Americans Have Hit Our Carriers Kaga Soryu And Akagi

[@WW2Tales]

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Part 6 of memoirs of Two Japanese naval aviators who participated in the Midway Operation and provided an unsparing analysis of what caused Japan's staggering defeat in this Operation. The first aviator led the first air strike on Pearl Harbor, commanded the Akagi carrier air group and later made a study of the battle at the Japanese Naval War College . The second aviator was one of Japan's first dive-bomber pilots, was aboard the light carrier Ryujo and later served as a staff officer in a carrier division. They were both key figures in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War two. Here is the link of the playlist kzbin.info/aero/PLGjbe3ikd0XHOEvJ_fiy9mB66QYTadhKc Link of Part 1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmGWaqCqacuDbNU Link of Part 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5-8n2tmpK-Zqs0 Link of Part 3 kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6DWeaGQe5yGpNU Link of Part 4 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGW6pI1rl7x9kNU Link of Part 5 kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3q4gGeEh8l8lc0

[@CMarkem]

thanks so much! you rock!

[@zanzibart3]

The name is pronounced Ah-beh, not Abe.

[@philipnerland1150]

Pp

[@NorwayT]

Great episode! I happened upon this by chance and will definitely look for he rest. The Japanese name Abe is not pronounced like the English Abe, as in Abraham "Abe" Lincoln, but like it is pronounced in this short video about how to pronounce PM Shinzo Abe's name: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXrUkH6vlpt6i5o

[@lwilde]

Text of this presentation is taken from commander Fuchida Mitsuo's postwar account of the Battle of Midway. Recent scholarship, especially that of Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully in their outstanding book, "Shattered Sword - The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway", show that Fuchida's account is full of mistakes, errors or outright prevarications. Apparently, for personal gain or to provide cover for some key players including himself, he altered the history. This is certainly not to take anything away from the brave sailors of the IJN; they did their jobs extremely well with great skill and courage. It was mistakes in planning and execution by IJN flag officers and staff that failed the Kido Butai long before they sailed from Japan for Midway. I highly recommend Parshall and Tully's work to get a much better picture of the Midway battle.

[@MemorialRifleRange]

Thank-you for saving me the effort. I truly enjoy both reading their books and their many presentations Trent Hone is also worth mentioning in this.

[@robertross2155]

I was going to reply but I thought I had better read the comments. Thanks for saving me the time

[@jamesgibbs6970]

Even Japanese historias refer to Fujita as a liar. In addition to this lie about the decks being loaded and ready to attack, he also lied about Nagumo's loosing his nerve for a second strike at Pearl Harbor. There has never been such plan. Fujita just tried to stir up a tale about how Japan missed a chance for a greater victory. I was enjoying this recount and until I started to hear Fujita's lies. Then, the whole story was called into question.

[@xyzabc4574]

"I get knocked down! But I get up again! You're never gonna keep me down." -Yorktown

[@hanovergreen4091]

Chumbawumba! :). Best Regards and Best Wishes!

[@INEVURLOSE]

Excellent writing! I like when people write stories like this from other perspectives of people other than the commanders. Very unique and creative, excellent work!

[@WW2Tales]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@theophrastus3.056]

This is an excellent channel, and I watch each episode as soon as I'm aware of them.

[@WW2Tales]

@theophrastus3.056 So kind of you sir for being a part of our Community

[@erichughes284]

Midway is an excellent movie covering this battle

[@jeremybrowand5941]

Ah, Fuchida .... such a liar. The whole 5 minutes until a counterstrike has long been debunked. The Japanese carriers were not close to launching a counterattack. The pics of the attack taken by the American bombers show the decks were only being used to recover and launch combat air patrol fighters.

[@fr.joeobrien3678]

Yes... for reference, see Shattered Sword by J. Parschall and R. Tully, the definitive accoun t of Midway battle.

[@ronalddunne3413]

Hmmm, strong words, have some respect, only Genda matches his record as a fighter pilot. Fuchida was there in the thick of it. You werent.

[@jeremybrowand5941]

@@ronalddunne3413 I was never talking about his skills, just that his accounts post war have been discounted by historians in Japan and in the US. It got to the point that when US historians reached out to Japanese historians asking about the seeming inconsistencies between the flight records and Fuchida's account, the response from the Japanese historians was to call Fuchida's account a pack of transparent lies.

[@buckyc.9069]

Actually, the two strikes on the Yorktown failed to sink it. Days later it was in tow back to Pearl, when it was sunk by a submarine.

[@cassubia]

First time I've heard a Japanese eye witness account of the battle - many thanks for this, absolutely gripping!

[@Mr_Ming0364]

Fuchida’s account as written in his book is not correct. It’s been widely known in IJN Naval circles that some of the other IJN survivors discounted his book as wishful thinking and attempting to portray the IJN in the best possible light.

[@jeremybrowand5941]

@@Mr_Ming0364 true. A lot of this account does line up with actual events, but the parts where he seems prescient or where japan was "5 minutes" from launching a crushing attack can be diacounted.

[@cassubia]

There's no way I can comment on your observations - I'm not a specialist here. Up till now I've only read US accounts of these events, or general historical accounts from a "God's eye view". An account by a defeated but proud enemy, however biased, just gives me a feel for how the Japanese experienced their nightmare of being outmanoeuvred and defeated at Midway.

[@ijnfleetadmiral]

@@andrewtaylor940 Agreed. Shattered Sword is THE Midway book.

[@samdigiorgipo]

ha,ha,ha,ha, , , not to worry Captain Yanagimoto , , , your rendition of Kimigayo hit the top music charts back in the good old USA , , , ,

[@ronaldfinkelstein6335]

The submarine was Nautilus, and the depth charge attack didn't damage her. She got away.

[@pauldietz1325]

Nautilus inadvertently served a vital role in the battle. Not because of any attack she made, but because the destroyer left behind to depth charge her later led McClusky's SBDs straight to the fleet. She did eventually torpedo one of the burning carriers, but the torpedo malfunctioned and failed to detonate, a notorious problem with the Mark 14 torpedo early in the war.

[@onastick2411]

That Captain Nemo, still up to his tricks.

[@renardfranse]

You are 100% correct sir@@pauldietz1325

[@Bob.W.]

Was waiting for this, thanks.

[@WW2Tales]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@greathornedowl3644]

🤔What had long been standard thought has changed: 1) the flight decks were not covered with planes being armed and refueled, pictures show they were cleared except for patrol planes. 2) Fighters unable to regain altitude, check the climb rate of the Zero takes seconds to reach 20k feet

[@carlheckert9614]

The Zeros climb rate was about 53ft per second or about 3200ft per minute. It would take several minutes to reach 20000ft.

[@charlesmcintyre8142]

I thought I read the Japanese armed their aircraft on/in? the hangar deck or some of them due to the construction of their carriers

[@edwardadams9358]

On another channel, the Unauthorized History of the Pacific War, this account was reportedly characterized by a Japanese historian as a "pack of lies". The Japanese carriers were not fully ready to launch when attacked by the Dauntless dive bombers.

[@steveg6978]

True, photo graphic evidence show an empty deck with just a few zeros.

[@hughw10]

This series is directly from Fujita's book, thus the incorrect account of the state of the carriers at the time of the attack. The book is actually a really enjoyable read, with the caveat that some of it contains false info. Cheers!

[@Mr_Ming0364]

Yes, that was Jon Parshall who is a co author of the book called “Shattered Sword” debunking Fuchida’s account.

[@micfail2]

@hughw10 I agree that it is still certainly worth reading. People just need to remember when reading memoirs, No matter what nationality the author, The person writing obviously has a lot of bias. Just look at manstein's auto biography, If you take his word for it, he was the greatest military commander to ever live. he would have won the war if not for that pesky man with the silly mustache being insane and conspiring to thwart him lol

[@Adiscretefirm]

​@@micfail2 blame it on the dead guy, he can't defend himself

[@kellykiser7600]

Thank you sir. The content and output on your end is amazing. Great job!

[@WW2Tales]

@kellykiser7600 Much appreciated Sir !

[@xJRxinated]

Loving this series ❤

[@csonracsonra9962]

Me too but it's clear that there are some absolutely provable falsehood so take it with a pinch

[@WW2Tales]

🙏💐

[@scottdobson1276]

22 minutes, "Dauntless" courage.... I see what you did there.

[@nigellawson8610]

When the American dive bombers from Yorktown and Enterprise arrived overhead of the Kido Butai at 10:25, the Japanese carrier planes were still in the hanger decks of the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu. The Japanese would not have spotted their aircraft on their carrier's decks while under attack because it was too dangerous. It took at least forty five minutes to spot aircraft on a carrier's deck. The Japanese would have only brought their aircraft up from their hangers once the aircraft attacks were over. Also, it went against Japanese carrier doctrine to launch a piecemeal attack with inadequate forces. Besides, the Japanese had to keep their decks clear for landing and launching their combat air patrol fighters. This was especially the case with the Zero, which only had nine seconds firing time for its two twenty millimeter cannons. As American historian Johnathan Parshall, observed in his wonderful book on the Battle of Midway, "Shattered Sword," Mitsuo Fuchida's post war account of the battle is full of holes. He noted that Fuchida, for his own reasons, distorted the history of the battle for dramatic effect. For example, his account of the decks of the four Japanese aircraft carriers being packed with aircraft that were on the verge striking the American fleet is simply not true. Although, it makes for great drama. It is worth noting, that strike photographs taken from attacking B17s show the Japanese carrier decks to be empty at the time of their attack. Furthermore, torpedoes for the torpedo aircraft were loaded on the hanger deck, not on the flight deck. According to Parshall's research, only the bombs for the dive bombers were loaded on the flight deck once they were spotted. Being in charge of the Kido Butai's air groups, you would think he would have known that? In addition, the need for two phase air searches would only be incorporated into Japanese Naval Air Force doctrine in 1943?

[@johnlawless9636]

Excellent series, thank you.

[@WW2Tales]

You're very welcome!

[@philipmiller2618]

Japanese carriers had poor control of the protecting fighters flying overhead. Their radios were poor. They had no Combat Information Center like the Americans developed. Each carrier handled its own fighters overhead. There was no joint effort.

[@steveg6978]

Well they did succeed in getting the Americans out to fight.

[@simonnot8487]

Wanted a decisive battle, got a decisive battle.

[@cgirl111]

Great account and thanks for that. From the static picture I can clearly see that the Japanese navy had installed a carrier deck on the back of Godzilla.

[@decimated550]

I'm watching this video as I munch on a fast food, breakfast. And scrolling through the comments. I nearly missed yours. It has only one thumbs up but certain is absolutely golden. I see the visual that you do. Also My uncle loves Godzilla and is fascinated by the battle of Midway. I shall report this to him forth with. Thank you so much more than you know

[@davecrupel2817]

42:00 R.I.P. Captain Yanagimoto... Any officer who's earned that kind of love & respect from his men, deserves to be remembered for it. 😞

[@emerald640]

He played a fools vanity game. His obligation was to bring himself back for his , at least , an after action report and bring his ship back as it was irreplaceable for three years. That was a CAPITOL asset not something to toss away because you are ashamed to lose a battle.

[@paulacornelison243]

I have always felt that Japan's suicide policy was stupid. Committing suicide costs a country's military force able-bodied and trained personnel. Part of the reason Japan lost has to be due to suicide.

[@jeffmcdonald4225]

Exactly! What sort of sense does it make to have a policy like, "If the enemy doesn't kill me, I'll do it myself"?

[@slypear]

Japan be Japanning~ @@jeffmcdonald4225

[@victorboucher675]

Personal pride over duty to the service and country.

[@TomFynn]

Yes, and no. If you lose one man and sink a carrier with thousands of crew, that is good return on investment. And Japan took up the kamikaze idea only when the losses in capable pilots and in fuel shipped, not to mention the much increased lethality of US AA with proximity fuzes, or a lot of capable US pilots with by now superior planes meant that for most Japanese pilots any mission was a suicide mission anyway. It was not a stupid choice. It was a cold, hard, calculated choice of a country in which "surrender" is unthinkable.

[@wisconsinfarmer4742]

The entire leadership committed suicide when they attacked Pearl

[@haeuptlingaberja4927]

When America did not sue for peace immediately after Pearl Harbor but instead came roaring back, swearing vengeance, putting 16 million non-war like Americans in uniform and unleashing the greatest military-industrial complex, by far, in all of history, Yamamoto and the other IJN officers whose brains had not been devoured by fanaticism knew that their goose was cooked. After Midway and Guadalcanal, even some of the zombies had twigged to their fate, which could have been avoided or at least much lessened if they had been capable of surrender. Just like with the Wehrmacht leadership after the colossal and hugely determinative failure of the Battle for Moscow. Many tens of millions of innocent lives could have been saved.

[@AlfredPeeler-yj6sw]

After Pearl Harbor, Yamamoto said, "I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve." He was correct!

[@JeffGilligan-q7t]

That quote is from a movie, not reality. He apparently did express such a probability though, but in other words.

[@philipmiller2618]

The Akagi got hit with only one bomb, by Lt. Dick Best. It also had two near misses, one near the stern which may have damaged the Akagi's rudder.

[@michaelparks5669]

the Japanese were stunned that the US flyers were so brave.

[@slypear]

Good news

[@heshy14]

They were taught the American pilots would turn tail and flee. They were in for one helluva surprise

[@decimated550]

20:00 One specific fact occurred to me concerning the torpedo planes. The fatalistic heroism and commitment to duty defies my ability to believe it. Imagine those airmen ...The small flights of a dozen or so torpedo bombers of their small squadrons coming in very slow with no air cover. Saw that Japanese fleet for many long minutes before they had closed to firing range of their torpedoes. They knew that there was a combat air patrol of zeros up ahead. They knew that the Japanese pilots would see them and dive down powerfully to intercept and that the whole fleet's guns would be waiting for them too. And that they didn't have the attack profile of a dive bomber which gains speed at the end of its delivery. Torpedo planes have to bank and turn away losing speed and it's rear covered only by a single 30 caliber machine gun.

[@decimated550]

41:09 wow! What an amazing commander. He was staying on the deck of his doom ship to go down with her, and his staff sent a officer who was a former college wrestler with orders to scoop the admiral up if necessary and carry him away to safety

[@michaelparks5669]

@@decimated550 The American pilots made the decision to give their lives to stop the Japanese. As a former Paratrooper I made the same decision so I did not live with the constant fear of dying. I never saw combat. but I know that we should honor those who gave everything for us.

[@jenbill]

Fitting name for that Japanese officer Ono when they found out American ships were that close by Oh No! 😂

[@stischer47]

Nagumo's decision was in keeping with IJN doctrine and any other admiral would have done the same.

[@robertf3479]

Given his posting to a command on Saipan in the Marianas after this loss I would imagine Admiral Nagumo wished several times he had gone down with his Flagship. He finally committed suicide during the Battle of Saipan.

[@cragnamorra]

Interestingly, Nagumo was not fired after Midway. He continued to command the remaining IJN carriers in the next two carrier engagements during 1942 (Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands). Yamamoto was not at all averse - either before or after Midway - to re-assigning elsewhere commanders who he assessed had not done well. So, as crushing as the Midway loss was, it would - somewhat surprisingly - appear that Yamamoto and the Naval HQ back in Tokyo didn't consider Nagumo's decisionmaking to have been a significant contributing factor. Which I find quite strange, but hey, they kept him in the fight for the rest of the year, including two more major carrier battles.

[@philipmiller2618]

The Japanese search planes at Midway was another mistake for the Japanese. It had too few planes, some of the pilots flew above the clouds instead of below them, and they used float planes from cruisers and such, which had limited range. Grade D.

[@cybercipherandcollie8911]

Many people view Midway as THE turning point in WW2. And certainly, it halted the unabated Japanese advances in the Pacific and killed many of their most capable and experienced naval aviators. It took another year, however, before it was clear that the Axis powers were going to lose. In the twelve months that followed: 1) American Marines landed on Guadalcanal and began operating out of Henderson field, 2) British forces pushed Rommel back at El-Alamein, 3) Allied forces invaded North Africa 4) The Nazis suffered a disaster at Stalingrad 5) The Japanese finally abandoned Guadalcanal (at the cost of a vast number of USN ships and personnel). 6) Allied forces began advancing through the Solomons with the aim of neutralizing the Japanese base at Rabaul 7) The IJN discovered that they could no longer adequately supply their ground forces, suffering a huge defeat in the Bismarck sea. 8) Admiral Yamamoto's plane was intercepted and shot down. 9) Rommel's Afrika Corps surrendered. Thus, by June of 1943, it was clear that the Axis powers were not only no longer on the offensive, but were starting to establish a pattern of losses.

[@barryb7682]

😮 the war was most likely over the moment the pearl harbor attack and the carriers were gone. Even if the carriers were there and sunk, probably would have not changed much except pushed back the end of the war by a year or two. America's industrial capacity far outweighed Japans (occupied territories combined) Can't win a protracted war when your opponent can build more weapons (of higher quality) much faster than you. Also has more resources such as fuel, and minerals needed to make weapons. Things were looking bleak for Japan before the war even started. Pearl Harbor was a hail Mary. At best.

[@micnorton9487]

​@@barryb7682True but living history forward like they had to do,, the PACIFIC war between Japan,, and the western powers including everyplace loyal to them and also China... So the Japanese were as overextended on the Asian mainland and all the assorted islands as the Germans were overextended in their theatre...

[@barryb7682]

@@micnorton9487 Agreed. That factored in too.

[@bushyfromoz8834]

How does the defeat of the Japanese army in new guinea not make this list..

[@cybercipherandcollie8911]

@@bushyfromoz8834 Agreed. My bad. The efforts by Japan to take Port Moresby by overland route and the joint efforts by Australians and Americans to drive them off was certainly noteworthy (and gruesome) particularly at Bona/Guna. However, the Japanese still held La on New Guinea at the 12 month mark. Perhaps the skip bombing technique deserves to be mentioned as well.

[@paulboger3101]

I have read Shattered Sword, and this is an excellent companion to the book.

[@giancarlogarlaschi4388]

As a former Air Force Academy graduate we were taught that " A Perfect Text Decision may be a Bad one under Real times circumstances " ... You got to be Flexible and opt for a compromise if required. Kindest Regards

[@johnhiggins7970]

I have one question, would the Japanese witness have said “300 miles” instead of using kilometers?

[@charlesmcintyre8142]

good one

[@hippopotamus6765]

International Maritime navigation is based on nautical miles 6080' and measures speed in knots IE nautical miles per hour.

[@jeromebarry1741]

Such a happy story!

[@galenhaugh3158]

Down she goes! Down goes another!

[@buckyc.9069]

"Now, let us enjoy the beauty of the Moon". Tamon Yamaguchi.

[@mem30075]

Fascinating and love the detail of the events and actions up to the battle. Obviously some costly decisions being made. So a "what if" scenario: what if the Imperial carriers had survived and not been destroyed how would that have effected the war? IMO: extending the overall war out with even more lives being lost. Although ultimately the US may have had to use more atom bombs on Japan tragically. Also, always interesting: the dilemma of time travel back to a period, and what could/would you change (if anything) knowing that would effect the present in many ways.

[@cragnamorra]

I'm not 100% sure it really would have made that much of a difference, not even in timeline, let alone ultimate outcome. 1942 into early/mid 1943 would certainly have gone quite differently; the Guadalcanal campaign (or something similar) probably doesn't happen (although the concurrent New Guinea fighting perhaps does). But the Essex-class carriers with deckloads of F6Fs and F4Us, the CVL/CVEs, the fast battleships, myriads more new cruisers/destroyers, the amphibious shipping, etc, all would have still rolled out of US shipyards on roughly the same schedule....keels for much of that had already been laid before Pearl Harbor, not after. The "Big Blue Fleet" would have formed in similar size during the same timeframe, and commenced its Pacific drive. The Japanese defensive perimeter would probably have been even tougher to crack, and there may have been a major fleet engagement earlier and further east than occurred with Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf. But it's hard to imagine 2-4 Midway-surviving IJN carriers making a war-changing difference at that point, even had they inflicted far more capital-ship losses than actually occurred.

[@robertwikeljr-1522]

Would planes be taken below flight deck to re-arm or change out attach modes ?

[@w9awx1]

Not sure how accurate it is but it is said the returning Midway planes were low on fuel and many would have lost to running out of fuel.

[@riverlady982]

11:40 Admiral Nagumo is dangerously indecisive. Yes let's leave a whole bunch of extra planes that are already armed all over our decks and/or below to bring in more planes to have to arm that are what usually protect us at the same time, like WTF. Also why would a dive bomber need to come in at a straight line in order to hit its target isn't the point of being a bomber that you get near your target and then dive in and drop your bomb, then your lighter and run away. Anything's better than possibly being blown up by your own ordinance after getting hit by the enemy, even dropping it in the ocean and then staying out of the way as best as possible I would think. I'm even slightly confused by the fact that they seem to think that only torpedo's are useful against other ships when that's been proven wrong many times.

[@philipmiller2618]

The magazine elevators on the Japanese ships bringing bombs or torpedoes to and from the ammunition magazines could only move one weapon at a time. With at least two weapon change orders this became very confused. The Japanese arming crews had to focus on getting the strike ready to go. That meant getting torpedoes up from the magazine and letting the bombs just lay around. It was just bad luck that the American dive bombers choose just that moment to attack. Nagumo also has to take some blame.

[@targe762]

More like, 'We found out after the war they had broken our Naval Codes and were now listening to our every move. Not knowing this we should have immediately surrendered as the war was now lost.' If the Japanese had instead broken the US Navy codes, they would have SLAUGHTERED them at Midway. The Pacific War was won by a few nerds in the cryptography office. The ships, planes and marines now only had to do the obvious moves knowing the enemy's cards in every game.

[@antoniocarrascosa6060]

Qué tal unos gráficos y mapas animados de la batalla?

[@mwbright]

This is the incredible story of how Gilligan's Island came about. People don't realize that they were actually Japanese.

[@jamesmccasland887]

Remember movie "Midway", Nagumo says All these planes can't be coming from one carrier.

[@jarvisfamily3837]

"...a destroyer on the far side of our ring formation made a **smoke signal**..." - WTF..?

[@drakenred6908]

😂 sorry I know it sounds silly now, but that was a thing then, that happened one of three ways. 1 Japanese destroyers could go into a overboost type setting on engine power. This caused a brief burst of smoke or flame to come out of the funnel. Usually used when the DD spoted submarine or torpedo tracks and was a side effect of overboost blowing in more oil than could be burned by airflow from the blowers caught up. 2 deliberate use of non smokeless powder by main battery firing in the direction of the enemy. For example at aircraft or surface targets, Surprisingly effective in daylight with good visibility. 3 smoke screen smoke given doctrine on how and when Japanese smoke screen smoke were used, well seeing a destroyer unexpectedly poping a smoke screen was a good indication that of how you goofed.

[@onastick2411]

It was manned by Comanches.

[@philipmiller2618]

WW2 Japanese ships had poor Damage Control. This also hurt them at Midway. American ships had much better Damage Control all through the world war.

[@BrucePerkins-mc3hp]

History is written by the victors. But the vanquished have a different view

[@philipmiller2618]

Wasting valuable and experienced people by suicide was another weakness of the Japanese. Experience, skill and knowledge takes years to acquire.

[@victorfinberg8595]

apparently fuchida's account was proven to be unreliable. i don't know any details

[@steverodgers7866]

The only planes on the decks were cap. There was no time to bring them up due to the maneuvering to avoid the attacks

[@robertheinkel6225]

I guess I never understood why both sides sunk their badly damaged ships. Why not let the enemy waste more weapons to attack a doomed ship.

[@buckyc.9069]

If I'm correct, Fuchida broke both his ankles jumping clear of the bomb strikes on Akagi, so he must've been out of action for a time. I don't know if he ever flew again. Maybe you do?

[@samleigh7817]

He spent the rest of the war as a staff officer. He was in Hiroshima the day before the attack but was recalled to Tokyo and survived. Became an evangelist after the war.

[@spidrespidre]

This whiffs of Fuchida. The aircraft couldn't have been spotted on Akagi, as described. "A lookout screamed 'Helldivers!"' Nope, Helldivers weren't introduced until December of 1942. Akagi was only struck by one bomb - the other 2 dropped were near misses. And so on.

[@HowardHolland-jv8cx]

Helldiver was a Japanese name for Drive Bomber in general. Had nothing to do with the type of dive bomber

[@robskalas]

Unfortunately, this video makes the mistake of quoting from Mitsuo Fuchida's "Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan," and the lie that the Japanese were 5 min from launching their strike. They were not. Most of the planes were still in the hangers, which is why the dive-bombing attack resulted in such catastrophic fires when bombs exploded in the hangers.

[@miketan4803]

Might not have been good idea to close the distance since jp planes could fly longer distance

[@buckyc.9069]

Okay, that just validated me a lil bit.

[@buckyc.9069]

The torpedoes in use at that time, were crap. Fortunately (for us), it didn't take long to correct that problem.

[@heatmyzer9]

Peripatetic…. Wow.

[@DennisMSulliva]

Courtesy of The Red White, and Blue!!

[@stevekerp1]

23:25 .... "on Akagi's flight deck ...." sorry, this is demonstrably false. Akagi had no planes on the flight deck. The "just five more minutes" story is false. Jon Parshall reveals the truth.

[@buckyc.9069]

That red "meatball" was the aiming target. I don't know if anybody ever actually hit it. I guess it's beside the point.

[@Thumpalumpacus]

Using Fuchida's reportage of Akagi's demise undercuts the usefulness of this presentation.

[@stevenkraft8070]

It wouldn't have made any real difference if Nagumo had launched an early strike without escort and with the torpedo bombers armed with bombs. If launched, they probably would have overwhelmed or at least severely damaged Yorktown with bombs. However, by then Yorktown's own strike was already launched and on the way to hit the Japanese carriers, and its dive bombers successfully participated in the destruction of Akagi, Kaga and Soryu. Hiryu's historical dive bomber strike on Yorktown knocked out her flight deck and ability to launch planes, she never launched a second strike on the Japanese anyway, and was later finished by torpedo hits from Hiryu's second wave made of torpedo bombers and still later a Japanese submarine. The separate group with Enterprise and Hornet were not spotted until after Hiryu's two strikes on Yorktown had been launched, and would have been missed by any ahistorical early launch against the Yorktown group. If launched, survivors of an early Nagumo strike would have returned to find their carriers sinking and with room on Hiryu to recover and rearm only a few planes, since her own squadrons were pretty intact at the time. By the time Hiryu's historical strikes on Yorktown returned, casualties from the attacks on Yorktown and Midway had decimated Hiryu's squadrons, and the other Japanese carriers were sunk or doomed and completely inoperable. Hornet and Enterprise then launched another attack that destroyed the Hiryu. So the only possible difference an early strike would have made was sinking Yorktown earlier than it was already destined to be sunk, with later Hiryu strikes maybe hitting 2 or 3 of Yorktown's escorts, as these strikes only knew the location of the Yorktown group. So an ahistorical early strike might have cost the U.S. more damage to Yorktown's escorts, but it wouldn't have reduced air attacks on the Hiryu. As it was, one of Yorktown's escorting destroyer was sunk with very heavy casualties by a submarine torpedo that was part of the spread that finished Yorktown. That destroyer was alongside Yorktown at the time, helping with severe damage from the Hiryu's strikes. If Yorktown was already overwhelmed by an ahistorical early strike, then that destroyer would not have been a sitting duck sitting alongside the Yorktown and would probably never have been hit or even spotted by that submarine. So its possible that an early strike by Nagumo might have resulted in even less real damage to the U.S. navy than happened historically

[@buckyc.9069]

But it happened later than I thought. Trying to fight fire fueled by bombs, torpedoes, and aviation fuel? Sounds like Hara Kiri might be preferable.

[@jameshimes3657]

Powerful storytelling. My first thought is even tho very professional, the Japanese were done in by a quirk of fate and by the dozens of American planes that went into the sea trying to reach the carriers. The battle could have almost as easily gone the other way.....just timing was off

[@stylembonkers1094]

"They have fucked us up loyally" "Loyally?" "I mean royally"

[@chuckliebenauer3656]

WWII in the Pacific was a David and Goliath war. But this time Goliath had the last laugh.

[@buckyc.9069]

There's only so much a champion wrestler can do vs a sword anyway.

[@456swagger]

The Emperor should have warned them in advance that the Americans were waiting in ambush.

[@jamess3241]

Hahahahaha I'm not mature enough to hear somebody say beat off without cracking up

[@jamess3241]

He referred to his as "successful" hahaha

[@joeelliott2157]

I think this video was made in error, sense so much of it is based on the account of Fuchida and has been very convincingly shown to be false, as shown in the excellent book "Shattered Sword". The photographic evidence and the logs written down on the four carriers and recovered before the carriers sank are just way too convincing.

[@rocistone6570]

"AH-Bay" not "Abe" as in Lincoln!

[@jumpdawg799]

Thanks!

[@WW2Tales]

@jumpdawg799 Sir, Thank you so much for your generous support! 🙏 Your Super Thanks means a lot to us. Your contribution helps us continue creating content. We are highly grateful and obliged ,stay blessed dear Sir 🌹

[@charlesaugust8671]

Sorry but misspelling the Romaji Tone as Toeneh is too funny! 😆

[@jumpdawg799]

So many brave men on both sides, laid waste by foolish political decisions, again on both sides.

[@edfrhes]

Both sides? 🆗

[@1982nsu]

@@edfrhes Allow me to clarify what @jumpdawg799 is saying... In today's moral equivalence mentality, the victim of an unprovoked attack is just as guilty as the attacker. Every SJW knows that attackers are really victims. I hope this clarifies what @jumpdawg799 is saying.

[@JohnPaul-ts8dq]

War is man’s most foolish act. Why can’t man live in peace with all nations?

[@jonathanleonard1152]

We fail due to our tendency to rely on fear and anger, along with ego.

[@daviswall3319]

It is in our nature due to millennia of evolution within the hunter-gatherer society. That doesn’t make it right and it’s certainly no excuse. We can and should do better

[@jonathanleonard1152]

@@daviswall3319 - Respectfully I disagree. Evolution does not take into account our shared previous existence. Of course this has a religious bend to it and I understand that it is not acceptable to many, however it is my experience, even if some say I can not have experience like this: I have an immortal spirit. In that spirit I followed corrupt practices. This put me at odds with God. Since I was immortal and God is immortal I did not die, but was put out of the Joy of His Love. I believe that I have lived many lives and now is the first time I understand the difficulty of my actions. I have no objections to your disapproval of this line of thought. I have had enough evidence to convince me and I am the only one who needs convincing so as to improve my actions.

[@barryb7682]

😮 simple answer: because people want more stuff and/or people fear / hate people, places, and things they do not understand.

[@daviswall3319]

@@jonathanleonard1152 that’s cool man. I wouldn’t even imagine disagreeing with you. If that is your experience, then follow that path. Our individual roads may be different, but that doesn’t make either one better or worse than the other. Ultimately, I only want the best for everyone and my hope is that we leave a better world for our children, their children and on and on etc etc ☮️

[@Oldag75]

"In a planned coordinated attack, the dive-bombers were supposed to distract the enemy fighters, so as to give the vulnerable torpedo planes their chance to come in. Instead, the torpedo planes had pulled down the Zeroes and cleared the air for the dive-bombers. What was not luck, but the soul of the United States of America in action, was this willingness of the torpedo plane squadrons to go in against hopeless odds. This was the extra ounce of martial weight that in a few decisive minutes tipped the balance of history." -- Herman Wouk, "War and Remembrance"

[@jmrodas9]

Many might disagree with me, but I believe this account of the Battle, by an officer who was there on board Akagi, more than what is said in Shattered Sword. The authors assume some things, but they were not on the Japanese carriers to say that the Nagumo force was not going to send an attack. Those Japanese carrier plane aviators were very skilled, being able to be launched faster than the Americans. And if Fuchida says two bombs hit Akagi, two hit her, not one as said in Shattered sword.

[@joeelliott2157]

I do disagree with you. Who should we believe? 1. The account of Fuchida, "who was there", but first written down several years after the battle, that the flight decks of the four were steadily filling up with combat ready planes until by 10:20 the decks were about full and the launch against the American carriers were on the verge of launching? or: 2. The photographs taken by American level bombers from Midway that consistently show the flight decks largely empty, except for a few fighters that were liking from the Combat Air Patrol which had briefly landed, rearmed, and then took off again to resume the Combat Air Patrol around the carriers. 3. Logs saved from the Japanese carriers showing fighters from the Combat Air Patrol were continuously landing, rearming and re-launching back into the air. Something that could not have been done if the flight deck was filling with aircraft that had been prepared to strike the American carriers. Points 2 and 3 are in agreement with each other, but not Point 1. To me, physical evidence, like photographs and logs written down that morning will always overcome eyewitness testimony, regardless of who is reporting it. Fuchida's account should be questioned for three very good reasons. His memory was several years old when he first wrote them down. Fuchida's accounts, in general, do not always seem to be honest. But above all else, the photographic evidence and the logs written down that morning.

[@jmrodas9]

@@joeelliott2157 He was ordered to write a report of the Battle for Official purposes, and in such capability interviewed many officers who participated in the Battle. And he based his book, on the notes he took of those interviews, and the official orders actually given, to which he had access to report the Battle. The book was published in 1951 but it is based on those materials, that Shattered sword had no access to, as all records of the Imperial Japanese Navy were destroyed when Japan lost.

[@jmrodas9]

Besides Shattered Sword was writte even later, by men who were not there, to know exactly what happened. They base their reasonment on American Carrier operation, and the Japanese operated in another way.

[@Riccardo_Silva]

Correct me if i'm wrong: this is Fuchida's account, isn't it? The same that has been already dismissed as a "bunch of transparent lies" by many japanese historians and , more recently, by Jon Parshall and Anthony Tully. A very exciting report but...false!

[@i-a-g-r-e-e-----f-----jo--b]

Admiral Nagumo, Sir, I have good news, and I have bad news. Which one do you want to hear first? Thanks for your war history channel!

[@WW2Tales]

@i-a-g-r-e-e-----f-----jo--b Thank you so much Sir

[@walterquick8649]

I was there !??? heard every word he or they said? lol

[@brianholly3555]

Japanese name Abe is pronounced Ah-bey, not like Abe Lincoln. Otherwise, pretty good AI.

[@rotorheadv8]

If the Americans arrived 15 mins later and the Japanese had been 15 mins faster…

[@buckyc.9069]

Looks like that Intel was way too late.

[@grathian]

The commentary about the dive bomber attack hitting flight decks filled with loaded bombers wingtip to wingtip. Yet every picture of the attack shows all four carriers with empty decks. Somebody isn't telling the real story.

[@centariprime9959]

The type 13 and 14 torpedoes were useless.

[@brentlabeau]

Whether planes were on deck or not, it doesn’t change the out come, so does it really change history, not at all. The results are still the same. When the carriers met at the Marianas battle, Americans had better planes then last time, and they both knew the other was there and the results were worse, and the end of Japans carrier fleet, and more importantly, great fighter pilots were killed off. Suicidal pilots is all they had left.

[@altair458]

Meanwhile the british were having tea. God save the royals.

[@otadashi1570]

Abe= Ah-bay

[@tedsmith6017]

done ever mess with mine over der , or above will blind your grid on judgement day , wets are on fer safety

[@davidlj53]

According to the writer, the only chance Japan 🇯🇵 could have possibly had is to put him in charge of everything.

[@feliksj.kwiatkowski2935]

Well, he might even be right.😊

[@Davitofrito]

Nagumo strikes me as similar to union general McClellan, who despite advantages over confederate general Lee, was too cautious. Also hindsight makes obvious what we easily miss in the moment.

[@jeremybrowand5941]

I'm sure that was his intent when he wrote his book lol. Many of the contentions he makes have been debunked. Fushida is a bit of a liar.

[@rjhyden]

Fuchida was a liar.

[@kevinmoore7975]

This sounds like Fuchida’s account, which even Japanese sources have substantially debunked. 🙄 For the best account, read Parshall & Tully’s “Shattered Sword.”

[@Fadamor]

I'm sorry, this computer generated voice is grating on my nerves. "...automatically assumed by Rear Admiral Hiroaki Abe" The computer pronouncing his family name as "ayb" but there's no corresponding sound like that in Japanese. The name would have been pronounced "ah-bay" As for proof of the computer voice, I offer 43:34 : "...left undamaged after the devasting (sic) attack." A human would have read it "devastating" even with the probable misspelling in the script.

[@HowDareUbuddy]

where was the British? again...

[@stephenandersen4625]

They had been fighting NAZIS since 1939.

[@belleice1943]

You started this crap now deal with it!

[@renardfranse]

IT IS NOT ABE!!!!! IT IS PRONOUNCED AH BAY!!!!!!!!! LEARN JAPANESE BEFORE YOU NARRATE