Historical+Background

__Background of the Battle of Midway__
**__The US enters WWII (Pearl Harbor and Coral Sea)__ ** On December 7th, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japanese fighter pilots who wanted to destroy the Pacific fleet that was based on the Island. Thus, bringing The United States into World War II. The war was not only fought on land but also on water. Five months later on May 3rd, 1942, a Japanese force attempted an invasion at New Guinea to take control over Port Moresby. This battle, later named the //Battle of Coral Sea,// made matters worse for Americans after Pearl Harbor. Not only was the USS Lexington sunk but the USS Yorktown was also damaged during the battle. However, the Japanese suffered more damage to their aircraft carriers, and they turned back leaving the Allies with the victory. This battle reduced Japanese forces available for an attack on Midway (Prados). //After the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Coral Sea//, the Japanese **Admiral Yamamoto** became determined to sink the U.S aircraft carriers. He arranged for a battle at Midway (Marston).

**__Why Midway?__ ** //Midway Island was a key battle that was necessary for both sides of the war effort.// The Japanese needed Midway to eventually “tighten the noose around the Hawaiian Islands,” and also wage an offensive front on the U.S. mainland because they did not gain any land from // the attack on Pearl Harbor // (Karig).  **Admiral Ugaki** suggested that Japan take over Midway, Johnston and Palmyra islands, and occupy them with advanced air bases prior to the invasion of Hawaii.This technique is known as island hoping. This proposal was turned down by **Senior Fleet Operations Officer, Captain Kuroshima,** due to the fear that the U.S. would not risk their navy to save Midway Island (Healy). The U.S. knew that a Japanese attack on the mainland could be possible and they laid out a defence of battle ships and a screen of destroyers that covered the West Coast of the Island. By breaking the JN25--Japans current navy operational code--the U.S. confirmed Japans plan to attack Midway in early June (Healy). ** __Preparations for the Battle of Midway__ ** In planning for the attack on Midway, Japan was aware that they had damaged the Aircraft carriers Lexington and the Yorktown in //the Battle at Coral Sea//. However, Japan didn’t know that the Lexington had been completely destroyed. Japan had also seen the Enterprise and her sister ship, Hornet, moving towards the battle. However, these ships were to late to be involved in any fighting (Karig). Before the Battle of Midway commenced, the Japanese army needed to pull together a massive force. For the U.S to be able to attempt an encounter with the Japanese, they would need all of their naval ships. The U.S.’s Task Force, led by **Admiral Chester Nimitz** consisted of; 3 Aircraft Carriers (Hornet, Enterprise and Yorktown), 234 Carrier-based Planes, 121 Land-based Planes, 8 Cruisers, 15 Destroyers, and 25 Submarines. The Imperial Japanese Navy, or IJN, led by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, had 8 Aircraft Carriers, 11 Battleships, 12 Cruisers, 43 Destroyers, and more than 700 Planes (O’Neill).  //On May 29th 1942, the Japanese decoders were monitoring American radio messages when they discovered that aircraft carriers were arriving and departing from Pearl Harbor. They also discovered that the U.S. had been moving forces around Midway Island. // Although the Japanese could not visually confirm the departure of Task Forces 16 and 17 from Pearl Harbor, American preparations to defend Midway were on the verge of discovery anyway. Japanese COMINT stations not only learned of carrier movements in and out of Pearl Harbor, simply “by listening to increased air-ground radio chatter, but traffic analysis of "Urgent" American radio messages coming out of Pearl Harbor suggested at least one Task Force was at sea” (O’Neill).

Admiral Yamamoto, the leader of the attack, could either call for a “strict radio silence” thus keeping the U.S. from discovering Japans next move, or he could continue on using radio codes to confuse the the United States in hopes that they would move there ships elsewhere. (Navy)

The Decision
 * If you were Admiral Yamamoto, what would you do? **