I find it hilarious just how many times the Americans managed to screw something up and it worked out perfectly. Like I could imagine the Japanese thinking “what a perfectly coordinated attack from both angles” while the American pilots are sitting there like “are those our planes over there? How did they get there?”
This reminds me of when my ex-military police coworker told me he once saw a report that measured military security around the world and the US was easily the best...Because there were scheduling inconsistencies, patrol route discrepancies, and no consistent patrol timing. Making it almost impossible to know when a security patrol would show up.
Patton said reptedly he never had a plan 1st because any plan is wrong after the 1st minute of fight, and 2nd because how can the enemy guess what you're going to do if you have no idea yourself ?
His is definitely the most in depth review of Midway I have seen, though Battle 360 did an alright job. They had the veterans speaking about their experiences too.
Arashmickey the Germans often complained that nothing the Americans did made sense as well. Bombard here but attack there. Wait out good weather and attack in rain.
I love how from the Japanese perspective it seemed like the Americans were delivering a series of sustained attacks to delay the Kido Butai from launching planes until they could deliver a final decisive strike. And then in the American perspective there's scouts giving wrong information, aircrews chasing after lone sub-hunters, guys arguing with each other, planes running out of fuel and getting ditched after not even encountering the enemy, and an entire Squadron that disobeys orders and is entirely destroyed. It reminds me of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, when an cosmically coincidental misinterpretation of a message caused a series of tragic tactical blunders.
@@thepie8u Which isn't a statement of incompetence or really even chaos, but operational freedom for frontline commanders. If the frontline commanders see a target of opportunity, they're free to just go for it without getting prior authorization...or at least, it used to be that way.
@@tremedar Tbh a lot of Countries today operate under this doctrine since WW2 it proved to be really efficient (unlike the strict "do as you are told" from japan and WW1 in general) But it is a double edge sword, most of the time if you do whatever the f you want and go for your own "freedom of objetive" and then make a huge blunder if you survive you may end up facing court marcial (on some places)
This honestly reminds me of admiral Karl Doenitz's quote, "The reason that the American Navy does so well in wartime is that war is chaos, and the Americans practice chaos on a daily basis."
@Thx I hate it germans weren't especially "disciplined". They just had more troops that had experience fighting in 40 and 41. The soviets swallowed those whole.
@@ussenterprise3156 Not sure if I recall the specific thing you are talking about, but a soviet was quoted as stating this "A serious problem in planning against American doctrine is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine.”
For real, watching all those lucky coincidences that happened to the Americans in midway makes me feel that some divine entity really wants those 4 Japanese carriers sunk
@@VenturiLife And the saying goes "Time spent in reconnaissance is rarely wasted". How many times throughout has it happened honor and ego costed a clear victory.
I love RPG's and if there's a skill tree for luck, I put all my extra points into luck. Luck makes all the difference in peoples lives. Me personally, I'm exceedingly unlucky as I was born with pain (didn't even know it, just thought it was depression & chronic fatigue) and then due to a worldwide shortage of a period-pain specific birth control pill, am now in constant, severe, permanent, and increasing pain & thus, opiate doses (as nothing else works, so I'll have to end my life when the dr stops prescribing; this push-back of opiates has many casualties)...
whether this is true or not it reminds me of these quotes: "A serious problem in planning against American doctrine is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine." "The reason the U.S. Military does so well in wartime is that war is chaos, and the U.S. Military practices chaos on a daily basis."
I find it fascinating that Yamamoto guaranteed his superiors 6 months of uncontested dominance in the pacific after Pearl Harbor. 6 months to the day later, Midway.
@@TheFrederic888 I think he understood well. He told them that the Americans were acting like pacifists because there had not been attacked. He stated that when Americans are attacked, they become the most bloodthirsty, ruthless killing machines in the world. Unfortunately his superiors didn’t believe him. They saw Americans as fat and lazy. We saw them as small and weak. We were both terribly wrong.
Japan: We will plan meticulously for this operation, everyone will follow orders. America: "Effff the commander, we going south bois." "Hey, I know we're lost, we should totally follow that ship." Nailed it.
Yes we will attack Midway. Doesn't matter that the US aircraft carriers we wanted to sink at Pearl Harbor were not there. Forget about them...they won't be near Midway.
@@RivetGardener Technically Japanese idea was that they would seize Midway relatively quickly and then force the Americans to fight a battle on their terms. That said, the only other time the Japanese had made a landing where they were directly opposed was at Wake Island. And even after said island (with a much lower degree of fortification than Midway) had been smashed by the Kidou Butai, they still put up a hell of a fight. Had they attempted a landing at Midway, it probably would've gotten rather nasty.
@@jedimasterdraco6950 I don’t think their plan actually involved landing troops on Midway. The Japanese knew the US fleet would only take a few days to sail there from Hawaii and they would never be able to occupy the island by then. Like they weren’t stupid. Their real target was the US carrier fleet. Attacking the island was just the bait to draw them out.
Keep in mind, the important thing in war, is who wins. Doesn't have to be neat and organized as long as you're the last man standing. Or, in this case, the last navy floating.
Admirals: let's do this (make smart decision) Pilots: let's do THIs (make a smart decision, but a completely different one) Admirals and Pilots: wait how is this WORKING????
This is officially one of the most highly anticipated events in history, surpassing the moon landing, the release of Endgame, and the day I get a life.
@@ussenterprise3156 LOL. Yeah, Endgame had its moments (the PUNCH shall forever be enshrined as a Moment of Great Movie Justice) and I did enjoy it, but overall it was a disappointment. This video on the other is fully of the same high quality as Montemayor's previous two on this subject :)
I just want to give a crisp salute to the USS Yorktown for the beating she took in two of the most important battles in naval history. She was hard to kill. She gave us everything she had. Thank you. Thank you Montemayor for this detailed analysis. I learned so much.
And I want to give a big thumbs down to Hornet's Flight to Nowhere. Admiral Mitscher should have been courtmartialed and grounded permanently after that. It is sad how Hornet's failure at Midway is never ever talked about in documentaries or by Hollywood.
@@nogoodnameleft I see your point! but in combat, leaders have to act on information that is only a piece of what they need to make good decisions. The outcome sometimes come down to luck, and the training that allows units to adjust.
@@expeditionaryfamily I agree but the Navy's propaganda department postwar did a fantastic job of a cover up of the Hornet's failure. Hornet's failure led to Yorktown being sunk, for example. It should be talked about everytime Midway is talked about but they never want to talk about Hornet's failure that led to the sinking of Yorktown.
I agree the Yorktown is easily my favorite aircraft carrier in history. I suppose it could be argued that the Yorktown never sank because legends never die.
@@illuminati.official The US has never truly fought an all out land war in Asia. Korea was a borderline policing action and Vietnam wasn't all out war. Way too many doctrines that they had to follow. Basically fighting with one arm behind your back.
This reminds me of that probably apocryphal, though definitely accurate, assessment by Soviet military strategists: "A serious problem in planning against American doctrine is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine."
as a Navy vet, i learned more about this battle of midway in this series than i ever did on AD. This was the first time i've seen any of the battles of WWII told from the losing side's perspective. I enjoyed your usage of simple map illustrations and you told the events in a way that kept a good pace that was easy to follow and was not boring. well done!
@phillyslasher The Americans could afford to be "flexible" because they got clear upper hand to the Japanese through intelligence and pure luck. If you watch the video from the Japanese side again, there was really no option to them. Meanwhile the American fleet was completely hidden from the enemy, so their commanders and pilots could pull all the gut instincts and deviations from doctrine they wanted without worrying too much about consequences.
@phillyslasher First, you say the Japaneses were restrictive and didn't change their course as if there had been any option for them. They were led into an ambush and kept on their feet the whole time the only thing they could do was dodging. Had it been Fletcher or any other American commander, they would have made the same choices (if there had actually been any choice) and the outcome would have been the same. Second, as I said, the Americans were on the safe side. Thanks to intelligence and also luck, they knew where the Japaneses were while stayed hidden the whole time. That's why their pilots could afford to take chance flying off course. Even if those deviations hadn't worked out for them, they wouldn't have lost anything. The Japaneses didn't have that luxury. Third, what exactly did the Americans "adapt to" anyway? They set up an ambush, and everything went perfectly according to their plan. The few times they messed up the coordination was because of incompetence, not because of genius hindsight. By pure luck that incompetence ended up working well for them. It was as much "flexibility" as saying you got a 6 rolling a dice because you're a genius at math. And yes, I am saying that had it been not for that luck, the outcome of the battle could have been very different. We see how incompetent and uncoordinated the Americans were. Had the last 2 dive bomber groups not converged on the Japaneses with such impeccable timing and saturated their defense, they could have got off with at least 2 carriers untouched given the skill of the American pilots. By then who know what could have happened. The Japaneses could have pulled at least a draw.
@@Secret_Moon The video doesn't note this, but actually the "unintended" consequence of the uncoordinated piecemeal attacks keeping the Japanese off balance was likely entirely intended by Spruance. So while intel/luck were hugely important I can't agree with you. Japanese carrier doctrine left them especially vulnerable and it makes no sense to say that the Americans would have done the exact same thing when they in fact made it a point not to.
@@kaineternal Lol, I knew someone was gonna claim the American piecemeal attacks was intentional. Ok, let's just put aside the implication that the American commanders deliberately threw their pilots at the Japaneses squadron by squadron to be shot down one by one by the outnumbering Zero, just think about it for a moment, what did that accomplish exactly compared to a massive coordinated wave of attack? The first wave from the American carriers that reached the Japanese was the VT-6 with only 14 Devastators. Imagine if this wave had been a hundred planes. There would have been no need for the "genius piecemeal strategy" to hinder the Japaneses as the Americans could have swamped, saturated the Japanese defense and ended them right then and there, with minimal loss. So no, do not think of the American piecemeal attacks as a genuis strategy that defied conventional doctrine. Think of it as a big blunder that ended up costing a lot of American pilot lives that luckily somehow STILL worked out for them, despite with much heavier cost. And if you claim the Americans would have done differently had they been in Japanese shoes, then what exactly would they have done differently? Amphibious landing on Midway with the carriers, and towing the ships inland to hide?
11:33 "But before we get to the attack, we're gonna pause here for a bit." At first I checked the video length, to see if this maybe was the end of this video and another was coming in a few months. Then I thought, okay, it's got to be the inevitable sponsor plug. But no. It's actually another great, informative segment. Thanks for this, I didn't know videos like this still existed. Great job overall, well worth the wait!
I love how you get into the thinking of the players. I never thought about an admiral saying, "lets take this route because we have better cloud cover". Makes perfect sense.
Ironically it's exactly what the Kriegsmarine used to do - and they also did it because they had a numerical disadvantage so had to lever tactical advantages in other ways. Same problem, same thinking. I begin to come around to the idea that armed forces often perform best when they are seriously challenged, as opposed to when they have lots of advantages to begin with. They often rise to the challenge and think more cleverly.
I wanna say that the carrier _Enterprise_ survived at least one later battle because she entered cloud cover at just the right moment to avoid getting spotted. The "Big E" went on to be one of the most decorated ships of the war.
wars are mostly battles of numbers -- of people and industrial production. by the end of the war, the us had something like a hundred carriers and a thousands other warships. that's a production of a bit more than 2 carriers per month.
@@NaumRusomarov They are often heavily controlled by them, but there is plenty of David vs Goliath examples in history. In the case of WW2, it was an ant trying to take on a tank. American industrial power was insane, even if the Americans fucked up every military operation they did, they may as well of had infinite resources compared to any other nation in WW2. There's a statistic somewhere that shows that America had over 50% the entire worlds industrial capacity.
I prefer the Maxim 47 version: "Don't expect the enemy to cooperate in the creation of your dream engagement." And, supplementing that, Maxim 22: "If you can see the whites of their eyes, somebody's done something wrong."
Lt. Cmdr. John C. Waldron was a true hero. Disobeying Mitscher and Ring's orders and flying his devastators south unassisted to where he knew the carriers were, Waldron likely knew he was headed on a suicide mission that had little chance to succeed. And yet, his sacrifice and that of his squadron is what delayed the launching of Nagumo's counterstrike and drew away the Japanese fighter cover, which made the devastaing success of the subsequent dive bombers possible.
@@Fieramosca492 Yes, but his attack stopped the Japanese from launching a counterattack since you normally don't spot and launch aircraft during an attack both due to the risk and needing the flight deck for reequipping the fighter cover.
I do like that one b26 bomber pilot, he knew his plane was going down and as a final measure of retaliation he tried to do suicide crash course toward the carrier. True hero
It was amazing that his plane carried him to the IJN CV group because his balls were so huge they should've made it impossible for his plane to take off from the Hornet.
Gotta comment! For decades, I've known that Midway was a crucial battle that occurred relatively early in the war. I never took the time to see the battle dissected - or even watched the movie. Thank you for guiding me through this engagement. I ESPECIALLY LIKED YOU TAKING THE JAPANESE PERSPECTIVE FIRST. That approach was huge for me. At my age, I appreciate a balanced portrayal of events as opposed to the jingoistic recountings that I grew up on. I'm an American for America, yet I know we're not always right and our leadership can be flawed. The first battle I really studied was Gettysburg while reading "The Killer Angels." I learned that major battles can begin as seemingly small skirmishes, and that good leaders making astute decisions early on can set the stage for eventual victory. I also learned that real lives are lost - souls perish. In this video, I felt as much sadness for the loss of Japanese lives as I felt for the loss of American lives. General W.T. Sherman was right: "War is hell."
it is an odd thing to feel empathy for the japanese after pearl harbor and thinking that they were planning on expanding their empire as far as they could as seeing the map of their successful expansion. i too during the video when hearing/seeing the numbers after their carriers went down, did NOT jump up and down with joy but was just thankful after the several failed mini-campaigns of the US during midway, a major victory strike was finally pulled off. i did wonder why there was no commentary about rescue boats/life rafts for the japanese figuring there was no way that everyone on those carriers died even from the extensive damage taken. - i can't imagine that pain one would feel thinking of not being able to return from such a beating in the midst of a much larger war to one's family, fellow soldiers and one's own country. i was aware of the suicide code of "honor" but didn't realize it could/would be applied on a large scale, not that i'm saying all survivors did. i too watched all 3 parts sequentially with NO intention of watching all of the first one at 40 +/- minutes. it went by FAST and could've even watched more to my surprise.
@@lifediversified8932 Japanese expansion was limited to China and Vietnam (the latter only in order to cut off re-supply routes to the Chinese) until the United States threatened to cut oil. Contrary to popular belief, we didn't particularly care about the Chinese, but were more alarmed about Japan invading Vietnam, a European colony, in order to cut off Chinese resupply, since it challenged European control in the region. The Japanese invaded American, British and Dutch colonial possessions in the Pacific in order to take their natural resources to off-set the oil cut by the United States. Japan was unwilling to pull out of China after 4 years of brutal war, and the United States was unwilling to entertain the notion of Japan challenging European control in Asia. Not only that, but were Japan to concede to the United States' demands, it would essentially be on a leash going into the future, since the United States could use oil to control Japan's decision making. It's also not unlike the United States is a stranger to expansion; continentally we started out with less than half of what we have today before our wars against Mexico, Britain (how we took a portion of Florida) and the various Western tribes, not to mention our overseas acquistions in the Spanish-American, Philippine-American and Samoan Wars. The first half of my post also isn't to suggest the Japanese were 'liberating' Asia from European 'oppressors'; the Japanese of course were expanding into China and Vietnam for the same reasons the United States expanded into Mexico and the Caribbean. Ultimately I don't think either *government* had moral superiority over the other (as much as people like to split hairs about the severity of war crimes), and ultimately the *citizens* of both nations were the victims of their government's expansion and failures to negotiate, and their deaths warrant equal sympathy.
What was left out was what the Japanese did after this humiliating defeat. They tried to keep it a total secret. Even isolating survivors to keep the loss from the rest of the military and the civilians at home.
Yeah, it's downright horrifying. Most of the survivors would end up being sent off to die in distant islands without even getting a chance to see their families or write to them.
@@jrodriguez1374 Almost as severe as the loss of the naval code, since Japanese wartime propaganda hinged on westerners being incapable of understanding Japanese.
The really terrifying part of naval warfare is that it took years and a vast amount of resources to build the infamous kido butai carrier fleet...just to have 3 of those carriers destroyed in 5 minutes, and the 4th some hours later, by a couple of cheap carrier planes.
That is the criticism of modern aircraft carriers. They are so expensive in and of themselves. Add in the air wings and personnel and they are too valuable to risk in real battle. The loss of even one would be devastating.
Tbf those "cheap carrier planes" had to come from big expensive carriers themselves. If you think of the planes as weapons of the carriers (which they are) the ratio of build vs. destruction resources is way less lopsided
Just watched the whole series. This is the best series describing this battle I've seen. I love the "what if" scenarios. I wonder "what if" the US had A-10's...
@@MontemayorChannel no, for a lot of us even if we don't know each other. You are a legend. We truly respect that objectivity and the amazing job you do for us. TH-cam, Netflix, etc. should give a show/create content for them and use your potential.
@@MontemayorChannel Thank you for making this. It is by far the most detailed video series on this naval battle. It would be great if you did one on the Indian Ocean Raid of 1942 since it gets nowhere near the attention it deserves as one of Britain's most humiliating naval defeats ever.
I know this is a joke but Nimitz refused to give them their Battle of Tsushima because he withdrew early when the main surface force gave chase. This was smart on the part of the Americans. They basically engaged in hit-and-run tactics with the Japanese, only engaging when they were confident of winning. Once the US industrial capacity was dialled up to 11 and they were spitting out carriers, battleships, destroyers and other naval assets every week did they go on the offensive and gladly give the IJN the "Kantai Kessen" they were so keen for. In fact they gave them their Kantai Kessen on several occasions.
@@mlc4495 we shall compare the Nation's Industrial Output on a scale of 1-10 USSR: 9 to 10 average UK: 7 to 8 All the time Germany: 7 to 8, maybe 9 in some cases Japan: 7 at most, averaging 6 Italy: 3 to 4, 5 if they're lucky France: 6 to 7 if they got the chance USA: 20, somehow, on a scale of 1-10
Never clicked so fast. Especially since I saw the new film Midway AFTER seeing Part I. Your first video was so spot on, that it's basically a custom-made companion piece to Midway. I watched as your video played out on the movie screen, and I was able to keep my confused buddies up to date on what was happening. It was glorious.
I actually have been to the US WW2 museum since part 1 came out, and was explaining several parts of the battle to my friends I was with. Great feeling!
personally I just wish they got the right order of the U..S. torpedo plane attacks and had included Yorktown's Torpedo planes. Though I understand for the sake of time and money why they didn't include or any of the U.S fighter pilots contributions, probably cheaper to only show anti-aircraft fire taking shooting down the planes instead of the zeros.
I know right!! I was surprised how much I loved Midway. I think it was because of part one of this series. As much as I loved Midway however, this series knocked it out of the park, and I will watch it many times over the years!
Having now watched this final part - BRAVO. Just like before and other histories, Top Notch. Best history presentations on TH-cam. Thank you. Just, next time - please - drop us a note so we know you're okay! I was seriously worried something bad happened. I humbly request you next Go Big and tackle the actions and events leading to the Action off Samar, Leyte Gulf, October 25, 1944. We'll wait. Best wishes to you!
Montemayor, a sincere thank you. When I was 13, a friend and I were dropped off at the local movie theater in 1976 to see the movie Midway. I couldn't have been more excited. We sat on the first row... straining to look up at the show. I came out of the movie with a very biased and troubled view of the battle and the horror and utter futility of the American planes. All these years later... you have done what Hollywood could not... put it all into perspective and mitigate the mismatches... the decisions... the misconceptions and the luck. I really, truly, appreciate your effort in these 3 videos to so thoroughly explain and probe the tactics and intricate nuances that ran throughout this battle and the ramifications that came from it all. Thank you.
@Marc Singleton I saw the Surround in the theater. By then I already knew the history and was annoyed by all the newsreel footage showing the wrong aircraft - plus the turgid family drama involving Chuck Heston, his son, and his Japanese American fiancee was crap. But the opening sequence with the Doolittle Raid lifting off in Sensurround was fantastic.
Here, here . . . very well said Robert. I was 20 in 1976 so I already had a bit more tolerance for organizational dysfunction, but seeing this all so well laid out by Montemayor I'm also seeing the madness had rhythm.
@Marc Singleton Yeah, I was 12 when I saw Midway with Chuck Heston and knew the battle, knew the aircraft - remember leaving with my brother and we were telling each other Tora Tora Tora was better, all the newsreel footage was wrong, and Midway sucked.
I think I watched this 3-video series about 5 times now. I'm still amazed by your talent of packing history in a comprehensive manner and tell the story without ever losing the tension which keeps the viewer interested. Thank you for presenting one of the biggest Uno-reverse cards in WW2 this way.
In barely any of the documentaries I see about Midway, Lt. Richard Best has been included, so I applaud you for including him. As a fun fact, Lt. Best also was 1 of the 4 pilots to get a hit on the attack on the Hiryu, making him the first pilot to succesfully bomb 2 Japanese carriers in one day, which got Admiral Moorer and Vice Admiral Houser to make a serious but unsuccesful effort to recommend him for an Medal of Honor after his death in 2001. Edit: typo's
Dusty Kleiss scored hits on two carriers that day - Kaga and Hiryu - while also landing a bomb on a cruiser on the last day of battle so he was 3 for 3. Nevertheless, it was Dick Best whose sole hit on Akagi doomed that carrier. Sadly, Best would never fly again after June 4th. His lungs were harmed by caustic soda in his oxygen system which triggered latent tuberculosis.
Like a wandering pilot stumbling onto an undefended carrier group, I just discovered all three of these videos this evening and watched them in sequence! Talk about luck! What a wonderful documentary by Montemayor!
We simply can’t say enough or appreciate the bravery of the first wave of fighter pilots that threw themselves into the Japanese attack on Midway as well as the torpedo bomber pilots that did the same when they attacked the Japanese fleet. Many floated in rafts or worse for God knows how long without rescue ever coming. No truer heroes ever or sacrifice greater at a time when America needed it most.
I live on another continent, another era, in Poland, a country having its own share of WW2 history - and yet for decades I have been admiring the bravery and heroic sacrifice of VT8 and its flight leader John Waldron. 80 years on and I remember them.
Yeah, we see, plainly, when our aviators are flying in obsolete or inferior aircraft. Note that, even when we are on offense, our airmen were lucky to last more than a very few missions. War is hell - for everyone, whether your a Marine wading ashore on Okinawa under unrelenting machine gun fire or manning a gun in the belly of a bomber, or ....
@@allangibson8494 Yea, makes it hard to be empathetic towards most Imperial Japanese soldiers :/ I mean, no doubt Americans did messed up things, but even Germans wanted to be their prisoners since they were fed well. Bruh, Japanese executed to save rice.
@@alank4558 Them Japanese on the ship didn't. They are equally to blame as every single American is to blame for the geonicide of the Native Americans. Its literally just disrespectful to imply that every Japanese soldier were to blame.
Montemayor, THANK YOU for this piece. As someone who owns almost every book on Midway from Gordon Prange to Craig Symonds, I am extremely thankful you acknowledge Fletcher's correct decision making and Yorktown's experience. It does history true justice. You should be proud. Salute!
Adm. Fletcher is probably one of, if not the most underrated Carrier commander in history (and probably more maligned that he deserved). It's a shame that his career is somewhat tied to the sinking of two US carriers in quick succession under his watch (as well as his "abandoning" of the Guadalcanal landing forces). But then again, those battles were basically the two major battles wherein the US Fleet was the underdog, so it still speaks to his brilliance.
Joshua Unsay agreed. But even the “abandoning” bit was apparently mostly spun by Turner as the carriers were never supposed to stay longer. “Black Shoe Carrier Admiral” by Lundstrom clears Fletchers name by and large... ...although it’s also depressing reading about other admirals ripping apart his reputation.
@@thegoodcaptain1217 I wholeheartedly agree that the "abandoning" spin is undeserved. It also didn't help that Adm. King became sour on him after Corral Sea and Midway (Adm. King loved the Lexington, and for him it was unforgivable for Adm. Fletcher to have had her scuttled).
And with 27 in 1945. - lol - To go along with 18 battleships. And that's exactly why Montemayor's conclusion is correct. Midway changed the course of the war, but not its ultimate outcome. Of course, it really ended up being just 2 bombs - with the promise of more where they came from - that ultimately ended the war.
@@vbscript2 Even those two bombs were indicative of American industrial power. Project Manhattan was successful (compared to other wartime nuclear programs) partially because the Americans had enough leftover resource and capability for a _side project_ , amidst fighting a war in two major theatres and providing vast amount of supplies to allies there.
@@Mattoropael just look at the victory ships. Enormous ships, built in huge numbers in astonishing time. Only America has that capability, and once it was woken, it was only a matter of time.
After the battle and after interviewing the survivors, some junior staff officers in Tokyo figured out quickly there had to be a security breach which meant their J-25 code was breached. It was practically obvious. Incredible that two US task forces were in exactly the right position at the right time. These junior officers also suspected a security breach derailed the Port Moresby invasion a month earlier. A US task force had popped up in the Coral Sea to spoil the top secret Japanese invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea. In the whole Pacific Ocean , the US task force chose to operate in the Coral Sea just at the time of Port Moresby operation.. A delegation of Japanese staff officers went to the Naval Ministry in Tokyo and suggested to high-ranking intelligence officers that J-25 had been broken. Their suggestions were brushed off as 'impossible by intelligence brass.
Dry dock inspection of USS Yorktown after Battle of the Coral Sea, "She needs 2 weeks of repair." Pearl Harbor yard workers, "F that. Give us 48 hours." Great videos as always.
Fun fact, Japan barely holding itself against about 20% of the American war effort. Once the War in Europe was going pear shaped for the Germans and the full might of the US industrial production was deployed against the Japanese, there was no way Japan could've avoided the outcome of the war. Their industrial base was too small to conduct the type of warfare necessary in a prolonged conflict. Once the Essex AND the Casablanca class carriers were being mass produced, the Americans had the potential to take on the Japanese Navy and Army air force in one go. Even if the Japanese had their carrier fleet intact, that would make no difference as the US could deploy more aircraft at any one location in the Pacific than the Japanese and this includes ground based air wings. Even if the Japanese took all the main island airports allowing them to mutually support each other in defense, the Sheer number of carriers the US put to sea would eventually negate this advantage! In 1943 Alone, the US put to sea 34 carriers of all types. That is an air wing complement of 1,380 aircraft! The available concentration of power was just orders of magnitude different.
@Heldermaior , Fun fact, China was holding off more than 70% of Japanese military since the 1930s. 21 major engagements with each over a million troops involved right in China mainland. Also Germany had 80% of their forces destroyed in Russia. It is inaccurate just to look at what the US had been facing without looking at what the Japanese and Germans were facing. Simply put, the Axis was outnumbered, not the other way around.
@@VashtheStampede007 Could be. China itself was the catalyst for US problems with Japan. We helped as we could, considering the US was still isolationist.
Dude - I'm an amateur military history fanatic and this is THE battle I know best. Your videos are absolutely stunning. You presented the material is a fantastic way that clearly shows what happened and what was important about this battle. Well done.
to be fair, the american had a tactical improvisation during the battle. but they choose the strategic situation months before. They choose how and when to fight the japanese. In war tactics should be like that, tactical improvisation in the moment but strategic planning
There’s an apocryphal (so likely false) quote from a German general that said during his postwar debriefing that “The reason the American Army does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the American Army practices it on a daily basis.” Same for a supposed Soviet observation is claimed to have said that “A serious problem in planning against American doctrine is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine.”
Congratulations on a fantastic presentation! One thing that I would add is the question of why the Japanese chose Midway as the location of the "decisive battle". One explanation that I have read was that it was inspired by the Doolittle raid on Tokyo. The Japanese High Command had emphasized to the Japanese people that the home islands would never be bombed, yet a few months into the war bombs were landing on Tokyo. It was of ultimate importance that a second raid be prevented. They knew that the planes were US Army planes (B-25's), so they must have been launched from land. While Midway was out of range of the B-25's, it was the closest possible base so Midway was the target. The Japanese did not realize that the planes had been modified to be able to launch from a carrier, and had actually flown from the Hornet. The Doolittle raid has sometimes been denigrated as a publicity stunt of no strategic value, but it did draw the Japanese navy into Midway.
@David Gauntt I think you may have it backwards. The Doolittle raid was of little tactical value, as it did negligble damage. But it did have strategic value. It was a huge morale boost to Americans. In addition, it shattered the Japanese leaders claim of invincibility, and forced large amount of resources to be devoted to the defense of their large empire. And finally,, it gave them great motivation to destroy the American carriers as they were a grave threat to Japanese. In short, the raid pushed the Japanese into a risky fight near Midway, exposing their fleet to Midway aircraft and ultimately falling for the American trap.
The reasoning for selecting Midway as a target is that the capture of Midway allows the Kido Butai to be positioned closer to Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands, as it can leverage the land-based airpower for support and recon. That would enable Japan to make much more effective strikes on the headquarters of the US Pacific Fleet and the American forces trying to repel the Japanese push on the Aleutians. It was the kind of operational objective the USN couldn't let the Japanese hold onto. Even if the USN didn't react fast enough to stop the invasion force from reaching Midway, the Japanese knew the Americans would feel forced to try to neutralize the Kido Butai in order to nullify the positional advantage Midway gives them. The American Carriers were always the real target.
Basically the USN found $20.00 in their pockets that they put there 4 years ago and forgot about, only to find it when you needed $19.95 for some snacks.
You have to give it to those torpedo bomber pilots. They had no fighter cover, their planes were out-dated and slow, they had to fly low and in a straight-line to a moving target all while getting shot at by unopposed Zero fighters. If they made it through the fighter screen, they had to survive withering fire from the screening vessels and the carrier itself. However the real kicker at that early stage of the war is that even if they got to the release point the torpedoes they were carrying had less than 50% chance of exploding even if they did everything right!
Yes. High level Heavy and Medium Bombers =0; Torpedo Bombers =0; Dive Bombers from Midway =0; Latrine Hygiene 2nd. clarss Mitscher in Hornet =0; and the rest did it. They all did their best with what they had - RIP
50% was optimistic. The weapons group had NEVER tested the torpedoes under realistic conditions, so they didn't really know what the performance would be.
No one ever remembers Dusty Kleiss who was 1 of only 2 men who delivered hits to two different carriers that day. He also hit one of the cruisers as well.
Also that Jimmy Thach implemented the very first combat iteration of the famous Thach Weave, which allowed the inferior Wildcats to successfully engage the far superior Zeros.
While it is totally tragic that we, humans, spend so very much effort, time, and resources destroying things, this story is very, very well told in its three segments. And, once again, I totally appreciate the technique of "you only know what they knew at the time" (more or less, we do have history books, etc). Life is hugely different if you are the one actually in the game, rather than the critic sitting in the "peanut gallery" the day after the game.
As someone not that educated in the battle of Midway, the 3rd part in my opinion is the MOST brilliant part! The american perspective came as a surprise! Throughout the first 2 parts, I could see nothing but the Japanese being outsmarted and everything going wrong for them by the clever planning of the Americans. This part made me realize the it was all "Happy little mistakes" that somehow went right.
Ehh... I’m not really sure that’s the correct take-away from the clear American superiority in intelligence, technology and damage control that allowed them to make these mistakes and not be so harshly punished.
@Paul The not so Great. What is not highlighted enough is how dumb the IJN was in their battle plan strategy. The IJN should have made use of their battleships cruisers and destroyers. The carriers should have been behind.
@ Paul The not so Great Luck was a factor, but in many ways you make your luck. Cracking JN-25 gave the Americans a huge advantage. By fighting the battle off Midway, the Americans has essentially four not three carriers. And the Midway PBYs gave the American unprecedented search capability. The Japanese at this stage of the War had superior carrier operations. But an axiom of carrier warfare is who gets in the first strike is likely to win no matter how good the other guy is. That was not luck.
@ Captain Merthin Why do you say 'don't know we are doing? Nimitz knew precisely what he was doing, catching the Japanese carriers while they were busy hammering Midway.
Even though this channel only has 12 videos available, it has over 278 thousand subs and millions of views. The quality of the videos and the information presented are far superior to ANYTHING I've seen elsewhere. Thank you Montemayor for this superb source of information. I don't know what your next project will be, but whatever it is, I eagerly await it.
Just wanted to thank you for this excellent presentation. I learned a great deal and was struck by how simple and effective the visuals were too. I spent a lifetime in the training business and being able to convey abstract information with a minimum of resources is one of the toughest things to do. And you pulled it off beautifully!
"The Kido Butai had only 7 planes conducting their searches. In contrast, the Americans had more than 30 planes conducting their searches." Amount of planes: 31
When you have a large amount of experience giving oral reports, some lines roll off the tongue better than others. "More than thirty" could'dve sounded better musically than "thirty-one". If the choice doesn't go against factual basis, there's no problem as keeping an audience musically interested is an objective in itself, and well worth the slight.
@Isaac Goldberg... and the PBY's were superior aircraft with a massive range that also played a pivotal role in this fight....something that was stressed more in the first movie while being ignored in the second....
@@frankpienkosky5688 The PBY also had 8 extra pairs of eyes to look for enemy ships. If the Chikuma's scout had had a 10-man crew it would have been a lot more likely to spot the American carriers.
I’m sure they weren’t thinking they were struggling to survive everyone had a job to do even more when they are bombing your ship I’m sure when you’re about to die you go in to auto pilot to try to survive I’m sure a lot just jumped ship
What I’ve learned: A little bit of radar, some dumb luck, the gut of a guy named McClusky, and the observance of a dude named Best that won the US this day... 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️ ‘MURICA
yeah, and also self-sacrifice, and work, and thinking of those on ships and aircrafts... and those, who made ships and bombs at home, analyzing what is needed (such as fire control on ships) and what is not... and overrall culture of "doing the things" (the pilot who ignored his superior's wrongly taken course, for example)... and, of course, luck... well earned victory
luck definitely played a role. but what I didn't know and what is shown that the US disorganization actually made those small attacks and prevente counter attacks. simply the best unintended consequence ever. :)
@@SuperAsperatus I wouldnt call it the best, maybe if the american units that attacked escortlessly were to be used in a more organized way, the japanese ships would have sunked earlier, and there would be planes left to attack the last aircraft carrier, and the yorktown wouldve survived midway
Nah. They won the moment the cracked japanese coms code. In these naval warfare engagements, getting in the first strike when the enemy is not expecting it, is a sure win and the US knew where the IJN fleet was at all times.
I've watched all three of your Midway videos and I think that you've done a fantastic job describing events both from the Japanese POV and the American POV. WOW, you have really put everything into layman's English. Thank you so much for your efforts.
@@MontemayorChannel Genuinely thought you were dead or something. With your views (12.4m in your last 2 videos), how come you don't get a team together and pump them out every week/month? Like a Kings and Generals type of deal. Seems like you should be capitalising on the absurd amount of traction you get (relative to your subscriber count/number of videos). Not having a patreon too is crazy; the amount of money you're missing out on is, well, probably a lot.
@@ChrisDynamo Quality over quantity. Plus he might have a job that takes up enough of his time and pays well enough for him to neglect his youtube channel. I don't think it's a coincidence that he released these videos now, during a time where a lot of people are having issues regarding work or employment.
I'd love a Battle of Leyte Gulf. The extent to which the US was out matched in so many ways but through a few critical advantages (radar fire control), bravado (escort carriers sending up so many planes, obsolete as they were, the Japanese thought they were fleet carriers), and dumb luck (clean penetration by Japanese shells until the Japanese realized the ships were unarmored and switched to HE) the US managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
The thing that blows me away is how hard it was to sink the Yorktown. While I understand the ship had vastly different construction to the Japanese carriers, it just goes to show how devastating it was to be attacked while the hangars were full of fueled and armed planes.
One thing about the strength of the US vs Japan at Midway. I understand that 4 Japanese Carriers vs 3 American carriers is important. However Midway Island itself contributed to the American strength and was at as least powerful if not more than a carrier. So in a sense it was 4 vs 4.
True, even when the Midway-based forces were a known vector and location, but sad that the planes were so obsolete as to be ineffective despite the bravery.
@@briankottman8274 The Brewster Buffalo wasn't even that old of a plane, being introduced in 1939, it was just borderline passable from the beginning, and apparently only doing well against crappier planes/pilots. The Continuation War is basically the only place the Buffalo did well, because Soviet planes weren't great either.
To second ManilaJohn01's praise, as a 60 year old student of military history since I was a child, I am extremely impressed with this video, the research that went into it and the analysis presented. Keep up the great work.
Out of the few videos I have seen, from channels trying to do the same thing you have done in this series, yours is undoubtedly the best. You did not pretend like the plans and/or execution of said plans for either country were infallible. You can give props when it was needed to be given, and criticize questionable decisions in the same breath. Your use of the fog of war and the POV from either side made this really stand apart. Putting us on the admiral's seat during Nagumo's dilemma was a great way to help the viewer understand the decisions that were made and the difficulty in making them. Too often people rely on hindsight, belittling the real world experience these people lived. This was top notch work Commander Montemayor!
Watching from the Japanese side, I would be convinced that Americans either had psychic powers or some god was pissed at the Imperial Navy. It warms my heart that Americans blundered into a spectacular victory
Here is a fun anecdote: The American's weren't _sure_ that target A.F. (Japan's codename for Midway) actually referred to Midway, so they had the base on there report over unencrypted radio that their salt water evaporators broke down, which prompted the Japanese to report that "Target A.F. has water supply issues" 😏
4 ปีที่แล้ว +30
FFS Did you just take information from the first video, then comment it on the third video, passing it off as yours? * Emojis are modern day dunce cap as well.
No other documentary (and I've read and watched quite a few) helped me to visualize and understand the battle of Midway as well as Montemayor has done. I hope you continue to produce many more war documentaries.
The wait was worth it! Your vivid, memorable analysis of Midway has been one of the most informative and fascinating set of TH-cam videos is one of the best I've ever had the pleasure of watching, and I mean videos on any subject, not just WW II. And that's despite the fact that I'd read and seen a number of other histories of the battle. The research was amazing. I'm so grateful you invested the time and talent to create this extraordinary series. I look forward to watching more of your videos (e.g., Coral Sea, Pearl Harbor). Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Something about VT-8 just gets me. It's so ironic that LCDR Waldron was right, but in proving that he was right his entire squadron was wiped out. If he had just followed orders he wouldn't have gone down in history, but he may have lived past Midway.
But if it weren't for him, Nagumo may have been able to launch a counterattack earlier and the zero fighters wouldn't have gotten so tunnel visioned that they'd forget to look up.
Hey, this is a terrific documentary! Purely "armchair historian" guessing on my part here, but (15:00) McCluskey's other, maybe overriding motivation for striking the nearer carrier may have been the fact that his planes were running on fumes, and that he wanted to contribute something, anything, as quickly as possible and get back to his carrier without having to ditch. I certainly would have tossed doctrine overboard & done the same thing. Which (you're right) would've been a mistake. That's why I always hang around with someone named "Best."
"We are mighty carriers, see us steam majestically OH SHIT DODGE DODGE!... everybody ok? Good, let's get back to steaming OH SHIT HERE THEY COME AGAIN!"
Please do another naval battle analysis, i beg you. This series is awesome because your explanation is so easy to understand and immersive. Thank you so much for making this. I'm looking forward for your next content.
This is a terrific accounting of a pivotal battle. The combination of documentation and visual depiction makes the battle come alive in a way I've never experienced before. Four minutes that changed history. Indeed!
Midway illustrates well the saying : "He who controls the information controls the world" Recon and intel are key to victory in war. Thanks again for providing such a marvelous documentary. Your hard work is well appreciated =)
Actually, Midway showed that that statement is 'not' true. The Americans knew that the Japanese were inbound and detected them- and still yet failed to launch their coordinated strike, which went in piecemeal and was shattered. Personal initiative from middle-ranking officers and a great deal of luck turned things back around again. If anything, the battle of Midway shows all too clearly that random factors- or, if you like, chance- plays a factor in any military endeavor.
@@manilajohn0182 Of course luck is always a great factor. But here, the Americans could act as they did because they had good intel. They knew the Japanese were coming, they knew their strenght and they found their location first. They had the initiative. In contrast, the Japanese had no idea they lost the surprise effect, no idea the US carriers were gone from Hawaii waiting them in an ambush and only found their location but too late. This doomed their decision making and forced them to play on the Americans' terms. But as you say having all the info on your enemy's whereabouts don't grant you automatically victory. One must still use those informations well (not like for the battle of Crete for exemple...). At Midway, the Americans used their intel very well. It allowed them to act on events instead of being forced to endure them. But indeed a long streak of luck, good and bad, a chain of events led to the final result. Fate could have take a different turn if the Japanese recon plane had found the US carriers earlier.
@@oOkenzoOo There's a great deal of truth in what you have said, and the battle can be looked at both ways. As I mentioned earlier, intelligence only got the Americans so far- and then random factors both ruined- and then redeemed- the Americans' chance of victory. My point was that controlling that intelligence didn't allow the Americans to control the battle. On the other hand... It's often been said that one of the reasons that the Japanese lost was that their plan was overly complex. Frankly however, I don't believe so. There were any number of American operations later in the war which were more complex than Operation MI, and those American operations were successful. The real "flaw" in the Japanese plan was that the Americans knew almost all of it. Knowing as we do now just how the battle played out, one need only ask themselves the following question: What might have been the result of the battle of Midway if the Americans had known NOTHING of the Japanese plan- and had no idea that a Japanese operation was underway until they received word that Dutch Harbor had been attacked? So, I would certainly agree that information was the foundation of the American victory. In my humble opinion, we would not have won without it.
oOkenzoOo dude the Us didn’t know everything the IJN was planning. Get real. The Us had an idea and they guessed what the IJN might do with their vessels. All the Us really knew was that the target was Midway. If you want proof of this well why did the Us send scout planes out trying to confirm everything. They were even reports that only 2 enemy carriers were spotted. The IJN could have approached the battle much differently and sent their non carrier vessels in first from different positions. They could have shelled Midway with their battleships. Having intelligence helps but it certainly doesn’t guarantee any type of victory.
This series kept popping up in my feed, and I'm glad I finally took the time to watch. I really enjoyed this three-part analysis. I especially appreciate your analysis of the Japanese dilemma, and the role that the initial American attacks played - while they did not do any damage, they delayed the Japanese response. I'll take luck, skill, and a broken code over just about anything else.
Well done. My Dad was Stationed on American Samoa from 43-46 and I have been an ardent student throughout my life, I'm 63 as well. Thank you for this very detailed presentation.
Who been waiting almost a year for this
All of us
1st time a YT notification made my jaw drop
Me!
Hell yes! Took me a half second to process this and I immediatly clicked
Can't believe it's been that long...
Japanese: Such masterful performance from a worthy foe!
Americans: IDK what happened but we taking those.
hahahahahahaha
BL2 Melee in nutshell
You killed me man XD
NANI???!!!!
War is chaos.
Luckily the American army practices chaos on a daily basis.
I find it hilarious just how many times the Americans managed to screw something up and it worked out perfectly. Like I could imagine the Japanese thinking “what a perfectly coordinated attack from both angles” while the American pilots are sitting there like “are those our planes over there? How did they get there?”
The ultimate screwup was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
@@Chuck_Hooks yep, if they had waited for the carriers to get back to port their attack would have been far more impactful
@@Chuck_Hooks Yes, followed by having their entire plan cracked by the American intelligence and then not knowing about it.
"The reason the American Army does so well in war is because war is chaos and the American Army practices chaos on a daily basis."
Maybe the unpredictibility of the US military at ww2 that caused them win the war in europe and pacific
This reminds me of when my ex-military police coworker told me he once saw a report that measured military security around the world and the US was easily the best...Because there were scheduling inconsistencies, patrol route discrepancies, and no consistent patrol timing. Making it almost impossible to know when a security patrol would show up.
It’s hard to predict patrol routes when even the patrol doesn’t do it right
Patton said reptedly he never had a plan 1st because any plan is wrong after the 1st minute of fight, and 2nd because how can the enemy guess what you're going to do if you have no idea yourself ?
@@madjic-uc8hf Explains why he was the most incompetent allied general
@@MarvoloSalazar according to ?
@@BobBob-zg5lz Mission failed succesfully...😂
Joke is on every movie and documentary, the best one was done for free.
I sent him more money than I would ever pay for a movie/documentary.
This was a masterpiece!
@@dbznappa but is sure took a while
His is definitely the most in depth review of Midway I have seen, though Battle 360 did an alright job. They had the veterans speaking about their experiences too.
Leafeon Boy that’s probably the only thing missing that keeps this from being PERFECT now that u mention it
My buddy hyped up the Midway movie and I just kinda shrugged and said "a youtuber already did it better"
“You can’t hide from me, I can Hiryū”
- Lt. Dick Best
This deserves so many more likes...
“Even your carriers can’t as well, I can better Hiryu”
- Lt. Kobayashi Michio
You'll be Soryu for making that pun.
@@CarterBartram you mean -rising pun-
-bean brain noises-
From the perspective of the American air groups: "If we don't know what we're doing, the enemy certainly can't anticipate our actions!"
In an incomplete information game, that can often lead to victory.
That sounds British. Straight outta Blackadder
just mash the buttons.
@@SukacitaYeremia Unfortunately I don't know the origin of the quote.
Arashmickey the Germans often complained that nothing the Americans did made sense as well. Bombard here but attack there. Wait out good weather and attack in rain.
I love how from the Japanese perspective it seemed like the Americans were delivering a series of sustained attacks to delay the Kido Butai from launching planes until they could deliver a final decisive strike.
And then in the American perspective there's scouts giving wrong information, aircrews chasing after lone sub-hunters, guys arguing with each other, planes running out of fuel and getting ditched after not even encountering the enemy, and an entire Squadron that disobeys orders and is entirely destroyed.
It reminds me of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, when an cosmically coincidental misinterpretation of a message caused a series of tragic tactical blunders.
standard us military doctrine: the enemy cant predict our actions if we dont know what the fuck were doing lol
@@thepie8u Which isn't a statement of incompetence or really even chaos, but operational freedom for frontline commanders. If the frontline commanders see a target of opportunity, they're free to just go for it without getting prior authorization...or at least, it used to be that way.
The US had the advantage in surprise, numbers, quality of equipment, and dedication of war fighters.
@@thepie8u Really, that's just operational freedom, which is crucial on the battlefield.
@@tremedar Tbh a lot of Countries today operate under this doctrine since WW2 it proved to be really efficient (unlike the strict "do as you are told" from japan and WW1 in general)
But it is a double edge sword, most of the time if you do whatever the f you want and go for your own "freedom of objetive" and then make a huge blunder if you survive you may end up facing court marcial (on some places)
"Youre probably thinking... what happened?"
Me: Yeah! Where have you been all this time?!
"How did the japanese lose so badly?!"
Me: "What?! No!"
🤣
haha bro you had me literally Laughing out loud! I never thought that would be the first thought of somebody when i started my opening lines.
@@MontemayorChannel It is exactly what I was wondering too
That is exactly what I thought!
@@MontemayorChannel precisely my thoughts as well, glad you've returned
This honestly reminds me of admiral Karl Doenitz's quote, "The reason that the American Navy does so well in wartime is that war is chaos, and the Americans practice chaos on a daily basis."
I bet even he knew fighting the USA was suicide
Where was that other quote that stated that American Soldiers do not follow doctrine?
@Thx I hate it germans weren't especially "disciplined". They just had more troops that had experience fighting in 40 and 41. The soviets swallowed those whole.
@@ussenterprise3156 Not sure if I recall the specific thing you are talking about, but a soviet was quoted as stating this "A serious problem in planning against American doctrine is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine.”
@@guuiness That was what I was looking for
Japan: They masterfully planned this attack
America: ......... WTF happend
For real, watching all those lucky coincidences that happened to the Americans in midway makes me feel that some divine entity really wants those 4 Japanese carriers sunk
It wasn't all blind luck, but luck was involved in those days... locating the enemy fleet first, and tracking it with some accuracy was a big deal.
@@VenturiLife And the saying goes "Time spent in reconnaissance is rarely wasted".
How many times throughout has it happened honor and ego costed a clear victory.
Chance favors the prepared mind. Louis Pasteur
"Calculated." -US Navy, before returning to huffing Elmer's glue.
I think the two biggest lessons from Midway are:
- Intelligence is everything
- Being lucky is of critical importance
Luck Favors the Prepared - Alden Mills
@@tirebiter4009 or Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.
I find the harder i work the more luck i have
Radar and intelligence is main factor. Japanese with x number of carriers cant beat radar equip and code breakers.
I love RPG's and if there's a skill tree for luck, I put all my extra points into luck. Luck makes all the difference in peoples lives. Me personally, I'm exceedingly unlucky as I was born with pain (didn't even know it, just thought it was depression & chronic fatigue) and then due to a worldwide shortage of a period-pain specific birth control pill, am now in constant, severe, permanent, and increasing pain & thus, opiate doses (as nothing else works, so I'll have to end my life when the dr stops prescribing; this push-back of opiates has many casualties)...
Japan: Methodical and Tactical approach
America: Leeeeroooy Jeeenkiiins
😹😹😹😹
LOL. Excellent.
whether this is true or not it reminds me of these quotes:
"A serious problem in planning against American doctrine is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine."
"The reason the U.S. Military does so well in wartime is that war is chaos, and the U.S. Military practices chaos on a daily basis."
@Mirokuofnite I actually had those quotes in mind, but Leroy Jenkins is the tldr version of those so I chose the later
Yeah, basically.
I find it fascinating that Yamamoto guaranteed his superiors 6 months of uncontested dominance in the pacific after Pearl Harbor. 6 months to the day later, Midway.
Well he kept his words.
Well seems like your 6 month trial is up.....
@@full-timepog6844 nice one
Though he was the one who proposed, designed and led PH attack! Having studied Harvard taught him nothing about Americans mindset.
@@TheFrederic888 I think he understood well. He told them that the Americans were acting like pacifists because there had not been attacked. He stated that when Americans are attacked, they become the most bloodthirsty, ruthless killing machines in the world. Unfortunately his superiors didn’t believe him. They saw Americans as fat and lazy. We saw them as small and weak. We were both terribly wrong.
Japan: We will plan meticulously for this operation, everyone will follow orders.
America: "Effff the commander, we going south bois."
"Hey, I know we're lost, we should totally follow that ship." Nailed it.
The amount of luck these mad men had during the battle was something else
Yes we will attack Midway. Doesn't matter that the US aircraft carriers we wanted to sink at Pearl Harbor were not there. Forget about them...they won't be near Midway.
@@DylanJo123 There's no such thing as luck.
@@RivetGardener Technically Japanese idea was that they would seize Midway relatively quickly and then force the Americans to fight a battle on their terms. That said, the only other time the Japanese had made a landing where they were directly opposed was at Wake Island. And even after said island (with a much lower degree of fortification than Midway) had been smashed by the Kidou Butai, they still put up a hell of a fight. Had they attempted a landing at Midway, it probably would've gotten rather nasty.
@@jedimasterdraco6950 I don’t think their plan actually involved landing troops on Midway. The Japanese knew the US fleet would only take a few days to sail there from Hawaii and they would never be able to occupy the island by then. Like they weren’t stupid. Their real target was the US carrier fleet. Attacking the island was just the bait to draw them out.
The American equivalent of smashing every button on the controlling to win a fighting game.
Button mashing
And then somehow achieving a high combo and going "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE FUCK I'M DOING!!!"
Considering the actual skill disparity of the time, this is accurate.
Lose to button smashing still feel better than 1 move spamer
Keep in mind, the important thing in war, is who wins. Doesn't have to be neat and organized as long as you're the last man standing. Or, in this case, the last navy floating.
Japanese commanders: they must have been the greatest tacticians i've ever seen
Americans: WHAT IS HAPPENING!?
“ONE OF THESE BULLETS HAS YOUR NAME ON IT, AND IM GOING TO KEEP FIRING UNTIL I FIND OUT WHICH ONE IT IS!”
SUPAH DEADLY ACTION!!!
Admirals: let's do this (make smart decision)
Pilots: let's do THIs (make a smart decision, but a completely different one)
Admirals and Pilots: wait how is this WORKING????
Лорд коммандер херни не скажет.
America: *RANDOM BULLSHIT GO*
Japanese: We walked right into their carefully planned trap...
USA: Oh! Uhh *ahem* meant to do that.
Lol
This is officially one of the most highly anticipated events in history, surpassing the moon landing, the release of Endgame, and the day I get a life.
Had me in the first half not gonna lie.
Yes !!!!! Finally ! Nuff said
Year 2020: "Yeah, might want to wait on that..."
in fact better then endgame
@@ussenterprise3156 LOL. Yeah, Endgame had its moments (the PUNCH shall forever be enshrined as a Moment of Great Movie Justice) and I did enjoy it, but overall it was a disappointment. This video on the other is fully of the same high quality as Montemayor's previous two on this subject :)
I just want to give a crisp salute to the USS Yorktown for the beating she took in two of the most important battles in naval history. She was hard to kill. She gave us everything she had. Thank you. Thank you Montemayor for this detailed analysis. I learned so much.
And I want to give a big thumbs down to Hornet's Flight to Nowhere. Admiral Mitscher should have been courtmartialed and grounded permanently after that. It is sad how Hornet's failure at Midway is never ever talked about in documentaries or by Hollywood.
@@nogoodnameleft I see your point! but in combat, leaders have to act on information that is only a piece of what they need to make good decisions. The outcome sometimes come down to luck, and the training that allows units to adjust.
@@expeditionaryfamily I agree but the Navy's propaganda department postwar did a fantastic job of a cover up of the Hornet's failure. Hornet's failure led to Yorktown being sunk, for example. It should be talked about everytime Midway is talked about but they never want to talk about Hornet's failure that led to the sinking of Yorktown.
American aircraft: *misses 3 bombs*
The Japanese navy squad: *confused screaming*
I agree the Yorktown is easily my favorite aircraft carrier in history. I suppose it could be argued that the Yorktown never sank because legends never die.
Americans winning through not even following their own plans is just so perfect
Classic American military strategy.
@@oKirin- Throw things at walls and see what sticks? And if all else fails, throw bigger things? 😉
@@oKirin- Works for everything but a land war in Asia.
@@illuminati.official The US has never truly fought an all out land war in Asia. Korea was a borderline policing action and Vietnam wasn't all out war. Way too many doctrines that they had to follow. Basically fighting with one arm behind your back.
This reminds me of that probably apocryphal, though definitely accurate, assessment by Soviet military strategists: "A serious problem in planning against American doctrine is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine."
I wasn't angry at you at all, I was afraid you had lost your way.
had never lost my way Jack P, just needed some time. thanks for your patience!
Uncle Iroh masking as Jack P 😭
He was MIA, Captured behind Enemy lines in japan
Not sure if you're talking to Montemayor or the Task Force 16's dive bomber groups.
Don't lose your wayyyyyyyyyy
"If we don't know what we're doing our enemy won't do either"
Hahaha dude that's funny as hell
This quote is so underrated. 😂
nice
I like the plan Jim. Let's do it. ready the men and distribute the whiskey
yodef 682: Well done, Secret Agent 682. Apparently, the line comes from that well known movie, "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp", made in 1943.
as a Navy vet, i learned more about this battle of midway in this series than i ever did on AD. This was the first time i've seen any of the battles of WWII told from the losing side's perspective. I enjoyed your usage of simple map illustrations and you told the events in a way that kept a good pace that was easy to follow and was not boring. well done!
The Japanese: THEIR TIMING IS IMPECCABLE
The Americans: lol ay it’s the homies tf y’all doing here?
@phillyslasher The Americans could afford to be "flexible" because they got clear upper hand to the Japanese through intelligence and pure luck. If you watch the video from the Japanese side again, there was really no option to them. Meanwhile the American fleet was completely hidden from the enemy, so their commanders and pilots could pull all the gut instincts and deviations from doctrine they wanted without worrying too much about consequences.
Ain't even gonna try to hide, almost choked on my own saliva because I laughed too hard. You're freaking hilarious.
@phillyslasher First, you say the Japaneses were restrictive and didn't change their course as if there had been any option for them. They were led into an ambush and kept on their feet the whole time the only thing they could do was dodging. Had it been Fletcher or any other American commander, they would have made the same choices (if there had actually been any choice) and the outcome would have been the same.
Second, as I said, the Americans were on the safe side. Thanks to intelligence and also luck, they knew where the Japaneses were while stayed hidden the whole time. That's why their pilots could afford to take chance flying off course. Even if those deviations hadn't worked out for them, they wouldn't have lost anything. The Japaneses didn't have that luxury.
Third, what exactly did the Americans "adapt to" anyway? They set up an ambush, and everything went perfectly according to their plan. The few times they messed up the coordination was because of incompetence, not because of genius hindsight. By pure luck that incompetence ended up working well for them. It was as much "flexibility" as saying you got a 6 rolling a dice because you're a genius at math.
And yes, I am saying that had it been not for that luck, the outcome of the battle could have been very different. We see how incompetent and uncoordinated the Americans were. Had the last 2 dive bomber groups not converged on the Japaneses with such impeccable timing and saturated their defense, they could have got off with at least 2 carriers untouched given the skill of the American pilots. By then who know what could have happened. The Japaneses could have pulled at least a draw.
@@Secret_Moon The video doesn't note this, but actually the "unintended" consequence of the uncoordinated piecemeal attacks keeping the Japanese off balance was likely entirely intended by Spruance. So while intel/luck were hugely important I can't agree with you.
Japanese carrier doctrine left them especially vulnerable and it makes no sense to say that the Americans would have done the exact same thing when they in fact made it a point not to.
@@kaineternal Lol, I knew someone was gonna claim the American piecemeal attacks was intentional.
Ok, let's just put aside the implication that the American commanders deliberately threw their pilots at the Japaneses squadron by squadron to be shot down one by one by the outnumbering Zero, just think about it for a moment, what did that accomplish exactly compared to a massive coordinated wave of attack? The first wave from the American carriers that reached the Japanese was the VT-6 with only 14 Devastators. Imagine if this wave had been a hundred planes. There would have been no need for the "genius piecemeal strategy" to hinder the Japaneses as the Americans could have swamped, saturated the Japanese defense and ended them right then and there, with minimal loss.
So no, do not think of the American piecemeal attacks as a genuis strategy that defied conventional doctrine. Think of it as a big blunder that ended up costing a lot of American pilot lives that luckily somehow STILL worked out for them, despite with much heavier cost.
And if you claim the Americans would have done differently had they been in Japanese shoes, then what exactly would they have done differently? Amphibious landing on Midway with the carriers, and towing the ships inland to hide?
All I can say is that it was totally worth the 1 year wait for this video
Absolutely!
Maybe I was wrong, but it SEEMS like two !
Better late than never. I was waiting for a new video.
11:33 "But before we get to the attack, we're gonna pause here for a bit."
At first I checked the video length, to see if this maybe was the end of this video and another was coming in a few months. Then I thought, okay, it's got to be the inevitable sponsor plug. But no. It's actually another great, informative segment. Thanks for this, I didn't know videos like this still existed. Great job overall, well worth the wait!
haha thanks Zernautscher. that would be cruel to plug in a sponsor segment right before the climatic moment.
Actually, I got an ad perfectly after he said that, haha.
@@MontemayorChannel Please, please, please do go another year without posting. Amazing work!
@@MontemayorChannel I actually got AD on that exact moment hahah, but good work
I love how you get into the thinking of the players. I never thought about an admiral saying, "lets take this route because we have better cloud cover". Makes perfect sense.
Ironically it's exactly what the Kriegsmarine used to do - and they also did it because they had a numerical disadvantage so had to lever tactical advantages in other ways. Same problem, same thinking. I begin to come around to the idea that armed forces often perform best when they are seriously challenged, as opposed to when they have lots of advantages to begin with. They often rise to the challenge and think more cleverly.
I wanna say that the carrier _Enterprise_ survived at least one later battle because she entered cloud cover at just the right moment to avoid getting spotted. The "Big E" went on to be one of the most decorated ships of the war.
The more I learn about history, the more I feel that most major events are engendered by a stream of coincidences.
He is my original poster I subscribed to. I've added a total of 4 in the few years since.
"No plan survives the first enemy contact" - Helmuth von Moltke
wars are mostly battles of numbers -- of people and industrial production. by the end of the war, the us had something like a hundred carriers and a thousands other warships. that's a production of a bit more than 2 carriers per month.
@@tristankreller5830 In this case, the US's plan actually died before first contact, but sheer luck pulled a victory out of thin air.
@@NaumRusomarov They are often heavily controlled by them, but there is plenty of David vs Goliath examples in history. In the case of WW2, it was an ant trying to take on a tank. American industrial power was insane, even if the Americans fucked up every military operation they did, they may as well of had infinite resources compared to any other nation in WW2. There's a statistic somewhere that shows that America had over 50% the entire worlds industrial capacity.
Murphy’s Laws of Combat 18: If your attack is going well, you have walked into an ambush.
Murphy’s Laws of Combat 19: Unless you are Germans. Then you are just owning.
*cough* Russia *cough*
Or unless you're bombing Pearl Harbor.
I prefer the Maxim 47 version: "Don't expect the enemy to cooperate in the creation of your dream engagement."
And, supplementing that, Maxim 22: "If you can see the whites of their eyes, somebody's done something wrong."
The Japanese also forgot about the Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #53: Never trust anybody taller than you.
Lt. Cmdr. John C. Waldron was a true hero. Disobeying Mitscher and Ring's orders and flying his devastators south unassisted to where he knew the carriers were, Waldron likely knew he was headed on a suicide mission that had little chance to succeed. And yet, his sacrifice and that of his squadron is what delayed the launching of Nagumo's counterstrike and drew away the Japanese fighter cover, which made the devastaing success of the subsequent dive bombers possible.
Balls of steel
the japanese air cover was drew away by Yorktown torpedo squadron, but nevertheless a true hero
@@Fieramosca492 Yes, but his attack stopped the Japanese from launching a counterattack since you normally don't spot and launch aircraft during an attack both due to the risk and needing the flight deck for reequipping the fighter cover.
I do like that one b26 bomber pilot, he knew his plane was going down and as a final measure of retaliation he tried to do suicide crash course toward the carrier. True hero
It was amazing that his plane carried him to the IJN CV group because his balls were so huge they should've made it impossible for his plane to take off from the Hornet.
Gotta comment! For decades, I've known that Midway was a crucial battle that occurred relatively early in the war. I never took the time to see the battle dissected - or even watched the movie.
Thank you for guiding me through this engagement. I ESPECIALLY LIKED YOU TAKING THE JAPANESE PERSPECTIVE FIRST. That approach was huge for me.
At my age, I appreciate a balanced portrayal of events as opposed to the jingoistic recountings that I grew up on. I'm an American for America, yet I know we're not always right and our leadership can be flawed.
The first battle I really studied was Gettysburg while reading "The Killer Angels." I learned that major battles can begin as seemingly small skirmishes, and that good leaders making astute decisions early on can set the stage for eventual victory. I also learned that real lives are lost - souls perish. In this video, I felt as much sadness for the loss of Japanese lives as I felt for the loss of American lives. General W.T. Sherman was right: "War is hell."
If you are really interested, get a copy of "Shattered Sword" Parshall & Tully, it will knock your socks off.
If you are interested by the view from the other angle, try Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes (1990)
it is an odd thing to feel empathy for the japanese after pearl harbor and thinking that they were planning on expanding their empire as far as they could as seeing the map of their successful expansion. i too during the video when hearing/seeing the numbers after their carriers went down, did NOT jump up and down with joy but was just thankful after the several failed mini-campaigns of the US during midway, a major victory strike was finally pulled off.
i did wonder why there was no commentary about rescue boats/life rafts for the japanese figuring there was no way that everyone on those carriers died even from the extensive damage taken. - i can't imagine that pain one would feel thinking of not being able to return from such a beating in the midst of a much larger war to one's family, fellow soldiers and one's own country. i was aware of the suicide code of "honor" but didn't realize it could/would be applied on a large scale, not that i'm saying all survivors did.
i too watched all 3 parts sequentially with NO intention of watching all of the first one at 40 +/- minutes. it went by FAST and could've even watched more to my surprise.
I don't think its right to feel equally about the death and suffering of your enemy as that of your countrymen.
@@lifediversified8932 Japanese expansion was limited to China and Vietnam (the latter only in order to cut off re-supply routes to the Chinese) until the United States threatened to cut oil. Contrary to popular belief, we didn't particularly care about the Chinese, but were more alarmed about Japan invading Vietnam, a European colony, in order to cut off Chinese resupply, since it challenged European control in the region.
The Japanese invaded American, British and Dutch colonial possessions in the Pacific in order to take their natural resources to off-set the oil cut by the United States. Japan was unwilling to pull out of China after 4 years of brutal war, and the United States was unwilling to entertain the notion of Japan challenging European control in Asia. Not only that, but were Japan to concede to the United States' demands, it would essentially be on a leash going into the future, since the United States could use oil to control Japan's decision making.
It's also not unlike the United States is a stranger to expansion; continentally we started out with less than half of what we have today before our wars against Mexico, Britain (how we took a portion of Florida) and the various Western tribes, not to mention our overseas acquistions in the Spanish-American, Philippine-American and Samoan Wars.
The first half of my post also isn't to suggest the Japanese were 'liberating' Asia from European 'oppressors'; the Japanese of course were expanding into China and Vietnam for the same reasons the United States expanded into Mexico and the Caribbean. Ultimately I don't think either *government* had moral superiority over the other (as much as people like to split hairs about the severity of war crimes), and ultimately the *citizens* of both nations were the victims of their government's expansion and failures to negotiate, and their deaths warrant equal sympathy.
What was left out was what the Japanese did after this humiliating defeat. They tried to keep it a total secret. Even isolating survivors to keep the loss from the rest of the military and the civilians at home.
I mean, it was such a monumental defeat. It surely would've crushed fighting spirit
Yeah, it's downright horrifying. Most of the survivors would end up being sent off to die in distant islands without even getting a chance to see their families or write to them.
Good call, the war might've been over in 6 months had word of this morally devastating loss reached the masses
Damn, that's awful. I can't imagine what was like for those men to know they weren't going to be honored despite their sacrifice.
@@jrodriguez1374 Almost as severe as the loss of the naval code, since Japanese wartime propaganda hinged on westerners being incapable of understanding Japanese.
Japan: My Emperor.. All our carefully laid plans have become undone!
America: Mr. President, we have FAILED SUCCESSFULLY!
"When in trouble or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout" :)
The really terrifying part of naval warfare is that it took years and a vast amount of resources to build the infamous kido butai carrier fleet...just to have 3 of those carriers destroyed in 5 minutes, and the 4th some hours later, by a couple of cheap carrier planes.
Hypersonic missiles are the same (cheap to build and devastating).
@@gincatgoogle6213 I wouldn't call them cheap, but when compared to ships, then yes, considered cheap
I saw the timeline of the ending of the 1st video and was like "Wait Midway was decided in 4 freaking minutes?"
That is the criticism of modern aircraft carriers. They are so expensive in and of themselves. Add in the air wings and personnel and they are too valuable to risk in real battle. The loss of even one would be devastating.
Tbf those "cheap carrier planes" had to come from big expensive carriers themselves.
If you think of the planes as weapons of the carriers (which they are) the ratio of build vs. destruction resources is way less lopsided
Just watched the whole series.
This is the best series describing this battle I've seen.
I love the "what if" scenarios.
I wonder "what if" the US had A-10's...
hindsight is always 20/20
Watch 1980's The Final Countdown. Tomcats though, but still...
If the US had A-10’s back then, those ships would’ve never stood a chance lol
agreed
@@dmeads5663 Who needs explosives when you have Depleted Uranium rounds?
THE LEGEND RETURNS
I’d been waiting so long, but it’s worth it
haha thanks Maverick Loggins!
Thank *you* man! I love your videos I can’t wait to see what else you make. Maybe Guadalcanal? lol fr tho just happy to see from you again
@@MontemayorChannel no, for a lot of us even if we don't know each other. You are a legend. We truly respect that objectivity and the amazing job you do for us. TH-cam, Netflix, etc. should give a show/create content for them and use your potential.
@@MontemayorChannel Thank you for making this. It is by far the most detailed video series on this naval battle. It would be great if you did one on the Indian Ocean Raid of 1942 since it gets nowhere near the attention it deserves as one of Britain's most humiliating naval defeats ever.
@@MontemayorChannel Could you do the other carrier battles like Phillipine Sea and Santa Cruz, please? I'll wait.
Yamamoto: "Give me my decisive battle already, you heathen."
Nimitz: "Oh okay."
Yamamoto: "Wait no that's not supposed to happen."
They badly want to use their battleships on a decisive battle
Japanese naval command basically screwed themselves when they put Nagumo in charge
Yamamoto: "Holy Bomb holes batman! I think they got us once or twice!
I know this is a joke but Nimitz refused to give them their Battle of Tsushima because he withdrew early when the main surface force gave chase. This was smart on the part of the Americans. They basically engaged in hit-and-run tactics with the Japanese, only engaging when they were confident of winning. Once the US industrial capacity was dialled up to 11 and they were spitting out carriers, battleships, destroyers and other naval assets every week did they go on the offensive and gladly give the IJN the "Kantai Kessen" they were so keen for. In fact they gave them their Kantai Kessen on several occasions.
@@mlc4495 we shall compare the Nation's Industrial Output on a scale of 1-10
USSR: 9 to 10 average
UK: 7 to 8 All the time
Germany: 7 to 8, maybe 9 in some cases
Japan: 7 at most, averaging 6
Italy: 3 to 4, 5 if they're lucky
France: 6 to 7 if they got the chance
USA: 20, somehow, on a scale of 1-10
Never clicked so fast. Especially since I saw the new film Midway AFTER seeing Part I. Your first video was so spot on, that it's basically a custom-made companion piece to Midway. I watched as your video played out on the movie screen, and I was able to keep my confused buddies up to date on what was happening.
It was glorious.
ah, that's great man. I'm glad i was able to bring some clarity to this confusing battle.
I actually have been to the US WW2 museum since part 1 came out, and was explaining several parts of the battle to my friends I was with. Great feeling!
personally I just wish they got the right order of the U..S. torpedo plane attacks and had included Yorktown's Torpedo planes. Though I understand for the sake of time and money why they didn't include or any of the U.S fighter pilots contributions, probably cheaper to only show anti-aircraft fire taking shooting down the planes instead of the zeros.
I know right!! I was surprised how much I loved Midway. I think it was because of part one of this series.
As much as I loved Midway however, this series knocked it out of the park, and I will watch it many times over the years!
@@MontemayorChannel It was a superb job of historical writing and filming. Thank you....
This 3-part series on Midway is truly great. You should win an Emmy for work like this.
After such a long cliffhanger, he hits us with 2 videos in a row.
Having now watched this final part - BRAVO. Just like before and other histories, Top Notch. Best history presentations on TH-cam. Thank you. Just, next time - please - drop us a note so we know you're okay! I was seriously worried something bad happened.
I humbly request you next Go Big and tackle the actions and events leading to the Action off Samar, Leyte Gulf, October 25, 1944. We'll wait.
Best wishes to you!
I would LOVE a Montemayor Leyte Gulf series. Probably quite a lot of work and many parts, but it'd be so good.
I think he’s doing Guadalcanal next.
@@fakecubed hahaha American battleships go boom boom on the out-ranged Japanese battleships.
Hyde If he does the whole Pacific Theater of WW2 I would not mind at all.
I second this. That battle was quite the flustercuck, The USS Johnston will need its own episode.
Montemayor, a sincere thank you. When I was 13, a friend and I were dropped off at the local movie theater in 1976 to see the movie Midway. I couldn't have been more excited. We sat on the first row... straining to look up at the show. I came out of the movie with a very biased and troubled view of the battle and the horror and utter futility of the American planes. All these years later... you have done what Hollywood could not... put it all into perspective and mitigate the mismatches... the decisions... the misconceptions and the luck. I really, truly, appreciate your effort in these 3 videos to so thoroughly explain and probe the tactics and intricate nuances that ran throughout this battle and the ramifications that came from it all. Thank you.
@Marc Singleton I saw the Surround in the theater. By then I already knew the history and was annoyed by all the newsreel footage showing the wrong aircraft - plus the turgid family drama involving Chuck Heston, his son, and his Japanese American fiancee was crap. But the opening sequence with the Doolittle Raid lifting off in Sensurround was fantastic.
@Robert Mardis I was 15 that summer, took the bus to Westwood to see it in Sensorround. 40+ years later the story still fascinates.
Here, here . . . very well said Robert. I was 20 in 1976 so I already had a bit more tolerance for organizational dysfunction, but seeing this all so well laid out by Montemayor I'm also seeing the madness had rhythm.
@Marc Singleton Yeah, I was 12 when I saw Midway with Chuck Heston and knew the battle, knew the aircraft - remember leaving with my brother and we were telling each other Tora Tora Tora was better, all the newsreel footage was wrong, and Midway sucked.
@@jkorshak Haha, saw all that too, and still went three times, but only the first with Sensorround
I think I watched this 3-video series about 5 times now. I'm still amazed by your talent of packing history in a comprehensive manner and tell the story without ever losing the tension which keeps the viewer interested. Thank you for presenting one of the biggest Uno-reverse cards in WW2 this way.
In barely any of the documentaries I see about Midway, Lt. Richard Best has been included, so I applaud you for including him. As a fun fact, Lt. Best also was 1 of the 4 pilots to get a hit on the attack on the Hiryu, making him the first pilot to succesfully bomb 2 Japanese carriers in one day, which got Admiral Moorer and Vice Admiral Houser to make a serious but unsuccesful effort to recommend him for an Medal of Honor after his death in 2001.
Edit: typo's
Watch the movie midway, its about Lt. Best
I watched it back in december, good movie
Lt Kleiss also hit 2cvs but best did well and sank a carrier alone
Dusty Kleiss scored hits on two carriers that day - Kaga and Hiryu - while also landing a bomb on a cruiser on the last day of battle so he was 3 for 3. Nevertheless, it was Dick Best whose sole hit on Akagi doomed that carrier. Sadly, Best would never fly again after June 4th. His lungs were harmed by caustic soda in his oxygen system which triggered latent tuberculosis.
You edited the comment for typos and STILL haven't noticed "carries"???
Lt. Cmdr. Waldron is a local hero of my hometown. The traffic bridge across the Missouri River is named after him.
He was a true hero
Like a wandering pilot stumbling onto an undefended carrier group, I just discovered all three of these videos this evening and watched them in sequence! Talk about luck! What a wonderful documentary by Montemayor!
@@ML0694 Same. :)
Spent my New Year’s Day evening on these videos
Me - watching over & over and doing some more learning - further study and analysis
We simply can’t say enough or appreciate the bravery of the first wave of fighter pilots that threw themselves into the Japanese attack on Midway as well as the torpedo bomber pilots that did the same when they attacked the Japanese fleet. Many floated in rafts or worse for God knows how long without rescue ever coming. No truer heroes ever or sacrifice greater at a time when America needed it most.
I live on another continent, another era, in Poland, a country having its own share of WW2 history - and yet for decades I have been admiring the bravery and heroic sacrifice of VT8 and its flight leader John Waldron. 80 years on and I remember them.
Yeah, we see, plainly, when our aviators are flying in obsolete or inferior aircraft. Note that, even when we are on offense, our airmen were lucky to last more than a very few missions. War is hell - for everyone, whether your a Marine wading ashore on Okinawa under unrelenting machine gun fire or manning a gun in the belly of a bomber, or ....
All the men who died on both sides that day... in their planes or on ships, through explosions,
fire, shrapnel or drowning
R.I.P.
A half dozen of the American aircrew were captured by the Japanese and executed.
@@allangibson8494 Yea, makes it hard to be empathetic towards most Imperial Japanese soldiers :/
I mean, no doubt Americans did messed up things, but even Germans wanted to be their prisoners since they were fed well. Bruh, Japanese executed to save rice.
Knights of Bushido. Read it.
@@alank4558 Them Japanese on the ship didn't. They are equally to blame as every single American is to blame for the geonicide of the Native Americans. Its literally just disrespectful to imply that every Japanese soldier were to blame.
@@KeiwaM You’ve obviously never heard the story of Louie Zamperini
Montemayor, THANK YOU for this piece. As someone who owns almost every book on Midway from Gordon Prange to Craig Symonds, I am extremely thankful you acknowledge Fletcher's correct decision making and Yorktown's experience. It does history true justice. You should be proud. Salute!
Adm. Fletcher is probably one of, if not the most underrated Carrier commander in history (and probably more maligned that he deserved). It's a shame that his career is somewhat tied to the sinking of two US carriers in quick succession under his watch (as well as his "abandoning" of the Guadalcanal landing forces). But then again, those battles were basically the two major battles wherein the US Fleet was the underdog, so it still speaks to his brilliance.
Joshua Unsay agreed. But even the “abandoning” bit was apparently mostly spun by Turner as the carriers were never supposed to stay longer. “Black Shoe Carrier Admiral” by Lundstrom clears Fletchers name by and large...
...although it’s also depressing reading about other admirals ripping apart his reputation.
@@thegoodcaptain1217 I wholeheartedly agree that the "abandoning" spin is undeserved. It also didn't help that Adm. King became sour on him after Corral Sea and Midway (Adm. King loved the Lexington, and for him it was unforgivable for Adm. Fletcher to have had her scuttled).
Americans in 1944 with 15 aircraft carriers: so we have done some building off camera
And with 27 in 1945. - lol - To go along with 18 battleships.
And that's exactly why Montemayor's conclusion is correct. Midway changed the course of the war, but not its ultimate outcome.
Of course, it really ended up being just 2 bombs - with the promise of more where they came from - that ultimately ended the war.
@@vbscript2 and add to that total the escort carriers ; you have about 100 yes Hundred aircraft carrying ships in the fleet!
@@vbscript2 Even those two bombs were indicative of American industrial power.
Project Manhattan was successful (compared to other wartime nuclear programs) partially because the Americans had enough leftover resource and capability for a _side project_ , amidst fighting a war in two major theatres and providing vast amount of supplies to allies there.
Uncle Sam is a Might man
@@Mattoropael just look at the victory ships. Enormous ships, built in huge numbers in astonishing time. Only America has that capability, and once it was woken, it was only a matter of time.
After the battle and after interviewing the survivors, some junior staff officers in Tokyo figured out quickly there had to be a security breach which meant their J-25 code was breached. It was practically obvious. Incredible that two US task forces were in exactly the right position at the right time. These junior officers also suspected a security breach derailed the Port Moresby invasion a month earlier. A US task force had popped up in the Coral Sea to spoil the top secret Japanese invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea. In the whole Pacific Ocean , the US task force chose to operate in the Coral Sea just at the time of Port Moresby operation.. A delegation of Japanese staff officers went to the Naval Ministry in Tokyo and suggested to high-ranking intelligence officers that J-25 had been broken. Their suggestions were brushed off as 'impossible by intelligence brass.
Dry dock inspection of USS Yorktown after Battle of the Coral Sea, "She needs 2 weeks of repair."
Pearl Harbor yard workers, "F that. Give us 48 hours."
Great videos as always.
I'm pretty sure it went more like:
"We estimate 3 months to get USS Yorktown fully repaired."
"You have 72 hours."
@@adamtruong1759 Pissed off workers and im assuming qaudruple overtime are a hell of a drug.
@@hunterjordan5683 probably got compensated with a long rest and double pay for 72 hours, then 1,400 dry dock workers repairing the ship
A lot of the engineers were still on the ship. It’s the biggest reason they got it operational again after the first attack.
They must have borrowed Scotty from the Enterprise.
Being someone who NEVER subscribes or clicks on the bell for ANYTHING... this is saying a lot about the quality and dedication to your craft.
Ditto mah dude
I totally agree!
Watch the rest of his videos - they are exceptional!
Fun fact, Japan barely holding itself against about 20% of the American war effort. Once the War in Europe was going pear shaped for the Germans and the full might of the US industrial production was deployed against the Japanese, there was no way Japan could've avoided the outcome of the war. Their industrial base was too small to conduct the type of warfare necessary in a prolonged conflict. Once the Essex AND the Casablanca class carriers were being mass produced, the Americans had the potential to take on the Japanese Navy and Army air force in one go. Even if the Japanese had their carrier fleet intact, that would make no difference as the US could deploy more aircraft at any one location in the Pacific than the Japanese and this includes ground based air wings. Even if the Japanese took all the main island airports allowing them to mutually support each other in defense, the Sheer number of carriers the US put to sea would eventually negate this advantage!
In 1943 Alone, the US put to sea 34 carriers of all types. That is an air wing complement of 1,380 aircraft! The available concentration of power was just orders of magnitude different.
Yes. Attacking Pearl Harbor was an act of insanity.
J Shepard “The best bad decision”
-Potential History
throw enough shit on the wall and some of it will stick.-tactic
@Heldermaior ,
Fun fact, China was holding off more than 70% of Japanese military since the 1930s.
21 major engagements with each over a million troops involved right in China mainland.
Also Germany had 80% of their forces destroyed in Russia.
It is inaccurate just to look at what the US had been facing without looking at what the Japanese and Germans were facing. Simply put, the Axis was outnumbered, not the other way around.
@@VashtheStampede007 Could be. China itself was the catalyst for US problems with Japan. We helped as we could, considering the US was still isolationist.
Dude - I'm an amateur military history fanatic and this is THE battle I know best. Your videos are absolutely stunning. You presented the material is a fantastic way that clearly shows what happened and what was important about this battle. Well done.
ITS FINALLY HERE! AFTER ALL THIS TIME. Thank you so much Monte!
So basically what happened was:
Japanese: The Americans had planned for this!
Americans: ¿?¿?
to be fair, the american had a tactical improvisation during the battle. but they choose the strategic situation months before. They choose how and when to fight the japanese. In war tactics should be like that, tactical improvisation in the moment but strategic planning
Americans: We sorta planned for this. I'll be honest, we're kinda lucky, but we have a knack for getting lucky.
There’s an apocryphal (so likely false) quote from a German general that said during his postwar debriefing that “The reason the American Army does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the American Army practices it on a daily basis.” Same for a supposed Soviet observation is claimed to have said that “A serious problem in planning against American doctrine is that the Americans do not read their manuals, nor do they feel any obligation to follow their doctrine.”
@@SleepNeed a country full of mavericks
Wolverines!
You really did a great job on all your videos. The Midway series is by far the most complete and accurate breakdown of the battle I have ever seen.
What? I never expected you to be here, anyways, love your videos.
@@Chapelron Hey, good to see you, yes, huge fan of this young man's work. He is absolutely amazing in his attention to detail and fact checking.
@@TirarADeguello i was just watching a video of yours!
Congratulations on a fantastic presentation! One thing that I would add is the question of why the Japanese chose Midway as the location of the "decisive battle". One explanation that I have read was that it was inspired by the Doolittle raid on Tokyo. The Japanese High Command had emphasized to the Japanese people that the home islands would never be bombed, yet a few months into the war bombs were landing on Tokyo. It was of ultimate importance that a second raid be prevented. They knew that the planes were US Army planes (B-25's), so they must have been launched from land. While Midway was out of range of the B-25's, it was the closest possible base so Midway was the target. The Japanese did not realize that the planes had been modified to be able to launch from a carrier, and had actually flown from the Hornet. The Doolittle raid has sometimes been denigrated as a publicity stunt of no strategic value, but it did draw the Japanese navy into Midway.
@David Gauntt I think you may have it backwards. The Doolittle raid was of little tactical value, as it did negligble damage. But it did have strategic value. It was a huge morale boost to Americans. In addition, it shattered the Japanese leaders claim of invincibility, and forced large amount of resources to be devoted to the defense of their large empire. And finally,, it gave them great motivation to destroy the American carriers as they were a grave threat to Japanese. In short, the raid pushed the Japanese into a risky fight near Midway, exposing their fleet to Midway aircraft and ultimately falling for the American trap.
The reasoning for selecting Midway as a target is that the capture of Midway allows the Kido Butai to be positioned closer to Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands, as it can leverage the land-based airpower for support and recon. That would enable Japan to make much more effective strikes on the headquarters of the US Pacific Fleet and the American forces trying to repel the Japanese push on the Aleutians. It was the kind of operational objective the USN couldn't let the Japanese hold onto. Even if the USN didn't react fast enough to stop the invasion force from reaching Midway, the Japanese knew the Americans would feel forced to try to neutralize the Kido Butai in order to nullify the positional advantage Midway gives them.
The American Carriers were always the real target.
Basically the USN found $20.00 in their pockets that they put there 4 years ago and forgot about, only to find it when you needed $19.95 for some snacks.
You have to give it to those torpedo bomber pilots. They had no fighter cover, their planes were out-dated and slow, they had to fly low and in a straight-line to a moving target all while getting shot at by unopposed Zero fighters. If they made it through the fighter screen, they had to survive withering fire from the screening vessels and the carrier itself. However the real kicker at that early stage of the war is that even if they got to the release point the torpedoes they were carrying had less than 50% chance of exploding even if they did everything right!
Yes. High level Heavy and Medium Bombers =0; Torpedo Bombers =0; Dive Bombers from Midway =0; Latrine Hygiene 2nd. clarss Mitscher in Hornet =0; and the rest did it. They all did their best with what they had - RIP
50% was optimistic. The weapons group had NEVER tested the torpedoes under realistic conditions, so they didn't really know what the performance would be.
bravest people during WW2 were devastator pilots.
No one ever remembers Dusty Kleiss who was 1 of only 2 men who delivered hits to two different carriers that day. He also hit one of the cruisers as well.
Also that Jimmy Thach implemented the very first combat iteration of the famous Thach Weave, which allowed the inferior Wildcats to successfully engage the far superior Zeros.
@@Don113 Everyone remembers Jimmy Thatch and his “Thatch-weave” maneuver.
@@Don113 Jimmy Thach and the Thach Weave was referenced in the first video (1/3) in this series.
@@Talrich77 Jeez, it's been a while since I watched it then. That, or my memory is turning to dogshit.
Yeah we watched the movie too.
While it is totally tragic that we, humans, spend so very much effort, time, and resources destroying things, this story is very, very well told in its three segments. And, once again, I totally appreciate the technique of "you only know what they knew at the time" (more or less, we do have history books, etc). Life is hugely different if you are the one actually in the game, rather than the critic sitting in the "peanut gallery" the day after the game.
As someone not that educated in the battle of Midway, the 3rd part in my opinion is the MOST brilliant part! The american perspective came as a surprise! Throughout the first 2 parts, I could see nothing but the Japanese being outsmarted and everything going wrong for them by the clever planning of the Americans. This part made me realize the it was all "Happy little mistakes" that somehow went right.
Ehh...
I’m not really sure that’s the correct take-away from the clear American superiority in intelligence, technology and damage control that allowed them to make these mistakes and not be so harshly punished.
Happy little mistakes? Yeah right.... this battle proved how green the US was atm.
@Paul The not so Great. What is not highlighted enough is how dumb the IJN was in their battle plan strategy.
The IJN should have made use of their battleships cruisers and destroyers. The carriers should have been behind.
"*Happy* little mistakes"
VT-8: "Excuse me?"
@ Paul The not so Great Luck was a factor, but in many ways you make your luck. Cracking JN-25 gave the Americans a huge advantage. By fighting the battle off Midway, the Americans has essentially four not three carriers. And the Midway PBYs gave the American unprecedented search capability. The Japanese at this stage of the War had superior carrier operations. But an axiom of carrier warfare is who gets in the first strike is likely to win no matter how good the other guy is. That was not luck.
"If we don't know what we are doing, then the enemy certainly cant anticipate our future actions"
this battle summed up perfectly
@ Captain Merthin Why do you say 'don't know we are doing? Nimitz knew precisely what he was doing, catching the Japanese carriers while they were busy hammering Midway.
Even though this channel only has 12 videos available, it has over 278 thousand subs and millions of views. The quality of the videos and the information presented are far superior to ANYTHING I've seen elsewhere. Thank you Montemayor for this superb source of information. I don't know what your next project will be, but whatever it is, I eagerly await it.
Just wanted to thank you for this excellent presentation. I learned a great deal and was struck by how simple and effective the visuals were too. I spent a lifetime in the training business and being able to convey abstract information with a minimum of resources is one of the toughest things to do. And you pulled it off beautifully!
"The Kido Butai had only 7 planes conducting their searches. In contrast, the Americans had more than 30 planes conducting their searches."
Amount of planes: 31
"He's written over 64 books"
"So 65?"
When you have a large amount of experience giving oral reports, some lines roll off the tongue better than others. "More than thirty" could'dve sounded better musically than "thirty-one". If the choice doesn't go against factual basis, there's no problem as keeping an audience musically interested is an objective in itself, and well worth the slight.
@Isaac Goldberg... and the PBY's were superior aircraft with a massive range that also played a pivotal role in this fight....something that was stressed more in the first movie while being ignored in the second....
@@frankpienkosky5688 The PBY also had 8 extra pairs of eyes to look for enemy ships. If the Chikuma's scout had had a 10-man crew it would have been a lot more likely to spot the American carriers.
@@brucetucker4847 Great point I did not consider that although I have always felt that our scout planes did not get all the credit they deserved.
Imagine ur just chilling in a carrier and than all of a sudden you see over 70 planes fill up the sky on both sides
imagine you're in the worlds largest battleship and nearly 300 planes swarm you like crows above a dead cow.
@@leovang3425 a beautiful and scary sight
Terrifying
I’m sure they weren’t thinking they were struggling to survive everyone had a job to do even more when they are bombing your ship I’m sure when you’re about to die you go in to auto pilot to try to survive I’m sure a lot just jumped ship
Key Factor: Element of Surprise
to use a probably overused meme,
IJN: we have the element of surprise
USN: no u
And fear. Surprise and fear!
@@thomas.02 USN intelligence was their Reverse card
Arguably the best thing to have, devastating to morale.
Which one?
Montemayor finishing the series or the actual battle?
The lesson of this series.
Clear, accurate, early Intelligence is worth a mountain of gold.
What I’ve learned:
A little bit of radar, some dumb luck, the gut of a guy named McClusky, and the observance of a dude named Best that won the US this day...
🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️ ‘MURICA
If it works, it works :D
yeah, and also self-sacrifice, and work, and thinking of those on ships and aircrafts... and those, who made ships and bombs at home, analyzing what is needed (such as fire control on ships) and what is not... and overrall culture of "doing the things" (the pilot who ignored his superior's wrongly taken course, for example)... and, of course, luck... well earned victory
luck definitely played a role. but what I didn't know and what is shown that the US disorganization actually made those small attacks and prevente counter attacks. simply the best unintended consequence ever. :)
@@SuperAsperatus I wouldnt call it the best, maybe if the american units that attacked escortlessly were to be used in a more organized way, the japanese ships would have sunked earlier, and there would be planes left to attack the last aircraft carrier, and the yorktown wouldve survived midway
Nah. They won the moment the cracked japanese coms code. In these naval warfare engagements, getting in the first strike when the enemy is not expecting it, is a sure win and the US knew where the IJN fleet was at all times.
Last time
Montemayor uploaded the emperor was still alive.
when emperor yamato was still alive
which Emperor do you mean?
@@henniquint6833 i think it's hirohito in this context
A History Fanatic Hirohito lived long after the war, look Wikipedia.
wait Emperor Akihito hasnt died yet
I've watched all three of your Midway videos and I think that you've done a fantastic job describing events both from the Japanese POV and the American POV. WOW, you have really put everything into layman's English. Thank you so much for your efforts.
Montemayor: -makes a new video-
The Return of the King
haha that's funny! thanks Nate Morton.
@@MontemayorChannel Genuinely thought you were dead or something. With your views (12.4m in your last 2 videos), how come you don't get a team together and pump them out every week/month? Like a Kings and Generals type of deal. Seems like you should be capitalising on the absurd amount of traction you get (relative to your subscriber count/number of videos). Not having a patreon too is crazy; the amount of money you're missing out on is, well, probably a lot.
@@ChrisDynamo Quality over quantity. Plus he might have a job that takes up enough of his time and pays well enough for him to neglect his youtube channel. I don't think it's a coincidence that he released these videos now, during a time where a lot of people are having issues regarding work or employment.
@@MontemayorChannel I'd love it if you could do more videos on the Mexican-American war.
I'd pay to get ten-go animated
imagine what he could do with the hunt for the Bismarck, the Battle of the Leyte Gulf, or Battle of the Philippine Sea
I just wish we lived long enough to be able to see those stuffs came out.
The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. I can almost hear the narration for it.
I'd love a Battle of Leyte Gulf. The extent to which the US was out matched in so many ways but through a few critical advantages (radar fire control), bravado (escort carriers sending up so many planes, obsolete as they were, the Japanese thought they were fleet carriers), and dumb luck (clean penetration by Japanese shells until the Japanese realized the ships were unarmored and switched to HE) the US managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Bismarck Hunt from the British perspective? Hmmmm.
@@ill_bred_demon9059 I'm excited for the entire Battle of Leyte Gulf as well, especially how he would narrate Taffy-3
This takes the saying "If we don't know what we are doing, the enemy certainly cant anticipate out actions"
to a whole new level.
The thing that blows me away is how hard it was to sink the Yorktown. While I understand the ship had vastly different construction to the Japanese carriers, it just goes to show how devastating it was to be attacked while the hangars were full of fueled and armed planes.
One thing about the strength of the US vs Japan at Midway. I understand that 4 Japanese Carriers vs 3 American carriers is important. However Midway Island itself contributed to the American strength and was at as least powerful if not more than a carrier. So in a sense it was 4 vs 4.
Yes the attacks from Midway gummed up the Japanese plans and bought the US carriers precious time.
True, even when the Midway-based forces were a known vector and location, but sad that the planes were so obsolete as to be ineffective despite the bravery.
@@briankottman8274 The Brewster Buffalo wasn't even that old of a plane, being introduced in 1939, it was just borderline passable from the beginning, and apparently only doing well against crappier planes/pilots. The Continuation War is basically the only place the Buffalo did well, because Soviet planes weren't great either.
The Yorktown at that time was one of the most advance carriers of its day. The Japanese carriers were mostly converted Battleships.
The priceless saying is that "you cannot sink an Island." This definitely made up for the imbalance in carriers.
Fun fact: the rendezvous point of Task Forces 16 and 17 had been codenamed “Point Luck” by the US Navy.
They certainly had it.
To second ManilaJohn01's praise, as a 60 year old student of military history since I was a child, I am extremely impressed with this video, the research that went into it and the analysis presented. Keep up the great work.
I thought I knew all about Midway, but this has enhanced things considerably. Great clear narrative and graphics, brilliant!
Out of the few videos I have seen, from channels trying to do the same thing you have done in this series, yours is undoubtedly the best. You did not pretend like the plans and/or execution of said plans for either country were infallible. You can give props when it was needed to be given, and criticize questionable decisions in the same breath.
Your use of the fog of war and the POV from either side made this really stand apart. Putting us on the admiral's seat during Nagumo's dilemma was a great way to help the viewer understand the decisions that were made and the difficulty in making them. Too often people rely on hindsight, belittling the real world experience these people lived.
This was top notch work Commander Montemayor!
Watching from the Japanese side, I would be convinced that Americans either had psychic powers or some god was pissed at the Imperial Navy. It warms my heart that Americans blundered into a spectacular victory
A variant of Clarke's third law comes to mind: Sufficiently accurate intel is indistinguishable from psychic powers.
Here is a fun anecdote:
The American's weren't _sure_ that target A.F. (Japan's codename for Midway) actually referred to Midway, so they had the base on there report over unencrypted radio that their salt water evaporators broke down, which prompted the Japanese to report that "Target A.F. has water supply issues" 😏
FFS Did you just take information from the first video, then comment it on the third video, passing it off as yours? * Emojis are modern day dunce cap as well.
Was that in the first video? I didn't even realize :O
Thanks Josh! I didn't catch it in the first vid. I do plan on re-watching these though!
Riggs: 😭😭😳💀😈😨🤕😦😵🤖👾👽👻😻🙊😿🙀😹🙈🙉👵👶💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩😿🙈👩⚖️👩💻👷👩🎨👩🌾🎅👩✈️👩🚀👩🔧🤶💆🤴🗣👥🕺👼🙎🙍💆🤷👰🙌
@ the specifics of how they figured it out weren't given in the video.
No other documentary (and I've read and watched quite a few) helped me to visualize and understand the battle of Midway as well as Montemayor has done. I hope you continue to produce many more war documentaries.
The wait was worth it! Your vivid, memorable analysis of Midway has been one of the most informative and fascinating set of TH-cam videos is one of the best I've ever had the pleasure of watching, and I mean videos on any subject, not just WW II. And that's despite the fact that I'd read and seen a number of other histories of the battle. The research was amazing. I'm so grateful you invested the time and talent to create this extraordinary series. I look forward to watching more of your videos (e.g., Coral Sea, Pearl Harbor). Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Something about VT-8 just gets me. It's so ironic that LCDR Waldron was right, but in proving that he was right his entire squadron was wiped out. If he had just followed orders he wouldn't have gone down in history, but he may have lived past Midway.
But if it weren't for him, Nagumo may have been able to launch a counterattack earlier and the zero fighters wouldn't have gotten so tunnel visioned that they'd forget to look up.
Japan: carefully planned and masters attacks
U.S haha plane go brrrrr
Hahaha torpedo go sploosh.
He who laughs last, laughs best.
That doesn't give the Americans credit for code breaking and setting the trap in the first place.
@ CuppaJoe1 Midway was carefully planned, Masterfully executed is a very different matter.
@@flinx Haha morsecode go tick tick.
Hey, this is a terrific documentary! Purely "armchair historian" guessing on my part here, but (15:00) McCluskey's other, maybe overriding motivation for striking the nearer carrier may have been the fact that his planes were running on fumes, and that he wanted to contribute something, anything, as quickly as possible and get back to his carrier without having to ditch. I certainly would have tossed doctrine overboard & done the same thing. Which (you're right) would've been a mistake. That's why I always hang around with someone named "Best."
I love how the carriers lines of travel are all sgwiggly and go in loopty loops
"We are mighty carriers, see us steam majestically OH SHIT DODGE DODGE!... everybody ok? Good, let's get back to steaming OH SHIT HERE THEY COME AGAIN!"
I was half expecting them to draw something rude 😂
@@AY-vi2ld top gear flashbacks
Please do another naval battle analysis, i beg you. This series is awesome because your explanation is so easy to understand and immersive. Thank you so much for making this. I'm looking forward for your next content.
You and Historia Civilis make some of the best content on TH-cam. Glad you’ve returned! Especially with a double upload!
This is a terrific accounting of a pivotal battle. The combination of documentation and visual depiction makes the battle come alive in a way I've never experienced before. Four minutes that changed history. Indeed!
This is most in depth documentary about the subject I have ever seen, and it was well worth the long wait. Absolutely amazing!
So this is where the "We don't know what we're doing so how could the enemy?" meme comes from...
Midway illustrates well the saying : "He who controls the information controls the world"
Recon and intel are key to victory in war.
Thanks again for providing such a marvelous documentary. Your hard work is well appreciated =)
The Chinese know this well!
Actually, Midway showed that that statement is 'not' true. The Americans knew that the Japanese were inbound and detected them- and still yet failed to launch their coordinated strike, which went in piecemeal and was shattered. Personal initiative from middle-ranking officers and a great deal of luck turned things back around again. If anything, the battle of Midway shows all too clearly that random factors- or, if you like, chance- plays a factor in any military endeavor.
@@manilajohn0182 Of course luck is always a great factor. But here, the Americans could act as they did because they had good intel.
They knew the Japanese were coming, they knew their strenght and they found their location first. They had the initiative. In contrast, the Japanese had no idea they lost the surprise effect, no idea the US carriers were gone from Hawaii waiting them in an ambush and only found their location but too late. This doomed their decision making and forced them to play on the Americans' terms.
But as you say having all the info on your enemy's whereabouts don't grant you automatically victory. One must still use those informations well (not like for the battle of Crete for exemple...). At Midway, the Americans used their intel very well. It allowed them to act on events instead of being forced to endure them. But indeed a long streak of luck, good and bad, a chain of events led to the final result. Fate could have take a different turn if the Japanese recon plane had found the US carriers earlier.
@@oOkenzoOo There's a great deal of truth in what you have said, and the battle can be looked at both ways. As I mentioned earlier, intelligence only got the Americans so far- and then random factors both ruined- and then redeemed- the Americans' chance of victory. My point was that controlling that intelligence didn't allow the Americans to control the battle.
On the other hand... It's often been said that one of the reasons that the Japanese lost was that their plan was overly complex. Frankly however, I don't believe so. There were any number of American operations later in the war which were more complex than Operation MI, and those American operations were successful. The real "flaw" in the Japanese plan was that the Americans knew almost all of it. Knowing as we do now just how the battle played out, one need only ask themselves the following question: What might have been the result of the battle of Midway if the Americans had known NOTHING of the Japanese plan- and had no idea that a Japanese operation was underway until they received word that Dutch Harbor had been attacked?
So, I would certainly agree that information was the foundation of the American victory. In my humble opinion, we would not have won without it.
oOkenzoOo dude the Us didn’t know everything the IJN was planning. Get real.
The Us had an idea and they guessed what the IJN might do with their vessels. All the Us really knew was that the target was Midway.
If you want proof of this well why did the Us send scout planes out trying to confirm everything. They were even reports that only 2 enemy carriers were spotted.
The IJN could have approached the battle much differently and sent their non carrier vessels in first from different positions. They could have shelled Midway with their battleships.
Having intelligence helps but it certainly doesn’t guarantee any type of victory.
This series kept popping up in my feed, and I'm glad I finally took the time to watch. I really enjoyed this three-part analysis. I especially appreciate your analysis of the Japanese dilemma, and the role that the initial American attacks played - while they did not do any damage, they delayed the Japanese response. I'll take luck, skill, and a broken code over just about anything else.
Well done. My Dad was Stationed on American Samoa from 43-46 and I have been an ardent student throughout my life, I'm 63 as well. Thank you for this very detailed presentation.