| Line 22: |
Line 22: |
| | | | |
| | ==Japanese plan== | | ==Japanese plan== |
| | + | [[Image:Doolittle1.jpg|thumb|150px|right|April 18, 1942: the Doolittle Raid about to launch from USS ''Hornet''.]] |
| | On April 16, after several months of discussion, Commander in Chief, Combined Fleet, Admiral [[Isoroku Yamamoto]], convinced the Imperial General Staff to agree to his Midway and Aleutians strategy for the summer. In Admiral Yamamoto's view, the capture of Midway Island would allow Japan to pursue its Asian policies behind an impregnable eastern shield of defenses in the Central Pacific. The centerpiece of this plan was a feint toward Alaska followed by an invasion of Midway. When the U.S. Pacific Fleet responded to the landings on Midway, Japanese carrier and battleship task forces, waiting unseen to the west of the Midway strike Force, would fall upon and destroy the unsuspecting Americans. If successful, the plan would effectively eliminate the U.S. Pacific Fleet for at least a year and provide a forward outpost from which ample warning of any future threat by the U.S. would come. | | On April 16, after several months of discussion, Commander in Chief, Combined Fleet, Admiral [[Isoroku Yamamoto]], convinced the Imperial General Staff to agree to his Midway and Aleutians strategy for the summer. In Admiral Yamamoto's view, the capture of Midway Island would allow Japan to pursue its Asian policies behind an impregnable eastern shield of defenses in the Central Pacific. The centerpiece of this plan was a feint toward Alaska followed by an invasion of Midway. When the U.S. Pacific Fleet responded to the landings on Midway, Japanese carrier and battleship task forces, waiting unseen to the west of the Midway strike Force, would fall upon and destroy the unsuspecting Americans. If successful, the plan would effectively eliminate the U.S. Pacific Fleet for at least a year and provide a forward outpost from which ample warning of any future threat by the U.S. would come. |
| | | | |
| | ===The Doolittle Raid=== | | ===The Doolittle Raid=== |
| − | [[Image:Doolittle1.jpg|thumb|150px|right|April 18, 1942: the Doolittle Raid about to launch from USS ''Hornet''.]]
| + | {{main|Doolittle Raid}} |
| − | Two days later, Lieutenant Colonel [[James Doolittle]] and a small number of American airmen from the U.S. Army Air Corps took off from the carrier USS ''Hornet'' in land-based [[B-25]] bombers to attack the Japanese home islands. As a result of this attack, which caused the Japanese to want to extend their first line of defense as far east as possible, the Japanese advanced the date of their planned attack on Midway. On May 5, Imperial General Headquarters issued "Navy Order No. 18" directing Admiral Yamamoto to carry out the occupation of Midway Island and key points in the western Aleutians in cooperation with the Army.
| |
| | | | |
| − | At the same time, Japanese Navy communication activity in the vicinity of Japan dramatically increased, reflecting naval exercises conducted in preparation for both the Midway and Aleutian operations. On May 7, Hypo provided a translation of the agenda for a Japanese aviation conference, called by Commander in Chief, 1st Air Fleet (Vice Admiral Nagumo), scheduled for May 16. The conference concerned tactics to be employed in obtaining air superiority over a target, assisting in amphibious landings, and bombing and strafing attacks to wipe out local resistance. On May 9 Melbourne intercepted and translated "1st Air Fleet Striking Force Order No. 6," which confirmed the creation of a new carrier strike force and that a major Fleet movement would begin on May 21. In response to this COMINT, American cryptanalysts supplied warning notices of Japanese offensives scheduled for late May.
| + | Two days later, Lieutenant Colonel [[James Doolittle]] and a small number of American airmen from the U.S. Army Air Corps took off from the carrier USS ''Hornet'' in land-based [[B-25]] bombers to attack the Japanese home islands. |
| | | | |
| | ==American plans== | | ==American plans== |
| Line 83: |
Line 83: |
| | {{License|license = This work is in the [[public domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.}} | | {{License|license = This work is in the [[public domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.}} |
| | | | |
| | + | {{DEFAULTSORT:Midway, Battle of}} |
| | | | |
| − | {{DEFAULTSORT:Midway, Battle of}}
| |
| | [[Category:World War II Battles]] | | [[Category:World War II Battles]] |