Battle of Midway: USN Attacks

Key details: 1) modified torpedo to float in at 12-feet under water. 2) map out the road to and back and forth. 3) Japanese Navy officer stressed to declare war before attack, but Jap. Embassy did one hour after its attack! (above - for video clip)

Another misleading scene. Japanese did mistook the decomissioned turretless USS Utah on the other side of the Ford Island as an aircraft carrier and attacked it with bombs and torpedoes. Yamamoto at first believed that at least one carrier was sunk and was overjoyed, throwing away his second cigarette that he was smoking at the time and congratulated his colleagues. It was much later that he discovered that that was not the carrier that he thought was sunk.

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American fight spirit -- Japs. mis-judgment "                          

 

Caseyorourke6 days ago

What gets me was the Japanese belief that attacking and destroying the Pacific fleet would sap the American people's will to fight and sue for peace. Yamamato lived and studied in the US. He saw first hand the untapped potential of America's industrial capacity. He also should have learned enough about the American people to know that as long as a fight or conflict does not involve them, they will ignore it, but the second a fight affects them, they will jump in and fight tooth and nail. Add into the mess an action that can be perceived as a sucker punch, and any thoughts of your opponent not having the will to fight goes right out the window.

Tom Morton3 weeks ago

We all know the final outcome of this event, but an interesting thought is this: had the carriers been in Pearl, had the U.S. knew war had been declared, had the U.S. Navy sailed, had the planes been in the air... In my opinion the outcome might not have been that different. Think of MacArthur on Corrigedor: "our tails are in the air". Clark Air Base was hit badly. The Japanese must have known that this was a one off that they could not win.

** any evidence for this? "

Colonel Radec1 month ago

The US State Dept. had over a week's notice that the Japanese armada was en route to Hawaii. FDR did nothing because he wanted an overt attack to galvanize Americans against the Axis. For years he had already colluded with the UK and USSR (in the Pacific AND Atlantic) as well as freezing Japanese foreign accounts in the US.

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Pi C3 weeks ago

US Navy carrier Enterprise WAS supposed to be in Pearl Harbor that fateful morning. Enterprise was on its was to Pearl Harbor the day before when an escorting destroyer (1400 ton) accidentally dropped a refueling line while refueling. And this refueling line got tangled up in the propeller of a cruiser also in the escorting group. It took hours for navy divers to untangle that hose from the screw of the cruiser. And this resulted in Enterprise not being in Pearl Harbor that morning. So the lesson is, even amateurish incompetence sometimes helps.



Academy War Film Collection: The Battle of Midway

Note: 20 years ago, James D. told me about this, but didn't see until now.

 

Published on Nov 11, 2015

Shot in color by U.S. naval cameramen, including Commander John Ford with his handheld 16mm camera, "The Battle of Midway" is the quintessential example of a wartime combat documentary. It is a stunning visual record of the U.S.'s vital win in the Pacific, with moving narration describing the sacrifices that come with victory.

Recipient of a 1942 Special Award for "the historical value of its achievement in offering a camera record of one of the decisive battles of the world -- a record unique both for the courage of those who made it under fire, and for its magnificent portrayal of the gallantry of our armed forces in battle."

Learn more about the Academy War Film Collection by clicking the following link http://www.oscars.org/film-archive/co...

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