1942-06-04
Battle of Midway
Northwest of Midway
Fletcher's Yorktown and Spruance's Enterprise and Hornet met Nagumo's four carriers. American dive bombers sank Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu on 4 June. Hiryu's aircraft crippled Yorktown, and Hiryu was sunk later that day. I-168 then sank Hammann and the abandoned Yorktown. The submarine Nautilus got in among the Japanese ships and was hunted by the destroyer Arashi. Arashi then hurried back toward the carriers, and Enterprise's dive bombers followed her wake to the fleet. Kurita's cruisers came in afterward. On 5 June the submarine Tambor sighted them. They turned, Mogami collided with Mikuma, and aircraft sank Mikuma on 6 June. Yamamoto's battleships and the transport convoy were not in the carrier fight. Hosho was with that Main Body and was not in the carrier fight. On 5 June one of her aircraft photographed the abandoned Hiryu. The Japanese submarine cordon did not get on station in time. I-168 did, and she sank Hammann and Yorktown. Four more American submarines were patrolling north of Oahu and were not in the battle.
Sunk in this fight
7 ships.
Track of the Japanese forces, 4-6 June 1942. United States Strategic Bombing Survey, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, 1946, Appendix 21. Public domain. The sheet is titled Battle of Midway. North is up. Honshu is at the left. The tracks run east. The sheet prints an Aleutian supporting force on the northern tracks. The force names along the tracks are too small on this scan to quote.
Action chart of the Battle of Midway, 5 June, time zone minus 9. United States Strategic Bombing Survey, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, 1946, Appendix 22. Public domain. The sheet says it is an extract from the translated report of action of the First Air Fleet striking force. The notes along the tracks are that report's. On this scan they are too small to assign to one ship.
Track of Japanese submarines, 3-7 June 1942. United States Strategic Bombing Survey, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, 1946, Appendix 20. Public domain. North is up. The tracks run from the Marshall Islands toward Midway. Hawaii is to the east. The boat names on this scan are too small to quote. A note near Midway includes the name Yorktown.
Attack on the Midway transports. United States Strategic Bombing Survey, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, 1946, Appendix 19. Public domain. The sheet does not print a north arrow. It is a formation sketch, not a chart of the island. Jintsu is marked as flagship. It prints a B-17 attack at 1700 on 3 June, nine B-17s, and a PBY torpedo on Akebono Maru at 0100 on 4 June. The destroyers are marked DD and are not named. The sheet does not mark Akebono Maru sunk.
