The Battle of Midway 1942: Told from the Japanese Perspective (1/3)
17,426,121
Published 2019-04-27
This is part one of a three part video series covering Operation MI. As you can see I spent a considerable amount of time covering Nagumo’s Dilemma. To me it's one of most striking examples of how tough it can be for a commander to make a decision based on the information at hand. I found that to be the most interesting aspect of the battle.
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Corrections:
"Strength" , "Auxiliary", and "unknown" are misspelled in the video.
At 22:55 I should have stated “North of Midway” instead of Northeast of Midway. The illustration shows a 10 degree 240 nm from midway location. Not so Northeast as I audibly stated.
At 23:43 I should have stated 79 aircraft instead of 78 and I should have displayed 35 instead of 34 torpedo bombers. the “mistake” came about because sources still differ on whether there were 27 or 26 Carrier attack planes (Kates). If it was 27 it would have been 79 Planes. if it was 26 it would have been 78. During the recording I somehow mixed up the numbers.
Additional Notes:
notice that the carriers started off the battle in a box formation. This provided further mutual support for their rather weak AA fire. however, due to the incessant air attacks from VT-8, VT-6 and VT-3, the carriers were never able to reform in a box formation, instead they were in a ragged line which further worsened their AA capabilities.
----------------------------------------Spoiler Below regarding Nagumo's Dilemma--------------------------------------------
So what was the answer to Nagumo’s Dilemma?
“Taking all together, and admittedly operating with the benefit of hindsight, the “right” answer to Nagumo’s conundrum probably should have emphasized maneuver, offensive speed in preference to mass, and passive damage control. With fifteen minutes in which to act, he didn’t really have time to implement anything terribly fancy. But he could have helped himself immensely by immediately spotting every strike airplane in his hangars, whether they were armed or not, and launching them at the Americans. The sixty-four armed aircraft he had in had were perfectly capable of doing enormous damage to his enemy. And by emptying his hangars, he removed the single greatest danger to his carriers --- the presence of fueled and armed aircraft within them.”
Parshall, Jonathan B.; Tully, Anthony P.: Shattered Sword. The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Potomac Books: United States, 2007 : p. 170
Music :
filmstro.com/
Ride of the Valkyries - Wagner
Sources:
Isom, D. W. (2007). Midway inquest: Why the Japanese lost the Battle of Midway. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Lundstrom, J. B. (2013). The First Team Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway. New York: Naval Institute Press.
Parshall, Jonathan B.; Tully, Anthony P.: Shattered Sword. The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Potomac Books: United States, 2007.
Stille, M. (2010). Midway 1942: Turning-point in the Pacific(Vol. 226, Campaign). Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
Toll, I. W. (2012). Pacific crucible: War at sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942. New York: W.W. Norton.
Willmott, H. P. (2008). The barrier and the javelin: Japanese and Allied Pacific strategies, February to June 1942. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.
And of course:
www.combinedfleet.com/
All Comments (21)
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I'm a history professor and author of works on this subject. So please hear me when I tell you that you are VERY talented, and that you did a lot of EXCELLENT hard work here. This is fantastic in every respect. You really did a marvelous job and should feel very proud of yourself. This documentary of yours is good enough to serve as a model for college classes. Congratulations on a wonderful accomplishment. I hope your career lets you advance your talents and develop even more skills. You're off to a simply superb start! I admire your work and you have all my respect.
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When a low-budget diy-documentary beats every million $ history channel docu-soap in every aspect. Just "wow"!
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I only have one problem with Montemayor…I need him to do this kind of video on every pivotal battle in history
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Finally. No memes, no patronising the audience, no constant edits and jump cuts, no usual channel bollocks. Just well researched info presented in a non-annoying way by someone who knows their stuff. Keep up the great work! Also, your channel analysing action from the Eastern Front e.g Rzhev salient would be great
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Time Stamps Intro 0:00 Beginning of the battle/Strike on Midway 07:05 Midway's aircraft attacks on the Kido Buati 11:34 Nagumo's Dilemma 18:27 the Torpedo Squadron Attacks 30:44 1022-1026 : 38:55 Okay guys, so this video is a long one. I suggest grabbing some snacks and watching it in three parts if needed so that you can fully absorb all the information. Suggested divisions would be watching from the intro to the end of the Midway attacks 18:27 , then nagumos dilemma from 18:27-30:44 and finally the last section covering the torpedo attacks 30:44 till the end.
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I never thought a bunch of MS Paint animated planes and boats will keep me on the edge of the seat for 40 minutes
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Leaving aside the 20/20 of hindsight, it really seems that Nagumo made the most reasonable decision, given the information he had at the time. His only great error is probably, as you said, not sending out more planes in his reconnaissance sortie. That could've been what saved his fleet.
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I lived on Midway as a kid in the late 50's when my dad was stationed there. We would slide down the grass sides of the bomb shelter on a piece of card board. There was a few remnants of the war still there.
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Jesus Christ the quality in this video is amazing. Simple and understandable yet rich in information and possibilities.
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This video is the best explanation of the battle of Midway. Better than movies, documentaries, history books, etc. Enjoyed all 40+ minutes. Evidence of research - 5 stars Narration - 5 stars Graphics - 5 stars "What would you do?" - 5 stars Overall - 5 stars Can't wait to see Part 2
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Lt Best realized McCluskeys blunder and took two wingmen with him ( Kroger and Weber) and Best bomb single handedly wiped out the flag ship of Kido Butai. .Thats pretty fucking impressive
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Having watched many dramatizations of this battle, this low-budget account is the first to present moment-by-moment accounts of what happened when, and why. Well done.
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I love the idea of incorporating the fog of war and actually encouraging the viewer to imagine what they'd have done instead of just presenting the facts like most other documentaries.
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You know a production is good when you don't realize 42 minutes just went by. This is very well done!
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I was in the Navy in 1960. I was on Midway for a month. We stayed in barracks that still had evidence of the 1942 attack. The barracks had a frame of I-beam steel. In places you could see where the armor piercing bullets had passed through the I-beams with the metal bent downward where the bullets had passed through the beams. This was 18 years after the battle and I didn’t think much about the history I was seeing.🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
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On a tour of the carrier Hornet in Alameda near San Francisco one of the docents was a guy named Ralph, he was a tail gunner at the battle of Midway, this was early 2000s so he was in his 80's I'd guess. Only a few people on the tour even stopped to listen to him talk about his experience but I wasn't going anywhere. He said on their bomb run dive on the carrier they attacked the SBD's were so close together he could almost reach out and touch another plane.
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The inclusion of the fog of war was great. Shows how easy hindsight makes to see the "obvious" mistakes the commanders make.
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This is how a damn documentary should be. To the point without all the theatrics. Kudos and outstanding job.
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I really like history photographs and my jaw dropped when I saw you included the black and white photographs of the initial bombers in the best possible resolution. They're hard to find. 41 minutes of pure entertainment
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Now I understand how we won the battle of Midway. Telling it from the Japanese POV simplified and clarified it. Great job.
