Analysis Of The Battle Of Midway

The Battle of Midway Battle Analysis

Prior to the Battle of Midway, American involvement in World War two was just beginning. On June 4th 1942 Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamo launched an attack on the Midway atoll, commencing one of the greatest naval battles in history. Only 6 months after its attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan’s carrier fleet was viewed as strong and nearly invincible. America’s decisive victory over the Japanese fleet swayed the momentum of the Pacific war.

Beginning on June 4th 1942, the Battle of Midway took place six months after the United States became involved in World War two due to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After the French collapse in World War two, Japan seized the undefended territory of Indochina and also began moving into China. In response to these harsh moves, the United States and England placed oil embargos on Japan. Relying heavily upon imported oil, the embargos would ultimately cause Japanese industry to stop production. Japan’s response to these unwanted sanctions were moves to overtake various Pacific islands which could provide the mother country with oil. The Japanese knew that the American response to these actions would be war, so it initiated the impending war with an attack on Pearl Harbor in order to cripple the American fleet. As Japan gained ground in the Pacific early in the war, the Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto decided that the only way to win the war was to destroy the American aircraft carrier fleet. In order to destroy the American carrier fleet it would be necessary to draw the carriers into an all-out battle while staying away from the heavily fortified land defenses of most United States bases. The Japanese admiral decided that the island atoll of Midway would b...

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...mbers which carried out the attacks to decisively finish the first three Japanese aircraft carriers showed excellent economy of force. Although the Americans had thrown around a hundred aircraft at the Japanese fleet, no major hits had been recorded. These last remaining aircraft were well synchronized in order to provide the hits resulting in the thorough destruction of the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet. Offensive of a fighting force means having the initiative to attack the enemy forces and seize what you want. In this battle both forces displayed great amounts of initiative. The battle consisted of sending out multiple waves of aircraft in order to seek and destroy enemy aircraft fleets. Admiral Nagumo of the Japanese Carrier Group one was unable to display initiative to attack the American fleet which had been spotted while his aircraft were returning to base.