BosnMate
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- Sep 10, 2010
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On this day, 4 June 1942, 72 years ago, at 7:AM squadrons of torpedo and dive bombers commenced taking off from the carriers USS Hornet and the USS Enterprise, followed about an hour later by aircraft from the USS Yorktown. Those American aircraft were to attack the Japanese fleet at the extreme limits of their fuel, and the American pilots attacked, knowing they didn’t have enough fuel to make it back to their ships, the odds of living one more day very slim. The Japanese were bent on capturing Midway Island from the Americans, and the same four carriers used to attack Pearl Harbor six months before were in the Japanese task force. The first two squadrons of American torpedo bombers attacked and because those planes were comparatively slow easy targets to ship board anti-aircraft fire, and because in those days American torpedoes were defective; all the planes in both squadrons were shot down without the Americans inflicting any damage to the Imperial Fleet. The only American survivor of that attack was Ensign George Gay, who sat in a one man life raft and watched the balance of the battle before being rescued. As bad as that sounds, there was some good that came from the sacrifice of those men, their attack pulled the Japanese combat air patrol high over the fleet down to sea level to attack the under armed and slower torpedo bombers. At the same time, Japanese carriers were recovering aircraft after their raid on Midway, and those planes had to be rearmed and fueled. Gas lines were crisscrossed on the hanger deck; bombs were also stacked on the hanger deck waiting to be loaded. At that moment the dive bombers from Yorktown arrived, and with enemy fighters and ship board gunners occupied elsewhere, they dove unopposed out of the sun on their bomb runs. After that attack three Japanese carriers were left burning and sinking. The Japanese found the Yorktown, and between air attacks and torpedoes from an enemy sub, they were able to sink it. Without going into more detail, another American attack was launched, which badly damaged the fourth Japanese carrier. With no place to land, the Imperial Fleet lost their best pilots, all the aircraft and 4 aircraft carriers, plus several other ships damaged, a loss from which they were never able to recover. Today, 4 June 2013, is the anniversary of that very important naval battle, one that set the stage for the final defeat of the Japanese in WWII, and reminds us of the thanks we owe the greatest generation of Americans. For all veterans, past, present and future, thank you, and my God Bless you and yours.
