Battle of Midway

battle_name=Battle of Midway

U.S. intelligence

U.S. naval intelligence (in cooperation with the British and Dutch) had been reading parts of the primary Imperial Japanese Navy communications system (JN-25, an enciphered code) for some time, and since the most recent version changed just before the Pearl Harbor attack, had made considerable progress on the new version. The abundance of radio intelligence harvested from the Japanese Navy?s "wild-goose chase" of the Doolittle Raid task force, further compromised JN-25. By May, the Americans knew that the Japanese were preparing to launch a massive offensive in early June, and could hope to ambush them. One code element was unclear, however. Location AF was clearly to be the major point of attack, but it was unclear what AF was. Some, especially in the Pacific, thought it was Midway; others, concentrated it seems at OP-20-G in Washington, believed AF to be in the Aleutian Islands. However, there was no cryptographic way of settling the issue. An ingenious suggestion by a young officer, Jasper Holmes, at Station Hypo, helped discover the Japanese plan. He asked that the base commander at Midway radio Pearl Harbor to say, in an unencrypted report, that drinking water was running low, due to a breakdown of the water plant. A JN-25 message not long thereafter noted that AF had fresh-water problems, and that the attack force should plan accordingly. AF was therefore Midway, and would be attacked in the new operation.

Related Topics:
JN-25 - Aleutian Islands - Jasper Holmes

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Information from JN-25 decrypts came in slowly, and it wasn't 'till the very last minute that CINCPAC Admiral Chester Nimitz had enough information to put together an ambush for the Midway attack force. He had Vice Admiral William Halsey's two-carrier task force—but Halsey himself was stricken with skin disease, and had to be replaced with Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance.

Related Topics:
CINCPAC - Chester Nimitz - William Halsey - Task force - Raymond A. Spruance

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Nimitz called back Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher's task force from the South West Pacific Area. Yorktown (CV-5) had been severely damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea, but Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard worked around the clock to patch up the carrier. In 72 hours Yorktown was transformed from a barely-operational wreck, headed for a long stay at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, into a working (if still compromised) aircraft carrier. Her flight deck was patched, whole sections of internal beams were cut out and replaced, and a new air group was put on her, from the naval station's own planes. Admiral Nimitz showed total disregard for established procedure in getting his third and last available carrier ready for battle—repairs continued even as Yorktown sortied. Just three days after pulling into drydock at Pearl Harbor, the ship was again under steam, as its band played "California, Here I Come".

Related Topics:
Frank Jack Fletcher - South West Pacific Area - ''Yorktown'' - Battle of the Coral Sea - Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard - Puget Sound Naval Shipyard - California, Here I Come

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Meanwhile, as a result of their participation in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku was laid up, at Truk in the Caroline Islands, waiting for an air group to be brought to her to replace her decimated planes, while the lightly damaged Shokaku was awaiting repairs. One has to wonder how the battle would have unfolded if the Japanese had not assumed that the United States would be sending only the Enterprise and Hornet, to meet Soryu, Hiryu, Akagi and Kaga. Also, although Yamamoto had a large superiority in surface ships overall, he did not commit all his forces to the battle. As a result, only the Japanese carrier force engaged the U.S., while several other detachments, including key battleships and cruisers, did not see combat.

Related Topics:
''Zuikaku'' - Truk - Caroline Islands - ''Shokaku'' - ''Enterprise'' - ''Hornet'' - ''Soryu'' - ''Hiryu'' - ''Akagi'' - ''Kaga''

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