Battle of Midway, a Naval Battle Fought

¶ … Battle of Midway, a naval battle fought near the Central Pacific island of Midway, was the most important victory for the United States in World War 2. Before this battle Japanese forces were on the offensive, gradually capturing territory throughout Asia and the Pacific. Japan was now the dominant naval force after severely damaging the U.S. Pacific Fleet during the attack of Pearl Harbor six months prior (Newman). Japan was convinced that they were now in position to expand their empire in the Pacific, and Midway was the next strategic move. By capturing Midway the Japanese planned to use the island as an advance base, and hoped to further decimate the U.S. Pacific Fleet into eventual surrender. However, successful American communication intelligence resulted in breaking codes that provided crucial information on Japan's strategy to attack Midway. Being prepared for the conflict the U.S. Pacific Fleet were able to surprise Japan by being in position prior to the strike. This resulted in the sinking of four Japanese aircraft carriers, while losing only one carrier of their own. By successfully defending Midway, and by essentially wiping out the air power of the Japanese Fleet, the U.S. were able to regain Naval supremacy in the Pacific and focus their attention on the Europe-first strategy to eliminate the advance of the Third Reich in the European theater of the war.

Discussion

The Japanese surprise attack on the United States Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 resulted in the decimation of the U.S. Navy. Without the support of its Navy, the American ground forces in the Pacific fought from a severe disadvantage for the first few months of the War as the Japanese took control of most of the islands in the Pacific and mainland Southeast Asia. During this time, the United States did attempt several bombing missions over Tokyo by flying off the carrier USS Hornet but the missions proved to be more psychologically beneficial for the Americans than militarily advantageous. The effort by the United States, however, did confirm to the Japanese the importance of their maintaining their stranglehold on the Pacific Islands in order to prevent the United States from establishing an airbase that would facilitate regular bombing raids onto the Japanese islands (Buell).

By the Spring of 1942, the Japanese Empire had attained most, if not all, of all their pre-War objectives. They had virtually neutralized the economic influence of the other nations involved in the area. These nations, the United States, Australia, Great Britain, and the Netherlands had been removed from the area and Japan was poised to extend its influence over the entire area. Unfortunately, Japan, like most imperialist nations, was not content with what it had already attained and began looking toward China and Manchuria. Historically, China had always represented a challenge for Japan and Manchuria was a barrier that the Japanese felt was necessary to protect them from the Russians. The Japanese Navy, meanwhile, was also not content with maintaining the status quo as it existed in the Spring of 1942. Instead, the Navy had eyes on the Hawaiian Islands and in order to successfully stage such an assault the Japanese needed to secure some islands near Hawaii that would serve as a support base for such an assault. One of the island groups that were important to such a strategy was the Midway islands.

The Japanese knew that any effort against the United States or its possessions had to be done quickly. The Japanese leadership recognized that the United States was a sleeping giant whose manufacturing and manpower capability was much greater than theirs and that allowing the United States to develop their resources would be disastrous for the Japanese Empire. This is what precipitated the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and it contributed to the Japanese fashioning any new strategy in the Pacific theater.

As the Japanese were preparing their operations for the Midway Island assault, the Japanese were under the impression that the United States was operating from a distinct disadvantage because they were without the services of two of her carriers, the U.S.S. Lexington and USS Yorktown (Fuchida). To the surprise of the Japanese, and to their ultimate demise, this information was incorrect as the U.S.S. Yorktown actually played a significant role in the ensuing battle. Relying on this misinformation, the Japanese dispatched the largest assembly of naval power toward Midway with the intent of engaging what they believed to be a weakened American navy. The goal of the Japanese Navy was to destroy the last vestiges of the American Navy which they believed would be either stationed at Midway or would be dispatched there from Pearl Harbor in order to protect the forces that were already there.

In an effort to provide a diversion, a limited force under the direction of Vice Admiral Hosogaya, led an invasion of the American holdings in the Aleutian Islands. The purpose of this diversion was to disguise the fact that their true target was Midway and by attacking the Aleutians the Japanese hoped to confuse the situation. The Japanese intelligence failed them as they not only did not appreciate the size of the United States fleet in the Pacific but they also were not aware that the United States' intelligence had acquired prior knowledge of their plans regarding an invasion of Midway. The United States' Navy had fortuitously had partially broken the Japanese naval code and, by doing so, had intercepted enough information to predict that the Japanese operation was intending to focus their main efforts on Midway. The breaking of this code allowed the American forces to take preparations necessary to discourage Japanese Midway efforts and to mount some counter intelligence of its own by allowing the Japanese to believe that the American forces on Midway were low on water. This was a vital subterfuge as Midway had no natural water supply and being short on water could drastically undermine the American forces ability to endure a long embattlement. The American leaders also allowed the Japanese to believe that the American Navy was short of carriers. The Americans kept its carriers south of Midway and away from Japanese observers. The combination of American intelligence efforts built the confidence of the Japanese invaders and contributed to the ultimate outcome.

The Japanese losses in the Battle of Midway were substantial. They lost four carriers that had formed the major part of the Japanese offensive efforts and their loss representative a shift in power in the Pacific. For the first time, the United States Navy had assumed the position as the superior power in the Pacific and the Japanese Navy, which had dependent so heavily on its Navy to establish control of the Pacific, was reduced to a secondary position which would force them to re-evaluate their policy in regard to how they conducted the War. Japan could not conduct naval operations in the Pacific without a superior naval force and the loss of four carriers and their crews proved to be deciding factor in the outcome of the War.

The Japanese also suffered serious losses in its air support not only in manpower but also in equipment. The Japanese Air Force was severely undermanned when the War began and, unlike the United States which enjoyed remarkable manufacturing capability, Japan did not possess the ability to manufacture new airplanes and airplane parts in the same quantity or quality that the United States could. Having lost a substantial number of its Air Force in the Battle of Midway, the Japanese Government was never able to completely build its air power to the level it enjoyed prior to said battle. Meanwhile, the United States exercised its superior manufacturing capacity from that point forward and by War's end held a 15 to 1 advantage in carrier strength in numbers and had a collateral advantage in the technical quality of those vessels as well.

The Battle of Midway was significant for a variety of reason and these significances would contribute heavily to the ultimate American victory but it is also interesting to note that the Battle represented, for the first time, a breakdown in Japanese readiness. Beginning with the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and throughout the next few months of the War the Japanese armed forces were extremely well prepared in every action that they engaged themselves. They were seemingly prepared for every contingency in these early battles and had assumed an air of invisibility. This all changed in the Midway battle. Part of the reason for the Japanese losses in Midway was their failure to properly perform its reconnaissance (Prange). The Japanese Air Force failed to broaden its search capabilities in such a manner as to detect the full measure of the forces available to the American forces at Midway. The Japanese failed to recognize that the American firepower was much greater than Japanese intelligence predicted and this greater power virtually ensured an American victory. The Japanese were also slow to react throughout the battle from beginning to end. This caused them to be on the defensive far more that was necessary and kept the momentum on the part of the American forces.

The mistakes that the Japanese made during the course of the battle contributed to the outcome but they also made some significant mistakes leading up to the actual battle. The fact that the Japanese forces underestimated the strength of the American forces in the days leading up to the battle played a crucial role. Because the Japanese assumed that a substantial portion of the American Navy would still be in Pearl Harbor at the time that the Japanese attack on Midway was planned to begin. Despite receiving numerous warnings to the contrary, the Japanese leadership ignored the transmittals and proceeded on their belief that the American Navy was split between Pearl Harbor and the naval base in Midway. If the Japanese had possessed the foresight and willingness to verify the truth of the transmittals that told them that the Americans were waiting for them fully prepared in Midway the results of the battle might have been different.

Weather also played a significant role in the outcome of the Battle. The fog that occupied the skies above Midway allowed the United States to disguise the strength of its available forces. On several occasions, the Japanese reconnaissance planes were unable to fully view the ground in their sweeps across the island and this resulted in false reports being sent back to the Japanese command center. If the air had been clearer on any of the occasions, the Japanese would have been better informed and planned their attacks accordingly. Because the Japanese entered the battle with false information that was never disputed by accurate updates, they proceeded based on incorrect information. As a result, the Japanese were eventually overwhelmed by the superior American forces.

The Battle of Midway was a huge victory for the American Navy in particular and the entire Armed Forces in general. Until the American victory at Midway, the Japanese had virtually had everything their way in the Pacific. The American Government had established the policy that the War in Europe would take priority over the War in the Pacific and, as a result, the American forces in Asia received less attention both in equipment and manpower. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had decimated the American Navy and in the weeks leading up to the Battle at Midway the Navy was only beginning to gather itself. Morale was low and the Americans needed a victory drastically.

As indicated earlier, the Japanese looked upon Midway Island as a strategic location for its intention to launch future actions in the Pacific. The Japanese had intentions on capturing the Hawaiian Islands and they viewed the capture of Midway as a necessity in these efforts. At the same time, the American leadership had determined that they could no longer wait for the Japanese to act and they needed to go on the offensive. Midway was seen as a vital fueling location and a stepping stone in any American effort to displace the Japanese in the Pacific. Both sides entered the battle viewing Midway as vital to the future course of the War.

If the United States had failed to secure Midway and discouraged the attempts of the Japanese forces, the United States Armed Forces would have been forced back to Pearl Harbor. This would have been a strategic setback for the United States and would have further damaged the already tenuous American morale. To this point that Americans had not registered a single victory in the Pacific and another defeat would have been difficult to handle. The victory against heavy odds allowed the American forces to stall the Japanese advance through the Pacific and, more importantly, supplied the Americans with a huge morale boost.

From the Midway Island the American forces were able to stage their first offensive attack of the War. Approximately two months after the conclusion of the Battle of Midway, the U.S. Marines landed on Guadalcanal. Although Guadalcanal was an extremely costly battle in terms of both American and Japanese lives, it marked the beginning of the American efforts to push back the Japanese toward Japan. The Navy's efforts in the Battle of Midway and the Marine's efforts in Guadalcanal began a major turnaround for the American forces in the Pacific theater.

As significant as the Battle of Midway seems to have been to the American war effort in the Pacific, it has not, for a variety of reasons, received the recognition that it seemingly deserves (Bicheno). Part of the reason for this is related to the policy that the United States and its Allies developed in the early days of the War. The Allies essentially determined that Hitler represented a more profound and serious threat. The Allies decided that Hitler and the German Army was threatening the very integrity of the European continent while the Japanese, although enjoying the same form of success as Hitler's forces, were only threatening minor island states and not major nations such as France or Great Britain. Not wanting to fight a full-scale battle on two fronts, the Allies decided to concentrate their efforts on defeating the Germans while attempting to keep the Japanese in check. As a result of this policy decision, most of the media attention and, later the history writing attention, in the early days of the Second World War was concentrated on the European theater. In the process, much of what happened in the first several years of the Second World War in the Pacific was largely ignored or understated.

Because of the United State's concentration on Europe in the first years of the War, the American public was unaware of many of the events unfolding in the Pacific. Although the Japanese had captured the Philippines, the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, and the Dutch West Indies most of America was unaware of these developments. Even though Australia was in danger and the Japanese were on the verge of capturing Hawaii the attention of most of America was on Europe. The Battle of Midway, however, changed everything.