The Battle of Midway 1942: Told from the Japanese Perspective (1/3)

(Animated Battle Map)

This is part one of a three part video series covering Operation MI. As you can see I spent a considerable amount of time covering Nagumo’s Dilemma. To me it's one of most striking examples of how tough it can be for a commander to make a decision based on the information at hand. I found that to be the most interesting aspect of the battle.

I don’t have a Patreon but if you want to show appreciation for my work feel free to donate.

Corrections:

"Strength" , "Auxiliary", and "unknown" are misspelled in the video.

At 22:55 I should have stated “North of Midway” instead of Northeast of Midway. The illustration shows a 10 degree 240 nm from midway location. Not so Northeast as I audibly stated.

At 23:43 I should have stated 79 aircraft instead of 78 and I should have displayed 35 instead of 34 torpedo bombers. the “mistake” came about because sources still differ on whether there were 27 or 26 Carrier attack planes (Kates). If it was 27 it would have been 79 Planes. if it was 26 it would have been 78. During the recording I somehow mixed up the numbers.

Additional Notes:
notice that the carriers started off the battle in a box formation. This provided further mutual support for their rather weak AA fire. however, due to the incessant air attacks from VT-8, VT-6 and VT-3, the carriers were never able to reform in a box formation, instead they were in a ragged line which further worsened their AA capabilities.

-----------------------------------------Spoiler Below regarding Nagumo's Dilemma---------------------------------------------

So what was the answer to Nagumo’s Dilemma?

“Taking all together, and admittedly operating with the benefit of hindsight, the “right” answer to Nagumo’s conundrum probably should have emphasized maneuver, offensive speed in preference to mass, and passive damage control. With fifteen minutes in which to act, he didn’t really have time to implement anything terribly fancy. But he could have helped himself immensely by immediately spotting every strike airplane in his hangars, whether they were armed or not, and launching them at the Americans. The sixty-four armed aircraft he had in had were perfectly capable of doing enormous damage to his enemy. And by emptying his hangars, he removed the single greatest danger to his carriers --- the presence of fueled and armed aircraft within them.”

Parshall, Jonathan B.; Tully, Anthony P.: Shattered Sword. The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Potomac Books: United States, 2007 : p. 170

Music :
Ride of the Valkyries - Wagner

Sources:
Isom, D. W. (2007). Midway inquest: Why the Japanese lost the Battle of Midway. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Lundstrom, J. B. (2013). The First Team Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway. New York: Naval Institute Press.

Parshall, Jonathan B.; Tully, Anthony P.: Shattered Sword. The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Potomac Books: United States, 2007.

Stille, M. (2010). Midway 1942: Turning-point in the Pacific(Vol. 226, Campaign). Oxford: Osprey Publishing.

Toll, I. W. (2012). Pacific crucible: War at sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942. New York: W.W. Norton.

Willmott, H. P. (2008). The barrier and the javelin: Japanese and Allied Pacific strategies, February to June 1942. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.

And of course:

[charleskupfer]

I'm a history professor and author of works on this subject. So please hear me when I tell you that you are VERY talented, and that you did a lot of EXCELLENT hard work here. This is fantastic in every respect. You really did a marvelous job and should feel very proud of yourself. This documentary of yours is good enough to serve as a model for college classes. Congratulations on a wonderful accomplishment. I hope your career lets you advance your talents and develop even more skills. You're off to a simply superb start! I admire your work and you have all my respect.

[michaelwiesinger]

When a low-budget diy-documentary beats every million $ history channel docu-soap in every aspect. Just "wow"!

[szymonnowak]

I never thought a bunch of MS Paint animated planes and boats will keep me on the edge of the seat for 40 minutes

[Nitroaereus]

Leaving aside the 20/20 of hindsight, it really seems that Nagumo made the most reasonable decision, given the information he had at the time. His only great error is probably, as you said, not sending out more planes in his reconnaissance sortie. That could've been what saved his fleet.

[vplakerfan]

This video is the best explanation of the battle of Midway. Better than movies, documentaries, history books, etc. Enjoyed all 40+ minutes.
Evidence of research - 5 stars
Narration - 5 stars
Graphics - 5 stars
"What would you do?" - 5 stars
Overall - 5 stars
Can't wait to see Part 2

[Trassr]

I love the idea of incorporating the fog of war and actually encouraging the viewer to imagine what they'd have done instead of just presenting the facts like most other documentaries.

[kumisz]

The inclusion of the fog of war was great. Shows how easy hindsight makes to see the "obvious" mistakes the commanders make.

[schrutebuck]

Finally. No memes, no patronising the audience, no constant edits and jump cuts, no usual channel bollocks. Just well researched info presented in a non-annoying way by someone who knows their stuff. Keep up the great work! Also, your channel analysing action from the Eastern Front e.g Rzhev salient would be great

[MontemayorChannel]

Time Stamps

Intro
0:00
Beginning of the battle/Strike on Midway 07:05
Midway's aircraft attacks on the Kido Buati 11:34
Nagumo's Dilemma 18:27
the Torpedo Squadron Attacks 30:44
1022-1026 : 38:55


Okay guys, so this video is a long one. I suggest grabbing some snacks and watching it in three parts if needed so that you can fully absorb all the information. Suggested divisions would be watching from the intro to the end of the Midway attacks 18:27, then nagumos dilemma from 18:27-30:44 and finally the last section covering the torpedo attacks 30:44 till the end.

[bucfan]

From the OP: "


1 month ago
Hello guys, so here’s an update.


Part 2 is still in the making. At moment it’s clocking in at 46 minutes. So, It’s actually longer than part 1. A breakdown of it goes as follows:


0:00-28:00 It starts off with the disaster at 1026 and Hiryu’s retaliatory strike. It carries on to the conclusion of the battle with some analysis. Then I go into some detail regarding the sinking of the Mikuma and the Yorktown. Then the final conclusion.


28:00-46:00 I give a recap of the Morning events but this time from the American POV. This is to illustrate (clearly, I hope), how the Americans were able to get the drop on the Japanese and win the battle.


At the moment, I am about 85% done with the animations. Then I have to record, edit, and add the music. And I’m trying something new this time, I want to add some artwork to the video.


So once that is all done, I’ll publish the video. Sorry for the long wait guys! the success of part 1 was completely unexpected for me. If I had known, I probably wouldn’t have posted Part 1 without having completed part 2 as well.

[RCAvhstape]

When I was a little kid in the 1980s I met Ensign George Gay at an airshow at a US Naval air station. He was signing books at the time. I was too young to understand the significance of the man in front of me; my dad told me he had gotten shot down and floated in the middle of the ensuing battle, but I didn't know until later that he had lost all of his air crew buddies that same day and was the only survivor. He was wounded and hid under his seat cushion to avoid being strafed by Zeroes, while witnessing the destruction of the Japanese carriers. He didn't inflate his life raft until later, and was damned lucky to be found and rescued.

[Kajun]

I only have one problem with Montemayor…I need him to do this kind of video on every pivotal battle in history

[JustinSanchez]

You know a production is good when you don't realize 42 minutes just went by. This is very well done!

[tenvolone]

This is how a damn documentary should be. To the point without all the theatrics. Kudos and outstanding job.

[noahromain]

Who else is just checking in hoping for a release date on part 2

[donhol]

Lt Best realized McCluskeys blunder and took two wingmen with him ( Kroger and Weber) and Best bomb single handedly wiped out the flag ship of Kido Butai. .Thats pretty fucking impressive

[stephenrebbe]

I've been a WWII buff my whole life. I have seen nearly every Midway thing there is... This one is the first one to truly exhibit Nagumo's conundrum by using the fog of war angle. BRILLIANT!!! This is an outstanding video- a terrific demonstration of the situation! I very much enjoyed the narration as to what the Japanese must have thought as the morning developed. I have a lot of respect for poor old Nagumo. Imagine had the US carriers not been so close... By playing it safe, he really made the right choice. It is too easy to judge a proper decision by its results.

[lukedo]

Meanwhile, I'm here waiting for part 2 like Nagumo waiting for Tomonaga's strike group to return.

[bromo]

I'm 66 years old., a huge history buff and I have to say that while I thought I knew what happened at Midway, I did not. Until today. Thank you for this, it is a tremendous presentation of complex information.

[jeffingram]

I was in the Navy in 1960. I was on Midway for a month. We stayed in barracks that still had evidence of the 1942 attack. The barracks had a frame of I-beam steel. In places you could see where the armor piercing bullets had passed through the I-beams with the metal bent downward where the bullets had passed through the beams. This was 18 years after the battle and I didn’t think much about the history I was seeing.🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️