Analysis Of The Battle Of Midway By Craig Symonds

Craig L. Symonds, in The Battle of Midway, recounts the events leading up to and during the June 4, 1942, Battle of Midway. The battle was a decisive American victory and effectively destroyed the Japanese navy for the duration of the war in the Pacific. Symond uses the people who played a part in the battle to retell the battle, its decisive moments, and its aftermath. Symonds argues that Midway “is best explained and understood by focusing on the people involved.” (pg5). He illustrates this throughout the book by highlighting important people and their roles in the Battle of Midway. Throughout the book, the author weaves the story of the individuals who participated in the battle. If the individual was a major factor in the decisiveness

An interaction, or rather interactions, that could have swayed the battles another way was the relationship between the Hornet's air group commander, Stanhope C. Ring and his subordinate pilots. To those of equal and higher rank, Ring was liked (PG247). However, the pilots he commanded resented him because he “led by authority rather than by example... He was quick to assert his rank.” (PG247). What made him intolerable and resented was his indifference as a pilot. This resulted in those under his command having little confidence in him, which would have poor results during the battle. His squadron's flight on June 4, has been titled “the flight to nowhere.” (PG260-63) Fifteen minutes into the flight Lieutenant Commander Waldron broke radio silence to tell Ring they were off course and headed the wrong direction. This break in radio silence infuriated Ring as did the challenge over open radio. Waldron broke off, his squadron followed. Half an hour later with their fuel gauges on low, Ring's fighter cover left him. Ring was left with thirty-four dive-bombers heading west and may not have known at first his cover and some of his bombers had left him. At ten o'clock the rest of the remaining planes turned around to refuel, leaving Ring to return alone. Symond's uses the example of Ring to

By weaving in their stories and their fates, a better, fuller picture of the battle is formed. It was the actions of these men that changed the course of the battle and the war in the Pacific theater. Many of these stories are the stories of valiant men in their last moment. They are stories of patriotic men giving their lives for freedom, for the United States. In one air raid against the Kidō Butai, fourteen out of twenty-five Marine pilots were killed (Pg227). The stories of those who survived their flights are useful in piecing together the various events of the battle. One of the most successful bombers was Lieutenant Richard Best: he was able to hit two carriers on the same day. His success was in part due to his plane being unharmed, due to the sacrifice of the accompanying torpedo squadrons. (PG303). His hits effectively wiped out two Kidō