Sunday, June 3, 2012

70 Years Ago: First Encounter At Midway

At 0900 June 3, 1942, US Navy PBY-5 Catalina amphibious patrol seaplanes operating from Midway encountered ships of the Japanese invasion force more than 700 miles west of the island.  That afternoon, nine US Army B-17 heavy bombers operating from Midway made a high level (20,000 feet altitude) bombing attack on the invasion force. On this occasion, as other incidents early in the Pacific war, B-17's proved ineffective against ships or other moving targets. It would be later in 1942 before US Army air forces modified medium bombers to operate more effectively against ships, using low-level skip bombing tactics. The four USAAF B-26's on Midway had, however, been modified to deliver US Navy air-launched torpedoes.

The Battle of Midway was about aircraft.  By the time of the Japanese attack, Midway was defended by its own aircraft as well as those of three aircraft carriers:


Naval Air Station (NAS) Midway operated:
United States Navy
United States Army Air Forces
United States Marine Corps
Yorktown: 76 aircraft
Enterprise: 78 aircraft
Hornet: 77 aircraft
Japanese Aircraft:

The Japanese carriers of the Striking Force operated:
Akagi: 60 aircraft
Kaga: 74 aircraft
Hiryū: 57 aircraft
Sōryū: 57 aircraft
(Note: These figures include 21 operational Zero fighters of the 6th Air Group being ferried to Midway by the carriers.)
  • Japanese Battleships and Cruisers: 16 recon floatplanes, most of them short-ranged (5 Aichi E13A, 10 Nakajima E8N, 1 Aichi E11A)

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