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Battle Of Midway Research Papers

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During June 4th thru 7th of 1942, the Battle of Midway was one of the most decisive battles in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. The US Navy was able to defeat the superior Imperial Japanese Navy due to multiple assumptions made by the Japanese about the strength and capabilities of the US Navy. One assumption that Admiral Yamamoto of the Imperial Japanese Navy made is that he would be able to catch the US Navy by surprise. Another assumption he made was he would be able to destroy the US Navy Fleet in the Pacific. Using battle analysis this paper will examine what the Japanese could have done differently during the course of the Battle of Midway, and how the Japanese that could have changed the course of World War II in the Pacific …show more content…

The initial Japanese bombing strike was not as successful as planned on Midway, and another round of aerial bombing is ordered. The US launched a counter attack from USS Yorktown, USS Enterprise, and USS Hornet with their fighter planes and bombers. While the Japanese fighter planes and bombers were refueling and rearming, US planes bombed and disabled three of the Japanese carriers Kaga, Soryu, and Akagi. The Kaga and Soryu sank on 4 June and Akagi sank on 5 June, this left the Japanese with only one function carrier, Hiryu, in the battle. It was during this attack by the US that the Japanese realized that the US had carriers in the area. A Japanese scout plane was only able to locate the USS Yorktown, once located Japanese bombers successfully targeted and disabled USS Yorktown and eventually sank her on 6 June 1942 with a submarine strike, while being towed back to Pearl Harbor (Kelly, 2013). By the end of the battle on 7 June 1942, the US had maintained control of Midway Island and defeated the Japanese Navy by sinking the four Japanese carriers involved in the operation against midway. The US although winning the battle, lost one carrier during the battle. This crippling blow to the Imperial Japanese Nay was a defeat they were never able to recover from during World …show more content…

Their scout planes eventually located the US aircraft carriers, but the Japanese were not in a position to target them, based on how dispersed the Japanese naval groups were. If more scout planes were moved to the Carrier Group from the Battle Group, they would have had a more effective coverage area. They would have been in a position to identify the actual size of the US Fleet involved in the defense of Midway and been able to realize that the ships that the Japanese scouts were reporting were actually a threat and they needed to be targeted in a higher priority than Midway. Yamamoto sending scouts from the Battle Group to the Carrier Group could have accomplished this. Scouts were initially sent out on the early in the morning of 4 Jun 1942, if the Japanese had sent the scouts out a few days earlier, they would have been able to identify the disposition of US Naval assets. After determining the disposition of US Naval forces, the Japanese could have reprioritized their efforts, focusing on the US Carriers and the redirecting back to

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Jeffrey Burkhart Mrs.Shandera / Mr.Pelletier English 11 pd.2 / History pd.6 9 February 2018 Battle of Midway There were many battles during WWII but there none as important as important as the Battle of Midway. The battle started on June 4th, 1942 and lasted until June, 7th 1942 (“Battle of Midway”). the battle changes the whole course of the Pacific Theater. The Battle of Midway was able to show how powerful the United States Navy was. A small inexperienced navy was able to destroy a much larger and powerful navy.

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Joint Planning for Operation Anaconda SFC Spurlock, Matthew MLC Class 005-18 Joint Planning for Operation Anaconda Since the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism, there have been numerous battles. One of the most important battles that shaped future joint planning of operations was Operation Anaconda. The outcome of this operation was ultimately successful, however, the original intent from the commanders were not met due to errors in the joint planning process. Joint planning during Operation Anaconda proved ineffective because of inaccurate intelligence about the terrain and weather, the exemption of Air Force and Navy during the initial planning phase, and false assumptions about the enemy. Intelligence Intelligence Preparation

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255 Words | 2 Pages

On December 7, 1941 the japanese made a surprise attack on the US naval base in Hawaii, which caused the US to enter into WWII. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, the japanese had been taking island by island. So the US used code breakers to find out about japan invasion. The Battle at Midway was the beginning of the end for japan and the US considered this payback for Pearl Harbor. 3 years later, 20,000 japanese his in tunnels on the island of Iwo Jima waiting for american soldiers.

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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.

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The Japanese succeed in destroying almost 20 American naval vessels, which included eight giant battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. The USS Arizona was docked in this harbor, and it was badly struck and damaged by the Japanese enemy. Since this event happened on a Sunday,

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A long-standing debate in American history is when the United states gained the upper hand against Japan in World War. Some say it happened at the Battle of Midway, while others claim it to be Guadalcanal. Both had their significances and contributions to the American victory, but the victory at Guadalcanal is likely to not have occurred had Japan won the Battle of Midway. The American victory at Midway did several things for them, firstly they gained morale and momentum in the pacific, they essentially destroyed the Japanese navy’s surface fleet, and they secured Midway Atoll. When combined, the resulting outcome spells out the start of Japan’s failure to when the war.

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(Source L) It was 8:00am and the US had no answer to the Japanese attack and had not yet sent up their squadron of aircraft. This gave the Japanese chance to attack ground targets using their fighter planes. They then turned their attention to the battleships moored in the harbour. The US were able to respond with anti-aircraft fire coming from ships and land, but this did not hinder the attack.

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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).

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• Leaving the harbor pretty much clear due to all of the diversions placed before the United States set in place for the Japanese to attack while also minimalizing their losses. • By the time the Americans had picked up the Japanese bombers on their radar, it was too late. • The first wave was led by torpedo bombers which exposed the American’s defense and left them vulnerable • The first strike by the Japanese accounts for approximately ninety percent of the total devastation on Peal

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Instead of ships using their limited storage space and adding valuable pounds carrying extra fuel, they could make a stop in Hawaii and refuel for the second part of the journey. Hawaii came with Pearl Harbor, but with the acquisition of this new military base, where the United States stationed over one hundred ships, came a new military strike. On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces targeted the Hawaiian naval base of Pearl Harbor, sinking or severely damaging five battleships, three destroyers, seven other boats, and wrecking more than 200 planes. The United States retaliated, going into World War II, which then resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of

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After the bombing, the United State troops approached the island. At their first sight, the troops thought that they had wiped out all of the Japanese troops. This is because the Japanese had dug a tremendous amount of underground tunnels and hideouts (Chen). This is why the United States had a very limited amount of success with the bombing. The Japanese Imperial Navy was instructed to stay in their positions until all of the beaches around Iwo Jima were full.

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1419 Words | 6 Pages

“From December of 1941 to the spring of 1942, Japanese forces advanced virtually unimpeded throughout the Pacific and southeastern Asia while handing the Allies a string of humiliating defeats, first at Pearl Harbor, then at Guam, Wake Island, Singapore, and in the Philippines. By the spring of 1942, the outcome of the war was very much in doubt as Americans began to think that the Japanese military was invincible. "The Pacific situation is now very grave," cabled President Roosevelt to Winston Churchill in March of 1942, after the Japanese conquest of Java.”

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526 Words | 3 Pages

But yet they still failed. “First, the Japanese missed their prime targets:the aircraft carriers Lexington and Enterprise (both of which were at sea), and Saratoga. Second, the Japanese failed to destroy the huge oil storage facilities, without which the Pacific Fleet would have been forced to retire to the West Coast.” Many historians argue if they should have attacked us. It was only a matter of time before the U.S was going to be sent into World war II it was a great reason to start early.

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1249 Words | 5 Pages

Japanese fleet commander Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto made plans to lead the Japanese Navy and attack the 2 islands that make up Midway Atoll. He thought that the U.S. could not win a battle based so close to its broken Pearl Harbor. Admiral Yamamoto was expecting to ambush America, but America surprised them with the ambush. American Navy successfully sank the Japanese Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu aircraft carriers, with 322 planes and over 5,000 soldiers on them. Japan also lost the heavy cruiser

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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.

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