Midway From The Japanese Perspective

It is 7 in the morning on June 4, 1942. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi walks along the bridge of the immense Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryū. Today he has the great honor of commanding two aircraft carriers, the Hiryū and the Sōryū. Along with two other aircraft carriers, Akagi and Kaga, the four ships form an elite task force known as Kidō Butai. It is a crucial day for both Yamaguchi and the Japanese Navy: just two hours ago, a Japanese force of 108 aircraft was launched to attack Midway Atoll, a vital US military base in an ambitious operation.

Yamaguchi's restless steps are stopped by the captain of the Hiryū Tomeo Kaku with the urgent message from his superior and head of the operation, Admiral Nagumo. The alarm is raised aboard the Hiryū. The Hiryū is attacked by American planes flying from the still operational Midway base. They are discovered and the Zeros quickly arrive to intercept the Americans. They savagely tore through American torpedo boats that lack fighter escorts to keep them safe. Some American aircraft still manage to launch attacks. But the gods are with the Japanese. They almost miss Hiryū and the others in the Kidō Butai.

There will be a second attack on the Midway Islands. The sailors frantically begin to rearm the planes. Half an hour after rearming, they barely manage to change the bombs on only half of the planes, leaving the Kidō Butai unfit to attack enemy ships. And because Japanese hangars are packed with explosives, they are especially vulnerable to bomb attacks. It is exactly then that Yamaguchi receives the news that confirms his worst fears. Although they cannot say specifically what type of vessels they are, any naval presence is a threat and cause for immediate alarm. An order comes from Nagumo.

Precious time has been lost and they are now caught between two strategies. Meanwhile, planes from Midway continue to arrive. Japanese anti-aircraft guns fire on the attackers. The impressive stopping power of the Japanese defense does its grim work. An American plane goes down and then another. The Americans, however, are relentless and the Hiryū suffers a barrage of accidents. Yamaguchi becomes increasingly impatient with Admiral Nagumo. Why don't the other carriers launch an attack while Hiryū deals with the bombers? But there is no time to launch. The Japanese planes that attacked Midway earlier arrive and need to land immediately.

For half an hour, the Kidō Butai carries out the painstaking and laborious effort of recovering all the returning planes. Meanwhile, Yamaguchi can barely keep his composure. The last plane screeches to a stop. Swarms of American torpedo planes appear over the water, heading straight for the Kidō Butai. And these are different than the Army Air Force planes of old. They face not only American surface ships, but also aircraft carriers. The US Naval Air Force has found them. The Zeros that are in the air spring into action. The Zeros dive and dive behind the slow and vulnerable American torpedo planes.

The skill of Zero's pilots is unquestionable. They dropped their weapons and dozens of American planes were shot down. Yamaguchi watches the distant splashes as the American torpedo boats fall. But in the lead there are still bombers flying. They get closer and closer and somehow through the maelstrom they manage to launch their torpedoes. The deadly cargo slides silently beneath the blue waves. On board the Hiryū five rays are seen approaching to starboard. Are you ready for a torpedo attack? Test your skills in ship-to-ship action with World of Warships, today's video sponsor. Immerse yourself in this free game with over 600 historically accurate ships, including those featured in this movie.

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Back in Hiryū, Captain Kaku puts her on the spot. The ship turns. Despite her size, Hiryū is agile. Incredibly, thanks to the skill of the Japanese captains, not a single Japanese ship is hit. But with all the maneuvers carried out, Kidō Butai has broken the formation. There is a brief celebration and the men applaud. But Yamaguchi frowns, knowing that despite his victory in dodging the American torpedo attack, he is far from done. At 10:22 he looks at the sky. What he sees almost stops his heart. Pictured above are nearly 50 US Navy SBD Dauntless bombers from two different flights.

The Japanese Zero fighters are all fighting from below, seeing off the last of the enemy torpedo boats. There is nothing that can stop the swarm of Dauntless that are preparing to launch themselves from above. Yamaguchi's stomach sinks as he watches the Americans slowly swoop down and descend upon the Kidō Butai. To the southwest, 30 bombers dive straight for the Kaga, anti-aircraft fire snakes into the sky as the Japanese erect a wall of lead. But it's not enough. Aboard the Kaga, her hangars are filled with bombs and torpedoes. A series of catastrophic explosions tear the Kaga apart. Yamaguchi sees the fireball and feels a shockwave, but he doesn't even have time to register the Kaga's cataclysmic explosion as he turns east to see 17 Dauntlesses plunge into the Sōryū.

Bombs are dropped. There is an explosion. Across the burning sea, Yamaguchi turns to look at the Akagi, the flagship of his superior, Admiral Nagumo, and sees only 3 Dauntlesses launch themselves at the Akagi. They approach her and throw the payloads at her. A bomb is dropped. Two. Two bombs fail, but there is a third. And she crashes in the middle of the flight deck, penetrating the lower decks and exploding. Devastating secondary explosions soon follow. All that remains of the Kidō Butai is Yamaguchi and his ship, the Hiryū. As a wave of dive bombers, now devoid of bombs, are forced to retreat and return home.

Yamaguchi is in command of the Kidō Butai's last attack ability. A feeling of determination overcomes him. Yamaguchi allows himself a slight smile and nods at his second-in-command. The launch of 24 aircraft, led by Lieutenant Michio Kobayashi, commander of the Hiryū dive bombers. On the way to the American aircraft carriers, the formation encounters a group of American aircraft. The Japanese fighter escort moves away to attack and stays behind, leaving the bombers unprotected. At 11:55 Kobayashi sights the American fleet about 25 miles away. He takes his 18 dive bombers on a climb to gain altitude. The Japanese planes fly in two groups of nine, one slightly above the other, ready to attack.

Just as 12 American Wildcat fighters burst onto the scene. The first group of Japanese bombers is attacked by 5 Wildcats, the other seven Wildcats attack the second group of Japanese head-on. Without fighter escort, it soon turns into a massacre as Japanese planes rapidly fall from the sky. By the time the escort's 4 Zero fighters reach them, the damage has already been done. Only 10 Vals remain, 2 of which dropped their bombs during the melee so they could maneuver. A desperate Lieutenant Kobayashi sees an American aircraft carrier below. It's the USS Yorktown. Despite the casualties, he is determined and tells them to begin the attack.

The eight armed aircraft are divided into two groups, ready to dive. One group of three heads east and the other group of five circles to approach from outside the sun. Anti-aircraft fire is directed towards the Japanese as the ship's gunners throw everything they have at the attackers. The bravery of the Japanese pilots is unquestionable and they continue forward. Bombs are dropped. Lieutenant Kobayashi is last seen in the middle of the action over Yorktown when his Val is hit and falls. Then two more suffer the same fate. But 3 bombs in a row hit Yorktown directly! The first bomb penetrates the hangar deck.

The second lands right next to the island amidships. The last one hits the elevator and detonates deep in its hull. The remaining 5 Vals return home. At the end of the attack, Hiryū's dive bomber unit was destroyed: 13 of the 18 Vals were shot down and three Zero fighters were also lost. Despite their losses, the attack was not in vain. From the scout planes' reports, Yamaguchi knows that he is facing 3 American aircraft carriers. He calls Lieutenant Jōichi Tomonaga, who originally led the morning attack on Midway. Tomonaga's own plane was damaged during the morning attack and was technically deemed unserviceable.

Hiryū's technicians repair it as best they can, but the fuel tanks are leaking badly. He solemnly boards his crippled plane, knowing that it is meant to be a one-way mission. An hour into the flight, Tomonaga spots the American carrier task group about 35 miles away with one carrier apparently intact. Tomonaga has no idea that this is actually the previously damaged Yorktown. He immediately orders an attack. The Japanese enter a gentle descent from the height. Tomonaga divides his force into two groups of five. Each group will advance to the objective and perform an anvil attack. Tomonaga brings his plane closer and closer to Yorktown, hoping to get it right.

But before he gets close enough, an American Wildcat intercepts him from behind and opens fire. Tomonaga's Kate catches fire, but with grim determination and skill, he keeps the burning plane level, long enough to drop his torpedo. They knock him down and he falls into the water. The last thing he sees is the trail of his torpedo. His torpedo doesn't hit. Neither did the other two launched by its four-wing section. All of them are shot down by fighters or anti-aircraft fire. The damaged Yorktown turns as fast as she can, but as she does so, the second force of five planes heads toward the port bow.

The launch system of one of the torpedo planes fails and 4 torpedoes are launched. They head towards the desperately maneuvering ship... Two devastating explosions shake the port side and the ship immediately stops and takes a 23 degree list. Their work is done, the surviving planes return to Hiryū. Despite heavy losses, the interrogation of the surviving pilots gives Yamaguchi cause for encouragement. Yamaguchi believes he has disabled a second American aircraft carrier and plans a third attack for 6 p.m. But before he can put his plan into action, Yamaguchi's optimism is shattered. At 3:50 p.m., a Japanese scout plane radios that two more American carriers are operating in another large task force located to the northwest, about 120 miles from the Hiryū.

Yamaguchi's worst fears come true: just over an hour later, at 5 p.m., 24 American planes appear overhead. Six Dauntless bombers launch into Hiryū, but the ship turns sharply to port. The Japanese gunners unleash their weapons and all the enemy planes fail to hit. Soon, 14 more dive bombers are heading towards Hiryū. The Hiryū is surrounded by jets of white water as she spins violently, two bombs hitting it on the forward flight deck. Yamaguchi looks up to see a final group of three begin their dives. Within seconds, two more bombs hit the Hiryū's forward flight deck, creating a deep crater.

The fires now burn out of control and the last hope of Yamaguchi's attack lies burning in the hangars. At 9:23 pm, the ship is left dead in the water but with Yamaguchi still on board. Darkness settles over the burning ocean. At 2:30 a.m., about 800 survivors gather around Yamaguchi under the flickering light of the burning ship. With that, the men turn to face Tokyo. "Banzai, Banzai, Banzai!" Then the national flag is lowered. As the rising sun flutters from the penol, a bugle call sounds into the night, playing the national anthem, “Kimigayo.” Yamaguchi requests that 2 messages be transmitted, the first to Admiral Nagumo: the second message goes to Captain Toshio Abe, commanding Destroyer Division 10 on the nearby flagship Kazagumo.

Captain Kaku decided to share the fate of the ship despite Yamaguchi's order. The admiral understood and did not protest. At 5:10 the destroyer Makigumo fires 2 torpedoes: one misses and the other explodes with a roar. The aircraft carrier finally sinks at 9:12 am. Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi went down with this ship and was posthumously awarded the Order of the Golden Kite 1st class. Captain Kaku, who remained with him until the end, was posthumously promoted to Rear Admiral. Thanks again to World of Warships! Look at the link in the description.