没有什么比1942年6月2日的黎明从无数的其他黎明落在北太平洋的微小中间环礁中。没有，这是，除了紧张，男人的电力紧张等待敌人搬他的举动。On Midway’s two main islands, Sand and Eastern, 3,632 United States Navy and Marine Corps personnel, along with a few Army Air Force aircrews, stood at battle stations in and near their fighters, bombers, and seaplanes, waiting for the Japanese attack they had been expecting for weeks. The carrier battle of Midway, one of the decisive naval battles in history, is well documented.
但中途岛驻军在战斗中为环礁上的海军航空站配备人员所扮演的角色并不为人所知。
中途岛位于瓦胡岛珍珠港西北偏西1135英里处。整个环礁的直径仅为6英里，由沙洲和东部岛屿组成，周围环绕着珊瑚礁，环绕着浅泻湖。中途岛于1859年被发现，并于1867年8月被美国吞并。在1903年至1940年之间,它既是一个有线电视站在火奴鲁鲁GuamManila海底电报线和泛美航空公司的机场中国快船(奇迹5)。1940年3月,美国海军太平洋基地报告后宣布中途的重要性仅次于珍珠港,正式的海军航空站开始建设。中途岛海军航空站于1941年8月投入使用。那时，中途岛的设施包括一个大型水上飞机机库和坡道、人工港口、燃料储罐和几座建筑。沙岛居住着数百名民用建筑工人和海军陆战队的一个防卫营，而东岛则有一条5300英尺长的飞机跑道。资深海军飞行员西里尔·t·西马尔(Cyril T. Simard)被任命为该环礁的指挥官，他曾在兰利号航空母舰(USS Langley)上担任空军军官，也曾在圣地亚哥空军基地(San Diego air Station)担任执行军官。与驻扎在航空站的海军人员一起的还有一支海军陆战队分遣队。第一个分队来自海军陆战队第三防卫营; it was relieved on September 11, 1941, by 34 officers and 750 men from the 6th Defense Battalion under the command of Lt. Col. Harold D. Shannon, a veteran of World War I and duty in Panama and Hawaii. Shannon and Simard meshed into an effective team right away. World War II began for Midway at 6:30 a.m. December 7, 1941, when the garrison received word of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. At 6:42 p.m., a Marine sentry sighted a flashing light out at sea and alerted the garrison.
三个小时后，日本驱逐舰Sazanami和Ushio开火，损坏了海普兰机库，淘汰了泛美的方向查找器并摧毁了一艘综合的PBY Catalina飞船。日本日本下午10点退休，留下四名中途捍卫者死亡，10人受伤。1941年12月23日，中途的空气防御得到了17名SB2U-3大型Vindicator潜水轰炸机，14名Brewster F2A-3水牛战斗机，以及最初用于唤醒苏醒岛的救济的飞行员和机组人员。水牛和辩护者被抛弃了飞机，被道格拉斯SBD-2 Dauntless Dive Bombers和Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat Fighters取代了美国航空母舰。水牛成为海洋地区中队221（VMF-221）的一部分，而Vindicators将被送入海洋侦察轰炸中队241（VMSB-241），两者都在中校制作船用航空集团22（Mag-22）。。Kimes。中途定居进入培训和反潜艇航班的例程，除了玩无尽的卡片和渐渐的游戏外，别无别的别的玩，并观看中途的着名的信天翁，行动（史蒂文斯56）。然后，1942年5月，日本联合舰队负责人的指挥官海军上将伊朗山脉提出了一个叫做MI的计划，通过攻击中途来绘制美国太平洋舰队。Midway用作诱饵和收集八架飞机运营商的巨大的海军Armada，11场比赛，23场巡洋舰，65名驱逐舰和几百名战斗机，轰炸机和鱼雷飞机，Yamamoto计划挤压太平洋舰队一次和所有人。通过他的代码破碎者提醒，日语计划抓住Midway，Jemiral Chester W. Nimitz，Commander，Pacific命令，在1942年5月2日前往环礁，进行个人检查。在他检查之后，尼姆兹在一边拿走了SIMARD和SHANNON，并问他们需要捍卫中途的东西。 They told him their requirements. “If I get you all these things, can you hold Midway against a major amphibious assault?” Nimitz asked the two officers. “Yes, sir!” Shannon replied. It was good enough for Nimitz, who returned to Oahu (Robertson 58). On May 20, Shannon and Simard received a letter from Admiral Nimitz, praising their fine work and promoting them to captain and full colonel, respectively. Then Nimitz informed them that the Japanese were planning to attack Midway on May 28; he outlined the Japanese strategy and promised all possible aid. On May 22, a sailor accidentally set off a demolition charge under Midway’s gasoline supply. The explosion destroyed 400,000 gallons of aviation fuel, and also damaged the distribution system, forcing the defenders to refuel planes by hand from 55-gallon drums. All the while the Marines continued digging gun emplacements, laying sandbags and preparing shelters on both islands. Barbed wire sprouted along Midway’s coral beaches. Shannon believed that it would stop the Japanese as it had stopped the Germans in World War I. He ordered so much strung that one Marine exclaimed: “Barbed wire, barbed wire! Cripes, the old man thinks we can stop planes with barbed wire” (Miracle 27)! The defenders also had a large supply of blasting gelatin, which was used to make anti-boat mines and booby traps. On May 25, while the work continued, Shannon and Simard got some good news. The Japanese attack would come between June 3 and 5, giving them another week to prepare.
那同一天，轻巡洋舰圣路易斯到达，送八枪，37毫米的37毫米的防空电池来自海军陆战队第3防线
营和两台步枪公司来自第二次袭击者营。5月26日，渡轮USS Kittyhawk抵达12个3英寸的枪支，5米-3斯图尔特灯箱，16个道格拉斯SBD-3 Dive Bombers，7个Grumman F4F Wildcat Fighters，以及22名飞行员 - 大多数人都清新了在飞行学校，5月29日，从第22次炸弹组到达四个马丁B-26掠夺者中炸弹袭击者的到来。这些飞机特别装配在詹姆斯柯林斯船长携带鱼雷和领导。同一天，12个海军PBY-5A Catalinas加入了Midway驻扎在驻扎在中间的12平方米。从5月30日开始，中途的飞机开始寻找日本人。来自LT.CMDR的二十二个PBYS。Robert Brixner的巡逻队44（VP-44）和Commander Massie Hughes的VP-23从Midway Lagoon起飞，然后在距离Midway 700英里的弧线中寻找日本人。Midway于6月1日进一步进一步进一步的空气加固，当时六个新的Grumman TBF鱼雷轰炸机，由中尉兰登K.Fiebberling致敬。TBF飞行员曾经曾经发生战斗，只有少数人曾经在以前过于看待着陆。 The TBF would later be named Avenger in honor of its combat introduction at Midway. By June 1, both Sand and Eastern islands were ringed with coastal defenses. Six 5-inch guns, 22 3-inch guns and four old Navy 7-inch guns were placed along the coasts of both islands for use as anti-aircraft and anti-boat guns. As many as 1,500 mines and booby traps were laid underwater and along the beaches. Ammunition dumps were placed all around the islands, along with caches of food for pockets of resistance and an emergency supply of 250 55-gallon gasoline drums. Midway had practically everything it needed for its defense. Along with the 121 aircraft crowding Eastern Island’s runways, Midway had 11 PT-boats in the lagoon to assist the ground forces with anti-aircraft fire. A yacht and four converted tuna boats stood by for rescue operations, and 19 submarines guarded Midway’s approaches. Even with those preparations, there were problems. The air station’s radar, an old SC-270 set installed on Sand Island, showed many blips that were more often albatrosses than aircraft. Also, there was no plan for coordinating Midway’s air operations, which were dependent on a mixture of Army Air Force, Navy and Marine pilots and crews. With that in mind, Midway’s commanders believed their only chance was to attack the Japanese carriers when they were located, in the hope of catching them with their planes on deck. “This meant exquisitely precise timing, a monumental dose of luck, or both,” Admiral Nimitz explained. “Balsa’s [Midway’s] air force must be employed to inflict prompt and early damage to Jap carrier flight decks if recurring attacks are to be stopped….” By June 2, the Pacific Fleet’s three aircraft carriers–Enterprise, Hornet and Yorktown–were in position northeast of Midway, but only a few key officers were aware that Midway’s defenders would be supported by them. Midway’s Navy pilots were told not to “expect any help from the U.S. carriers; they’re off defending Hawaii.” Midway’s only chance was for Nimitz’s carriers to take the Japanese by surprise. Early on the morning of June 3, the PBYs of VP-44 and VP-23 took off on their 700-mile search missions, joined by B-17 Flying Fortresses on their own search and attack missions. The remaining aircraft on Midway were armed, fueled and waiting for orders to take to the air once the Japanese carriers were located. At 9:04 a.m., Ensign Charles R. Eaton, patrolling 470 miles from Midway, sighted three ships and got a burst of anti-aircraft fire for his trouble. Eaton quickly radioed Midway with the first enemy ship contact report of the battle. Seven hundred miles west of Midway, Ensign Jack Reid flew his PBY-5A across a largely empty ocean, nearing the end of the outward leg of his patrol. He found nothing of interest and started to turn back. Just as he did, Reid saw some specks on the horizon 30 miles ahead. At first he thought they were dirt spots on the windshield. Then he looked again and shouted to his co-pilot, Ensign Gerald Hardeman, “Do you see what I see?” “You’re damned right I do,” Hardeman replied (Miracle 49). At 9:25 a.m., Reid radioed, “Sighted main body,” to Midway and began tracking the Japanese ships. Midway ordered Reid to amplify his report, and at 9:27 he radioed, “Bearing 262 degrees, distance 700.” At 10:40 he reported, “Six large ships in column…” At 11 a.m., “Eleven ships, course 090 degrees, speed 19.”
11点半，里德被命令返回中途岛(史蒂文斯96)。12点30分，由9架B-17轰炸机组成的飞机起飞了(卢卡斯28岁)，每架都装备有4枚600磅炸弹，由沃尔特·c·斯威尼中校率领。三个半小时后，b -17在中途岛570英里处发现了日本军舰，并在太阳下进行了攻击。斯威尼报告说，在袭击后看到两艘船在燃烧。事实上，斯威尼的b -17轰炸机没有击中日本军舰，而返回中途岛的飞行证明，与袭击本身一样令人痛心。在燃料几乎耗尽的情况下，b -17轰炸机于晚上8点30分出现在东岛的视线中。最后一次飞行堡垒降落在晚上9点45分。当斯威尼的b -17轰炸机从攻击中返回时，四架携带一枚鱼雷的PBY卡特琳娜轰炸机在中尉w·l·理查兹的带领下，于晚上9点15分从中途岛出发攻击日本人。四艘潜艇都安全返回，声称被鱼雷击中三次。一枚鱼雷击中了油轮“Akebono Maru”的船头，造成13名水手死亡，11人受伤; the transport Kiosumi Maru lost a few crewmen to strafing. June 4 began for Midway’s defenders at 3:00 a.m. with reveille. All gun positions on both islands were manned as pilots and aircrews stood by their planes. At 4:00 a.m., six F4F Wildcats from Major Floyd B. “Red” Parks’ VMF-221 took off on combat air patrol. They were followed by 11 PBYs from VP-44, searching for the Japanese carriers, and 16 B-17s led by Sweeney that were to attempt another attack on the Japanese transports. At 4:30 a.m., the carriers of Vice Adm. Chuichi Nagumo’s First Striking Force–Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu and Soryu–launched their aircraft. Fifteen minutes later, 36 Nakajima B5N2 Kate torpedo bombers, 36 Aichi D3A1 Val dive bombers and 36 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighters were on their way to Midway. At 5:30, Lieutenant Howard P. Ady emerged from a cloud bank and spotted Nagumo’s carriers. Ady radioed Midway, “Carrier bearing 320 degrees, distance 180.” Ady ducked back into the clouds and circled the Japanese fleet, radioing again, “0553, Two carriers and main body of ships, carriers in front, course 135 degrees, speed 34.” Fifteen minutes after Ady’s sighting, Lt. j.g. William Chase, flying south of Ady’s sector, saw a formation of Japanese fighters and bombers. Chase quickly radioed: “Many enemy planes heading Midway bearing 320 degrees, distance 150.” On Midway, radar on Sand Island picked up the approaching Japanese planes at 5:53. Air raid sirens wailed, and all personnel raced to their dugouts and gun positions. Major Parks’ 21 Buffaloes and six Wildcats scrambled into the air, followed by Lieutenant Fieberling’s six TBFs and Captain Collins’ four B-26s. Major Henderson’s dive bombers were last to take off. By 6:16, all 66 of Midway’s aircraft were airborne. While the bombers headed toward the Japanese carriers, Parks led six Buffaloes and three Wildcats to intercept the 108 oncoming Japanese planes. Captain John Carey, leading the three Wildcats in Parks’ flight, was first to sight the Japanese. “Tallyho! Hawks at angels twelve!” Carey radioed. The Japanese bombers flew in a large V formation, trailed by gaggles of Zeros. Carey rolled his Wildcat and screamed into the V, blowing a Kate apart with his four.50-caliber machine guns, then zoomed up for another attack. Japanese rear gunners raked his Wildcat, riddling Carey’s legs. Second Lieutenant Clayton M. Canfield followed Carey into his attack, destroying a Kate. Canfield saw Zeros diving on him. A 20mm cannon shell damaged his Wildcat, and he pulled up into the clouds and lost his pursuers. Coming out of the clouds, Canfield joined Carey and led him back to Midway. Captain Marion E. Carl, flying the third Wildcat, was jumped by several Zeros after attacking the Kates and was forced to break off his attack. While the Wildcats fought for their lives, Parks led his six Buffaloes in an attack on the Kates. The Marines managed one pass before they were overwhelmed by the Zeros. Parks and four other Marines were killed. Only Lieutenant Daniel J. Irwin survived. He managed to fly his damaged Buffalo back to Midway with Zeros after him all the way. “Their gunnery was very good,” Irwin reported, “and I doubt if on any run they missed hitting my plane.” VMF-221’s 12 reserve fighters, led by Captains Daniel J. Hennessy and Kirk Armstead, also attacked the Japanese planes (Lucas 104). Hennessy’s six Buffaloes smashed into the bombers and were jumped by the escorting Zeros, which destroyed four of them. Only two of Hennessy’s men survived. Armstead’s Buffaloes intercepted the Japanese a few miles from Midway and downed three Kates before the rampaging Zeros destroyed three of them.
从地面观察狗狗，Charles Hughes中尉说，水牛“看起来像他们被绑在一个字符串上，而零在他们身上过来。”日本人无情地向中途推动。在沙岛上的D电池的PFC Phillip Clark，日本的形成看起来像“三个云越远，走在地平线上。”在沙子和东方，海军陆战队和水手等待袭击。一个观察者在“非常平静的......缺陷的空气”中，被捍卫者等待着罢工，“好像他们一直在这种生活中的生活”（史蒂文斯98）。“当目标处于范围内，”开火“，第6营总部在上午6:30通知所有枪支。一分钟后，中途的枪支开火。凯特爆发成火焰，直接潜入火焰。第二个凯特坠入泻湖，错过了PT船。剩下的凯特袭击沙岛，摧毁了三个油箱和火烧到海普兰机库。对东岛的袭击开始具有令人难忘的事件。 “Suddenly the leading Jap plane peeled off,” an eyewitness wrote. “He dove down about 100 feet from the ground, turned over on his back and proceeded leisurely flying upside down over the ramp.” The Marines watched for a few seconds, then opened fire and shot him down. Val dive bombers struck VMF-221’s arming pit, killing four mechanics and exploding eight 100-pound bombs and 10,000 rounds of .50-caliber machine-gun ammunition. Another Val demolished Eastern’s powerhouse, disrupting Midway’s electricity and water distillation plant. Japanese efforts to render Eastern’s runways useless were unsuccessful; only two small craters were left on the landing strips. Midway’s defenders fought back with everything they had. Major Dorn E. Arnold of the 6th Defense Battalion fired a Browning Automatic Rifle at the enemy; a sailor on Sand Island used a Colt .45. Second Lieutenant Elmer Thompson and another Marine fired a .30-caliber machine gun from a crippled SB2U. The Japanese attack ended at 6:48 a.m. The all-clear sounded on Midway at 7:15, and the process of picking up the pieces began. Kimes ordered VMF-221’s fighters to land. Six Buffaloes staggered in. Including four aircraft that landed during the raid, only 20 U.S. fighters had survived. Of those, only one Wildcat and a single Buffalo were fit to fly. Fifteen Buffaloes and two Wildcats were shot down, and 13 pilots were killed. Eleven Japanese aircraft were downed by the fighters and anti-aircraft fire, while 53 were damaged. Colonel Shannon’s trenches, bunkers and revetments proved effective. Only 11 of Midway’s ground defenders were killed and 18 wounded. None of Midway’s planes were caught on the ground except for an old utility biplane and a decoy plane made of crates and tin roofing called the “JFU” (Jap fouler-upper)(Robertson 15). While Midway repaired its damage and its defenders licked their wounds, the aircraft that were sent out to attack the Japanese carriers made contact. Lieutenant Langdon Fieberling’s six TBFs reached the Japanese fleet at 7:10, dropped to low altitude and bore on toward the carriers. So many Zeros swarmed around the vulnerable torpedo planes that the fighters got in each other’s way. Two TBFs were destroyed in the first attack, followed by three more. Realizing that he could not reach the carriers, Ensign Albert K. Earnest loosed his torpedo at a cruiser, then broke away with two Zeros after him. Earnest flew his shot-up TBF back to Midway, navigating “by guess and by God.” Close behind the TBFs, Captain James Collins led his four B-26 Marauders into a gauntlet of anti-aircraft fire and six Zeros. Collins led his planes down to 200 feet above the water and, followed by Lieutenant James P. Muri, pressed on toward the carrier Akagi. Collins released his torpedo 850 yards from the carrier and pulled away. Muri released his torpedo at 450 yards, then turned and flew down the middle of Akagi’s flight deck.
一旦穆里的B-26很清楚Akagi，Zeros袭击了一份复仇，袭击了两名船员，并摧毁了起落架，燃料箱，螺旋桨叶片，无线电和一个翼的顶部。尽管惩罚，穆里和柯林斯是四平面B-26组的唯一幸存者。然后，在7:48，TBF和B-26攻击之后是VMSB-241的16个Dauntless和Vindicator潜水轰炸机，由主要的Lofton Henderson领导。亨德森将中队分为两架航班，在两个主要的SBDS中领导SBDS，而Permjamin W. Norris带领辩护者。正如亨德森在西北地带的那样，较快的Dauntless很快就离开了辩护者。亨德森的SBD在7:25开始他们的第一次看看日本航空公司，他收传了他的恐慌飞行员，“袭击了港口弓的两个敌人CV。”当日本作战空中巡逻队袭击时，亨德森在4000英尺处导致了4,000英尺。Jauntless也遇到了日本船上的重型防空火灾。亨德森的飞机被击中了，他的港翼起火了。他试图在领先地中留下他燃烧的恐慌，但终于失去了控制并陷入了大海。 Captain Elmer C. Glidden quickly took command of the Dauntlesses. “Fighter attacks were heavy,” he wrote, “so I led the squadron down through a protecting layer of clouds”(Stevens 102). The Zeros followed the Marines into the clouds. Glidden came out of the clouds and found two Japanese carriers, Kaga and Hiryu, 2,000 feet below. The 10 remaining Dauntlesses dived to 500 feet or lower before releasing their bombs, then sped away at full throttle, hounded by Zeros. Three SBDs crashed at sea near Midway. Their crews were later rescued. The remaining six, some badly shot up, reached Midway. Eight SBDs, including Henderson’s, were lost, with the Japanese sustaining no damage. Sweeney’s 15 Flying Fortresses arrived over Nagumo’s fleet at 8:10, as the Dauntlesses finished their attacks. Seen from 20,000 feet, the Japanese fleet was “an astonishing sight,” recalled B-17 pilot Don Kundinger. “A panoramic view of the greatest array of surface vessels any of us had ever seen–they seemed to stretch endlessly from horizon to horizon.” Each three-plane B-17 element attacked on its own. Lieutenant Colonel Brooke Allen’s element unloaded its bombs on the carrier Soryu, but all fell short. Sweeney targeted Kaga, bracketing her stern with, he believed, “one bomb hit…causing heavy smoke” (Robertson 22). Three Zeros ganged up on Captain Cecil Faulkener’s bomber, riddling its fuselage and wounding the tail gunner. Another Zero dueled with Captain Paul Payne’s Fortress but never closed in. “The Zeros barely touched the B-17s,” Captain Paul Gregory reported. “Enemy pursuit appeared to have no desire to close on B-17E modified”(Young 25). The B-17s finished their attack by 8:20 and returned to Midway. Sweeney believed his B-17s had hit at least one of the Japanese carriers. In reality, they had not. Shortly after the B-17s left, Major Benjamin Norris’ 11 Vindicators arrived and Zeros swarmed over them(Miracle 45). Norris, with no illusions about his old “Vibrators,” decided not to press on toward the carriers. He led his men into some clouds. Coming out of the cloud cover, Norris discovered a battleship below. It was Haruna, supposedly sunk in December 1941. “Attack target below,” Norris radioed, and he led the Vindicators into a high-speed glide. Anti-aircraft guns on Haruna opened fire with an “extremely heavy and troublesome but inaccurate barrage”(Stevens 121). Only two of Major Norris’ Vindicators were lost during the attack. Three ditched at sea near Midway because of battle damage. Despite reports that they had scored two direct hits and three near-misses, the Vindicator pilots had not even scratched Haruna. If the Battle of Midway had ended with the return of VMSB-241’s Vindicators, it would have been another victory for the Japanese. Midway had sent 52 aircraft against the Japanese and lost 19 without scoring a single hit. “From the time of the attack and the known position of the enemy carriers, we estimated they would be back in three or four hours,” Kimes wrote (Stevens 54). Only six Dauntlesses, seven Vindicators, one Buffalo and a single Wildcat were left to oppose the Japanese. The defenders of Midway steadied themselves for another air raid. Nothing happened. The only aircraft to show up were 11 Dauntlesses from the carrier Hornet at 11:00 a.m. Some Marine gunners, believing they were Japanese planes, opened fire on the SBDs before recognizing their silhouettes. The Dauntlesses were refueled and back in the air by 2:00 p.m. At 3:58, Midway’s defenders received an indication that the Japanese were taking a beating when a PBY pilot reported “three burning ships.” At 5:45 he reported, “The three burning ships are Jap carriers.” The stricken vessels–Akagi, Kaga and Soryu–were the victims of SBD Dauntlesses from the American carriers Enterprise and Yorktown. At the same time out at sea, B-17s from Midway, along with six more Flying Fortresses from Hawaii, attacked the Japanese carrier Hiryu, which had been damaged and set afire by dive bombers from Enterprise and Hornet. The B-17s claimed hitting the burning Hiryu, as well as a cruiser and battleship, and sinking a destroyer. In fact, the land-based bombers were no more successful in the afternoon than they had been in the morning. With all four of Nagumo’s carriers destroyed, Yamamoto decided he could not proceed with his plan to occupy Midway, and ordered his fleet to withdraw. Midway’s defenders, however, still expected the Japanese to invade. Captain Simard dispersed his PBYs, evacuated nonessential personnel and warned his PT-boats to expect a night attack.
凌晨1点20分，日本潜艇I-168号用5英寸甲板炮向中途岛开火。东部岛的B炮台和E炮台，以及沙岛的D炮台，用3英寸和5英寸的大炮进行回击，向I-168发射了42发炮弹，后者又发射了8发炮弹。短暂的交流没有对双方造成损害。大部分I-168的炮弹落在了泻湖上。潜水艇在1点28分沉入海底，海军陆战队炮手停止了射击，中途岛陷入了令人不安的沉默(奇迹68)。1942年6月5日凌晨4点15分，在沙岛电台收到坦博尔号潜艇发来的报告，称可能在打击范围内有一支庞大的敌军部队后，中途岛的守军开始进攻。中途岛的驻军仍然有充分的理由相信入侵即将来临。15分钟内，8架b -17轰炸机从东岛起飞反击威胁。陆军飞行员在清晨的大雾中无法确定敌舰的位置，到早上6点时，b -17轰炸机已经在Kure Atoll附近盘旋，等待情报。6点30分，位于中途岛的PBY报告，“发现2艘战舰，方位256度，距离125英里，航向268度，速度15。” Two minutes later the PBY added, “Ships damaged, streaming oil.” The Japanese ships were retreating, and the island’s defenders breathed a collective sigh of relief. Marine Aircraft Group 22 sent up two flights from VMSB-241, six Dauntlesses under Captain Marshall A. Tyler and six Vindicators led by Captain Richard E. Flemming, to attack the two “battleships,” actually the heavy cruisers Mikuma and Mogami, damaged in a collision the night before. Forty-five minutes later, the Marine pilots spotted the oil slick left by the damaged cruisers and followed it to Mogami and Mikuma. Tyler led his six Dauntlesses into an attack on Mogami amid heavy anti-aircraft fire. The Marines dropped their bombs, scoring a few near-misses. At 8:40, minutes after Tyler’s attack, Flemming led his Vindicators out of the sun, through heavy flak from the Japanese ships, against Mikuma. Captain Leon M. Williamson, a pilot in Flemming’s flight, saw Flemming’s engine smoking during his dive. As Flemming pulled out, his Vindicator burst into flames. Flemming–either by accident or design–crashed his blazing Vindicator into Mikuma’s aft 8-inch gun turret. The crash started a fire that was sucked into the cruiser’s starboard engine room air intakes, suffocating the engineers. After the Marines finished their attacks, the eight B-17s from Midway, led by Lt. Col. Brooke Allen, appeared and dropped their bombs, scoring a near-miss on Mogami. The damaged cruisers continued limping westward, and Mikuma sank at sunset the next day after attacks by aircraft from Enterprise and Hornet. At 10:45 on June 6, 1942, Captain Simard dispatched 26 B-17s from Midway in search of Japanese cruisers reported heading southwest. The bombers did not locate the cruisers, but six B-17s dropped their bombs on what they thought was a Japanese ship. The pilots reported that they had hit a cruiser, which “sunk in seconds.” It was actually the submarine USS Grayling, which submerged when the Flying Fortresses dropped their bombs. While Midway’s bombers continued attacking the retreating Japanese, Simard had his PBYs and PT-boats searching for downed pilots. Between June 4 and 9, Midway’s PBYs picked up 27 airmen. By June 7, it had become apparent that Midway was secure. The island’s garrison, for all the damage it had suffered, had contributed its fair share to the victory over the Japanese. This Battle had ended the Japanese offensive in the pacific ocean.
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