Preparations for the Invasion for Operation MI
If you haven't read my article on the battle of coral sea and ww2 pacific front read it first!
The Preparation of the Japanese and Americans for the Battle of midway
The Americans already knew about the Japanese planning an invasion of midway codenamed (Operation MI) The reason the Americans got this information was thanks to the radio intelligence which the Americans has broken the Japanese naval codes and got an idea of the Japanese when and where their ships will appear. The Americans were commanded by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz which he planned to ambush the Japanese fleet. The plan was that the American ships will wait in the northeast of midway and while the Japanese were preoccupied attacking midway atoll and then they will launch a counter-strike on the Japanese fleet and decimate the Japanese carriers. Although the plan was simple. but it needs all the potential when they have to be in the right location at the right time
the victory was dependent on the accuracy of his intelligence. Also, He knew the Japanese have double the ships he has while the radio intelligence suggested that the Japanese will have up to 5-6 carriers. but he knew he was outnumbered but unless he has the element of surprise he could win the battle.
Task Force 16 which consists of USS Enterprise and Hornet under the command of Rear Admiral Raymond D. Spruance left pearl harbor on May 20th and Then followed by Task Force 17 consist of USS Yorktown which was damaged and quickly repaired up by American engineers for the battle of midway was commanded by Admiral Frank J. Fletcher while the Japanese submarines which task was to watch out and sunk any American carriers leaving pearl harbor. The Americans had 234 carrier-based aircraft and 124 land-based aircraft based out of the midway atoll.
On the other hand, the Japanese were commanded by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. The Japanese carrier force known as (Kido Butai) was the Japanese most destructive weapon the Japanese have, The carrier striking force was commanded by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. He got the position because he was one of the most experienced commanders the Japanese had in 1942 and also specialized in torpedos. On that day Nagumo had 4 carriers Car DIV 1 was in his command his flagship was the IJN Akagi. The ship was the oldest and longest ship of all the carriers. The Ship has a large deck space of 54 plane capacity, Interesting fact about the Akagi is that she was converted from a battlecruiser hull to a carrier. the other ship Kaga was converted from a battleship hull so she was the most less maneuverable of all the carriers but she carried the most aircraft. the ship carried 63 aircraft. Then CAR DIV 2 consists of IJN Hiryu and Soryu both of them were soryu class carriers they have lights hulls but they were more maneuverable and have a higher speed than the CAR DIV 1 and also have good air group but they were lightly armored. the Soryu class ships were commissioned in 1937. The CAR DIV 2 was commanded by Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi his capital ship was Hiryu. Kido Butai had a combined strength of 248 aircraft + 12 recon planes and also the Japanese have the most experienced pilots in 1942 onboard these ships. Objectives:- Admiral Nagumo has two objectives:- First, he has to neutralize the American base at Midway atoll means to destroy airfields, planes, oil tankers, shipyards, etc and the second objective is to put a lockout for American carriers and also he has to put half of the planes as a reserve if the Americans carriers showed up. But the little bit the Japanese know that the Americans already know about the Japanese attacking midway and already know about when and where the Japanese will appear and still the Japanese have no idea of when and where American carriers will appear. The Japanese tried to do a reconnaissance mission codenamed Operation K but it was canceled because it was too risky and the second thing the Japanese did was they put a line of submarines ahead of Nagumo's Force to put an eye on the American ships on pearl harbor but they reported nothing so this indicated that to Admiral Nagumo that the carriers were most likely still in port.
Thanks for reading the article That's it for today's article it's been some time since I write an article so sorry for that, the battle of the midway article will come soon. I wanted to wish everyone a happy new year and it's the last article of this year.
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