10 Facts about the Battle of Midway everyone should know

10 Facts about the Battle of Midway everyone should know
With Henry J. James
Battles at Sea and Naval History on WW2TV

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In today's show we go through 10 interesting points about the Battle of Midway, but more from where the battle sits in context.

(1) What Japan planned to do at Midway
(2) But that's not what happened...(short version of the Battle of Midway)
(3) The many reasons Japan was defeated
(4) Yamamoto criticisms
(5) The Aleutian "Feint"?
(6) The Doolittle Raid?
(7) If Japan Had Won
(8) The Manhattan Project
(9) Biggest Beneficiary of the victory at Midway was...Germany First
(10) You'd think after Midway Rochefort would have hailed the hero.

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[nudziciemnie]

I am from Poland. I spent about two years to explore and understand the subject of the war in the Pacific. I've seen everything possible on YouTube and read a lot of books. It was worth it. Whenever I hear about new threats and the growing power of other nations, I remember what wonderful and sometimes unbelievable things the Americans did at Midway and throughout the entire war. It reassures me then that, however it may be, in the end things will take the same turn again and all the efforts of the little dwarfs will fail.

[talktidy]

Interesting stuff. I knew Yorktown was turned around super quick by repair workcrews at Pearl Harbor so that she could join the other carriers at Midway. I did not know that the engineers had blueprints in hand for her & were crafting replacement parts while she was steaming in to port. Kind of explains how they managed it in three days.

[Idahoguy]

Rochfort’s treatment is an example of a good deed not going unpunished. He was smarter than is bosses.

[BK-ufqr]

I really appreciate this Guest. His view of the war in particular is fantastic. Someone who looks at the the full scope of the war and battles. But also looks at the vast tentacles…where ever it may lead. Amazing effort.

[kclcmdrkai]

at 38:38, those three IJN CVs were burning for longer than six hours and once dusk was reached, those three were either scuttled or torpedo'd by their own IJN DDs when the surviving crews were rescued and likewise the Hiyru also suffer the same fate hours later

[AnthonyBrown]

Despite all the bigger picture issues . It was a handful of Dauntless dive bomber crews ; using their skill and initative that decided the battle . Dick Best in particular got 2 bombs on target during the 2 missions that day . Only a few bombs did all that damage, to the four Japanese carriers . You always need a bit of luck .

[christopherridle]

Great show Gentlemen,
I'd love to see a show on Lend-Lease.

[mathewkelly]

Got to be up there as the biggest military intelligence success of all time .

[jonrettich]

Another enlightening presentation. Mahan understood the value of international trade and ports for a successful battle fleet. Japan is very complex. After 350 years of internal strife they realized they had to work something out. From the late 16th into the 17th the warfare gradually centralized power until the Tokugawa clan gained ascendancy. Throughout Japan’s history they had accepted Chinese artisans and philosophers frequently fleeing from invasion or internal wars. The Portuguese landed there in the 16th century the Dutch a trading station by the early 18th century at least. The Japanese had tried to redirect the enumerable fighting men left after unification to take Korea which failed and also moved into the Philippines for awhile. All this to say every major clan had access to international activities and resident experts. Though an extreme exclusionary policy was adopted, higher circles remained informed. Perry was there about whalers who had been killed or mistreated American military capacity prompting Japan to enter contemporary history. Japan was supported by Theodore Roosevelt considering them modern compared to Russia and who helped end that war before Russia could muster all its might. All this to say Japanese decision makers had known always far more than we assume about the rest of the world. It’s modern growth was awesome but did not exist in a vacuum . Again thank you so much for this presentaion

[step]

Excellent Paul. Another great guest in Henry. So informative and interesting. It's great People like Rochefort eventually got the recognition they deserve. Like Turing, and all the rest....belated, but now more remembered than many of the brass who denied them what they deserved more than anyone really.

[KevinJones-yhjb]

What an insight into Midway etc, so much I didn’t know. An excellent talk by Henry. Thank you both, bring Henry back again, as an ETO guy, this has opened my mind to the Pacific theatre. Thank you

[ericflagg]

A most detailed and informative briefing on the background leading up to the Midway Battle, well done!

[reiniergroeneveld]

Very interesting discussion on the broader impact of Midway, even on the European Theater.

[JakeCole]

More Pacific theater shows please, Paul. This one was terrific. 👍

[jimwatts]

Hello folks. Tremendous telling of the Midway story with great insights. One of the best, don’t miss it.

[Chiller]

Its not unusual in the military for the wrong people to get credit for the actions or accomplishments of their subordinates.

[lewistrott]

Great episode, thoroughly enjoyed it as a companion to the Shattered Sword episode. Thanks.

[petestorz]

1. The IJN's plan depended on the USN doing what the IJN intended them to do. The possibility of the USN showing up before they should and where they should not be was excluded from the planning wargame. 2. Because the Americans were supposed to be unprepared, the bombers from Midway that didn't hit a ship in Kido Butai and shot down few planes (did "nothing") injected chaos that Nagumo was unprepared to work through. 3. The unplanned waves of attacks, from Midway and the torpedo squadrons, kept the Japanese flight decks occupied with servicing CAP fighters and got lookouts' and CAP pilots' focus low, so the US dive bombers were not spotted in time for the CAP to interfere.

[richardbono]

One of the best episodes on one of the best channels, what a eye opener, really interesting perspective beyond the battle!

[philbosworth]

Every time I think I've watched almost every episode in the WW2TV back catalogue, more pop up. All such good episodes.