THE%20BATTLE%20OF%20MIDWAY

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THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY
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Info On Battle of Midway

• When JUNE 4-7 1942
• WHERE MIDWAY ATOLL, PACIFIC OCEAN
• WHAT Japanese naval and aircraft attack on the
  U.S. Island of Midway
• WHY The Japanese wanted to get rid of the U.S.s
  control of the pacific.
• OUTCOME Because of Japanese overconfidence, they
  were officially defeated on June 7th 1942

• Significance
• The win was a brought a great moral uproar to the
  Americans.
• The defeat of the Japanese meant that the Pacific
  was now Controlled solely by the Americans

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General Facts About The Battle

• The battle lasted from June 4th to the 7th
• The Americans were fighting with substantially
  fewer resources.
• The main ships were aircraft carriers not
  battleships.
• Seeing as the Japanese missed some important
  targets during the attack on Pearl Harbor, the
  Americans were able to make repairs in the
  undamaged dry dock on the carrier Yorktown.
• The Japanese defeat at Midway was the turning
  point for the Americans in the Pacific Theater.
• The bulk of the fighting was done on June 4th

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Main Leaders of the Battle
Chester W. Nimitz
Yamamoto Isoroku
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Fighting For the Japanese

• The Japanese brought a larger naval force to the
  battle of midway which included
• 4 Carriers
• 2 Battleships
• 15 Support Vessels (Heavy and light cruisers,
  destroyers)
• 248 carrier aircraft and 16 floatplanes

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Fighting For the United States

• The Americans fought with a smaller fleet but
  their tactics allowed them to conquer the
  Japanese. Their strength came from
• 3 Carriers
• 25 support ships
• 233 carrier aircraft
• 127 land based aircraft

USS Yorktown---------------?
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The Japanese Plan

• Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto planned to attack Midway
  so that the Americans would withdraw their
  carriers from Pearl Harbor to protect Midway
  Island 1,300 miles northwest of Hawaii.
• His fleet would then try and destroy the
  Americans using the big slow battle ships.
• What the Japanese didnt know was that the
  Americans had hastily repaired their damaged
  ships from the previous Battle of the Coral Sea
  and were ready for a fight.

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Americans Response

• Another thing the Japanese didnt know was that
  the U.S. cryptanalysts cracked their naval codes
  and so the Americans knew about the attack and
  what kind of forces they would be up against.
• Admiral Chester Nimitz then dispatched USS
  Enterprise and USS Hornet to Midway Island.
• ? Midway Atoll

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The Battle

• 0430 hours, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo launched
  108 planes as well as 7 scout planes.
• They bombed installations on midway then returned
  to the carriers.
• The second wave witch had been armed with
  torpedoes was re-armed with bombs, then a scout
  plane reported a visual on the American fleet and
  the aircraft were told to be switched back to
  torpedos.

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• The Americans then sent 3 squadrons of aircraft
  to attack the Japanese carriers at 0700. Even
  with all the bombs, torpedoes, and fuel on deck
  they were unsuccessful at doing much damage and
  suffered heavy losses.
• The late arrival of the last American squadron
  however pulled the Japanese combat air patrol out
  of position, leaving the fleet vulnerable. At
  1022, American dive bombers coming from the
  southwest and northeast struck the carriers Kaga,
  Soryu, and Akagi.
• The carriers were useless but one last Japanese
  group of Zeros (Japanese planes) launched from
  the one remaining carrier Hiryu and after a few
  waves, sank the Yorktown carrier.
• By 0255 on the 4th of June, the Japanese
  retreated and the Americans were free to move on
  Tokyo.

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YOUTUBE CLIP TIME

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v1v4I6RGRW50