THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY
THE FORCES OF THE TWO ENEMIES
(Taken from "I gladiatori del mare" di Angelo Solmi, Rizzoli 1980)
When to Tokyo they realized (and someone hastened, even though to narrow teeth) that the fleet had lamed of one of its best aircraft carriers, the Shokaku, which needed one month of jobs, you/he/she was decided to take to all the costs the revenge with Yamamoto to the Midway.
It dealt with employing what had Japan, almost two hundred ships: among these, 11 battle ships, 8 aircraft carriers, 24 cruisers, 70 destroyer, 15 submersibles and around 700 airplanes.
Nothing was not seen of never similar to the world.
After all the objective Midway and Aleutian it was secondary entirely in comparison to that to attract the rests of the fleet of Nimitz, to destroy her/it completely.
To face this formidable army the Americans they didn't have by now that three sun aircraft carrier: Enterprise, Hornet and Yorktown, admitted that this last could result ready after the damages brought in the battle
of the sea of the Corals.
The atoll of Midway, last of the chain of the Hawaii from which dista around 2200 kilometers, belonged to the StatiUnitis from the end of the eight hundred and to the American harbor from 1903; the telegraphic line passed you that united the Filippirus to the Hawaii and it was an essential outpost for the defense of Pearl
Harbor.
The atoll is double, or rather composed by two insoles: Sand, the most greater and Eastern Island, the young person an open space as a bigliardo to serve from footstep of landing.
Around the islands the tropical fishes swarmed and they didn't miss the pescicanis. An equatorial sun to peak, a lost sandy edge in the sea (they are almost there 3000 kilometers of Ocean Pacific to reach Tokyo), the stay they didn't make pleasant to Midway, also because Sand is long few more than 3500 meters and Eastern it doesn't arrive 2000 meters.
Was Qual the plan of Yamamoto and his/her head of S. admiral Kusaka for the great attack of the first ones of June?
The "reunited fleet" (for "reunited fleet" Japan they understood, in substance, the whole fleet) it would be uniform it is in one "strength manager" to conquer Midway in a secondary to appropriate of the Aleutian ones.
A part of the naval strengths that you/they would have taken possession of the Midway would be assembled then to Truk, from where, in July, you/he/she would have begun the invasion of the New Caledonia and the Figis. The team aircraft carrier of the admiral Nagumo, pride and principal strength of the fleet, would subsequently have attached Sydney and the south-oriental coast of Australia. In August the " reunited fleet" you/he/she would have begun the invasion of the Hawaii. As he/she is seen it dealt with a program to which didn't make defect the ambition: sinned that he treated this he/she was seen then it the accounts done without the innkeeper. And this innkeeper was the harbor of the United States: scarce of number, to that epoch. but resolved and hard as the steel.
The plans for Midway were elaborated on board of the battle " ship superkolossal" Yamato, from 65.000 tons (73.000 to full load), armed with 9 guns from 460 mms.: the ship most powerful of the world together with the twin Musashi (what, however, in June 1942, you/he/she had not completed the preparation yet).
Here it needs to open a brief parenthesis on these super ones - colossuses that, in theory, you/they would have had to sweep everything from - boasts to if in their
walk.
They didn't sweep anything instead, rather they were them to be swept away with relative facility, not as soon as the fold of the events changed. During the war they combined few or nothing and they were more than obstacle that other for the necessity to equip her with an enormous protection.
They didn't even serve to make dajleet in being, as the English say, or rather from fleet that he/she doesn't fight but hangs on the movements of the adversary in how much it prevents him from completing some actions or it induces him/it to undertake not others of it happy.
Huge monsters from the lazy brain, these heavy unities also revealed defects of construction and protection despite the corazzatura of 650 mms. in the towers, a corazzatura that arrived until under the hull and the motors to turbine from 150.000 C V., that would have had to assure them a speed for other ever reached of 27 knots. You build in the yards Mitsubishi of Nagasaki, it was - no unbalanced ships " ": any modern battleship also of young person tonnage was more rapids, more agile and, in conclusion, more powerful person of them, because better in degree to defend himself/herself/themselves from the aerial attacks.
In a word they were colossuses that frightened only on the paper.
In the high-end reunion on the Yamato, extended him for three days, they also studied minutely him what hostile strengths were: and he reached the conclusion that you/they could count on 2 heavy aircraft carriers to admiral Nimitz's Americans, 3 light aircraft carriers, 2 ships from beats - glia, 5 heavy cruisers, 4 light, 30 destroyer. Well, these long and complex lucubrations were wrong. Nimitz didn't have light aircraft carrier, it didn't have battle ships, it had 7 heavy cruisers and a light solo and you/he/she could have only 14 destroyer. It had, that is, few or nothing.
In a only point but it was that essential the Japanese they attributed less as him it possessed: the heavy aircraft carriers. As we know, in fact, Nimitz had three of them, of which two efficient and one (the Yorktown) ready to also do it his/her own duty.
This way, founding
it on conclusions so much fragilìiquanto wrong, Yamamoto and the Japanese admirals decided day to send, against the scarce strengths of Nimitz, a nightmare fleet, the greatest never exit in thin sea then in the second world war: as we have mentioned, it dealt with 11 battle ships, 8 aircraft carriers, 24 cruisers among heavy and light, 70 destroyer, 40 transport ships and 700 airplanes, besides numerous submersibles.
This mastodontic army (of which, over everything, it is not even understood to what it had to serve, without, as in effects it happened, to hamper him to story for the number too great day ships) it was separated in six groups: 1 strength manager; 2 before and second strength operational aircraft carrier; 3 strength day invasion of Midway; 4 strength northerner of the Aleutian ones; 5 strength of protection; 6 submarine advanced strength. Yamamoto, that lifted his/her insignia on the Yamato, commanded the principal strength (3 battle ships, Yamato. Nagato and Mutsu, a light aircraft carrier, the Hosho, a light cruiser, the Sendai).
The viceammiraglio Nagumo had the I command some first strength operatìva aircraft carrier (Akagi Kaga, Hiryu. Soryu), and the rear-admiral Kakuta quell (of the second strength operational aircraft carrier. The group of Nagumo also included two battleships and three cruisers. The viceammiraglio Kondo directed the fleet of invasion of Midway, with two battleships (Kongo and Hiei), the por light taerei Zuiho, the heavy cruisers Atago, Cho - kai, Myoko and Haguro: it also depended on him the group of assault of the admiral Kurita. To the strength of the Aleutian ones the deputy admiral Hosogaya was preceded, with insignia on the - the heavy cruiser Nachi. In everything they were present 7 viceammiraglis and the contrammiragli, with 70.000 between officers and sailors: a monstrous quantity of admirals, of men and of ships, that it was the truth even if not the only heel d' Achille of the operation. To the first ones of June the offensive had away the: the first strength operational aircraft carrier of Nagumo went out of the harbors and sailed up to 250 northwestern miles Midway.
For three days aerial glì of the four aircraft carriers would have had to hammer Midway, supported by the two ships by battle to the ordìnis of Nagumo (Haruna and Kirishima), from 2 heavy cruisers among which the Tone, ship of flag of the rear-admiral Abe, and from one light (the Nagara). To around 600 northwestern miles the principal strength of Yamamoto would be waited for, 300 more miles "back" of Nagumo. Cìnquecento north miles of Yamamoto you/he/she would be found the strength of protection of the deputy admiral Takasu, that "it protected" also the operation Aleutian, and that it was formed from four battle ships (Hyuga, Ise, Fused, Yamashi - ro) and from two light cruisers (Of and Kitakami).
Finally, 300 east miles of Takasu, the line up of the second operational strength was anticipated portaereì, of the rear-admiral Kakuta, formed by a heavy aircraft carrier (Junyo), from a light (Ryujo), and from two heavy cruisers (Maya and Takao). To conclude, the fleet of invasion of Midway of the admiral Kondo had, as "stings of diamond", admiral Kurìta's four heavy ìncrociatoris (Ku - hand, Suzuya, Mikuma, Mogami), constituent a " group of support The> that you/he/she would be been able better to call "group of assaltol>. This way, on an area of over six million square kilometers, the whole harbor of the Rising Sol was disseminated. Kongo, Hiei, Haruna and Kirishima apparte nevano to the same class, entered on call to the eve of the the first world war but completely rimodernat: between 1930 and 1937, bringing the height displacement expensive co from 27.000 tons to 36.000, the motor ds' power: 64.000 to 136.000 horses, the speed from 27 to 30 knots, the principal armament to 8 guns from 356 mms, over wings: gunner antiaircrafts.
MIDWAY SEEN BY JAPANESE
BATTAGLIA DI MIDWAY: THE FINAL SENTENCE OF THE SHINANO