Six months after the devastation at Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy needed a decisive win.
On June 4th, 1942, Japan began bombing the U.S. Naval Air Facility of the Midway Atoll, in an attempt to lure out and destroy the aircraft carriers that had survived the bombings on Pearl Harbor. Luckily, U.S. codebreakers made the Navy aware of this attack long before it took place, allowing the Americans to plan an ambush of their own. Air raids launched from both land and sea quickly sunk all four of the Japanese carriers. The U.S. lost the USS York aircraft carrier, but the battle was ultimately a major American victory.
Witness brutal bomb raids, torpedo launches and an ocean on fire in the most pivotal battle of the Pacific.
1
Pilots at the Naval Air Station Kaneohe, Hawaii
May 1942, just before the Battle of Midway
2
The US Naval Air Station at Midway
1942
3
View showing the stern quarter of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in the Pacific
1942
4
USS Yorktown taking damage
June 4th, 1942
5
U.S. Navy LCdr Maxwell F. Leslie, commanding officer of bombing squadron VB-3, ditches in the ocean next to the heavy cruiser USS Astoria, after successfully attacking the Japanese carrier Soryu
The Battle of Midway, on June 4, 1942
6
USS Yorktown being abandoned
June 4th, 1942
7
Diorama of the dogfights above Midway
1942
8
Grumman TBF-1 Avenger of Torpedo Squadron Eight on the ground at Midway in late June prior to shipment back to the United States for post-battle evaluation
June 5th, 1942
9
Yorktown is abandoned with destroyers at right picking up survivors
June 4th, 1942
10
Yorktown being abandoned after suffering torpedo damage
June 4th, 1942
11
Repairs underway on bomb damage on the flight deck of Yorktown shortly it hit by Japanese bombs
June 4th, 1942
12
USS Enterprise launched thirty-one of its Dauntless scout bombers, each armed with 1,000lb bombs, with twelve Wildcats in support
June 6th, 1942
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Heavy cruiser USS Astoria steams by Yorktown shortly after the carrier had been hit by three Japanese bombs
June 3rd, 1942
14
Yorktown on fire after the attack, with several of her escorts steaming nearby, including the cruiser USS Portland, as seen from the cruiser USS Pensacola
June 4th, 1942
15
A Japanese Type 97 aircraft is shot down while attempting to deliver a torpedo attack on Yorktown
June 4th, 1942
16
Two Japanese Type 97 aircraft from Hiryu (far right) during the torpedo attack on Yorktown
June 4th, 1942
17
Japanese carrier Akagi and a destroyer maneuver while under high-level bombing attack by USAAF B-17 bombers
Midway, June 4th, 1942
18
A Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat fighter takes off from Yorktown on combat air patrol
June 4, 1942
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Japanese carrier Hiryu as it maneuvers to avoid three bombing runs by Army Air Force bombers
Midway, June 4th, 1942
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View of a busy flight deck aboard the USS Enterprise
June, 1942
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"Devastator" torpedo planes and F4F-3 "Wildcat" fighters parked on the carrier's flight deck
April 1942. USS Enterprise
22
Scene on the flight deck of USS Yorktown (CV-5), after the first Japanese bombing raid
June 4, 1942
23
A Japanese bomber scores a direct hit on USS Yorktown, despite a tornado of anti-aircraft fire
During the Battle of Midway
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USS Yorktown performing maneuvers to evade another torpedo attack.
The Battle of Midway, June 1942
25
Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma smolders
Off the Midway Atoll 1942
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Aerial view of Japanese carrier Sōryū underway
During the Battle of Midway June 4, 1942
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Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryū burning during the Battle of Midway
June 5, 1942
28
Oil tanks on Sand Island spew fire and smoke after being hit by a Japanese attack
June 4, 1942
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The crew of 1st Lieutenant James ‘Jim’ Muri’s B-26, which made a torpedo attack on a Japanese aircraft carrier during the early morning
June 4th, 1942
