Battle of Midway

1572 Words4 Pages

Pedone

History 240

How Aircraft changed Naval warfare

The Battle of Midway is thought of to be one of the most important battles not only in the Pacific, but also in the whole war .The commanding officers for both the American and Japanese fleets during the Battle of Midway had the same brand of thinking on how they were going to defeat one another. But due to Admiral Nimitz advanced thinking, he knew the aircraft would be a decisive impact of the battle. Yamamoto coming from aged fighting techniques, was under the impression that the battle result would be in the hands of his battleships and sight combat between the enemies. For centuries, the Navy has never seen air-to-air combat be the outcome of such a crucial battle. During the Battle of Midway, some luck and well-advised orders, show how impactful the American Navy could be with their aircrafts. New tactics introduced by the Navy called; dive and torpedo bombing was shown at the Battle of Midway. These tactics were virtually the reason United States came out victorious over Japan. Seen through the Battle of Midway, pilots would play a decisive role in the victory over Admiral Yamamoto and the Japanese fleet in the South Pacific. At Midway America came to realize how lethal and powerful the aircraft could be, given the right coordinates and firepower. The Battle of Midway provides concrete evidence that the aircraft throughout those 4 days in Midway ultimately changed naval warfare forever.

The Battle of Midway was originally supposed to be a surprise attack on the United States from Admiral Yamamoto. The Japanese Admiral intended to make diversionary air attacks on the Dutch harbor in the hope of luring American ships in, so that area so they could be attacke...

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...Admiral Nimitz departed from his battleships and would trust naval aviation to win the Battle of Midway. Planes would now be launched from the decks of aircraft carriers and traveling large distances to destroy the enemy. A new idea of warfare is what really won the battle. United States revealed their confidence in the aircraft carrier, the aviators, and the Japanese Admiral, as he had such strong belief in the battleships, which proved to be hopeless. After the Battle of Midway, the Americans would soon control the war in the pacific due to their large number of aircraft carriers and experienced pilots that were no match to the Japanese.

Works Cited

-Captain W.D. Puleston. The Influence of Sea Power in World War II. United States: W.D. Puleston, 1947. Print.

-S.E. Smith, ed. The United States In World War II. New York: William Morrow &, 1966. Print.

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