by Tom Cheek
DESTINATION "POINT LUCK"
The naval and air action known as the Battle of Midway has been captioned with various titles. From an American viewpoint it has been called, "The greatest naval engagement in world history!" However the Japanese have chosen to view it as, "The Battle that defeated Japan in World War II."
Though they go mainly untitled, and many untold, it seems fair to say that there are as many versions of the Battle of Midway as there were men who fought there. Undoubtedly, each one recalls the action as he viewed it, from his own place in the arena and the phase of the action that was of his own immediate concern.
Midway Atoll
The arena itself centered on a ring of surf-spumed coral, known as Midway Atoll. Relatively unknown to the world, the atoll is a mere pinpoint on a navigational chart, located eleven hundred miles north-west of Pearl Harbor. Midway is a small dot of sand and coral in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that the Japanese high command considered essential to their conquest and control of the Pacific Ocean areas.
The flat sandy islands of America's
Midway Atoll were the focus of a decisive struggle for supremacy between the
navies of Japan and the United States in June 1942. The
island with runways in the foreground is
Eastern Island.
Formed on the summit of an extinct undersea volcano, the atoll's encircling reef, fifteen miles in circumference, shelters a broad, shallow harbor with an off-center setting of two low sand and shell islands, appropriately named Eastern and Sand. At the time of the battle, both islets were equipped to operate large seaplanes while land-based aircraft operated from Eastern's criss-crossed, hard surfaced runways.
Japanese Strategy
With the capture of Midway Atoll, the Imperial Japanese Navy anticipated achieving two objectives: The first, and primary goal, was the luring of the American Navy aircraft carriers to their annihilation in open battle. And the second, using the captured atoll as a springboard, was the decimation of Pearl Harbor and the capture of the Hawaiian Islands, thus depriving the United States of its only Pacific base. And, as if in awe of the fact that United States Forces emerged from the Midway action as the victors, the battle has also been hailed as, "An Incredible Victory!" I'll not argue with that. Nor do I believe that time or the historians will find fault with that assessment.
For myself, the mere mention of the name Midway instantly calls up the memory of one very long, seemingly endless day.
The Yorktown
June 4, 1942, began at 0115 for Doyle C. (Tom) Barnes and myself, aboard the aircraft carrier Yorktown, CV-5. We were on temporary additional duty from Fighting Two, Lexington, CV-2, having been ordered to Fighting Three following a brief tour to waters off Tokyo with Fighting Six in Enterprise, CV-6. The room that we shared in Warrant Officers' country was port side, slightly forward of midship, and one deck below the waterline. Although we had climbed into our bunks early the evening before, sleep was restless. The faint vibration of machinery through the hull, the light swish and hissing surge of water past the skin of the ship did little to hurry time past. Asleep, yet not asleep, my mind drifted through the events of the past few days.
The three short days following Yorktown's return to Pearl Harbor, May 27th, from the Coral Sea engagement in which she had been heavily damaged (and we lost Lexington, CV-2), had been busy ones. Pearl Harbor and its NAS Ford Island, as well as NAS Kaneohe on the windward shore of Oahu, in a hush-hush atmosphere, whirred with activity. Rumors! If what you heard failed to catch your interest, wait a moment, there were others in the mill.
While the Yorktown received emergency repairs at the Navy Yard, a new Air Group-5 had been hastily assembled from pilots, planes and squadrons available in the area. As one wag put it, "It was a collection of all available spare parts!" Said in jest, it was a statement very close to fact. Fighting Three was composed of twenty-four new Grumman F4F-4 "Wildcat" fighters, and twenty-seven pilots. Only the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) John S. "Jimmy" Thach and Ensign (ENS) R. A. M. Dibb, fresh from flight training, were permanent VF-3 pilot personnel. The majority of the pilots, sixteen, were from Yorktown's own fighter squadron VF-42. Six others, with original orders to VF-8 (Hornet), were classmates of ENS Dibb. The remaining three pilots to complete the roster were LCDR Don Lovelace, Tom Barnes and myself. Formerly Thach's Executive Officer (XO), Don Lovelace had been detached from VF-3 with orders to reorganize and command Fighting Two. On being informed of the coming operation, Don had volunteered to return to his old assignment as VF-3's executive officer and rejoined the squadron on the afternoon of May 28.
Composed of Fighting Three (VF-3), Torpedo Three (VT-3), Bombing Three (VB-3), and Scouting Five (VS-5), the makeshift Air Group-5 had landed aboard Yorktown on the afternoon of May 30, 1942. But not without incident. Don Lovelace had been killed instantly when an F4F failed to catch an arresting wire, soared over the crash barrier smashing down on him as his aircraft was being parked.
Point Luck
With its Air Group aboard, Yorktown immediately departed the area on a northerly heading, its announced destination, "Point Luck!"
Hearing the announcement, crew members questioned one another, "Where in hell is Point Luck?" Then added, "What next?" What next, what all the secrecy had been concealing, was revealed the following afternoon. All pilots and available ship's officers were assembled in the wardroom for briefing. We had been told that a very large force of the Imperial Japanese Navy was on the move. Its objective, the capture of the circle of coral reef and two sand islands we called Midway Atoll. In the situation summary that followed that startling announcement, the briefing officers had little difficulty making themselves heard. The IJN force was not only large, it was heavily-gunned and fully capable of achieving its objective. The Japanese had committed over 200 vessels to this operation, and 127 of these were combat types: 11 battleships, 22 cruisers, 65 destroyers, 21 submarines and 8 aircraft carriers.
The principal commands for the operation were: (1) the Advance Force (Submarines); (2) the Aleutian Force; (3) the Midway Invasion Force; (4) the First Carrier Striking Force, and (5) the Main Force (Battleships). Of primary importance to us would be the First Carrier Striking Force, commanded by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. This force had carried out the attack on Pearl Harbor. A battle-hardened force, it was now composed of the fleet carriers: Akagi (Red Castle); Kaga (Increased Joy); Soryu (Blue-Gray Dragon); and Hiryu (Flying Dragon), supported by two battleships, two heavy cruisers and eleven destroyers. Missing from their usual places in this force were the fleet carriers Shokaku (Soaring Glorious Crane), and the Zuikaku (Happy Crane); they remained in Japan nursing wounds received in the Coral Sea engagement.
To counter the First Carrier Striking Force, we had only Task Force 16, the carriers Enterprise and Hornet with Rear Admiral Spruance, and Task Force 17, with Rear Admiral Fletcher aboard the Yorktown, which was still nursing her wounds from the Coral Sea. Support for our three carriers would be seven heavy cruisers, one light anti-aircraft cruiser and fifteen destroyers, plus a scouting line of submarines.
Stunned Silence
It was a hushed, stunned group that listened intently as the briefing team further revealed a detailed resume of the Japanese attack plan: On June 1, the Aleutian Force would commence its approach to the Aleutian Islands with the objectives: (1) attack Dutch Harbor on 3 June; and (2) begin the invasion and occupation of designated islands on June 5.
The Aleutian Force was in fact a red herring. Its main objective was diverting attention away from the flotillas converging on Midway Atoll. On June 3, the Midway Invasion Force, escorted by light carrier Zuiho, would commence its approach from south-west of Midway; timed to arrive Midway Atoll area on the morning of June 5.
Also on June 3, the First Carrier Striking Force would begin its approach from the north-west, timed to commence air strikes on Midway Atoll at first light on the morning of 4 June. Bombardment of Midway Atoll by surface ships was planned to begin and continue through the night of June 4. Landing of invasion troops on Midway would begin on the morning of June 6. The Main Force, (Admiral Yamamoto) composed of battleships and light carrier Hosho, would maintain station 300 miles north-west of the First Carrier Striking Force, in readiness for the moment of opportunity to engage any U. S. carrier forces that might appear.
While the Japanese scenario unfolded, Task Forces 16 and 17 would take station well to the north and east of Midway; circling in the shadows, warming the bench while waiting their turns at bat. If the strategists guessed right and all went as planned, they would be called on to step into the batter's box and deliver a flanking attack on the First Carrier Striking Force on the morning of June 4.
In the days that followed the briefing, it had been like having read the book then going to see the movie. The Japanese carried out their schedule with clockwork precision, but with one exception. The transport train of the Midway Invasion Force had been sighted and tracked on June 3rd by a Midway based PBY. It was rumored a night torpedo attack by Midway PBYs had followed, with as yet unknown results.