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Battle of Midway order of battle

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Battle of Midway order of battle
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This is the order of battle for the Battle of Midway, a major engagement of the Pacific Theatre of World War II, fought 4–7 June 1942 by naval and air forces of Imperial Japan and the United States in the waters around Midway Atoll in the far northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

IJ Combined Fleet and US Pacific Fleet Commanders
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Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto (HQ aboard BB Yamato)
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Adm. Chester W. Nimitz (HQ at Pearl Harbor)

The Japanese had two purposes for the campaign: to occupy Midway for use as a base for long-range search planes (for which the Americans were already using it), and to draw the US Pacific Fleet out of its base at Pearl Harbor for a decisive showdown battle.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet (comprising all combat vessels) and mastermind of the Pearl Harbor Attack, was tasked with drawing up the operational plan. The Japanese Naval General Staff, responsible for strategic planning, required him to include a diversionary move as part of his detailed battle plan; they told him to include a side operation that would result in the capture of two islands in the Aleutians chain, believing that the occupation of even a tiny portion of a US possession would be sufficient to draw out the bulk of the Pacific Fleet.[1]

US Navy code-breaking, Japanese overconfidence and the courage of American carrier fliers combined to create both a strategic and a tactical defeat for the Japanese: they failed to capture Midway and they suffered much greater losses in ships and planes than did the Americans (the loss of experienced naval pilots would prove to be particularly costly as the war dragged on). Midway put an end to Japanese expansion in the Pacific.

Because the Japanese assumed the tactical initiative, their forces are listed first.

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Overview

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Ships involved in the Midway operation[2][3]
Losses indicated by *, counts in parentheses

Combat vessels

More information Imperial Japanese Navy, Ship Type ...

Auxiliaries

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Aircraft

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Japan

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto[a]
Commander, Combined Fleet

Significant combat was experienced by Nagumo's First Striking Force and Kurita's Midway Support Force. The vast majority Japanese ships saw no action during the entire Midway campaign.

First Fleet

First Fleet Main Force

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Super battleship Yamato fitting out several weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor
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Battleship Nagato
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Light carrier Hosho
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First Carrier Striking Force / First Air Fleet

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Chuichi Nagumo
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Deck scene on carrier Akagi in Indian Ocean
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Carrier Kaga showing small superstructure and downward pointing funnel
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Carrier Hiryu on fire after US air attacks at Midway
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Carrier Soryu pre-war
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Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" fighter
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Aichi D3A "Val" dive bomber
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NakajimaB5N "Kate" torpedo bomber

Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo[c] in Akagi

  • 1st Carrier Division
  • Vice Admiral Nagumo
  • 2nd Carrier Division
  • Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi† in Hiryū
    • Hiryū (scuttled 5 June) (Capt. Tomeo Kaku†)
      • Air Unit (Lt. Joichi Tomonaga†)
        • 18 Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 21 'Zeke' fighters (Lt. Shigeru Mori†)
        • 18 Aichi D3A1 'Val' dive bombers (Lt. Michio Kobayashi†)
        • 18 Nakajima B5N2 'Kate' torpedo bombers (Lt. Rokuro Kikuchi†)
    • Sōryū (scuttled 4 June) (Capt. Ryusaku Yanagimoto†)
      • Air Unit (Lt. Cmdr. Takashige Egusa)
        • 18 Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 21 'Zeke' fighters (Lt. Masaji Suganami)
        • 16 Aichi D3A1 'Val' dive bombers (Lt. Masai Ikeda)
        • 18 Nakajima B5N2 'Kate' torpedo bombers (Lt. Heijiro Abe)
        • 2 Yokosuka D4Y1 'Judy' dive bombers
  • Support Group
    • 8th Cruiser Division
    • Rear Admiral Hiroaki Abe[d] in Tone
      • 2 Tone-class heavy cruisers (8 × 7.9-in. main battery)
        • Tone (Capt. Tametsugu Okada)
        • Chikuma (Capt. Keizo Komura)
          • Air Unit: 3 Aichi E13A1 Type 0 'Jake' float planes, 2 Nakajima E8N2 Type 95 'Dave' float planes
    • 3rd Battleship Division, 2nd Section
    • Rear Admiral Tamotsu Takama in Haruna
      • 2 Kongo-class fast battleships (8 × 14-in. main battery)
        • Haruna (Rear Adm. Takama)
          • Air unit: 3 Nakajima E8N2 Type 95 'Dave' float planes
        • Kirishima (Capt. Sanji Iwabuchi)
          • Air unit: 3 Nakajima E8N2 Type 95 'Dave' float planes
  • Screening Force
  • Supply Group 1
  • Captain Masanao Ota in Kyokuto Maru
    • 1 Kagero-class destroyer (6 × 5-in. main battery)
    • AO Kyokuto Maru (Capt. Ota)
    • AO Shinkoku Maru (Capt. Tokugyo Ito)
    • AO Tōhō Maru (Capt. Kazutaka Niimi)
    • AO Nippon Maru (Capt. Hironosuke Ueda)
    • AO Kokuyo Maru (Capt. Toraji Hidai)
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Aircraft

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American Forces

Naval Air Station (NAS) Midway operated:[9]

United States Navy

United States Army Air Forces

United States Marine Corps

Task Force 17:

Yorktown: 77 aircraft (sunk)

Task Force 16:

Enterprise: 78 aircraft

Hornet: 77 aircraft

Japanese Forces

The Japanese carriers of the Striking Force operated:

Akagi: 60 aircraft (sunk)

Kaga: 74 aircraft (sunk)

Hiryū: 57 aircraft (sunk)

Sōryū: 57 aircraft (sunk) [10]

(Note: These figures include 21 operational Zero fighters of the 6th Air Group being ferried to Midway by the carriers.)

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Footnotes

  1. [a]
    Shot down and killed by US fighter planes while on tour of upper Solomons April 1943.
  2. [b]
    Killed during Battle of the Malacca Strait May 1945
  3. [c]
    Died by self-inflicted gunshot on Saipan July 1944
  4. [d]
    Forced to resign from navy March 1943 following unsatisfactory performance at Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
  5. [e]
    Died during Battle of Saipan July 1944
  6. [f]
    Killed during Battle of Surigao Strait October 1944
  7. [g]
    Fell out of favor with Naval high command after the Guadalcanal campaign and was assigned to shore duty from December 1942 until end of war.
  8. [h]
    Died by self-inflicted gunshot on Okinawa June 1945
  9. [i]
    Killed on Guadalcanal August 1942
  10. [j]
    Assigned to shore duty following unsatisfactory performance in Battle of the Komandorski Islands
  11. [k]
    Died on Tinian prob. by suicide August 1944
  12. [l]
    Died of illness September 1944 six months after promotion to full admiral
  13. [m]
    Later oversaw work with torpedo suicide weapons; survived war
  14. [n]
    Held overall command of invasion forces for Guadalcanal August 1942..
  15. [o]
    Including elements from the sidelined Saratoga air group
  16. [p]
    These aircraft were obsolete by mid-1942 and their slow speed allowed them to be practically wiped out during their attacks on the Japanese carriers. This sacrifice, however, was instrumental in allowing the US dive bombers to appear over Nagumo's task force almost unnoticed.
  17. [q]
    Held desk job for remainder of war following disappointing performance in Aleutian Islands campaign.
  18. [r]
    Impulsively relieved of command by Halsey following loss of light cruiser USS Juneau November 1942, a career-ruining move Halsey later supposedly expressed regret over.
  19. [s]
    Later promoted to full admiral and commanded US Third Fleet.
  20. [t]
    Later promoted to full admiral and commanded US First Fleet after war.
  21. [u]
    An early proponent of naval aviation; later promoted to full admiral and commanded Fast Carrier Task Force.
  22. [v]
    Later promoted to full admiral and commanded US Seventh Fleet.
  23. [w]
    Later promoted to vice admiral and commanded amphibious forces in both Mediterranean and Pacific Theatres.
  24. [x]
    First Puerto Rican to graduate from US Naval Academy; relieved following disastrous Battle of Savo Island and never held another sea command.
  25. [y]
    Received ten commendations over his service in war.
  26. [z]
    Killed in plane crash in Mendocino County, California January 1943.
  27. [aa]
    These aircraft were obsolete by mid-1942 and were no match for the advanced Mitsubishi Zero.
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References

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