In addition to the precious historical content of the documentary, the quality of the narrator also calls attention: what an exceptional pronunciation! Congratulations!
My uncle George Campbell piloted one of the first planes to attack at Midway. His entire squadron was destroyed with only Ensign Gay surviving. But their action turned The tide of the battle for the Americans and lead to our victory. His brother Timothy Campbell was on a sub that was sunk off the coast of Corregidor where he was eventually captured. He survive the Baton death march, years at Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines, a horrible/horrifying trip on a HELL ship to Japan where he was eventually freed at the end of the war.
description of the battles are excellent, how they came to be, resources committed and sequence of events really clear the fog of war for viewers. Nice also that the footage pretty well matches the narration in content, seems like could have been taken directly during the actual battles described, which is good work for a historical film documentary.
I was less enthused. This documentary shows its age. In recent years better accounts, especially ‘Shattered Sword’ gives a much deeper understanding of the events, motivations and strategic background. - I highly recommend the very recent 80-years aniversary stream on Drachinifel’s channel. Also, the footage isn’t stellar, with vary little of the clips shown actually from the battle. Most of it was from other actions (strafing freighters, exercises/demos) or simply of planes that were not operational in 1942 (for example the numerous clips of SB2Cs in 1945 g-code tail markings)
The Aleutians was not a diversion. The Japanese thought they could take both. Best read ever: 'Shattered Sword' Wonderful interpretation from the Japanese perspective.
mate this is an 50 years old documentary, back then there was planty american propaganda the number of dead unreall, same as it happend laiter on with D day they say they lost only 6k soldiers on the landing but the numbers is 10x highier. alweys the victor writes the history.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that Midway was the turning point in the Pacific war. The Japanese dream of further expansion was shattered and from then on it was generally defensive not offensive action, though they made a couple more ill fated attempts to win back the advantage.
Getting tired of seeing WWII docs that consistently show the wrong ships and aircraft - some of which weren't even in service yet. Several shots of Hellcats, Helldivers and Essex-class carriers in this one. Get some competent film archivists guys!
Largely unavailable. John Huston's film of the Midway attack is mostly crap, as he got hit in the process of getting the footage--and spent plenty of time ducking, as any smart young man would. It took a while for the Navy to get useful numbers of film-camera-trained-and equipped crews to provide better footage.
Thank the Australians for standing with us! The Battle of the Coral Sea was SO important; after Pearl Harbor, all the news reported for months was Japanese victory after victory. Stopping them from taking Port Moresby was the first time their expansion was actually checked.
Love these old docs but they tend to miss quite a bit. Highly recommend Shattered Sword by Anthony P. Tully for anyone interested in a more modern take of this event. Does an excellent job giving a detailed perspective from both sides and is quite interesting to say the least. Probably one of the better historical reads available about WW2.
Other than a couple mentions of "intelligence" there was no mention of the codebreaking that played such an important part leading up to the battle.@@kennethbuck5745
One thing regarding the intro; it hardly shows three important nations, Italy, Russia and Japan. Quite a comprensive account of Midway. Yorktown had indeed been patched up after damage sustained in the Coral Sea. To some degree it made her more vulnerable but she and destroyer Hamman would have survived if that Japanese submarine hadn't found her. She "inherited" many well trained pilots from Lexington, one reason her aviators did aswell as the did. Japanese firefighting tactics and rigid task division paralized efforts to save the carriers. The Americans had a more losely task description and more personal that could perform different tasks. It is much the same today in all navies.
Some day very soon all of these Historic films and photographs MUST be carefully copied with our best high tech equipment, hard copies and digital reproductions made and everything available run threw the most advanced computer enhancement programs we have. God Blessed This World with the millions of men, women and yes children of Every Nation who lived, who worked, who fought, who suffered and who gave their all. History will forever call them The Greatest Generation.
I am a vietnam vet. We must realize that our way of life is unique to that of the world in general. We have tried to teach our children that all human beings are a very special creation but over time this has become diluted with a lot less than respect for human life that God wants us to realize. Protecting our way of life is still something that needs a focus on spiritual values. After the shock of Pearl Harbor there was an effort to understand the differences between different cultures. There are many differences between some cultures that cannot always coexist and it has to be realized and not just 'We'll work it out'. That was the fatal flaw thar Neville Chamberlain had. Trying to understand Tojo, Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin only resulted in the deaths of 10's of millions of people. We along with the British compromised our principles and worse still our Christian beliefs far to many times. We are once again doing this and it will end in disaster! The answer to all this is a belief in God that He does love us and will save any willing to belief that we will get through life if we accept Jesus Christ as the one capable of doing so. It is called being born again, accepting a totaly new spirit able over time to remake a person into what he or she may be so that others can get through this terrible life that we have to live through right now.
Wathing these documentaries shows what war really is about and tells us why we should go to war ever! War does just kill military personnel but children, women, and the elderly. Its not citizens who decide for war, but our leaders. it's the citizens who suffer.
The assertion that Yamamoto believed that the total destruction of the Pacific Fleet would force Roosevelt to sue for peace is patently false! Yamamoto in fact asserted the exact opposite point a view, that nothing would short of invading Washington DC would settle the mater completely. But Yamamoto was a political creature, beholden to the powers that be and in competition with the Japanese army for control over the Japanese war effort. So he did what he had to, or believed he had to. But he was not under any illusions about the difficulty of the task, and having lived and trained in America, he knew as well as anyone how myopically stubborn Americans can be when attacked.
I totally agree a man with his understanding of America and Americas power to manufacture war material would know America wouldn't sue for peace after a surprise attack
Right On The Button TRUE!.Verified From My Read Of His Quote From The Book "TORA TORA!" I Fear That INSPITE Of Our Present Success(HE MEANT PEARL HARBOR RAID) We May Only Have Succeeded in Awaking A Sleeping Tiger Which We Will Live To Regret!".He Was Literally Dead Right Too!.The USAAF in Sometime in Mid -April1943 in A Bold Aerial Assassination Mission Shot His Entire Staff Flight Down Just Off The Guadal Canal Island's During The Battle Of The Solomon's. An Operation Codenamed By The Japanese Imperial Navy And Army "Igo Sakusen".This Would Lead To What U.S. Military Aviation History Calls The Great Marianas Turkey 🦃 Shoot Just 3Months later.He Was One The Best Japanese Military Strategists,Who Warned Them Of The Danger's Of All Out War With America But Gen Tojo And His War Party Failed To Listen,And Japan Justly Paid The Price in Military Defeat And Nuclear Bomb Devestation Of August 6th To 9th 1945.A Pity That Today INSPITE Of A Great Leader In POTUS45 DONALD J TRUMP AMERICAN IS BEING BETRAYED BY COMMUNIST CONTROLLED DEMENTED TRAITORS FROM WITHIN SELL OUT'S TO THE CCP IT'S AS IF THE SACRIFICES OF THE GREATEST GENERATIONS OF WWII AND THE COLD WAR HAVE NO MEANING OR VALUE!.GOD Forbid America Falling To This Diabolical-Democratic-Socialist Election Coup!!.WAKE UP AND STAND WITH TRUMP FIGHT AND GET RID OF THIS TRAITOROUS PARTY AND IMPOSTOR BIDEN.
What I got from the movie Tora Tora Tora (if it is to be factually correct) is the cultural differences between Japan and the United States. In that movie, the Japanese seemed to be bent on getting the message to FDR that they have declared war and then an hour later attacked us. Where the heck did their culture imbue them with the idea that by declaring they would hit us then doing it would bring the USA to some "bargaining". So I do not believe the Hollywood version--keep in mind that they attacked China in 1937 and had been fighting for 4 years--pretty much by then a stalemate and war of attrition. Reminds me of Hitler who by Dec 1941, not getting anywhere in Giant Soviet Union, declared war on BIGGER Giant the USA. The USA in 1941 was already cranking out tons of war machines--they promised 120,000 6x6 US Army trucks to Stalin the day after Pearl Harbor--the USA had to have production on a gigantic scale already..
The decks had Armed aircraft waiting to go but the decision was made to arm them allowing them to go and get armed below and THEN put back up on deck for takeoff. So, at which point you are both correct.
Both Hiryu and Soryu had their strikes for the attack against the Americans on their flight decks. Kaga had approximately 20 aircraft on her flight deck, although only a very few were spotted. Only Akagi had all of her attack aircraft in her hangar decks.
This was my parents' generation. I grew up in the aftermath: a great time of peace and prosperity for most Americans. But these days, too many serve Satan no lest than Hitler, Stalin & Mao.
If one understands four current cultural climate and truly sees behind the first few coats of privatized media distribution and conducts his own or finds different and most importantly varied sources on the collective prowess and population status of the world and a up to date comprehensive unbiased and peer reviewable sitrep I'm sure even those with limited access to the massive western amenities and those that haven't lived in an internet driven social contruct and just even those hidden little so called primitive enclaves of indigenous people with minimal intellectual prowess and we can easily gather those who would argue we are indeed living in the longest and most prosperous time in the history of history actually ...like right now. Sure. It COULD WOULD, and therefore SHOULD be better. Shit... by this logic and what we have accomplished and all potentially have access to It SHOULD be a GD utopia by now for everyone not on Sentinel Island . Like if aliens show up we should collectively be embarrassed and ashamed to the point of not being able to eyeball them. But to say the populace is in support of a imaginary boogyman or arguably the 3 worst dictators who together are responsible for the suffering and death of more people than any famine of pandemic this universe has thrown at us is way past just acknowledging things are a little tough and shitty right now. And I'm like a Shite Pessimistical High Priest but I also am a realist and this by FAR is the best it has ever been to be a human being. ...and please don't be mad I mean no disrespectful rhetoric towards YOU as much as the things I babble about im just debating with you and i welcome your response and or rebuttal good citizen!
Funny that most of the archival film was after 1944 , what with large Essex class carriers and Hellcats, Avengers,and Curtiss Helldivers. Their were some great early filming. The explosion film on the carrier was on the Enterprise in the Guadalcanal Campaign.
the recent movie puts too much stress on the Nautilus..that subs role was peripheral...the previous film delves into the roles of the Catalinas which was much more significant....
The information presented 41:00 into the video is incorrect. The decks of the Japanese aircraft carriers were NOT crammed with 100 bomber and fighter aircraft ready to takeoff to attack the American carriers. Yes, there were Japanese Bombers loaded with fuel and weapons - however; they were below decks in the hangers. The few planes that were on the decks of the Japanese aircraft carriers during the critical American Dive Bomber attack at 10:20 AM June 4, 1942 were Japanese CAP (Combat Air Patrol) fighters that were down on the decks of Japanese carriers to refuel and re-arm their machine guns and 20mm cannons after they had shot up the American Torpedo Bomber attacks earlier that morning. Please see material presented by Jonathan Parshall - he has a number of videos out that prove this important point. He also was a co-author of 'Shattered Sword' - a book about the Battle of Midway. Jonathan Parshall has spoken to U.S. Navy officers and War College students, he has made a number of public presentations as well as those to the U.S. Military - he is one of the leading experts on the Battle of Midway.
The early WW II 'USS Lexington' (CV-2) was sunk at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May, 1942. The 'USS Lexington' you're referring to is her namesake, CV-16, which was commissioned in 1943.
So bad that the memory is almost gone when i was a kid the ww2 vets where still alive alot of them and this horable time was still a recent memory to them only 30 years ago now ww2 is long history every one needs. To reserch thease horable times just so we are reminded how awfal war can be now just about all the ww2 vets are gone i remeber my 2 granps talked about it and their gone now its sad how the history gets forgoten in time even somthing like this
History is in the process of repeating in that socialism and Marxism has been tried but not by the right people. America has voted for itself the most godless of leaders since 1930 Germany and in some ways, even more so. 23 trillion in debt is unsustainable and unrecoverable, possibly one more generation before total collapse. I am grateful to be in the last years of my life, you younger folks have no idea what you have desired.
@@formerparatrooper "America has voted for itself the most godless of leaders since 1930 Germany and in some ways, even more so. " you don't know how true that is , although the elections are fixed anyway , its who the power elite wants there that gets there , only as puppets anyway , if they don't follow the script its a bullet to the brain , just like JFK
@@bobdimarzio3972 Bob, yes I do KNOW how true it is. I am not looking at this through the eyes of the politicians but through the reality of the war in the heavens, a spiritual war. It is far more than just the elite, there is a power behind this destruction.
Japanese society was all in at the beginning of the war...after Midway the Japanese sailors were kept in seclusion so as not to alarm the civilian population...
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor wasn't a total failure. Although the battleships damaged or sunk may have been older, they still made up the majority of the Pacific Fleets striking power. Most of the airfields had been hit and a number of aircraft damaged or destroyed on the ground.
@jeffburnham6611 Perceived striking power. That is different than actual striking power. After they were repaired, they were almost entirely used exclusively used for shore bombardment.
I absolutely LOVE your sense of humour. I remember in the 1980's while building aircraft we had utterly HORRIBLE Health&Safety conditions. I cornered our then Area Manager and asked for a dust collection system that could collect the fibreglass dust so "that way our trim technicians can go home after work and live their lives almost as if they were REAL people"... The look on Fred's face: priceless! Thanks for sharing your irony though. Classic. Be well Velox Versutus Vigilans
That is good footage. It looks like could be several bombs falling from a level bomber or even a salvo from a ship. I suppose it isn't necessarily an American target. Suppose it's in the Far East or New Guinea, or even the European theater such as North Africa or Norway? This documentary is loaded with irrelevant footage from all over and different time periods of the era. Somebody filmed it from a hilltop, witnessed history.
Here in New York City 2:05 a.m. Tuesday February 16th watching in time stop 7:27 somebody brought a dog to a battleship like seriously. Why bring a dog to a battleship? What the heck is Roscoe going to do bite a Japanese. And why the long intro like serious? But it's a great documentary I give this video a thumbs up and rest in peace to all the dead soldiers who died for this great country I'm glad my mom came to America it's not perfect but it's better than a lot of countries.
@@charlesfaure1189thank you for reading my comment here in New York City Sunday November 12th 11:48 a.m. reading yours and I totally agree with you 100% yep it is good for morale.
I read somewhere that the Yorktown's 48 hours of repair made her able to go to sea, but not entirely seaworthy. Her destruction may have been due to her weakened state. I'm not sure if this is accurate information, but Nimitz had little choice but to patch her up and send her into harm's way. Her contribution to the battle outcome was critical to mission success, Nimitz' gamble paid off even in light of the loss of Yorktown.
As far as I know, the USS Yorktown left Hawaii after 72 hours. Many dock workers stayed aboard her and continued the repairs. She was even in her damaged state a capable fighting ship. What I missed in this documentary was that the IJN Hiryū launched a strike against the US carriers which found the USS Yorktown. The Yorktown was left in that attack burning and dead in the water from bomb hits. On return the Japanese pilots reported one US aircraft carrier sunk. As Admiral Yamaguchi knew based on the number of attacking US carrier aircraft there had to be three US carriers and reports of having sunk one of them would ease the odds to two against one, which with luck still could be won. So he send out another - already depleted - strike force to find the remaining carriers and sink them. They found a strikeforce consisting of several cruisers, destroyers and an aircraft carrier. The Japanese managed to hit that carrier with two torpedoes causing massive damage. What they didn't know was that this carrier was again the USS Yorktown; Its damage control teams did a magnificent job of putting out the fires, repairing the flight deck, and restoring steam pressure to the boilers so she could sail again after the first attack. When the Japanese found her the second time she was no longer trailing smoke and was making 19 knots, so to the Japanes pilots she seemed to be undamaged and therefor another US carrier. Only after this attack in the late afternoon of June 4th she was abandoned by Rear-Admiral Fletcher transferring command to Rear-Admiral Spruance. Admiral Yamaguchi upon hearing reports that his pilots had sunk another US carrier was staying in the fight he believed was now a one vs one fight. He was sure he still had enough planes in his by now severly depleted air arm to do the job, but he would not get the chance to prove it. Over 24 hours later the USS Yorktown was found to be still afloat. By then the IJN Hiryū had also been sunk and the rest of the Japanese fleet had withdrawn, so it was decided they would try to salvage her. The next morning - June 6th - USS Hammann came alongside her and transferred a salvage team and provided external power. A fleet tug took her into tow and they were making 3 knots back to Hawaii. Unfortunately the Japanese submarine I-186 managed to slip into the protective screen of destroyers. Later that Afternoon it launched four torpedoes, one hitting the USS Hammann breaking her in two, and two hit the already badly damaged USS Yorktown. A minute after the USS Hammann went down her depth charges exploded killing many men in the water and further damaging the USS Yorktown. After that the USS yorktown was again abandoned, but it still took her almost 12 hours to roll over and sink on June 7th. She might not have been in prime condition when she left Hawaii, she was still a very tough and capable fighting unit. Including the damage from the Corral Sea it took four attacks to finally sink her.
@@roykliffen9674 The thing about the japanese attacking Yorktown twice, is highlighted by the whatif.. what if the japanese instead attacked Enterprise ? Yorktown was already in a bad way, Hornet had already a very badly depleted airgroup... the flight to nowhere had left some on Midway, and some in the water. Also they had done the search pattern to find Hiryu, so it was up to Enterprise to hit Hiryu ASAP. Also the Japanese sunk the Yorktown when they found it during their attempt to chase down the Enterprise, Hornet task force that night ( hoping they were just sitting still waiting for dawn ? )
Strange to listen to amount of praise heaped on Fletcher when he had yet to join up with the task force commanded by Spruance They might have been better served to verify their facts with the Naval Historian prior to making this video. The initial U.S. attack was ordered by Spruance not Fletcher.
Eh, Morrison got butthurt because Fletcher refused an interview, thus was left out of his opus. What's amazing is how Spruance, Fletcher, Nimitz, et al, got along and made a great team.
Fletcher issued the First attack order.He was in Command.After Yorktown was hit he passed the ball to Spruance.Spruance took it from there.Ive heard this first hand since the seventies from the Yorktowns crew.My dad was an EM2 at Coral Sea and Midway.
@@frankpienkosky5688 No. The mutiny was Waldron ignoring orders from his CO, leaving the formation and flying off in the direction he believed the Japanese fleet to be. And he was right: there it was. The decision cost him his life and the lives of all his squadron save one--a torpedo squadron going in alone was in a hopeless situation. But he kept the Japanese busy maneuvering to avoid Torpedo Eight's torpedoes and used up their CAP fighters' ammunition. His CO followed the plan approved by Captain Mitscher and found only empty ocean. NOBODY just flew off to save themselves. Pilots turned back when their fuel became critical--and several ended up in the water.
no mention about hiryu captain urged nagumo to immediate attack after recons plane spoted the us carrier with bomb armed plane. alas nagumo insist to switch the bomb to torpedo lead to final disaster to kido butai
if Nagumo had steamed away from the American carriers while recovering his aircraft instead of toward them things might have been different...remember their planes could outrange ours...
For the most part, the timetable of events is correct. As stated by other below, some statements in the video are false and also many, if not most of the scenes featuring aircraft, were not what was being described by the narrator. I.E. The narrator described US fighters taking off from Midway, but the video showed Devestator torpedo aircraft and later, the narrator described shotup US torpedo planes trying to land on the US carriers, while the video showed US fighters landing.
The Japanese needed the oil and scrap metals the US and European powers in the area (Mostly Britain and Holland) denied them because of the war on China. Understandable but a very poor plan... One of my older cousins (1st Lt Perry Verhage) was shot down and lost while bombing Japanese shipping near Indonesia. RIP
28:01 ..."was scouring the skies looking for signs of the enemy fleet." The pilot was most likely scouring the waters of the Pacific, not the sky, looking for the enemy fleet. 48:37, 50:31 Don't all ships that sink in the ocean sink to the bottom? Duuuh!
Guys please try a little harder getting your info correct. Hamilton (U.S.S. Lexington) wasn't a Lt.Col (O-5), he was a Lt.Cmdr (O-4). I'm sure he's smiling about the 1 rank promotion but not sure about changing his service. Marines have Lt.Col's and I'm pretty sure Marines weren't flying off of carriers that early in the war. (13:10)
The lieutenant with the sword has magic Anime powers to assist the gunners in shooting down the planes. Well what do you expect the sword to do? 37:48-37:52
The information about the Tone scout plane 4 is not correct. If it had left on time, it would have missed the U.S. ships. They weren't standing still but rather were moving.
@@seashepherds4959 Not sure but Parshall, who has studied the routes in depth wrote in his book that this thing about the battle could have been turned if the plane had left on time is a myth because if it had left on time it would have missed the U.S. ships. So, leaving late at least provided some warning.
I have recently visited Vietnam. You are more like the USA in Capitalism for that time then the USA is now. Your future is bright... Ours, not so much.
It amazes me that the Japanese bombed the same place that they film "Deadliest Catch." Bombing Dutch Harbor was such an obvious attempt at a diversion, I'm surprised that they actually tried it!
If the Tone's search plane had taken off on time, it would probably have missed the US force entirely. It wasn't bad luck for the Japanese that it was delayed, it was good luck.
My absolute favorite battle in the Pacific. I don't think it is accurate that the US could decrypt 85% of Japanese encoded messages. What I have read is the US could read 10-15% of the messages with the rest being educated guesswork. Still, even with an intelligence advantage, Midway was a near run thing. No one could have foreseen that the US attacks in separate unplanned, often suicidal, waves would drop the carrier air protection down to the deck when the dive bombers finally got there. 5 minutes that changed the war. Amazing....
About par for the course for many returning GI's, when the wartime economy wound down... The country was in recession for years after the war. My dad and my step-dad both enlisted the day after PH.. dad fought in Pacific and Southern Europe (yeah that's right, went into Yugoslavia and Greece because he spoke the local languages like a native) hellholes, step-dad in the Atlantic/N Afrikan theatre.. Proud of them both, whatever their personal failings may have been.
If your dad fought in WW2 in 1940 then he would be 100 yoa or thereabouts assuming he's still alive. So that means you can't be young either, so what age are you ?
Also, even if Japan won the battle, i think they would've only delayed their defeat, once America's full industrial capacity was in full swing. Also they underestimated America's resolve in fighting the war if they think the US would agree to peace after a naval defeat.
@@stuka80 Agreed, Sir. Even if perhaps the Imperial Japanese Armed forces would have attained a position of absolute supremacy in the Pacific, after the Spring of 1945, all that would have been needed was bases and aircraft to reach Japan IOT drop the atomic bomb. That outcome would have been an interesting one, indeed. Be well. Velox Versutus Vigilans
@@frankpienkosky5688 Apparently they did. Without taking into account, amongst others, the vast differences between a monarchy that lacked the industrial means for war with a determined republic that possessed almost unlimited resources of all kinds for for waging war.
As is so often the case in these war documentaries, the narrative often does not fit what is shown on the screen. We see pictures of air to air combat while the voice-over mentions that all the zeros were on the Japanese carrier deck. We see a torpedo attack when only dive bombers were being used. The editors are either very careless or don't care that they are so inaccurate.
This old doc says nothing about how 1) the USN submarine force was struggling with totally dysfunctional Mark XIV torpedoes, or how 2) while the IJN had the highly effective Nakajima “Kate” torpedo bombers, the USN in 1942 had only the obsolete, vulnerable, and slow Devastators for torpedo runs against carriers. The Avengers hadn’t been produced yet. In addition, our F4F Grumman Wildcats were really no match for the Zero. These documentaries also often like to pretend that after the simultaneous loss of the IJN Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu at Midway, Japanese naval air power was broken. Hardly. The IJN still had the fleet carriers Zuikaku and Shokaku, which would face the USN in bloody battles in the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz; they had the light carriers Ryujo, Junyo, and Unryu; and were building the armoured-deck fleet carrier Taiho.
Why didn't the Americans have a fighter umbrella over their ships like the Japanese? The Americans attacked with such large #s of planes but were decimated again and again. Yet when the Japanese counterattacked they were successful. Twice! Where the hell did they have a chance to rearm with no carriers of their own to do so?
there was a fighter CAP over the Yorktown...in addition the planes returning which had been followed by the japs also joined in...the japs took significant losses and their flight leader was killed...
The torpedo that sunk the Lexington was probably one of the very few that functioned in the early part o the war. If half of a Fletcher class destroyers firepower are its Torpedoes, and all of the Torpedoes aboard submarines also had defective: depth control, contact detonators, magnetic detonators and are comparatively slow as well under ordinanced why did it take two wartime years to correct this. Albert Einstein, the premier physicist of the age suggested a solution to the magnetic exploder problem, that was discounted and discarded. American navy fought the war for two years at a distinct disadvantage especially in their engagements around Guadalcanal and the submarine blockade of Japans Islands which they were forced to do from the surface with deck guns.
Well documented fact: Navy people are stupid and stubborn about their stupidity. The higher ranks require the stupidest and stubbornest--always planning for the last war and not the next one.
Where does the motivation for Russians to fight come from? It seems that the Japanese have no choice but to get Manchuria to defend their country from Russia. Why did Americans oppose the establishment of Manchuria even by blocking the economy against Japan?
@@Darknightfantom It was the Japanese that started it over who owned a silver of land next to the river.The Russians were caught by surprise and spanked.That changed when Zhukov arrived.
@@Darknightfantom Yes,the Japanese attacked first.Tokyo didnt even know about it at first.They caught the Russians by surprise but that didnt last long.After Zhukov arrived the Japanese got pounded pretty badly.Tokyo was furious and sent a new General to make peace.They did not want a war with the Soviet they could never win.
@@frankpienkosky5688 .... and the Germans assumed that Enigma was impenetrable. Why not frequently add complexity to the machine? If the Germans had, they would have won the War in the Atlantic (the only real battle that Churchill feared losing).
The narrative is excellent but some of the scenes are wrong as they show Curtiss Helldivers and Grumman Hellcats, which were not used in that Battle, as they appeared later. The only planes the Americans had in their carriers were Grumman Wildcats, Douglas Dauntless and Douglas Devastator torpedo planes.
Of course it's easy to second-guess Nagumo's tactics now but if he deemed that his less-experienced pilots were capable enough to take out the airstrips then they should have also been deemed capable enough to be held in reserve to deal with a possible American naval presence. The whole idea was that the American fleet would be headed for the Aleutians so he should have hit Midway hard with his best pilots and then he could focus all his attention on surface vessels.
It's nice to see a rendition of the battle of midway having so much WWII film coverage .. but much of the film is from other battles even some Mediterranean engagements ! Often the video is talking about things not reflected in the video - eg talking about dive bombers and showing torpedo planes etc. The viewer ends up finding it hard to trust what is being shown .. is it genuine or is it fake ?
America ended up deteriorating two Atomic bombs on Japan before Japan surrendered to the USA...sad but true. Many years later I got to shake the hand of Paul Tibet's...the commander of both Atomic bomb raids.
I must apologize but in defense I must mention that the brave individuals did not have time or the planes to send photographers to film the battles, they had to load their planes with weapons not cameras.
Away from midway witch was the main objective the fleet or some of it under command of dam Chester nlmitz never work ot would have t@ken the one carrier away
In addition to the precious historical content of the documentary, the quality of the narrator also calls attention: what an exceptional pronunciation! Congratulations!
One of the best made documentaries I've ever watched! Thanks!
This is one of the most accurate on the Battle of Midway. Luck and bravery won the battle, so close.
Luck was important, but the U.S. commanders made much of their luck.
My uncle George Campbell piloted one of the first planes to attack at Midway. His entire squadron was destroyed with only Ensign Gay surviving. But their action turned The tide of the battle for the Americans and lead to our victory. His brother Timothy Campbell was on a sub that was sunk off the coast of Corregidor where he was eventually captured. He survive the Baton death march, years at Camp O’Donnell in the Philippines, a horrible/horrifying trip on a HELL ship to Japan where he was eventually freed at the end of the war.
its a shame the british didn't send any help or a way to evacuate him or any of his guys, in order to survive and having heard his story
Prove it.
@@Johnconno Yeah, you have an old Clint Eastwood photo as your profile picture I'm going to call BUUUULLLLLSHIT
what could they do?....they already had their hands full...@@oscarcruz9949
Good content! Great victory of the U.S.Navy!
Excellent presentation
Thank you for the upload.
Oh my god this intro just won’t end.
Great video! My Great Uncle, John Charles Waldron, skippered VT--8 at Midway:)-John D. Waldron-Texas
John Waldron was one of the toughest and bravest at Midway.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Waldron
went off on his own...first to make contact with the Japanese fleet.....and paid the price.......@@James-bv4nu
amazing film footage, some I had not seen before. Well done.
Thanks for posting.Some great old footage i've never seen before..:)
description of the battles are excellent, how they came to be, resources committed and sequence of events really clear the fog of war for viewers. Nice also that the footage pretty well matches the narration in content, seems like could have been taken directly during the actual battles described, which is good work for a historical film documentary.
I was less enthused. This documentary shows its age. In recent years better accounts, especially ‘Shattered Sword’ gives a much deeper understanding of the events, motivations and strategic background. - I highly recommend the very recent 80-years aniversary stream on Drachinifel’s channel.
Also, the footage isn’t stellar, with vary little of the clips shown actually from the battle. Most of it was from other actions (strafing freighters, exercises/demos) or simply of planes that were not operational in 1942 (for example the numerous clips of SB2Cs in 1945 g-code tail markings)
@@lezerp Anxiously awaiting the posting of your DEFINITIVE video on the subject.
This glorious intro is so long I actually forgot for a moment what the damn topic is. Enough of that, awesome video.
It amazes my how few documentaries even mention the "flight to nowhere," the Hornet's SBD's and Wilcats that flew off in the wrong direction.
....."there has never been a mutiny in the US navy"......not quite true.....
Somebody really really really really really likes the introductory music. I shall nevah forget it evah.
The Aleutians was not a diversion. The Japanese thought they could take both. Best read ever: 'Shattered Sword' Wonderful interpretation from the Japanese perspective.
mate this is an 50 years old documentary, back then there was planty american propaganda the number of dead unreall, same as it happend laiter on with D day they say they lost only 6k soldiers on the landing but the numbers is 10x highier. alweys the victor writes the history.
You are right. If you want to full story, read "Shattered Sword".
@@lexuiosub118 The Peloponnesian Wars history was written by an Athenian general. Not only that, but his first name was not Victor.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that Midway was the turning point in the Pacific war. The Japanese dream of further expansion was shattered and from then on it was generally defensive not offensive action, though they made a couple more ill fated attempts to win back the advantage.
I 30
Getting tired of seeing WWII docs that consistently show the wrong ships and aircraft - some of which weren't even in service yet. Several shots of Hellcats, Helldivers and Essex-class carriers in this one. Get some competent film archivists guys!
young kids are cheaper....although these days the adults are no better....
Largely unavailable. John Huston's film of the Midway attack is mostly crap, as he got hit in the process of getting the footage--and spent plenty of time ducking, as any smart young man would. It took a while for the Navy to get useful numbers of film-camera-trained-and equipped crews to provide better footage.
@@charlesfaure1189 John Ford
Thank you brave Americans for stopping those beasts attacking Australia.
Thank the Australians for standing with us! The Battle of the Coral Sea was SO important; after Pearl Harbor, all the news reported for months was Japanese victory after victory. Stopping them from taking Port Moresby was the first time their expansion was actually checked.
CCP has invaded Australia ...without firing one round ....😤😤
Love these old docs but they tend to miss quite a bit. Highly recommend Shattered Sword by Anthony P. Tully for anyone interested in a more modern take of this event. Does an excellent job giving a detailed perspective from both sides and is quite interesting to say the least. Probably one of the better historical reads available about WW2.
I'd like to hear a couple of the things missed.
Other than a couple mentions of "intelligence" there was no mention of the codebreaking that played such an important part leading up to the battle.@@kennethbuck5745
Amazing channel bro
56.9K subscribers + 1
+2😜😹😿
One thing regarding the intro; it hardly shows three important nations, Italy, Russia and Japan.
Quite a comprensive account of Midway. Yorktown had indeed been patched up after damage sustained in the Coral Sea. To some degree it made her more vulnerable but she and destroyer Hamman would have survived if that Japanese submarine hadn't found her. She "inherited" many well trained pilots from Lexington, one reason her aviators did aswell as the did. Japanese firefighting tactics and rigid task division paralized efforts to save the carriers. The Americans had a more losely task description and more personal that could perform different tasks. It is much the same today in all navies.
That's true, the American navy trained everyone to fight fires whereas the Japanese didn't.
The doc is excellent. The 3 minute title sequence, not so.
actually the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway. And yeah, World's Longest Intro. Skip to 3:00 to start the actual show...
Some day very soon all of these Historic films and photographs MUST be carefully copied with our best high tech equipment, hard copies and digital reproductions made and everything available run threw the most advanced computer enhancement programs we have.
God Blessed This World with the millions of men, women and yes children of Every Nation who lived, who worked, who fought,
who suffered and who gave their all. History will forever call them The Greatest Generation.
28:00 "Was scouring the skies looking for signs of the enemy fleet". Huh?
They were in planes... Flying and looking for the enemy boats in the Ocean.
Possible if following the Japanese aircraft back to their carriers.
I am a vietnam vet. We must realize that our way of life is unique to that of the world in general. We have tried to teach our children that all human beings are a very special creation but over time this has become diluted with a lot less than respect for human life that God wants us to realize. Protecting our way of life is still something that needs a focus on spiritual values. After the shock of Pearl Harbor there was an effort to understand the differences between different cultures. There are many differences between some cultures that cannot always coexist and it has to be realized and not just 'We'll work it out'. That was the fatal flaw thar Neville Chamberlain had. Trying to understand Tojo, Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin only resulted in the deaths of 10's of millions of people. We along with the British compromised our principles and worse still our Christian beliefs far to many times. We are once again doing this and it will end in disaster! The answer to all this is a belief in God that He does love us and will save any willing to belief that we will get through life if we accept Jesus Christ as the one capable of doing so. It is called being born again, accepting a totaly new spirit able over time to remake a person into what he or she may be so that others can get through this terrible life that we have to live through right now.
racism dominated both sides in the Pacific war....just the way it was...
Wow! So very well said and very true. The more we teach this truth the more peaceful the world will be.
But god does not want us to fight,
We’ve been betrayed by our educational culture which has turned anti-constitution, anti-individuality, anti-accountability.
Where does the scripture say that?
Wathing these documentaries shows what war really is about and tells us why we should go to war ever! War does just kill military personnel but children, women, and the elderly. Its not citizens who decide for war, but our leaders. it's the citizens who suffer.
The assertion that Yamamoto believed that the total destruction of the Pacific Fleet would force Roosevelt to sue for peace is patently false! Yamamoto in fact asserted the exact opposite point a view, that nothing would short of invading Washington DC would settle the mater completely. But Yamamoto was a political creature, beholden to the powers that be and in competition with the Japanese army for control over the Japanese war effort. So he did what he had to, or believed he had to. But he was not under any illusions about the difficulty of the task, and having lived and trained in America, he knew as well as anyone how myopically stubborn Americans can be when attacked.
Plus the fact were also breaking Japanese codes
I totally agree a man with his understanding of America and Americas power to manufacture war material would know America wouldn't sue for peace after a surprise attack
JD : "myopically stubborn" ?
Would this not apply with much more justice to the Japanese empire?
Right On The Button TRUE!.Verified From My Read Of His Quote From The Book "TORA TORA!" I Fear That INSPITE Of Our Present Success(HE MEANT PEARL HARBOR RAID) We May Only Have Succeeded in Awaking A Sleeping Tiger Which We Will Live To Regret!".He Was Literally Dead Right Too!.The USAAF in Sometime in Mid -April1943 in A Bold Aerial Assassination Mission Shot His Entire Staff Flight Down Just Off The Guadal Canal Island's During The Battle Of The Solomon's. An Operation Codenamed By The Japanese Imperial Navy And Army "Igo Sakusen".This Would Lead To What U.S. Military Aviation History Calls The Great Marianas Turkey 🦃 Shoot Just 3Months later.He Was One The Best Japanese Military Strategists,Who Warned Them Of The Danger's Of All Out War With America But Gen Tojo And His War Party Failed To Listen,And Japan Justly Paid The Price in Military Defeat And Nuclear Bomb Devestation Of August 6th To 9th 1945.A Pity That Today INSPITE Of A Great Leader In POTUS45 DONALD J TRUMP AMERICAN IS BEING BETRAYED BY COMMUNIST CONTROLLED DEMENTED TRAITORS FROM WITHIN SELL OUT'S TO THE CCP IT'S AS IF THE SACRIFICES OF THE GREATEST GENERATIONS OF WWII AND THE COLD WAR HAVE NO MEANING OR VALUE!.GOD Forbid America Falling To This Diabolical-Democratic-Socialist Election Coup!!.WAKE UP AND STAND WITH TRUMP FIGHT AND GET RID OF THIS TRAITOROUS PARTY AND IMPOSTOR BIDEN.
What I got from the movie Tora Tora Tora (if it is to be factually correct) is the cultural differences between Japan and the United States. In that movie, the Japanese seemed to be bent on getting the message to FDR that they have declared war and then an hour later attacked us. Where the heck did their culture imbue them with the idea that by declaring they would hit us then doing it would bring the USA to some "bargaining". So I do not believe the Hollywood version--keep in mind that they attacked China in 1937 and had been fighting for 4 years--pretty much by then a stalemate and war of attrition. Reminds me of Hitler who by Dec 1941, not getting anywhere in Giant Soviet Union, declared war on BIGGER Giant the USA. The USA in 1941 was already cranking out tons of war machines--they promised 120,000 6x6 US Army trucks to Stalin the day after Pearl Harbor--the USA had to have production on a gigantic scale already..
The decks of the Japanese Carriers were not full of armed A/C, they were in the hangar decks, a few fighters may have been on deck.
Even better there armed and fuelled the exchanged bombs and torpedos not stored safely
The decks had Armed aircraft waiting to go but the decision was made to arm them allowing them to go and get armed below and THEN put back up on deck for takeoff. So, at which point you are both correct.
@@seashepherds4959 They were not back on deck. Only a few of the CAP fighters were on deck the OP is correct.
Both Hiryu and Soryu had their strikes for the attack against the Americans on their flight decks. Kaga had approximately 20 aircraft on her flight deck, although only a very few were spotted.
Only Akagi had all of her attack aircraft in her hangar decks.
photos..from the B-17's show the flight decks empty@@manilajohn0182
This was my parents' generation. I grew up in the aftermath: a great time of peace and prosperity for most Americans. But these days, too many serve Satan no lest than Hitler, Stalin & Mao.
i that right the war was fought over money, greed from both sides
Got to agree..100%
If one understands four current cultural climate and truly sees behind the first few coats of privatized media distribution and conducts his own or finds different and most importantly varied sources on the collective prowess and population status of the world and a up to date comprehensive unbiased and peer reviewable sitrep I'm sure even those with limited access to the massive western amenities and those that haven't lived in an internet driven social contruct and just even those hidden little so called primitive enclaves of indigenous people with minimal intellectual prowess and we can easily gather those who would argue we are indeed living in the longest and most prosperous time in the history of history actually ...like right now. Sure. It COULD WOULD, and therefore SHOULD be better. Shit... by this logic and what we have accomplished and all potentially have access to It SHOULD be a GD utopia by now for everyone not on Sentinel Island . Like if aliens show up we should collectively be embarrassed and ashamed to the point of not being able to eyeball them. But to say the populace is in support of a imaginary boogyman or arguably the 3 worst dictators who together are responsible for the suffering and death of more people than any famine of pandemic this universe has thrown at us is way past just acknowledging things are a little tough and shitty right now. And I'm like a Shite Pessimistical High Priest but I also am a realist and this by FAR is the best it has ever been to be a human being. ...and please don't be mad I mean no disrespectful rhetoric towards YOU as much as the things I babble about im just debating with you and i welcome your response and or rebuttal good citizen!
And hirohito the emperor of Japan!
@@larshedstrom4223 Agreed.
Funny that most of the archival film was after 1944 , what with large Essex class carriers and Hellcats, Avengers,and Curtiss Helldivers. Their were some great early filming. The explosion film on the carrier was on the Enterprise in the Guadalcanal Campaign.
Grate ducumentry work
"But McClusky had a hunch!" Those crazy McCluskeys!
So did that guy in Notre Dame
It was around his birthday.
the recent movie puts too much stress on the Nautilus..that subs role was peripheral...the previous film delves into the roles of the Catalinas which was much more significant....
The information presented 41:00 into the video is incorrect. The decks of the Japanese aircraft carriers were NOT crammed with 100 bomber and fighter aircraft ready to takeoff to attack the American carriers. Yes, there were Japanese Bombers loaded with fuel and weapons - however; they were below decks in the hangers. The few planes that were on the decks of the Japanese aircraft carriers during the critical American Dive Bomber attack at 10:20 AM June 4, 1942 were Japanese CAP (Combat Air Patrol) fighters that were down on the decks of Japanese carriers to refuel and re-arm their machine guns and 20mm cannons after they had shot up the American Torpedo Bomber attacks earlier that morning. Please see material presented by Jonathan Parshall - he has a number of videos out that prove this important point. He also was a co-author of 'Shattered Sword' - a book about the Battle of Midway. Jonathan Parshall has spoken to U.S. Navy officers and War College students, he has made a number of public presentations as well as those to the U.S. Military - he is one of the leading experts on the Battle of Midway.
I like my expert better.He was an EM2 on the Yorktown CV5....My dad.
@@model-man7802 I thank your for his service but Mr. Ken is correct.
"Shattered Sword" pretty much debunks Fuchida's account of the battle
21:25 Battle of Midway. Before that, Battle of the Coral Sea.
37min 20 sec, whose aeroplane is it, the wings shot off but there is a parachute perhaps indicating an American aircraft.
They were brave pilots to fly out knowing the odds were they might not live through the fight.
Love the tension-buildng 'music' start 15:53
watch both movies to get a better feel for what happened....
How accurate is this uss lexington is in corpus cristy texas...?
The early WW II 'USS Lexington' (CV-2) was sunk at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May, 1942.
The 'USS Lexington' you're referring to is her namesake, CV-16, which was commissioned in 1943.
This was a decent documentary but very light on details.
So bad that the memory is almost gone when i was a kid the ww2 vets where still alive alot of them and this horable time was still a recent memory to them only 30 years ago now ww2 is long history every one needs. To reserch thease horable times just so we are reminded how awfal war can be now just about all the ww2 vets are gone i remeber my 2 granps talked about it and their gone now its sad how the history gets forgoten in time even somthing like this
war been going for a million years
@@onlythewise1 : So you remember the great ape wars, too, eh? Oh, those were the days!
if allowed, the far left will erase the truth, and replace it with their versions to indoctrinate nd brainwash children for decades.
@@johnmcc51 ya they was mostly white/brown, even the dead ones
Midway was a desperate struggle...especially for us...the recent movie conveys that pretty well....
hope history never repeats itself , too many people has to die due to a few crazy men
History is in the process of repeating in that socialism and Marxism has been tried but not by the right people. America has voted for itself the most godless of leaders since 1930 Germany and in some ways, even more so. 23 trillion in debt is unsustainable and unrecoverable, possibly one more generation before total collapse. I am grateful to be in the last years of my life, you younger folks have no idea what you have desired.
@@formerparatrooper
good health to you sir and a happy new year
@@formerparatrooper "America has voted for itself the most godless of leaders since 1930 Germany and in some ways, even more so. " you don't know how true that is , although the elections are fixed anyway , its who the power elite wants there that gets there , only as puppets anyway , if they don't follow the script its a bullet to the brain , just like JFK
@@bobdimarzio3972 Bob, yes I do KNOW how true it is. I am not looking at this through the eyes of the politicians but through the reality of the war in the heavens, a spiritual war. It is far more than just the elite, there is a power behind this destruction.
Japanese society was all in at the beginning of the war...after Midway the Japanese sailors were kept in seclusion so as not to alarm the civilian population...
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor wasn't a total failure. Although the battleships damaged or sunk may have been older, they still made up the majority of the Pacific Fleets striking power. Most of the airfields had been hit and a number of aircraft damaged or destroyed on the ground.
@jeffburnham6611 Perceived striking power. That is different than actual striking power. After they were repaired, they were almost entirely used exclusively used for shore bombardment.
my dad was there
Maybe they could have a bit longer of an intro!
Seemed like forever, then I looked and it was only at 2:something...
I absolutely LOVE your sense of humour. I remember in the 1980's while building aircraft we had utterly HORRIBLE Health&Safety conditions. I cornered our then Area Manager and asked for a dust collection system that could collect the fibreglass dust so "that way our trim technicians can go home after work and live their lives almost as if they were REAL people"... The look on Fred's face: priceless! Thanks for sharing your irony though. Classic. Be well
Velox Versutus Vigilans
3 minutos de introducción perdidos y todavía en Inglés,estamos en Latino America(CASTELLANO).😮😤😎...
Good
At 29:40 you can see an air attack on an American Harbor ! It is awesome footage and I wonder where the attack is happening
That is good footage. It looks like could be several bombs falling from a level bomber or even a salvo from a ship. I suppose it isn't necessarily an American target. Suppose it's in the Far East or New Guinea, or even the European theater such as North Africa or Norway? This documentary is loaded with irrelevant footage from all over and different time periods of the era. Somebody filmed it from a hilltop, witnessed history.
@@jumpinjehoshaphat9075 John Ford was on Midway to film the defense of the island. He is the famous Hollywood director.
remember the noted filmaker John Ford was on Midway filming the attack...and got wounded in the process...@@jumpinjehoshaphat9075
Here in New York City 2:05 a.m. Tuesday February 16th watching in time stop 7:27 somebody brought a dog to a battleship like seriously. Why bring a dog to a battleship? What the heck is Roscoe going to do bite a Japanese. And why the long intro like serious? But it's a great documentary I give this video a thumbs up and rest in peace to all the dead soldiers who died for this great country I'm glad my mom came to America it's not perfect but it's better than a lot of countries.
A mascot. Good for crew morale, and morale matters.
@@charlesfaure1189thank you for reading my comment here in New York City Sunday November 12th 11:48 a.m. reading yours and I totally agree with you 100% yep it is good for morale.
We’ve seen the weapons, the people, the leaders, the conflict, that was a long opening review of what we already knew.
3:06, I had to restart the actual beginning because my attention drifted away then all of a sudden it actually started.
Yes
why dothe british always have a 90 minute intro?
The intro is annoyingly long
@Elmsy it would probably do me some good
I read somewhere that the Yorktown's 48 hours of repair made her able to go to sea, but not entirely seaworthy. Her destruction may have been due to her weakened state. I'm not sure if this is accurate information, but Nimitz had little choice but to patch her up and send her into harm's way. Her contribution to the battle outcome was critical to mission success, Nimitz' gamble paid off even in light of the loss of Yorktown.
As far as I know, the USS Yorktown left Hawaii after 72 hours. Many dock workers stayed aboard her and continued the repairs. She was even in her damaged state a capable fighting ship.
What I missed in this documentary was that the IJN Hiryū launched a strike against the US carriers which found the USS Yorktown. The Yorktown was left in that attack burning and dead in the water from bomb hits. On return the Japanese pilots reported one US aircraft carrier sunk. As Admiral Yamaguchi knew based on the number of attacking US carrier aircraft there had to be three US carriers and reports of having sunk one of them would ease the odds to two against one, which with luck still could be won. So he send out another - already depleted - strike force to find the remaining carriers and sink them. They found a strikeforce consisting of several cruisers, destroyers and an aircraft carrier. The Japanese managed to hit that carrier with two torpedoes causing massive damage. What they didn't know was that this carrier was again the USS Yorktown; Its damage control teams did a magnificent job of putting out the fires, repairing the flight deck, and restoring steam pressure to the boilers so she could sail again after the first attack. When the Japanese found her the second time she was no longer trailing smoke and was making 19 knots, so to the Japanes pilots she seemed to be undamaged and therefor another US carrier.
Only after this attack in the late afternoon of June 4th she was abandoned by Rear-Admiral Fletcher transferring command to Rear-Admiral Spruance.
Admiral Yamaguchi upon hearing reports that his pilots had sunk another US carrier was staying in the fight he believed was now a one vs one fight. He was sure he still had enough planes in his by now severly depleted air arm to do the job, but he would not get the chance to prove it.
Over 24 hours later the USS Yorktown was found to be still afloat. By then the IJN Hiryū had also been sunk and the rest of the Japanese fleet had withdrawn, so it was decided they would try to salvage her. The next morning - June 6th - USS Hammann came alongside her and transferred a salvage team and provided external power. A fleet tug took her into tow and they were making 3 knots back to Hawaii.
Unfortunately the Japanese submarine I-186 managed to slip into the protective screen of destroyers. Later that Afternoon it launched four torpedoes, one hitting the USS Hammann breaking her in two, and two hit the already badly damaged USS Yorktown. A minute after the USS Hammann went down her depth charges exploded killing many men in the water and further damaging the USS Yorktown. After that the USS yorktown was again abandoned, but it still took her almost 12 hours to roll over and sink on June 7th.
She might not have been in prime condition when she left Hawaii, she was still a very tough and capable fighting unit. Including the damage from the Corral Sea it took four attacks to finally sink her.
@@roykliffen9674 Great story, good information. Thanks!
@@roykliffen9674 The thing about the japanese attacking Yorktown twice, is highlighted by the whatif.. what if the japanese instead attacked Enterprise ? Yorktown was already in a bad way, Hornet had already a very badly depleted airgroup... the flight to nowhere had left some on Midway, and some in the water. Also they had done the search pattern to find Hiryu, so it was up to Enterprise to hit Hiryu ASAP. Also the Japanese sunk the Yorktown when they found it during their attempt to chase down the Enterprise, Hornet task force that night ( hoping they were just sitting still waiting for dawn ? )
some civilian repair workers were on the Yorktown...they would have saved her if not for that sub attack
Given the bombs and torpedo hits, a brand-new carrier in perfect condition would have a hard time surviving.
Strange to listen to amount of praise heaped on Fletcher when he had yet to join up with the task force commanded by Spruance
They might have been better served to verify their facts with the Naval Historian prior to making this video.
The initial U.S. attack was ordered by Spruance not Fletcher.
Eh, Morrison got butthurt because Fletcher refused an interview, thus was left out of his opus.
What's amazing is how Spruance, Fletcher, Nimitz, et al, got along and made a great team.
Fletcher issued the First attack order.He was in Command.After Yorktown was hit he passed the ball to Spruance.Spruance took it from there.Ive heard this first hand since the seventies from the Yorktowns crew.My dad was an EM2 at Coral Sea and Midway.
the Hornet did not come off well in this fight....actually had a little mutiny there among their flight crews....some opting to save themselves......
.....in the end she was actually captured by the Japanese!.....
@@frankpienkosky5688 No. The mutiny was Waldron ignoring orders from his CO, leaving the formation and flying off in the direction he believed the Japanese fleet to be. And he was right: there it was. The decision cost him his life and the lives of all his squadron save one--a torpedo squadron going in alone was in a hopeless situation. But he kept the Japanese busy maneuvering to avoid Torpedo Eight's torpedoes and used up their CAP fighters' ammunition. His CO followed the plan approved by Captain Mitscher and found only empty ocean. NOBODY just flew off to save themselves. Pilots turned back when their fuel became critical--and several ended up in the water.
Sub indonesia admin mantap
no mention about hiryu captain urged nagumo to immediate attack after recons plane spoted the us carrier with bomb armed plane. alas nagumo insist to switch the bomb to torpedo lead to final disaster to kido butai
if Nagumo had steamed away from the American carriers while recovering his aircraft instead of toward them things might have been different...remember their planes could outrange ours...
For the most part, the timetable of events is correct. As stated by other below, some statements in the video are false and also many, if not most of the scenes featuring aircraft, were not what was being described by the narrator. I.E. The narrator described US fighters taking off from Midway, but the video showed Devestator torpedo aircraft and later, the narrator described shotup US torpedo planes trying to land on the US carriers, while the video showed US fighters landing.
the battle of midway US and Japan..not germany
Footage of Helldivers and Hellcats. Wot??
The Japanese needed the oil and scrap metals the US and European powers in the area (Mostly Britain and Holland) denied them because of the war on China. Understandable but a very poor plan... One of my older cousins (1st Lt Perry Verhage) was shot down and lost while bombing Japanese shipping near Indonesia. RIP
28:01 ..."was scouring the skies looking for signs of the enemy fleet." The pilot was most likely scouring the waters of the Pacific, not the sky, looking for the enemy fleet. 48:37, 50:31 Don't all ships that sink in the ocean sink to the bottom? Duuuh!
Please don't put battle vision and sound that doesn't belong in these documentaries.
Still fighting in Europe at about 2:55 you show a few pictures of Hiroshima, and then Pearl Harbor. I thought this was about the battle of Midway.
It's an introduction to a series of documentaries about the entire war. Now don't you feel silly?
Guys please try a little harder getting your info correct. Hamilton (U.S.S. Lexington) wasn't a Lt.Col (O-5), he was a Lt.Cmdr (O-4). I'm sure he's smiling about the 1 rank promotion but not sure about changing his service. Marines have Lt.Col's and I'm pretty sure Marines weren't flying off of carriers that early in the war. (13:10)
Rank of colonel equivalent of a naval captain.
@@johnk3119 That has nothing to do with his point.
Hawaii was still a territory in 1942. The islands would not become a state until 1959.
should have saved one of those 49 star flags...didn't last long...
the doc said that fletcher was in command. i always thought it was spruance. whats the truth?
Fletcher was Spruance's boss...
Spruance took over after Fletcher's ship (Yorktown) was sunk.
@@hotcoffee7933 Fletcher was over all commander of TF 58
The lieutenant with the sword has magic Anime powers to assist the gunners in shooting down the planes. Well what do you expect the sword to do? 37:48-37:52
The information about the Tone scout plane 4 is not correct. If it had left on time, it would have missed the U.S. ships. They weren't standing still but rather were moving.
In which direction were the ships moving, to, from and what speed? Makes a difference to the perception.
@@seashepherds4959 Not sure but Parshall, who has studied the routes in depth wrote in his book that this thing about the battle could have been turned if the plane had left on time is a myth because if it had left on time it would have missed the U.S. ships. So, leaving late at least provided some warning.
story starts at 3:00.
fantastico Admiral Nimitz & captain Mc Clusky..... with love and respect from Vietnam.
I have recently visited Vietnam. You are more like the USA in Capitalism for that time then the USA is now. Your future is bright... Ours, not so much.
would like to know more of the fate of all the downed flight crews...and there were many...
It amazes me that the Japanese bombed the same place that they film "Deadliest Catch." Bombing Dutch Harbor was such an obvious attempt at a diversion, I'm surprised that they actually tried it!
Key is timing ...bomb or torpedo change win/loss
And spirit of Yorktown
most of our torpedoes were crap at this stage of the war....
If the Tone's search plane had taken off on time, it would probably have missed the US force entirely. It wasn't bad luck for the Japanese that it was delayed, it was good luck.
My absolute favorite battle in the Pacific. I don't think it is accurate that the US could decrypt 85% of Japanese encoded messages. What I have read is the US could read 10-15% of the messages with the rest being educated guesswork. Still, even with an intelligence advantage, Midway was a near run thing. No one could have foreseen that the US attacks in separate unplanned, often suicidal, waves would drop the carrier air protection down to the deck when the dive bombers finally got there. 5 minutes that changed the war. Amazing....
my dad joined navy 1940, fought all four years , got home got thanks and low paying job .
A sad tale.
About par for the course for many returning GI's, when the wartime economy wound down... The country was in recession for years after the war. My dad and my step-dad both enlisted the day after PH.. dad fought in Pacific and Southern Europe (yeah that's right, went into Yugoslavia and Greece because he spoke the local languages like a native) hellholes, step-dad in the Atlantic/N Afrikan theatre.. Proud of them both, whatever their personal failings may have been.
If your dad fought in WW2 in 1940 then he would be 100 yoa or thereabouts assuming he's still alive. So that means you can't be young either, so what age are you ?
@@dennisroyhall121 in California they didnt use coal
@@dennisroyhall121 you drunk or on drugs
Japan's loss of 4 carriers at the Battle of Midway, which they could not recover from, insured their defeat 3 years later.
Also, even if Japan won the battle, i think they would've only delayed their defeat, once America's full industrial capacity was in full swing. Also they underestimated America's resolve in fighting the war if they think the US would agree to peace after a naval defeat.
@@stuka80 Agreed, Sir. Even if perhaps the Imperial Japanese Armed forces would have attained a position of absolute supremacy in the Pacific, after the Spring of 1945, all that would have been needed was bases and aircraft to reach Japan IOT drop the atomic bomb. That outcome would have been an interesting one, indeed. Be well.
Velox Versutus Vigilans
Japan wanted to repeat their success in the 1905 war against russia...not this time!....@@stuka80
well, russia did....were they expecting a repeat of that?@@stuka80
@@frankpienkosky5688 Apparently they did. Without taking into account, amongst others, the vast differences between a monarchy that lacked the industrial means for war with a determined republic that possessed almost unlimited resources of all kinds for for waging war.
As is so often the case in these war documentaries, the narrative often does not fit what is shown on the screen. We see pictures of air to air combat while the voice-over mentions that all the zeros were on the Japanese carrier deck. We see a torpedo attack when only dive bombers were being used. The editors are either very careless or don't care that they are so inaccurate.
We're all waiting impatiently for your to post your more accurate video! Can't wait!
probably young folks who don't know any better...they tend to use stock footage....
This old doc says nothing about how 1) the USN submarine force was struggling with totally dysfunctional Mark XIV torpedoes, or how 2) while the IJN had the highly effective Nakajima “Kate” torpedo bombers, the USN in 1942 had only the obsolete, vulnerable, and slow Devastators for torpedo runs against carriers. The Avengers hadn’t been produced yet. In addition, our F4F Grumman Wildcats were really no match for the Zero.
These documentaries also often like to pretend that after the simultaneous loss of the IJN Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu at Midway, Japanese naval air power was broken. Hardly. The IJN still had the fleet carriers Zuikaku and Shokaku, which would face the USN in bloody battles in the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz; they had the light carriers Ryujo, Junyo, and Unryu; and were building the armoured-deck fleet carrier Taiho.
Why didn't the Americans have a fighter umbrella over their ships like the Japanese? The Americans attacked with such large #s of planes but were decimated again and again. Yet when the Japanese counterattacked they were successful. Twice! Where the hell did they have a chance to rearm with no carriers of their own to do so?
there was a fighter CAP over the Yorktown...in addition the planes returning which had been followed by the japs also joined in...the japs took significant losses and their flight leader was killed...
The torpedo that sunk the Lexington was probably one of the very few that functioned in the early part o the war.
If half of a Fletcher class destroyers firepower are its Torpedoes, and all of the Torpedoes aboard submarines also had defective: depth control, contact detonators, magnetic detonators and are comparatively slow as well under ordinanced why did it take two wartime years to correct this. Albert Einstein, the premier physicist of the age suggested a solution to the magnetic exploder problem, that was discounted and discarded. American navy fought the war for two years at a distinct disadvantage especially in their engagements around Guadalcanal and the submarine blockade of Japans Islands which they were forced to do from the surface with deck guns.
Well documented fact: Navy people are stupid and stubborn about their stupidity. The higher ranks require the stupidest and stubbornest--always planning for the last war and not the next one.
Actually starts after 3 minutes.
The madness of the human race.
Where does the motivation for Russians to fight come from? It seems that the Japanese have no choice but to get Manchuria to defend their country from Russia. Why did Americans oppose the establishment of Manchuria even by blocking the economy against Japan?
it seems that in his opinion Russia didnt defend but atacked first
@@Darknightfantom It was the Japanese that started it over who owned a silver of land next to the river.The Russians were caught by surprise and spanked.That changed when Zhukov arrived.
@@model-man7802 Zhukov arrived on a silver rocket 😁 im Russian i know history
@@Darknightfantom Yes,the Japanese attacked first.Tokyo didnt even know about it at first.They caught the Russians by surprise but that didnt last long.After Zhukov arrived the Japanese got pounded pretty badly.Tokyo was furious and sent a new General to make peace.They did not want a war with the Soviet they could never win.
there was an argument among the Japanese military about who they should fight....us or the russians...the oil embargo settled that....
ALWAYS assume that the enemy is reading your "secret' messages. Send out false information for your enemy to read and adjust your moves, accordingly.
How diabolical MR Scaramanga .
Maybe a message about a faulty water system on Midway island.
The Japanese: "NOW he tells us!"
good intel is the reason Yammamoto was eventually killed
@@frankpienkosky5688 .... and the Germans assumed that Enigma was impenetrable. Why not frequently add complexity to the machine? If the Germans had, they would have won the War in the Atlantic (the only real battle that Churchill feared losing).
Funny how the american carriers are essex class and during coral sea and midway the American flatops were yorktown class
The narrative is excellent but some of the scenes are wrong as they show Curtiss Helldivers and Grumman Hellcats, which were not used in that Battle, as they appeared later. The only planes the Americans had in their carriers were Grumman Wildcats, Douglas Dauntless and Douglas Devastator torpedo planes.
Excellent eyeballs Sir. I hope you and I are always on the same side!🤠
Velox Versutus Vigilans
Uh, . . . nobody really cares.
Devastators were aptly named...as they got devastated.....
Of course it's easy to second-guess Nagumo's tactics now but if he deemed that his less-experienced pilots were capable enough to take out the airstrips then they should have also been deemed capable enough to be held in reserve to deal with a possible American naval presence. The whole idea was that the American fleet would be headed for the Aleutians so he should have hit Midway hard with his best pilots and then he could focus all his attention on surface vessels.
Japanese pilot quality was way down
not in this battle...they decimated the torpedo bombers@@jaik195701
the counter-strike from Midway...while unsuccessful...unnerved him a bit....so much for the element of surprise....
The airstrips were not the target. In fact, the pilots must have been told not to him them.
As the intro dragged on and on I quit watching. Edit!
It's nice to see a rendition of the battle of midway having so much WWII film coverage .. but much of the film is from other battles even some Mediterranean engagements ! Often the video is talking about things not reflected in the video - eg talking about dive bombers and showing torpedo planes etc. The viewer ends up finding it hard to trust what is being shown .. is it genuine or is it fake ?
I lost two sons to this war. One on each side.
We Alaskans didn’t even warrant a few old rusted destroyers to help defend our islands.
and all the japs got for their trouble was some frozen asses....
America ended up deteriorating two Atomic bombs on Japan before Japan surrendered to the USA...sad but true. Many years later I got to shake the hand of Paul Tibet's...the commander of both Atomic bomb raids.
Dog in the boat at 7:26
the carrier decks were not loaded with aircraft...as we now know..they got that wrong
Oh c'mon man.... thumbnail is misleading af
the set up the intro i airfryed a rack of ribs
I must apologize but in defense I must mention that the brave individuals did not have time or the planes to send photographers to film the battles, they had to load their planes with weapons not cameras.
B17's took photos during their fruitless attacks....
We need to plan it dear
The Japanese attacked the Aleutians to draw the fleet
Away from midway witch was the main objective the fleet or some of it under command of dam Chester nlmitz never work ot would have t@ken the one carrier away
Luck had little to do with it. They "got lucky" by persisting in the search
Yes, there is such a thing as making your own "luck."
most of these documentaries give little info on what happened after this battle...how many pilots were lost?....how many were recovered?