Feb. 22, 2019

Strong Crew, and Rescue, Set Sailor Standards for Initiative and Toughness

On February 21st, 2019, NAVADMIN 039/19 directed the Navy to return to the union jack beginning Tuesday June 4, 2019. That is, of course, the anniversary of the Battle of Midway. Some 77 years later, the Navy and the nation are again in a Great Power Competition, specifically with China and Russia. The return to the union jack is a nod to the very

June 2, 2017

The Battle of Midway Still Teaches the Value of Intelligence, Decisive Action

Heavy smoke rolls from stack of the USS Yorktown after the aircraft carrier was damaged heavily by Japanese aircraft June 4 in The Battle of Midway...

May 31, 2017

Innovation and Victory at the Battle of Midway

When I take a look at the arc of history in the Pacific, in particular the history of the Pacific Fleet, one of the things I find most compelling is the immense shift that took place at the Battle of Midway. For decades prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, our Navy was centered around our battleships. By the time we fought at Midway just six months

May 25, 2017

Ensign George H. Gay's Fateful Day, June 4, 1942

For Ensign George H. Gay, Jr. of Waco, Texas, the morning of June 4, 1942 began with groggy trepidation. With knowledge of a large Japanese invasion fleet moving towards Midway Island outnumbering the assembled American naval force, Gay did not sleep well. He and his fellow aviators of Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8) aboard the carrier Hornet (CV-8)

June 4, 2016

Reflections on the Battle of Midway from the PACFLT Basement

Editor's note: The following blog was written by Capt. Dale Rielage and first appeared on Station HYPO. Captain Rielage serves as Director for Intelligence and Information Operations for U.S. Pacific Fleet. He has served as 3rd Fleet N2, 7th Fleet Deputy N2, Senior Intelligence Officer for China at the Office of Naval Intelligence and Director of

June 3, 2016

A Cruise through The Battle Of Midway

The Battle of Midway, one of the most important battles of the Pacific campaign in World War II, occurred between June 4 and 7, 1942. The battle took place only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy defeated an attacking fleet of the Japanese navy near Midway Atoll, inflicting

June 6, 2014

D-Day: General Eisenhower's message to Allied troops

At dawn on June 6, 1944, nearly 7,000 U.S. and British ships and craft carrying close to 160,000 troops lay off the Normandy beaches, surprising German commanders, who had overestimated the adverse weather's impact and were also expecting landings to the northeast, in the Pas-de-Calais area. Known as Operation Overlord, the Allied forces hit the

June 3, 2014

Battle of Midway Q & A's

Capt. Henry Hendrix (Ph.D), Naval History and Heritage Command director and Robert Cressman, NHHC historian answer questions about the Battle of Midway in this five part series.

June 3, 2014

Battle of Midway: Naval War College Lecture

On June 3 at 1:30 p.m. ET, the Naval War College commemorates the Battle of Midway with a lecture by historian and author Jonathan Parshall, co-author of the book Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Making extensive use of untapped Japanese primary sources, including Imperial Japanese operation records, Parshall reconstructed

May 7, 2014

On Course to Midway: The Battle of Coral Sea

Japanese Aircraft Carrier Shokaku 1941 Courtesy Government of Japan...

Nov. 26, 2013

Battle of Midway lecture offers fascinating detail into US Navy victory

SBD "Dauntless" dive bombers from USS Hornet (CV-8) approaching the burning Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma to make the third set of attacks on her, during the early afternoon of 6 June 1942. Mikuma had been hit earlier by strikes from Hornet and USS E...

June 7, 2013

Midway Operational Lesson

MIDWAY'S OPERATIONAL LESSON: THE NEED FOR MORE CARRIERSThe Japanese employing six aircraft carriers at one time, as they did in the attack on Oahu on December 7, 1941, proved a radical undertaking. The U.S. Navy's carriers, by contrast, had never numbered more than two or three during infrequent maneuvers, and the war's coming in 1941 found only

June 7, 2013

Midway Tactical Lessons

Tactical Lesson of Midway: The Thach WeaveWhen the U.S. Navy entered the war in the Pacific, fighting squadron aircraft strength stood at 18 planes. Operational experience, showed that more fighters were needed, to (1) protect the carrier herself and (2) to protect the attack groups composed of dive/scout bombers and torpedo bombers. Even when

June 7, 2013

Midway Strategic Lessons

Midway's Strategic Lessons"We are actively preparing to greet our expected visitors with the kind of reception they deserve," Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, wrote to Admiral Ernest J. King, the Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations, on May 29, 1942, "and we will do the best we can with what

June 5, 2013

A Vivid Memory of Midway

A Vivid Memory of MidwayCommander Clayton E. Fisher, USN-Retby Ronald Russell(The following post is from the Battle of Midway Roundtable and originally appeared in Veterans Biographies, distributed during the annual Battle of Midway commemoration in San Francisco, June 2006)  In September 1941, upon completion of pilot training advanced carrier

June 4, 2013

Navy Cryptology and the Battle of Midway: Our Finest Hour

Navy Cryptology and the Battle of Midway: Our Finest HourA special feature of the BATTLE OF MIDWAY ROUNDTABLEby LCDR Philip H. Jacobsen, USN-Ret(Editor's note: the following is the text of an address given by LCDR Jacobsen to a gathering of Naval Security Group personnel at San Diego in 2000. It has been edited slightly for clarity and to better

June 3, 2013

Synopsis of the Battle of Midway (June 3-7, 1942)

Those who have only a casual knowledge of the Second World War might know little more about the Battle of Midway than the fact that it was an important American victory in the Pacific Theater. After all, the war had countless major battles, and a great many of them involved far more men and arms than fought at Midway. A tally of the forces engaged