ipl-logo

Battle At Midway Essay

2778 Words12 Pages

Process Paper
During World War II, there were many battles that proved to be vital to the Allied victory. One of these battles was the Battle at Midway, and this became one of the most important battles of World War II. This year, I chose to select a topic to advance upon the knowledge I already had on this subject. While researching the Battle at Midway, I found that it became known as one of the turning points during World War II, and left an impacting legacy behind. Not only was there a ship, the USS Midway, named after this hard fought battle, but there is also a museum in San Diego which I had visited prior to creating this project. I became interested in this topic’s relationship with being a frontier, and was excited to share my findings …show more content…

It was a defining moment in the nation's history, and its significance has been preserved by movies, books, and more. Not only was the American success a notable achievement over the Japanese Navy, but sinking those carriers proved that the defeat America faced nearly six months prior to this battle would not destroy the courage and determination of American soldiers. The American victory at Midway reinforced the country's self-image, inspiring a sense of patriotism and national unity that lasted throughout the war and long after.
The tactics used by the United States in this battle were also significant. The development of carrier-based air power was vital to the outcome of the battle and the war. The use of intelligence and surprise attacks also became the standard for future naval operations. The U.S. was able to use its intelligence to anticipate the enemy’s movements and launch a successful attack. Furthermore, the use of surprise attacks allowed the United States to catch the Japanese off guard, leading to the United States Navy’s success. The U.S. emerged victorious, and the battle marked the beginning of the end for Japan's empire. The battle demonstrated the importance of using carriers and aircraft in coordinated attacks, as well as the value of accurate and timely intelligence. These lessons influenced the naval strategies moving forward after the

Show More
Related
1254 Words | 6 Pages

For the United States to have a chance to win the battle they had to take risks. During the fighting of the battle, the Japanese were only able to sink 1 United States Cruiser which was hit by a torpedo. The United States was able to sink all 12 Japanese Cruisers. For this to happen the United States took many risks during the battle. They sent out a full air squadron to attack a Japanese ship and only a handful came back.

Read More
1234 Words | 5 Pages

Fuchida brought up the question of “what should we have done that we did not and why did we fail?” Ironically as it may have been, it was said that the Midway Islands would post the greatest threat to American naval power in the Pacific.” Yet, somehow the American naval power won the battle in the pacific. Fuchida blamed that the plans for the operation were studied and drawn up by the Combined Fleet Headquarters and the Naval General Staff in Tokyo. Fuchida said that Admiral Yamamoto did not want his fleet commanders, whose energies were fully occupied with the conduct of the first-phase operations in so many far-flung theaters, to be bothered by other

Read More
1766 Words | 8 Pages

Political leadership, military strategy, organizational capacity, fighting skills and effectiveness, technology, mass production, resources, ideology, and morale, all were essential factors that influenced the war victory. The war at sea saw mainly the US and Japan competing in the Pacific and the US and Great Britain competing against Germany in the Atlantic. The offensiveness of the Japanese Empire could be contained and defeated by the US only after the fortunate victory of Midway in 1942 and the following buildup of an overwhelming superiority of the American forces. In the Atlantic, the German U-boats inflicted embarrassing losses to the British and American Navies. Only technological improvements and effective adaptation of the tactics (naval convoy tactics and dedicated anti-submarine airplane) allowed the Allies to recover the situation, regaining control of the sea.

Read More
2109 Words | 9 Pages

As a result of the attack, Japan destroyed American naval battleships. One of the battleships was the USS Arizona. While the USS Enterprise was out on sea for 6 months, one of the very important aircraft battles they fought was on the Solomon

Read More
909 Words | 4 Pages

The Battle of the Atlantic, and other U-Boat related battles are crucial moments in World War II. Many people aren’t even aware that they happened or the impact they had. Education over World War II, including the reasons for the outcome is incredibly important. This book serves as a detailed account of the events of the wars and the nature of the fighting. The victory in the Battle of the Atlantic is one of America’s greatest contributions to World War II and possibly the most influential to the Allied victory.

Read More
1415 Words | 6 Pages

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).

Read More
1011 Words | 5 Pages

The situations appeared very bad for allies: The German army was smashing a Soviet offensive to regain Kharkov, and soon will begin a drive to grab the Soviet Union’s oil supplies in the Caucasus; A German and Italian force in North Africa is threatening the Suez Canal; The Japanese have seriously crippled the Pacific Fleet, driven Britain’s Royal Navy out of the Indian Ocean, and threaten to link up with the Germans in the Middle East (000). People could not imagine the circumstance if the Japanese and the Germans do link up. Therefore, the victory at Midway was seriously critical because it saved the decision by the Americans and British to focus

Read More
659 Words | 3 Pages

It was smart of them to attack Great Britain fast because they would not be expecting it, but Great Britain’s air defense was effective and Germany didn’t have much of a navy left. The Battle of Midway signified the turning point in the pacific. The Japanese were going to the island of Midway to seize it. The Americans were able to sink 4 carriers and won ,  even though the Japanese had a numerically better navy. Without these important battles there is a chance that the war could have went ferly

Read More
1559 Words | 7 Pages

By intercepting and decoding Japanese communications, the U.S. was able to gain valuable intelligence about the location and strength of Japanese forces, allowing them to plan their attack with precision. For example, they were able to determine the exact timing and location of the Japanese fleet, which allowed the U.S. to launch a surprise attack that caught the Japanese off guard. In addition to code-breaking, other forms of espionage also played a role in the U.S. victory at Midway. For example, aerial and submarine reconnaissance provided the U.S. with valuable

Read More
1249 Words | 5 Pages

America had 3 aircraft carriers (Yorktown, Enterprise and Hornet), 8 cruisers, 14 destroyers, and the aircraft located at Midway. The Battle of Midway began quickly. Many bombs were dropped on the ships at sea. The turning point of the battle was when the Japanese battleships sunk because the aircraft in the sky forced them to shoot at the planes, but more bombers dropped bombs on the Japanese battleships, causing them to sink. This loss of Japanese aircraft proved a deciding factor in the battle.

Read More
1264 Words | 6 Pages

After just two hours, there were 21 warships sunk, over 300 airplanes destroyed, more than 2,400 Americans killed, and about 1,000 people wounded. Japan only lost a few dozen planes, several submarines, and fewer than 100 men. This surprise attack led the United States to being more united in patriotism. Most Americans realized that the attack still affected them even if they were not in Hawaii. They all came together and fought for their country.

Read More
1587 Words | 7 Pages

The surprise Japanese military strike on the United States Naval

Read More
1159 Words | 5 Pages

Cmdr. Joseph Rochefort and the U.S.’s overall superior strategies of Nimitz and Fletcher was the true reason for why the U.S.’s seemingly impossible victory became possible. The two key themes that I will focus analysis on is the failures in the Japanese strategic planning and execution at Midway and U.S. determination and resilience to keep pushing on even after things, especially with USS carriers leading up to and during the actual war was falling apart. Symonds begins to argue his case by dissecting Japan’s plans for conquest and domination in the Pacific. He starts with looking at the Japanese failure by several of their military philosophies.

Read More
1340 Words | 6 Pages

Therefore, the US planned a strategic operation called Plan Orange, an operation specifically addressing a conflict with Japan, which shaped the US navy’s force structure. At that time, the US military’s innovation was focused on developing weapons and capabilities that could neutralize or destroy the Japanese Navy. This resulted in a more complex and sophisticated naval force, as well as, Army’s long-range bombers, heavy coast artillery and tactical aviation. Since the Japanese navy only threatened the US’s interests in the Pacific region, the US did not invest much on its armored forces because this capability “appeared to have limited relevance to a war with Japan.” Hence, clearly identified threats drove innovation approaches, supports, and

Read More
862 Words | 4 Pages

However, the success of the USA in the battle of Coral Sea and Midway put the Japanese into a state in which they could not recover from. The Americans success was largely due to their shipbuilding capability, as the Japanese shipbuilding capability was limited. Furthermore, like the British, the Americans also could access Japanese codes. (Pearson, 163) Thus, these factors were vital to the success of Allied forces as the defeat of the Japanese is considered to be a turning point for the outcome of the war as the Japanese were unable to continue with the war due to the damage inflicted by the

Read More

More about Battle At Midway Essay

Related Topics

Open Document