The Unknown Battle of Midway: The Destruction of the American Torpedo SquadronsThe Battle of Midway is considered the greatest U.S. naval victory, but behind the luster is the devastation of the American torpedo squadrons. Of the 51 planes sent to attack Japanese carriers only 7 returned, and of the 127 aircrew only 29 survived. Not a single torpedo hit its target. A story of avoidable mistakes and flawed planning, The Unknown Battle of Midway reveals the enormous failures that led to the destruction of four torpedo squadrons but were omitted from official naval reports: the planes that ran out of gas, the torpedoes that didn t work, the pilots who had never dropped torpedoes, and the breakdown of the attack plan. Alvin Kernan, who was present at the battle, has written a troubling but persuasive analysis of these and other little-publicized aspects of this great battle. The standard navy tactics for carrier warfare are revealed in tragic contrast to the actual conduct of the battle and the after-action reports of the ships and squadrons involved." |
Contents
ONE The Destruction of the American Battle Line at Pearl Harbor | 1 |
The New Battle Line | 8 |
THREE Obsolete Devastators and Obsolescent Wildcats | 25 |
The Great American Torpedo Scandal | 39 |
Personnel of the Midway Torpedo Squadrons | 54 |
My God This Is Just LikeWatching a Movie | 76 |
Command Failures | 107 |
Survival | 123 |
Other editions - View all
The Unknown Battle of Midway: The Destruction of the American Torpedo Squadrons Alvin Kernan No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
2ndLT aboard Admiral aerial torpedo after-action report aircraft carriers Akagi altitude American carriers American fleet American navy American torpedo ARM2c ARM3c armor aviation Battle of Midway Battle That Doomed battleship bomb BOMRT Carrier Combat Coral Sea course crew cruiser Devastator dive-bombers Doomed Japan drop Ensign Enterprise exploder feet fighters fire Fletcher flew flight deck flying Frank Jack Fletcher fuel George Gay hangar deck Hiryu Hornet air group Japa Japanese carriers Japanese fleet Kido Butai knew knots landing later Laub launch Lundstrom machine guns Marc Mitscher Mark 13 Markland Kelly Midway Island miles Mitscher Nagumo Naval Institute Press nese never officer Osmus Pacific Pearl Harbor pedo pilots port radio silence radioman riers Ring scouting ship shot sighted speed Spruance starboard strike submarine target Task Force Tom Cheek torpedo attack torpedo planes Torpedo Squadron turn north U.S. Navy Waldron Wildcat Yorktown Zeroes