese point-of-view, using only the data that Japanese commanders had and showing why they made their decisions on the day.

If you guys are interested. Montemayor has an excellent 3 video series on this Battle. Must see!

Read John Parshalls book on midway it dispells some of the oft repeated myths of this battle.

The real heroes were the codebreakers

That was mesmerising and sobering. The courage on both sides was very evident. I shall have to watch it again to fully grasp how the pendulum of fate was swinging.

The importance of those few minutes on the outcome of the second world war cannot be overstated.

Fletcher and Spruance were the stars of the battle. Fletcher was a battleship man, and Spruance was a cruiser man. Both could remain calm and make the correct decisions under high pressure, which I can assure you is a rare trait. Spruance would go on to command the Battle of the Philippines Sea.

Great content, really clear and accessible

Hearing and reading about this battle never fails to send chills down my spine.

Midway is the most fascinating, stand-alone battle of WWII (yes, I know there are others) and Guadacanal is the greatest campaign of WWII... because ALL of the key battle elements were in play: land, sea, air, scarce replenishment, codebreaking... along with the unknown outcome that tantalizingly seesawed back and forth...

Japan got their Trafalgar but not in the way they wanted......

The US damage control teams are what made a huge difference

John Ford directed two films about the events: 18-minute 1942 Movietone News documentary (released by the War Activities Committee) The Battle of Midway, which received the 1942 Academy Award for Best Documentary; and the eight-minute documentary Torpedo Squadron 8, which describes the heroism of Torpedo Squadron 8 of the USS Hornet. Ford, who was a Navy Reserve commander at the time, was present at Midway Atoll's power plant on Sand Island during the Japanese attack and filmed it. He received combat wounds from enemy fire in his arm during the filming.

For a different angle on this event, there are a couple of videos out there that depict the battle of Midway from the Japanese perspective. What they knew, when they knew it, and how the dynamic nature of the attacks cause decision making that ultimately was their undoing. It does a good job of creating the "fog of war" and lack of information the Japanese commanders had.

Excellent and informative video! Thank you!

Japan, December 7: It seemed like a good idea at the time. Japan, midway: Well, _that_ didn’t turn out the way we thought.

Excellent coverage! Thanks!

Brilliant video expert retelling of one of my favorite stories from ww2. Incredible battle

This is the best illustration of aircraft numbers, types and arrival times on station I have seen. It really clarifies the movements. My father was on a destroyer ranging from the Aleutians to New Guinea. A friend of his is still entombed on the USS Arizona. My mother "strung cables" (electrical?) through P38s in Burbank. 16:02 above the Saratoga must be the Lexington sunk 8 May 1942. A quality presentation.

Correction: 7:30. We have a flying PBY5A here in New Zealand, based at Ardmore. It is more 'original' than the one shown, with no later-modification entry-staircase (Health and Safety requirement?) added to the rear hull (entry is by climbing into an upper hatchway on the forward hull). Been up in her a couple of times. Given the number of PBYs built, I am guessing there are others out there.

Great documentary!

Great video!!

Love that PBY at IWM. It looks very sharp.

So, in a sense, it was a battle of attrition. A very short, intense, violent, chaotic battle of attrition. The torpedo bombers were indeed devastated however they wore down the defenses, letting the dive bombers in. Plus, Nagumo hesitated following doctrine while Fletcher attacked even when unprepared, throwing the Japanese off-balance. iIn the manner of Grant and Patton.

Excellent video.

I very much enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

This battle was of phenomenal importance because it meant that from then on, the Japanese were essentially done at some time in the future. Therefore, the US could concentrate on winning the war in Europe. It probably shortened the war by at least two years and God knows how many casualties.

Read "Shattered Sword" by Parshall and Tully. It gives a picture of the battle from the Japanese perspective. Explains the problems the IJN had with their carrier operations for the entire battle. Essential reading if you want to understand this pivotal battle in the Pacific.

The cameraman always impresses me, being actually able to record this is amazing.

I've always thought the IJN's aims at Midway were very successful. They wanted to force a decisive victor in the Pacific theatre through destruction of aircraft carriers. They forced it alright.

It's just crazy that Pearl Harbor to Midway was exactly-ish 6 months, with Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong, the Philippines conquest, ABDACOM's calamities in Java Sea & everywhere else, the collapse of Indonesian, Malayan, & Singaporean defenses, Burma, Doolittle, the raid on Ceylon, the raid on Sydney Harbor, & Coral Sea all taking place in that stretch (not to mention offensives in China). It's also mind-boggling how much could've been changed if the US Navy spent just a teeny bit more pre-War to test their torpedoes with warheads so that they would've actually worked when launched from subs, ships, & aircraft..

I’ve read exhaustively about this. The consensus, though all opinionated, is that the intelligence in breaking the code was most instrumental in the victory. It was weeks before the news reach all of America. My childhood mentor served in the Army in the war. He had never heard of the Midway battle in his life. When I recounted the story to him, he was 92. I must have told it well. He was mesmerized and asked how come I knew so much about it. LOL

Great video!!! Also often overlooked is the ABSENCE of a possible 5th Japanese aircraft carrier at Midway. The Japanese carrier SHOKAKU was badly damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea but had a relatively intact air group. ZUIKAKU had its air group pretty much destroyed during the same battle. Japanese DOCTRINE at the time did not allow the transfer of one carrier air group to another. Had the Japanese allowed for the transfer of that air group, perhaps ZUIKAKU would have participated at Midway and may have been the deciding factor for victory OR just been a 5th carrier sunk. USS YORKTOWNs air group was virtually destroyed and basically the only trained/combat experienced air group that the US had was from the USS SARATOGA (though most of that combat experience was from the island raids early in the war). SARATOGA, being the torpedo magnet that she was early in the war, sailed to the West Coast for repairs while her air group was flown to Hawaii. SARATOGAs air group was transferred to YORKTOWN making her combat ready as well as the Herculean efforts to repair her. THANKS!!! for at least highlighting that SHOKAKU was badly damaged and had an air group pretty much intact at Coral Sea and that ZUIKAKU was not damaged but had not much of an air group remaining - this is probably one of the very few RU-vid channels that actually mentioned that fact. Also, Japan's belief in the probable sinking of YORKTOWN at Coral Sea may have also been the deciding factor in not adding an additional carrier to their strike group.

Guadalcanal was the pivotal campaign as the IJN had remained as a force to be reckoned with. Midway was important and also psychologically profound for both sides but again, Guadalcanal was the real turning point.

They forgot to mention after the first attack on the Yorktown, the fire control crews did such a good job that on the next wave of attacks the Japanese thought it was an entirely different carrier and attacked it again.

Nimitz kicked Yamamoto’s ass at Midway. He is an American superhero. By the way, my Aunts Maria and Celia worked in a war plant, wiring the cockpits of Army and Navy aircraft. They were tiny enough to crawl into the nose of the airplanes reach into the narrowest space to get the job done. My Uncles Charlie and Mike were in the Navy, but not until the last couple years of the war. My Dad tried repeatedly to enlist but kept getting turned away because he was almost blind in one eye. Thanks for the great job of breaking down the action at Midway. In my opinion, the most important naval battle in history.

My reading is that in face to face combat the Wildcat was superior to the Zero. Once we learned to maximize the Wildcat's strengths, which seems to have happened at Midway, Wildcat's shot down more Zeros than they lost.

In 1942 American torpedoes did not work. At Midway only on torpedo struck and detonated on a Japanese ship.

After researching this battle for years, it’s amazing how successful the battle turned out for America 🇺🇸. I call it fate, because the Japanese wasted time to rearm their planes to attack the US carriers thus giving the American time to attack their carriers. And the planes that sunk the Japanese Carriers got lost at first but with a stroke of fate the found the carriers while their guard was down and sunk all 3 Carriers 🫡🇺🇸

Admirial Yamamoto who planned pearl harbor, said if Japan didnt defeat the US in 6 months they would lose the war, the power shift at midway happened just days before he predicted the shifting of the tide of war.

My dad was a gunner on PBYs in WWII. Lucky for me he didn't see any hostile action.

1. The Aleutian Raids were not a Diversion. They were cover for the invasion of Attu and Kiska. They were part of Naval General Staff Schedule or Timetable for conquest of the Pacific. The NGS had to lean on Combined Fleet (led by Yamamoto) and ask for carriers to support that invasion. In return, Yamamoto could have his Midway plan. This was in part due to success of the Doolittle Raid which nullified all important opposition to Midway plan, (there were discerning voices but they were lower ranks and weren't part of the original plan) 2.If the US carriers (which was meant to be under Halsey) did charge out of Pearl Harbour on the 5th or 6th of June and arrive near Midway, the battle would have been way different. Fletcher and Spriance probably would have been more cautious. They had to cross Japanese submarine picket line which might found, inform Nagumo and Yamamoto and even attack the US TF. With Midway nullified on 4th and 5th of June by Nagumo's carriers, Yamamoto's battleships would have sailed pass Nagumo and been in the Vanguard 50-100 to the east or south, whichever way the US came, either spotting for Nagumo or taking attacks that were designated for Japanese carriers instead. Obviously, Japanese could then attack the US carriers on the 8th or 9th in return 3. Zuikaku missing, firstly it was Japanese doctrine that ships acted as a carrier Division not individual carriers. It worked brillantly thus far with 1 carrier launching its dive bombers and the other torpedo planes for a mixed strike and overwelm a target AA defence. US took nearly the entire war to figure out these advantages. Penny packs cost them at Eastern Solomons and especially Santa Cruz where one coordinated mixed strike could have savaged the lightly defended Japanese 4. the Japanese production lines were lagging already. They literally had no Zeroes Vals or Kates aircraft left in Japan. Ryujo and Junyo were short in their Aleutian raids. Air Group 6 which rode in the 4 carriers, had about 6 or 9 Zeroes from each carrier and were to be based at Midway after its occupation, had to be roped into CAP for Kido Butai on the morning of the 4th. Production problems in April 1942, meant some of pilots in Southern Areas had no replacement planes and some pilots had to sit out daily air operations too, thining out the daily punch IJN air forces could put out and potentially killing off pilots with less planes available meaning less defenders/escorts in raids. Air Group 4's 17 Bettys and Nells were wiped out by Lexington in early February. It took nearly 3 months to get those planes back. The fighters for Rabaul were short too by May. This led to Shokaku and Zuikaku falling behind at Coral Sea as it took 2 days on trying and failing to deliver 9 Zeroes to Rabaul. Because they were now 500 miles (north) behind on their Timetable, Yorktown escaped a Carrier counter attack on the 3rd of May while raiding Tulagi ala Japanese at Midway. How the war could have changed (at least for a year before US peoduction might kicked in) if Japanese had not been short on planes or had stay to their Timetable in Operation MO.

The real turn in the war came when a late 1970's aircraft carrier went through a storm that transferred them back to 1941.

One of the more understated outcomes of the Battle of Midway, beyond the loss of the four Japanese fleet carriers, was the severe losses the IJN suffered in their naval aviator corps. The so many of them were highly trained veterans of actions over China and in air strikes against British holdings in Ceylon (Sri Lanka today). They were the best naval aviators in the world at the time of Pearl Harbor and the Battle of the Coral Sea. So many were lost at Midway that the IJN could not really recover. This was because the Japanese pilot training program was not designed to pump out replacements at the rate needed to man expended carrier air groups. Whereas combat experienced American aviators were rotated home to train new pilots. Many of the IJN squadrons were sent into the South Pacific and operated from Rabaul against American action in and around Guadalcanal, where they experienced more attrition. It became a negative feedback loop they would never recover from.

The US also brought their top film director - John Ford - to Midway to film the attack. THAT is what you are seeing in the Midway attack portions of this video.

The IJN and USN both made considerable use of seaplanes for scouting. Japanese seaplanes were a bit faster and longer range. When it came to scouting at sea, the IJN usually used seaplanes from their cruisers or battleships for scouting, while the USN used SBDs from carriers' "Scouting" squadron, the planes being armed with 500 lb. bombs for use in case they found something (SBDs could carry 1000 lb. bombs). WRT the time when Nagumo was arming/rearming his attack planes, this was done in the hangar decks, not the flight decks. That was IJN doctrine. Because of the piecemeal attacks from Midway and the US torpedo squadrons, Nagumo's flight decks were kept busy refueling and rearming CAP fighters, and the multiple waves had the CAP and ships' AA gunners focused at low altitudes.

The Hornet is an amazing museum in the city of Alameda, CA. I’ve been in it several times, and its shocking how many thousand young men were jammed into it.

From what I understand, the primary purpose of seizing Midway was not to set up a defense position, though that may have been a secondary goal. The primary purpose was to seize Midway and lure the (supposedly) 2 remaining American carriers out to retake the island, where the 4 carriers of the Kido Butai could easily send them to the bottom of the Pacific. With no carriers left in the Pacific, the Japanese reasoned, the US would surely sue for a negotiated peace.

Midway is a clear reminder of how a united, determined America was potent and virtually unstoppable, and could be again. A great moment in our history. Thanks to IWM for the reminder.

I would have thought that Raymond Spruance would have had a mention, at least in passing.

Aircraft carriers are a remarkable thing. I feel they are one of the only vehicles in a war where losing one has a significant impact on the outcome. A nation could lose hundreds of tanks, or planes and it will have little impact overall. However losing a few aircraft carriers cripples their navy.

It doesn't make sense that the Japanese would divide their forces and send two carriers to the Aleutians as diversion while already assuming Yorktown was out of action. Historians should highlight that massive blunder to a greater extent.

The war was over before Midway, Japan lost in production and training. Japan could have kept those carriers, they about to overwhelmed by massive production numbers of carriers, small and large.

Primarily because of inadequate early warning and fighter direction system. Radar and properly shielded radios were big advantages for the US.

Yorktown had been hit, but was repaired enough to remain on station and launched another attack which got the last Japanese carrier, but planes from said carrier managed to hit Yorktown again, not knowing it was the same ship they managed to strike earlier in the day. They thought it was ANOTHER of the Yorktown class. The attack on Yorktown undid all the repair work and it was abandoned by all nonessential personnel and was well on its way back to being repaired enough to be able to make it back to Pearl, but she was attacked by a sub. The attack broke the escorting ship in half and the damage caused by further torpedo hits along with the escort's magazines going up (IIRC), forced the USN to abandon Yorktown. With how good the damage control on the experienced USN carriers was at this point, if they had tried to, they might have actually only just have saved Yorktown, but in the middle of battle it was believed the ship was doomed so she was scuttled.

There are a host of reasons why. Firstly, the Japanese could have brought more power to bear but as was their wont the Midway plan was far more complicated than it need to be. Zuikaku could have taken on Shokaku's air group and joined the Kido Butai. The light carriers joining the pointless demonstration at Alaska could have been there as well. Secondly, Japanese doctrine, always attack attack attack. They could have used carrier bombers as scouting elements but didn't and as a result Japanese scouting was inadequate. Nagumo wasn't a carrier specialist- he fought the battle according to doctrine but somebody like Ozawa would probably have done a better job; the cause was Japanese culture- Nagumo was senior.

1:41 FYI this 45° camera angle in interviews NEVER WORKS

Most conventional battles are won by the side with the most resources, provided it makes the fewest mistakes.

Another consequence of Midway was the air cover that could have changed the Battle of Guadalcanal for the Japanese, was at the bottom of the Pacific.

Drachinifel did a video about Japan's 'special' thinking about damage control and the inflexibility of Japan's naval organisational structure. These factors led to a much lower chance of saving ships that had been hit.

Good god! That purple corduroy jacket with the fur collar is amazing! Oh, and cool video too

The Japanese plan was overly complex...they should have used their small carriers to screen their main force instead of attacking Alaska.

Midway was an object lesson in "Put your toys away when you are done," especially they're the highly explosive kind.

Interesting, but there appears to be no mention of Adm. Spruance, who was in charge of Task Force 16. Later, he was in overall control of the whole fleet after the Yorktown was disabled and Adm. Fletcher had to retire from the action. This story keeps getting retold with a lot of differences regarding the actions of the various players. My impressions was that the actions of Spruance were of greater importance then were Fletcher's, even though Spruance was not an aviator.

Its nice to finally see a description of Midway which gives credit to the actual tactical commander who won the battle, Frank Jack Fletcher.

I never understood why the japanese didn't transfer Shokaku's air wing to Zuikaku to reinforce the midway operation

Well, that’s what happens when you awaken a sleeping giant.

The Midway battle is one of the best examples of the expression "the fog of war". It was like a chess match in which both players could only see half the board.

It’s not just the number of ships, damage control and safety precautions were an advantage the US Navy was better at.

7:33 That is not the only flying Catalina outside of the Americas. Here in New Zealand, we have Catalina Serial No. CV357 built on March 1944 by Canadian Vickers - Reg ZK-PBY. There are also two in Australia, one in the UK, and one in Greece.

Muy buen documental, fantasticos gráficos del movimiento de los escuadrones aéreos de uno y otro bando....enhorabuena desde España....

Before the Yorktown was abandoned, the ship was hit by a Japanese attack; however the damage control teams was was able to get the ship back in the battle. After the main action of the battle they almost salvaged the Yorktown, and were in the process of towing the ship; however a Japanese submarine was able to sneak pass the destroyers and finished the Yorktown off, and sunk the destroyer towing the Yorktown. (Which I believe were the only two American ships lost during the battle)

The attack on the Aleutiandvislands was not a ruse. This is a myth. Finally payback from listening to the Unofficial History of the War in the Pacific. At the time, both Japan and the USA thought that the Aleutians was of strategic value. However the abysmal weather in the area forced them to think otherwise. The Japanese attack on the Aleutian islands, was no a ruse, but a really major mistake.

It really was luck and chance that won us the battle. Of course, the absolutely dedicated attack from ALL pilots on the U.S. side, whether torpedo or dive bomber, was what really drove it home. But, so much luck played a role, the destroyer that chased off the US Submarine and was returning to the fleet, leading back an entire group of American aircraft to the fleet. The Japanese CAP being too high to engage the incoming second wave coming from different directions etc. The decision for those commanders to push past their halfway fuel mark, essentially dooming every pilot under their command to at best, a ditch landing. Some of the bravest actions of the war.

To be honest, even if US were to lose the Battle of Midway, in the grand scheme of things it would’ve mattered little. At the height of its might, US was launching a carrier every month. Every month! Yes Japan knew a prolonged fight with US was impossible but what they didn’t understand is how profitable a war is for a capitalist society if the mainland is not under attack in any form or shape. Japan lost the war the moment they attacked Pearl Harbor. Even without the atomic bombs all US had to do is to put a naval blockade on Japan’s mainland with that mighty navy and wait until resource poor Japan to crumble in a year or two. Sure Japan’s resolve was high but more people would’ve died in the ensuing famine under blockade than they died after atomic bombs. Think about millions not thousands.

Admiral Farragut and Mahan would have been proud.

If that was Canadian Vickers it's PBV. 7:14 Consolidated was PBY Such a good plane.

Another great video for you guys! When i will have a trip to UK, i will make sure to visit the Imperial War Museum

Understated is how military intelligence is what really determined the outcome of the war, both with Japan and with the Nazis.

Excellent summary of the battle of Midway, one of the best I have seen. Well done.

I wouldn't call it the turning point but it certainly made the turning point possible; The Solomon Islands were the meat grinder that finished Japan.

Umm there's also a flying Catalina here in new Zealand. You can go for flights in it, it lives at new Plymouth airport.

Japanese hubris is what doomed them. They conducted sloppy recon around the fleet and never kept two carriers in full reserve with fighters to protect the fleet in case of naval attack. The raid on Midway was a total waste as the aircraft stationed there had already been withdrawn. But the crucial factor is intelligence. The US already knew when Japan was to attack and timed the launch of its planes just as the Japanese Midway raiders were returning. Admiral Yamaguchi senselessly sacrificed the Hiryu in suicidal attacks and worse, went down with his ship depriving the IJN of competent leadership. When Bushido is your prime military tactic you are bound to lose, especially with flimsy planes and a total disregard for the lives of your valuable human assets.

Great video as always o7

Cool

My Dad was a WAG on a Canadian Catalina. They were the greatest generation for sure.

Soryy, but Adm. Fletcher didn't do a thing at Midway. His sole contribution to the victory was telling Spruence "I shall conform to your movements" when he lost the the Yorktown. Taskforce 16 under Admiral Spruence who won the battle.

Interesting side note to this battle. I was watching a NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) program on the battle with three Japanese experts and a moderator. They reviewed the reasons for Japan's loss at this battle. One of the experts was a university professor (I apologize for not recalling more). He related that after the battle (which was announced as a great victory to the Japanese people), the Japanese Imperial Army smelled a rat (those American carriers just happened to be there coincidentally?). They surmised that the Japanese Imperial Navy cypher had been broken by the Americans and to prove it went about decrypting the naval cypher themselves. They succeeded and told the Navy that they had done so. The Navy said "Thank you" and promptly disregarded the Army report (putting it in the "round file" so to speak). Talk about inter-service rivalry, the relationship between the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy was somewhere between contempt and hate. One of the reasons they stood no chance in winning this war. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto always thought that the only way Japan could win a war against the United States was to "blow them out of the ring before the bell even rang." I always believed that he knew he had blown his one chance to do so when he found out that there were no American carriers anchored in Pearl Harbor on December 7. Hence the complicated Midway plan.

What plames are in the thumbnail? F-82E?