Last month, the Nation celebrated the 78th anniversary of the victory our Navy won in its finest hour in history - a victory against what was then the best navy on the planet, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) force that was in 1942, better armed, better trained, better equipped & far more battle experienced than we were, and which had had nothing but victories in WWII up to that time in June 1942. The annual Midway dinner at the Navy War College is but one of many events celebrating this extraordinary victory.
IJN had destroyed the Far East Pacific components of 4 navies - the US, British, Dutch and Australian- and had run the Royal Navy completely out of South Asian ports, forcing a fleet retreat to Africa. It also very successfully attacked both the US & Australian navies in home ports - Pearl Harbor and Dutch Harbor in the US case, and Darwin in the Australian case. IJN was unquestionably the best navy on the planet.
The Sons of Nippon were on a roll - until Midway. There the Imperial Japanese Navy lost all four of the committed Kito Butai (Main Striking Force) carriers plus a heavy cruiser in a two day fight, leaving but two Kito Butai CVs in home waters. While we lost YORKTOWN & a destroyer, leaving our post battle CV carrier fighting strength at 4 - ENTERPRISE, HORNET, SARATOGA (under repair from sub hit) and WASP (enroute from the Atlantic)
The magnificent strikes over two days by ENTERPRISE's Air Group 3 bomber and scout squadrons, led by CMDR Wade McCluskey, and YORKTOWN's Air Group 6 bomber and scout squadrons, led by CMDR Max Leslie, make for moving reading. And, we are also struck by the courage in the face of over whelming odds, and the willing sacrifice of all three torpedo squadrons, TORPEDO 3, 6 & 8, as they attacked at low level without fighter support in their antique Devastators "armed" with short ranged and slow torpedoes that rarely exploded even when they hit their targets. All three squadron commanders were killed as were the crews of 35 of the 45 attacking planes which were shot down from those squadrons - less one pilot from VT-8 who made the last torpedo run of the strike of the day, but was shot down and survived - Fightin' Texas Aggie George Gay.
But where were HORNET's Bomber, Scout and Fighter Squadrons from Air Group 8? For years, after WWII ,there was bare mention of this group led by CMDR Stanhope Ring.
The whole truth was released a few years ago. Here's the rest of the story.
1. HORNET's Fighter 8 was to commit 10 F4F Wldcats to HORNET's first strike. 17 Wildcats were to stay back for Combat Air Patrol over HORNET. Captain(P) Rear Admiral Pete Mitscher denied the C.O, of Torpedo 8, LTCDR Waldron, any fighter support at their low altitude attack level. Fighter 8 would cover the dive bombers of VB-8 & VS-8 only at 20,000 feet. Waldron argued his case all night, finally asking for just one fighter. But Mitscher was insistent. He knew the F4F's only way to win a fight with a Zero was to dive on it from altitude - the F4F would lose 9 out of 10 swirling dogfights at low altitude. So Waldron and his squadron knew that without fighter support, their odds of survival were slim to none, and he told them that he wanted the last crew alive to go in close and get a hit. That pilot, with his gunner already dead, Ensign Gay, did just that - but the torpedo was a dud. Torpedo 8 died valiantly, pulling the killing Zeros down to sea level along with Torpedoes 3 and 6 - making it possible with the sacrifice of their lives for McCluskie's & Leslie's dive bomber and scout bomber squadrons to attack with out enemy fighter interference and destroy 3 of the 4 IJN carriers on that first strike.
2. CMDR Stanhope Ring was a pompus leader, and generally disliked as the commander of Air Group 8. He was an "indifferent" pilot to boot -famous for cracking up aircraft on carrier landings and getting lost on patrols. He led the 60 aircraft of the HORNET's strike -VT-8, VF-8 (10 fighters only) VB-8 & VS-8 on a wrong course to intercept Kito Butai based on pre strike briefings. This became famously known as "The flight to nowhere" amongst US naval aviators of the day. Waldron broke radio silence against orders, and hotly argued with Ring on the proper course. Ring shut him up and stayed the course. Waldron broke off his squadron off, an act of insubordination, and headed in the correct direction and got there about the same time Torpedo Squadrons 3 and 6 did, and they were sacrificed together. Once source states Waldron notified Ring he was on target and coordinates before he died.
Ring's 10 fighters ran of of gas and ditched in the sea. Later some of the other parts of squadrons broke off to land at Midway before they would be forced to ditch in the sea. Ring finally made it back to the HORNET on gas fumes with a few of his group and landed without ever seeing the IJN enemy, much less attacking him.
But all in all, Ring had lost 27 aircraft being forced to ditch from running out of fuel., including the 10 fighters. Some of those ditched air crew were never found.
In the next day;s strike, what was left of HORNET's Air Group 8 did join Group 3 and Group 6 on the strike on the last of Kito Butai's CVs,the HIRYU & her escorts. But Group 8 scored no hits.
Later in the day a second strike was leveled at retreating IJN surface units and Group 8 finally contributed to the US win with a hit or two.
3. Normally after action reports in US naval air are submitted by squadron commanders (or senior surviving pilots if the leader is KIA), the Air Group commander and the skipper of the carrier.
HORNET skipper CAPT Marc Mitsher suppressed all subordinate reports and submitted his alone - After reading it, Admiral Spruance the actual fleet commander at Midway, refused to endorse Mitsher's report, stating that only the ENTERPRISE's & YORKTOWN's sets of reports reflected ground truth.
However, the Navy obviously forgave both Mitsher & Ring of their transgressions - Mitsher went on to be a first class carrier Task Force commander in WWII combat as an Admiral, and Ring retired a Vice Admiral.
IJN had destroyed the Far East Pacific components of 4 navies - the US, British, Dutch and Australian- and had run the Royal Navy completely out of South Asian ports, forcing a fleet retreat to Africa. It also very successfully attacked both the US & Australian navies in home ports - Pearl Harbor and Dutch Harbor in the US case, and Darwin in the Australian case. IJN was unquestionably the best navy on the planet.
The Sons of Nippon were on a roll - until Midway. There the Imperial Japanese Navy lost all four of the committed Kito Butai (Main Striking Force) carriers plus a heavy cruiser in a two day fight, leaving but two Kito Butai CVs in home waters. While we lost YORKTOWN & a destroyer, leaving our post battle CV carrier fighting strength at 4 - ENTERPRISE, HORNET, SARATOGA (under repair from sub hit) and WASP (enroute from the Atlantic)
The magnificent strikes over two days by ENTERPRISE's Air Group 3 bomber and scout squadrons, led by CMDR Wade McCluskey, and YORKTOWN's Air Group 6 bomber and scout squadrons, led by CMDR Max Leslie, make for moving reading. And, we are also struck by the courage in the face of over whelming odds, and the willing sacrifice of all three torpedo squadrons, TORPEDO 3, 6 & 8, as they attacked at low level without fighter support in their antique Devastators "armed" with short ranged and slow torpedoes that rarely exploded even when they hit their targets. All three squadron commanders were killed as were the crews of 35 of the 45 attacking planes which were shot down from those squadrons - less one pilot from VT-8 who made the last torpedo run of the strike of the day, but was shot down and survived - Fightin' Texas Aggie George Gay.
But where were HORNET's Bomber, Scout and Fighter Squadrons from Air Group 8? For years, after WWII ,there was bare mention of this group led by CMDR Stanhope Ring.
The whole truth was released a few years ago. Here's the rest of the story.
1. HORNET's Fighter 8 was to commit 10 F4F Wldcats to HORNET's first strike. 17 Wildcats were to stay back for Combat Air Patrol over HORNET. Captain(P) Rear Admiral Pete Mitscher denied the C.O, of Torpedo 8, LTCDR Waldron, any fighter support at their low altitude attack level. Fighter 8 would cover the dive bombers of VB-8 & VS-8 only at 20,000 feet. Waldron argued his case all night, finally asking for just one fighter. But Mitscher was insistent. He knew the F4F's only way to win a fight with a Zero was to dive on it from altitude - the F4F would lose 9 out of 10 swirling dogfights at low altitude. So Waldron and his squadron knew that without fighter support, their odds of survival were slim to none, and he told them that he wanted the last crew alive to go in close and get a hit. That pilot, with his gunner already dead, Ensign Gay, did just that - but the torpedo was a dud. Torpedo 8 died valiantly, pulling the killing Zeros down to sea level along with Torpedoes 3 and 6 - making it possible with the sacrifice of their lives for McCluskie's & Leslie's dive bomber and scout bomber squadrons to attack with out enemy fighter interference and destroy 3 of the 4 IJN carriers on that first strike.
2. CMDR Stanhope Ring was a pompus leader, and generally disliked as the commander of Air Group 8. He was an "indifferent" pilot to boot -famous for cracking up aircraft on carrier landings and getting lost on patrols. He led the 60 aircraft of the HORNET's strike -VT-8, VF-8 (10 fighters only) VB-8 & VS-8 on a wrong course to intercept Kito Butai based on pre strike briefings. This became famously known as "The flight to nowhere" amongst US naval aviators of the day. Waldron broke radio silence against orders, and hotly argued with Ring on the proper course. Ring shut him up and stayed the course. Waldron broke off his squadron off, an act of insubordination, and headed in the correct direction and got there about the same time Torpedo Squadrons 3 and 6 did, and they were sacrificed together. Once source states Waldron notified Ring he was on target and coordinates before he died.
Ring's 10 fighters ran of of gas and ditched in the sea. Later some of the other parts of squadrons broke off to land at Midway before they would be forced to ditch in the sea. Ring finally made it back to the HORNET on gas fumes with a few of his group and landed without ever seeing the IJN enemy, much less attacking him.
But all in all, Ring had lost 27 aircraft being forced to ditch from running out of fuel., including the 10 fighters. Some of those ditched air crew were never found.
In the next day;s strike, what was left of HORNET's Air Group 8 did join Group 3 and Group 6 on the strike on the last of Kito Butai's CVs,the HIRYU & her escorts. But Group 8 scored no hits.
Later in the day a second strike was leveled at retreating IJN surface units and Group 8 finally contributed to the US win with a hit or two.
3. Normally after action reports in US naval air are submitted by squadron commanders (or senior surviving pilots if the leader is KIA), the Air Group commander and the skipper of the carrier.
HORNET skipper CAPT Marc Mitsher suppressed all subordinate reports and submitted his alone - After reading it, Admiral Spruance the actual fleet commander at Midway, refused to endorse Mitsher's report, stating that only the ENTERPRISE's & YORKTOWN's sets of reports reflected ground truth.
However, the Navy obviously forgave both Mitsher & Ring of their transgressions - Mitsher went on to be a first class carrier Task Force commander in WWII combat as an Admiral, and Ring retired a Vice Admiral.
