Im a Latino on my latino country. Yesterday my nephew came back to port from an 8 month mission on his Coast guard cutter. His base is in Honolulu. Viva USA amigos!
My father-in-law lived in East Los Angeles before the war and enlisted at 17 years old after Pearl Harbor. He was a tail gunner on a B-24 and was shot down twice in the Pacific theatre and was MIA for several months. The Hispanic Community of L.A. served with honor during the war.
What must our fathers think having fought this great crusade to free the world, only to see the way their grandchildren behave against it's nobility and it's institutions, it's values, and all that is good that they died to preserve? Breaks the heart.
How about Canada, Australia, and England. These countries were in the war a year or more before the U.S. decided to enter WWII. Also, the U.S. was late entering WWI as well. Don't forget about Poland and France and a few others that were in the war Before the U.S. I know we like to blow our own horn, but the U.S. was not the only country in any of the other wars.
THE greatest generation----------my Father was at Guadalcanal ; he contracted Dengue Fever, & " combat fatigue " from lack of sleep. he was awarded The Navy Cross & a Purple heart, spent 19 months in New Zealand, recovering his mind & health. The Greatest Generation.
Two of my uncle's fought on Guadalcanal. One was with the 1st Marine division and the other with the United States Marine air wing. Both survived the war and served for thirty years (active duty and in the reserves).
Henry Rockwell my dad was at Pearl Harbor also when it got attack said he was never more scared in his life God bless our patriots are heroes their hearts would sing in sadness to see what the grandchildren are doing todayWake up America trouble is coming
To Ethercruiser1 & Brian Sedlock : Both war documentaries were great. However, they both would be ONLY second to Ken Burn's 1990 PBS war documentary THE CIVIL WAR. Note: I have all three documentaries on DVD.
I remember this on TV as a little girl. My father was USNA 42 graduated Dec. 41 sent out to the Pacific as gunnery officer on a destroyer. When asked if he was scared at Midway he replied "The mind of an ensign is a wonderful thing." He had written in his Annapolis journal about studying for finals when they got the news of Pearl Harbor.
My father graduated from Annapolis in June, 1940. I asked him one day if he was worried at all about graduating at a time when the whole of Europe was aflame and falling to the Nazis. He said that he and other Pacific-bound graduates were concerned for classmates who were heading to Atlantic duty stations, given how the First World War played out, but no, they weren't particularly worried since they themselves were headed to a tropical paradise called.....Pearl Harbor.
here in 2021 as an older person it is quite easy to tell the fake from the real footage. when I first watched in the late 50`s it was all so real........great film making......thanks
I remember as a child watching these Victory at Sea episodes . The Victory at Sea sound track was always running thru my head . It was unusual for an actual Symphony orchestra to do the music for all these episodes .
My old brain has forgotten the details. I do recall that the composer of this music initially turned down a request to compose it. The article I read said he watched the video of one episode. He was so moved, he did the music.
My old mentor friend served in the army in the South Pacific. He was 90 when I recounted the Battle of Midway to him. He had never heard of it. I did a thorough job, having read John Parshall, and books by the original pilots, and watched every video possible. It took me two hours. Ernie was enthralled, like a little boy listening to a great story. He died at age 94.
I was on a cruise ship and we hit a storm. I went t outside and caught the action as we fought the sea. The only thing I could think of was the opening music to VAC. The k you Mr Rodger’s.
@@pressureworks You're right, my mistake. What I should've said that it saved America from Japanese enslavement and it was a turning point in the Pacific War.
A wonderful treat for me. I found this DVD collection, while running a Tuna boat in these same waters. I could actually look out my window, and see these islands, and experience the miserable heat firsthand. I would watch one episode, every night, when we shut down to drift. When I hear the opening music, I am back aboard, and motoring through the South Pacific all over again!
Midway in June 1942 was a great victory for the allies, particularly the USN. A month earlier the Battle of the Coral Sea, mentioned briefly the at the start of this episode, was fought with two US carrier Task Forces (TF) and one Australia cruiser task force. The carrier battle was the main action however the cruiser TF commanded by an RAN admiral from HMAS Australia, the RAN's flag ship, blocked the Japanese troop carrying transports approaching New Guinea from the north east forcing them to withdraw. The combined action of the two US and one Australian lead TF not only won the battle but was a strategic victory that halting the Japanese thrust south towards New Guinea, then Australian territory, and the Australian mainland which is the size of the USA mainland but with a then population of only 7 million and lightly defended.
Perhaps Winston Churchill said it best "The annals of war at sea present no more intense, heart-shaking shock than this battle, in which the qualities of the United States Navy and Air Force and the American race shone forth in splendour.
This episode demonstrates why a modern mighty Navy is a must, for national survival and global dominance. Germany and France both lacked a modern Navy which is why they are no longer global military heavyweights
@@peterjohnson617 The US broke Japans code and figured out they planned a surprise attack against Midway Islands, which is why the carriers were at Midway.
WHAT ????? Full details were revealed in the world media November, December 1945. eg trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48667116?searchTerm=american%20code%20breakers%20japanese
This show was done in the 50s...years after the war was over. The code breaking was general knowledge in the US by then...it was the first show to make extensive use of German and Japanese footage that had been captured during and after the war..
Admiral Isoroku Yamamato declared that he would run wild the 1st year of the war but had no hope of victory if the war lasted longer than that. He was in charge of the Imperial Japanese Navy and made up the plans for both Pearl Harbor & Midway. He knew the industrial power of the United States having been a naval attache in Washington, D.C. years prior and knew it was far greater than Japan's. He disagreed with Tojo's desire to fight the U.S. but the Emperor relented eventually and so the Pacific Theatre's fate was sealed at that point.
There are a few good documentaries of World War two. Ken Burns 'The War' is one, but none has yet supplanted Victory at Sea. It is a true classic. America at it's greatest moment.
"come you back you British soldier, come you back to Mandalay' I heard that somewhere. A professor at my college traveled east and I saw his fotos of Hong Kong with Japanese tanks. I was a kid following the European war in the newspapers of the day. !
Midway was an incredible victory against a much superior Japanese force. Never liked the highly emotional narration of "Victory at Sea". But I have nothing but respect for the incredible skill and bravery of the Americans who stopped the Japanese onslaught and sank all four Japanese aircraft carriers engaged at Midway.
In terms of aircraft, once you include the planes on the unsinkable island of Midway- there were more American planes than Japanese Plus we knew they were coming, they didn’t know we would be there so early Victory yes, but not as incredible as it seemed
Yamamoto knew this before anyone ....he knew he was on borrowed time from the very start....he knew he had to have a smashing victory which made him reckless ...and he Knew he couldn't fight a sustained campaign...he said "ill run wild for a year ...then I can promise nothing"
The mistake was showing US torpedo bombers attacking during the US dive bomber attack. During the part about the torpedo attacks the narrator correctly commented that none of the torpedoes scored a hit.
A not well known fact about WWII, is how terrible the U.S. torpedoes were. They had a 70 percent failure rate, when properly aimed and set. Detonation systems that would not fire straight on, in some conditions. Magnetic detonators were deactivated in July of 1943. Then the problems with the Contact detonators became obvious! 50% detonation at 45 degree strike angles, improving with more angle, but almost never detonating when straight on at 90 degree strike angles. Firing pins were jamming due to increased torpedo speed of 45 knots or so, and the huge forces when the torpedo hit straight on. They also ran 10 to 12 feet deeper than set, not fixed until August of 1942. Both submarine and aerial torpedos. For several years... shameful. Not enough effort/money dedicated to testing, and then denial by those who should have been searching for a fix.
The music score by Richard Rogers for the complete series is considered as one complete symphony. Therefore the longest symphony written some 13 hours in length.
What a great way to describe it! I can't remember any actions in WWII when heavy bombers were successful attacking moving warships. The Japanese learned to have lookouts watching for high altitude bomb releases, and then turned their ships to avoid the drop zone. Big heavy bombers could not withstand the antiaircraft fire if they came in low, plus the enemy fighter planes were much more effective at lower altitudes. They could take off and reach the bombers quickly, if the interceptors did not have to gain a lot of altitude.
@@davidrowley8251 There weren't any. Medium bombers could be effective, most notably at the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, where they used skip-bombing tactics rather than bombing from altitude. Heavy bombers were basically useless.
@@lindavarnell9491 To my knowledge B17s sank only one Japanese warship, a destroyer. They were unsuccessful due to the time it took for the bombs to fall as mentioned above.
This documentary is out of sequence. Midway bomber took off before the Japanese attacked. It shows the Japanese attack and then we spotted their carrier and launch the bombers. There were no American planes at Midway when the Japanese attacked.
Japan did indeed wake a sleeping giant. It, like Germany took on the world. The depth of info about the disparity of naval assets alone at wars end is staggering. The US became a logistics company that dabbled in war.
Not mentioned in this account is the triumph of the Code Breakers in Pearl, who deciphered the Japanese Naval Codes and gave Nimitz the intelligence that told him when and where the Japanese were going to attack. The American Navy ambushed the Japanese, who had no idea where they were.
The Australians did heroic work in the Owen Stanley range. That battle, if that is what you’re referring to started in July and the Australians retreated until stopping the Japanese in September, the pushing them back with the Japanese losing decisive battles in October of ‘42.
I fell in love with this when it first aired - watched it with my Father - still do - Has anyone considered a colorized version? I Would be very keen to add it to my collection! Donna
Breaking the Japanese Code was not mentioned here. I assume this was still classified at the time this show was created? I wonder when the codebreaking was declassified?
12:20 ... Only 4 of 6 carriers of the Kido Butai ( A name for their fleet carrier group ) were on the way. 6 had gone to Pearl Harbour. Only four were going to Midway. The two that had been sent to Battle of Coral Sea were not going to Midway, one was too damaged to go, and as four still had more planes than the USA could send to Midway, and they expected to be able to surpise the USA, they felt safe. If four or more fleet carriers had been sent to the Coral Sea, then they would have had much better success there , Or they could have just not done the Coral Sea thing at all. So they could have had six fleet carriers for Midway ? But they needed to save fuel, and they needed fleet carriers at home for defense, to become the fleet in being, eg the Doolittle Raids had just happened, and it seems the Doolittle raids had achieved something... conservatism in the Japanese strategy, But of course, If 6 fleet carriers went to Midway, the USA were going to have to let the invasion happen handing Midway to the Japanese temporarily... they were never going to send capital ships to Midway to save it, unless they knew they had reasonable strength and strategy for winning the war of attrition - in this case of the carriers, planes and pilots.
I am seventy years old and saw this series as a child. I remember the narrator saying “And now . . . “. This episode “Midway is East” is one of the most confusing of the whole series. I don’t know why they didn’t do a better job on this battle. Midway was definitely the turning point of the Pacific Campaign. It’s really confounding why with all the material on hand at the time they did do a better job. Oh well, you can’t hit a home run at ever "At Bat”
25:30 ... planes from the Enterprise attack Hiryu .. Yorktown is damaged and doomed, but that leaves Hornet ? Well Hornet had some planes reserved for recon but mostly its attack force was in a mess as they had completely messed up in the morning attack, and went the wrong direction. Hornet's torpedo bombers, tragically, did navigate correctly , defying orders, and attacked for no result and a complete 100% loss of planes, and most personnel. But the dive bombers never found their target carriers and with a lack of experience, they were led beyond the range for return to the carrier and had planes land on Midway and many planes ditched in the sea. Hornet had done the recon, and still they did send in a follow up attack after Enterprise.. Enterprise had already doomed the Hiryu so Hornet's group attacked other ships.
Why only one son, why "give him", and anyway doenst that mean getting the son back ? Why withdraw him from service after only 3 years of active duty ? Any tangible evidence of this eternal life you claim ? Can we see them through a telescope yet?
No! These are among the very best documentaries of WW II. The new documentaries are longer for more commercials. The new script writers are morons who repeat the same information again and again. They think the the audiences of today are stupid and can't remember what was just said a few minutes earlier.
@@JR-lk8fe I know, it's 11 months later, but you are so correct; I despise it when right after some commercials, we have to listen to a recap of the entire show up to that time. I am 68 and I also remember watching Victory At Sea many years ago. What I didn't realize those many years ago but what I notice today is the amount of recreation of a lot of the story; I thought it was all actual footage. But that's okay, I know that it had to be done to fill out the story line. And of course the magnificent musical score by the incredible Richard Rogers that so eloquently captures the mood of everything from being in the midst of battle to the tranquil times in-between. My late Father was enlisted aboard the Escort Carrier Lunga Point and was at Okinawa and Iwo Jima and saw plenty of action fighting off the Kamikazes.
I think that The World at War’ by Thames Television in England is another epic masterpiece and i hope that viewers who have not seen it can access the programme episodes in other parts of the world. The stupidity of mass killing and of the donkeys who led it is also made crystal clear in another British series about WW 1 made in black and white in the mid 60’s. Given away by the Daily Mail newspaper circa 20 years ago in Britain. Along with ‘Victory at Sea’ these 2 shows cover every base that the public can be told about the two apocalyptic crimes of the 20th Century. Churchill said that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance and all 3 shows comprise a comprehensive document which should put everyone in no doubt that these bestial horrors could be the end of the Earth 🎸
World at War came close. The combination of the music and Graves' narration are the best. Only seven years after victory . The evil that constituted the Axis was still fresh in everyone's mind
Only one survivor from torpedo squadron 8 at midway... Ensign George Gay, Who alone survived the crash landing of the torpedo bomber. He managed to inflate the life raft and climb up onto it, But as the battle progressed the Japanese came closer, And he was forced back into the sea. Fortunately, He went unnoticed, And climbed back onto his raft, The only man to have a ring side seat to most of the battle of midway.
the torpedo bombers still surprises me could not get close enough to make hits, but their attack and sacrifice pulled down the Japanese air cover and the Dive bombers had a field day. But even then they only scored a handful of hits. Fortunately the hits were severe, planes were on the deck being serviced, etc.
Despite the jingoistic rhetoric from the narrator, please remember that, when this series was first broadcast in 1952, the Korean War was on, and Japan was the "unsinkable aircraft carrier" that was crucial to the allied success in that war.
Sadly, the military was still saddled with that narcissistic loser, MacArthur. Truman finally found his balls and sacked that bastard but not before a lot of men died for nothing!
WHAT ? Do you mean that Japan should have been bombed some more, since it was unsinkable ? Its like you are suggesting that the americans stopped at 2 nukes because it might sink if they kept going. ??? What are we to remember ? What they did think... better to build the country back up so that it can be a good ally ??? Or do you mean Japan was anti-communist at the start ? But you could say Japan attacking turned China communist...looking at the dates...
@@isilder Not at all. I was stating that I think the narrator's rhetoric was overly jingoistic because the Japanese/US relationship in 1952 when this series was first broadcast was dramatically different from what it was in 1941 when the Battle of Midway occurred.
@@MrDavePed OK, now I understand. I’d have to disagree. Hornet and Enterprise weren’t back in time from Doolittle that’s true. However I think it’s entirely possible that we would have lost at least 2 carriers had they been there. This is debatable. It’s one of those “what ifs”. However, Yorktown was sunk by a sub, another carrier would not have prevented this, fighter protection at this point in the war being a little sketchy. She was under tow but… The Doolittle raid was partially responsible for Midway and a badly needed morale booster. Neither battle would have caused a change in the outcome of the war, it would have changed the length by a month or two either way is all.
12:32 "The same carriers that hit Pearl Harbour are headed for Midway"... Well the best 4 out of the 6.. so yes the 4 had been at Pearl, but 2 were not available for Midway due to Battle of the Coral Sea. The Battle of the Coral Sea was a waste. a great strategic loss. The USN might not have attended Midway if 6 carriers had turned up. "We will just have to not lose any more islands", they'd say, and carry on. For Japan, the Battle of Midway was always about sinking the USN . Not about having Midway.
25:11 A Japanese Judy 2 dropping a bomb. According to relevant information, this footage was taken by a nerveless cameraman aboard USS Lexington (the new one) in 1944.
Ok I note some intercuts with Japanese propaganda films, 2:57 suspiciously looks like Toshiro Mifune who served in the Aerial Photography unit during World War II.
Im a Latino on my latino country. Yesterday my nephew came back to port from an 8 month mission on his Coast guard cutter. His base is in Honolulu.
Viva USA amigos!
Great place to be stationed!
My father-in-law lived in East Los Angeles before the war and enlisted at 17 years old after Pearl Harbor. He was a tail gunner on a B-24 and was shot down twice in the Pacific theatre and was MIA for several months. The Hispanic Community of L.A. served with honor during the war.
@@jfloresmac Good one
@@billt6116 Someone has to. Have exercised out of Pearl with thexRAN a few times
sand island
What must our fathers think having fought this great crusade to free the world, only to see the way their grandchildren behave against it's nobility and it's institutions, it's values, and all that is good that they died to preserve? Breaks the heart.
Probably happy that their children are allowed to think for themselves and not be suppressed by a tyrannical government like the ones they overthrew
We are definitely not worthy of the sacrifices that they made, not this generation.
I try not to dwell on that. Continue the resistance....it's genetic
@@garyschreckengost2925 Speak for yourself
I am glad my mom died before America went in this dive in to the toilet. They were the Greatest Generation.
Born 15 years after WW2, I owe my freedoms to these brave men. God bless the United States of America 🇺🇸
After we taught them how to fight
How about Canada, Australia, and England. These countries were in the war a year or more before the U.S. decided to enter WWII. Also, the U.S. was late entering WWI as well.
Don't forget about Poland and France and a few others that were in the war Before the U.S.
I know we like to blow our own horn, but the U.S. was not the only country in any of the other wars.
@@LarsDcCase Very well put.
THE greatest generation----------my Father was at Guadalcanal ; he contracted Dengue Fever, & " combat fatigue " from lack of sleep. he was awarded The Navy Cross & a Purple heart, spent 19 months in New Zealand, recovering his mind & health. The Greatest Generation.
Your father is a hero and national treasure
Two of my uncle's fought on Guadalcanal.
One was with the 1st Marine division and the other with the United States Marine air wing.
Both survived the war and served for thirty years (active duty and in the reserves).
Henry Rockwell my dad was at Pearl Harbor also when it got attack said he was never more scared in his life God bless our patriots are heroes their hearts would sing in sadness to see what the grandchildren are doing todayWake up America trouble is coming
Uh huh!
Victory at Sea reminds me of my father so much.. we'd watch these in the den in the dark when I was a kid..
Same here!
Same here...with my grandfather
Watched with my grandfather he was a tank commander in Africa all the way to Germany
Victory at Sea.... probably the greatest war documentary ever made!
Nope, it was the WORLD AT WAR.
To Ethercruiser1 & Brian Sedlock : Both war documentaries were great. However, they both would be ONLY second to Ken Burn's 1990 PBS war documentary THE CIVIL WAR. Note: I have all three documentaries on DVD.
@@67nairb that was good too as well as Crusade in the Pacific.
@@model-man7802 how about Crusade in Europe?
@@67nairb forgot about that.Think it's in the Garage somewhere.The true Glory is on TH-cam right now also.
I was in grade school when Victory at Sea was first shown on tv. The musical score of Richard Rogers and the quality of the narration impressed me.
Me too, never forget the quality of the show and the wonderful music. I bought all three albums of the great music.
I remember this on TV as a little girl. My father was USNA 42 graduated Dec. 41 sent out to the Pacific as gunnery officer on a destroyer. When asked if he was scared at Midway he replied "The mind of an ensign is a wonderful thing." He had written in his Annapolis journal about studying for finals when they got the news of Pearl Harbor.
I I
My father graduated from Annapolis in June, 1940. I asked him one day if he was worried at all about graduating at a time when the whole of Europe was aflame and falling to the Nazis. He said that he and other Pacific-bound graduates were concerned for classmates who were heading to Atlantic duty stations, given how the First World War played out, but no, they weren't particularly worried since they themselves were headed to a tropical paradise called.....Pearl Harbor.
here in 2021 as an older person it is quite easy to tell the fake from the real footage. when I first watched in the late 50`s it was all so real........great film making......thanks
U.S.Navy. Thank you for this and all other efforts to protect us everyday.
Watched this every Sunday with my dad. Also the twentieth century with Cronkite. Who can forget the music?
I remember as a child watching these Victory at Sea episodes . The Victory at Sea sound track was always running thru my head . It was unusual for an actual Symphony orchestra to do the music for all these episodes .
Me too, very evocative theme.
Pretty common for those years though
My old brain has forgotten the details. I do recall that the composer of this music initially turned down a request to compose it. The article I read said he watched the video of one episode. He was so moved, he did the music.
Richard Nixon’s favorite record-the soundtrack to Victory at Sea
My old mentor friend served in the army in the South Pacific. He was 90 when I recounted the Battle of Midway to him. He had never heard of it. I did a thorough job, having read John Parshall, and books by the original pilots, and watched every video possible. It took me two hours. Ernie was enthralled, like a little boy listening to a great story.
He died at age 94.
I was on a cruise ship and we hit a storm. I went t outside and caught the action as we fought the sea. The only thing I could think of was the opening music to VAC. The k you Mr Rodger’s.
this was on TV in my childhood during the 1950's........... amazing
the battle happened 75 years ago today. Hats off to those brave gallant sailors who made America free and defeated the Japanese.
Happy 4th of July.
Made America Free ? That was declared in 1776.
@@pressureworks You're right, my mistake. What I should've said that it saved America from Japanese enslavement and it was a turning point in the Pacific War.
@@pressureworks Did you see the MIDWAY movie in theaters six or seven months ago?
brian sedlock no, but I saw the 70s film in Sensuround !
A wonderful treat for me. I found this DVD collection, while running a Tuna boat in these same waters. I could actually look out my window, and see these islands, and experience the miserable heat firsthand. I would watch one episode, every night, when we shut down to drift. When I hear the opening music, I am back aboard, and motoring through the South Pacific all over again!
Pretty amazing stuff. This was a time when there were no satellites, no GPS. Just terrific use of intelligence and pure luck.
Watching this in the 50's was almost spellbinding.
I spent a solid year studying this battle. There was so much more to it than what was shown here. That said, great film.
Heroes of Midway -- Spruance , fletcher, and those manned their battle stations! This series made ne fall in love with the US navy!
Midway in June 1942 was a great victory for the allies, particularly the USN. A month earlier the Battle of the Coral Sea, mentioned briefly the at the start of this episode, was fought with two US carrier Task Forces (TF) and one Australia cruiser task force. The carrier battle was the main action however the cruiser TF commanded by an RAN admiral from HMAS Australia, the RAN's flag ship, blocked the Japanese troop carrying transports approaching New Guinea from the north east forcing them to withdraw. The combined action of the two US and one Australian lead TF not only won the battle but was a strategic victory that halting the Japanese thrust south towards New Guinea, then Australian territory, and the Australian mainland which is the size of the USA mainland but with a then population of only 7 million and lightly defended.
Im impressed with your knowledge would u consider dating me?
Perhaps Winston Churchill said it best "The annals of war at sea present no more intense, heart-shaking shock than this battle, in which the qualities of the United States Navy and Air Force and the American race shone forth in splendour.
my favorite show of all time.
This episode demonstrates why a modern mighty Navy is a must, for national survival and global dominance. Germany and France both lacked a modern Navy which is why they are no longer global military heavyweights
I enjoyed this as much now as when I first saw it a long, long time ago as a 6 year old. viewed in San Diego, California by a Vietnam Engineer vet.
Audiences in theatres must have stood and cheered these beautiful documentaries.
I may be wrong but this was a TV series, not a theatrical release, and they came twenty years after the war ended.
2 of my uncles were in the Navy in the Pacific, one fought at Okinawa, the other was a frogman on a submarine.
Great Series honoring Greatest Generation
Watching these movies as a young boy inspired me to become a MARINE now I still watch in aw
I watched this as a kid yes I was born 81. Yes this was on tv still
im 14. I watched this as part of a club. Still being shown at least somewhat today!
I am just amazed at the “Special Effects”.My goodness have things ever changed over the years.
Great clips of the PBY Amphibian, one of the greatest airplanes ever built.
This program was made when the breaking of the Japanese naval code was still a secret.
?
@@peterjohnson617 The US broke Japans code and figured out they planned a surprise attack against Midway Islands, which is why the carriers were at Midway.
WHAT ????? Full details were revealed in the world media November, December 1945. eg trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48667116?searchTerm=american%20code%20breakers%20japanese
This show was done in the 50s...years after the war was over. The code breaking was general knowledge in the US by then...it was the first show to make extensive use of German and Japanese footage that had been captured during and after the war..
After all these battles....
To watch the Wokeness Disease is almost unimaginable!!!
History is repeating itself
Always a reminisce view since I first saw it on tv in 1960
Love that music...
The Japanese soldiers, airmen, naval guys were very tough people !
At 10 years old I would watch victory at see. on Saturday.
Dam....that enterprise kicked ass...the Japanese called it “that dam ship”.
@@jimmytwo-times4394 maybe he’s calling the ship a dam?
Japan must have thought, "How many times must we kill you before you stay dead?!?!"
I was born during this - June 5, 1942.
Hard to beat that opening title sequence and theme.
Narrator gets properly jacked up when talking about the actions of the Japanese.
I think that losing 4 aircraft carriers in 1 battle should have shown the Japanese navy what they were in for.
It did. So much so that the Japanese government kept the news of the defeat secret from the Japanese people as long as they could.
Admiral Isoroku Yamamato declared that he would run wild the 1st year of the war but had no hope of victory if the war lasted longer than that. He was in charge of the Imperial Japanese Navy and made up the plans for both Pearl Harbor & Midway.
He knew the industrial power of the United States having been a naval attache in Washington, D.C. years prior and knew it was far greater than Japan's. He disagreed with Tojo's desire to fight the U.S. but the Emperor relented eventually and so the Pacific Theatre's fate was sealed at that point.
@@tyree9055 six months to a year
By the end of 1942 , the ijn knew it was doomed. The u.n , ran, overwhelmed it.
Back when men were men!
There are a few good documentaries of World War two. Ken Burns 'The War' is one, but none has yet supplanted Victory at Sea. It is a true classic. America at it's greatest moment.
"come you back you British soldier, come you back to Mandalay' I heard that somewhere. A professor at my college traveled east and I saw his fotos of Hong Kong with Japanese tanks. I was a kid following the European war in the newspapers of the day. !
True heroes are the men who went in with no fighter cover.
RIP Hornet Torpedo Sqd 8.🙏
My Dad served in the Navy on the USS Jarvis. He was up in the Aleutian Islands.
Where was he when USS Jarvis was at Guadacanal area ?
Midway was an incredible victory against a much superior Japanese force. Never liked the highly emotional narration of "Victory at Sea". But I have nothing but respect for the incredible skill and bravery of the Americans who stopped the Japanese onslaught and sank all four Japanese aircraft carriers engaged at Midway.
In terms of aircraft, once you include the planes on the unsinkable island of Midway- there were more American planes than Japanese
Plus we knew they were coming, they didn’t know we would be there so early
Victory yes, but not as incredible as it seemed
Pride goeth before a fall.
AMEN!! Your comment said it all!
Absolutely the tops.
Yamamoto knew this before anyone ....he knew he was on borrowed time from the very start....he knew he had to have a smashing victory which made him reckless ...and he Knew he couldn't fight a sustained campaign...he said "ill run wild for a year ...then I can promise nothing"
A mistake: it was the dive bombers, not the torpedo planes, that ultimately destroyed the Japanese carrier fleet.
The mistake was showing US torpedo bombers attacking during the US dive bomber attack. During the part about the torpedo attacks the narrator correctly commented that none of the torpedoes scored a hit.
I think that the biggest mistake that the Japanese had made was to stack bombs on their flight decks.
Sunan Peebles the torpedoes at point in the war where junk. Could have gotten hits and not gone off.
A not well known fact about WWII, is how terrible the U.S. torpedoes were. They had a 70 percent failure rate, when properly aimed and set. Detonation systems that would not fire straight on, in some conditions. Magnetic detonators were deactivated in July of 1943. Then the problems with the Contact detonators became obvious! 50% detonation at 45 degree strike angles, improving with more angle, but almost never detonating when straight on at 90 degree strike angles. Firing pins were jamming due to increased torpedo speed of 45 knots or so, and the huge forces when the torpedo hit straight on.
They also ran 10 to 12 feet deeper than set, not fixed until August of 1942. Both submarine and aerial torpedos. For several years... shameful. Not enough effort/money dedicated to testing, and then denial by those who should have been searching for a fix.
The dive bombers' attack and sacrifice brought the CAP down to sea level, opening the way for Wade Mc Cluskey's flight of dive bombers.
i went on the Midway CV last weekend in San Diego. A moving experience
Hiru ...smashed and sinking. The imperial japanese Navy ...retreats
The music score by Richard Rogers for the complete series is considered as one complete symphony. Therefore the longest symphony written some 13 hours in length.
A B17 bombadier said that using heavy bombers against maneuvering warships was like "trying to drop a marble on a scared mouse".
What a great way to describe it! I can't remember any actions in WWII when heavy bombers were successful attacking moving warships. The Japanese learned to have lookouts watching for high altitude bomb releases, and then turned their ships to avoid the drop zone. Big heavy bombers could not withstand the antiaircraft fire if they came in low, plus the enemy fighter planes were much more effective at lower altitudes. They could take off and reach the bombers quickly, if the interceptors did not have to gain a lot of altitude.
Maybe so, but you drop enough marbles, the mouse is gonna get the message!
@@davidrowley8251 There weren't any. Medium bombers could be effective, most notably at the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, where they used skip-bombing tactics rather than bombing from altitude. Heavy bombers were basically useless.
@@lindavarnell9491 To my knowledge B17s sank only one Japanese warship, a destroyer. They were unsuccessful due to the time it took for the bombs to fall as mentioned above.
The opening theme is one of the best pieces of music ever written....but it's a bit overwhelming as it loudly plays during the show itself...
This documentary is out of sequence. Midway bomber took off before the Japanese attacked. It shows the Japanese attack and then we spotted their carrier and launch the bombers. There were no American planes at Midway when the Japanese attacked.
they should show this in school or on the History Channel
The History Channel isn't interested because there is no mention of aliens. They might feature a few mementos from the battle on Pawn Stars though.
We watched these every week in JROTC class..lol
Japan did indeed wake a sleeping giant. It, like Germany took on the world. The depth of info about the disparity of naval assets alone at wars end is staggering.
The US became a logistics company that dabbled in war.
Just in the today's news (18 Oct 2019) that one of the Japanese ships has been found here at 5200 meter depth.
The gooney birds should have gotten a medal too...cute little guys
They own the island now.
How do you think they reacted when they were returning from a fishing trip and saw the flaming carriers?
Not a word about why Spruance was in the right place at the right time. WW II was a code breakers' war.
awesome please watch USA #1
Not mentioned in this account is the triumph of the Code Breakers in Pearl, who deciphered the Japanese Naval Codes and gave Nimitz the intelligence that told him when and where the Japanese were going to attack. The American Navy ambushed the Japanese, who had no idea where they were.
I have to imagine this information was still classified at the time this show was created. But I am not sure when the codebreaking was declassified.
Australia. Yes. Despite Hollywood etc., It was our forces that first stopped the Japanese cold, even if Hollywood does not wish to agree.
The Australians did heroic work in the Owen Stanley range. That battle, if that is what you’re referring to started in July and the Australians retreated until stopping the Japanese in September, the pushing them back with the Japanese losing decisive battles in October of ‘42.
I fell in love with this when it first aired - watched it with my Father - still do - Has anyone considered a colorized version? I Would be very keen to add it to my collection! Donna
No ad's victory at Sea
Given the circumstances and the film makers who were active participants, it does not surprise me to see some "hollywood" footage in this documentary.
The M3 tank did a great job in Burma!
Breaking the Japanese Code was not mentioned here. I assume this was still classified at the time this show was created? I wonder when the codebreaking was declassified?
Funny though that the ‘fake’ footage shows torpedos being launched, when it was the dive bombers that made the hits on the carriers.
12:20 ... Only 4 of 6 carriers of the Kido Butai ( A name for their fleet carrier group ) were on the way. 6 had gone to Pearl Harbour. Only four were going to Midway. The two that had been sent to Battle of Coral Sea were not going to Midway, one was too damaged to go, and as four still had more planes than the USA could send to Midway, and they expected to be able to surpise the USA, they felt safe. If four or more fleet carriers had been sent to the Coral Sea, then they would have had much better success there , Or they could have just not done the Coral Sea thing at all. So they could have had six fleet carriers for Midway ? But they needed to save fuel, and they needed fleet carriers at home for defense, to become the fleet in being, eg the Doolittle Raids had just happened, and it seems the Doolittle raids had achieved something... conservatism in the Japanese strategy, But of course, If 6 fleet carriers went to Midway, the USA were going to have to let the invasion happen handing Midway to the Japanese temporarily... they were never going to send capital ships to Midway to save it, unless they knew they had reasonable strength and strategy for winning the war of attrition - in this case of the carriers, planes and pilots.
Maggie swimming out to Homer in Season 11 brought me here ;)
HE WHO LAUGHS LAST......LAUGHS BEST!!!!
June 4,1942 a Upset Win at Midway Islands, YEA!!!
Back in Sept of 2023 a research team found the carrier Agaki
I am seventy years old and saw this series as a child. I remember the narrator saying “And now . . . “. This episode “Midway is East” is one of the most confusing of the whole series. I don’t know why they didn’t do a better job on this battle. Midway was definitely the turning point of the Pacific Campaign. It’s really confounding why with all the material on hand at the time they did do a better job. Oh well, you can’t hit a home run at ever "At Bat”
I think it covers it pretty well but I agree the battle is confusing without background knowledge.
25:30 ... planes from the Enterprise attack Hiryu .. Yorktown is damaged and doomed, but that leaves Hornet ? Well Hornet had some planes reserved for recon but mostly its attack force was in a mess as they had completely messed up in the morning attack, and went the wrong direction. Hornet's torpedo bombers, tragically, did navigate correctly , defying orders, and attacked for no result and a complete 100% loss of planes, and most personnel. But the dive bombers never found their target carriers and with a lack of experience, they were led beyond the range for return to the carrier and had planes land on Midway and many planes ditched in the sea. Hornet had done the recon, and still they did send in a follow up attack after Enterprise.. Enterprise had already doomed the Hiryu so Hornet's group attacked other ships.
Very good information on Hornet.She doesn't get the press of her 2 glorious sisters but she was just as heroic in her short career.
Singapore was lost because of the inaction, incompetence and lack of gut by one man; LtGen Percival , the perfect peacetime officer
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life John 3:16
Why only one son, why "give him", and anyway doenst that mean getting the son back ? Why withdraw him from service after only 3 years of active duty ? Any tangible evidence of this eternal life you claim ? Can we see them through a telescope yet?
Both German and Japanese forces were tenacious :) In USA, we call them the 'greatest generation !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have they ever made a better documentary series?
No! These are among the very best documentaries of WW II. The new documentaries are longer for more commercials. The new script writers are morons who repeat the same information again and again. They think the the audiences of today are stupid and can't remember what was just said a few minutes earlier.
Have you tried The World at War? Very good.
@@JR-lk8fe I know, it's 11 months later, but you are so correct; I despise it when right after some commercials, we have to listen to a recap of the entire show up to that time. I am 68 and I also remember watching Victory At Sea many years ago. What I didn't realize those many years ago but what I notice today is the amount of recreation of a lot of the story; I thought it was all actual footage. But that's okay, I know that it had to be done to fill out the story line. And of course the magnificent musical score by the incredible Richard Rogers that so eloquently captures the mood of everything from being in the midst of battle to the tranquil times in-between. My late Father was enlisted aboard the Escort Carrier Lunga Point and was at Okinawa and Iwo Jima and saw plenty of action fighting off the Kamikazes.
I think that The World at War’ by Thames Television in England is another epic masterpiece and i hope that viewers who have not seen it can access the programme episodes in other parts of the world. The stupidity of mass killing and of the donkeys who led it is also made crystal clear in another British series about WW 1 made in black and white in the mid 60’s. Given away by the Daily Mail newspaper circa 20 years ago in Britain. Along with ‘Victory at Sea’ these 2 shows cover every base that the public can be told about the two apocalyptic crimes of the 20th Century. Churchill said that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance and all 3 shows comprise a comprehensive document which should put everyone in no doubt that these bestial horrors could be the end of the Earth 🎸
World at War came close. The combination of the music and Graves' narration are the best. Only seven years after victory . The evil that constituted the Axis was still fresh in everyone's mind
Only one survivor from torpedo squadron 8 at midway... Ensign George Gay, Who alone survived the crash landing of the torpedo bomber. He managed to inflate the life raft and climb up onto it, But as the battle progressed the Japanese came closer, And he was forced back into the sea. Fortunately, He went unnoticed, And climbed back onto his raft, The only man to have a ring side seat to most of the battle of midway.
the torpedo bombers still surprises me could not get close enough to make hits, but their attack and sacrifice pulled down the Japanese air cover and the Dive bombers had a field day. But even then they only scored a handful of hits. Fortunately the hits were severe, planes were on the deck being serviced, etc.
The Japanese were nowhere near the USN in damage control...it was major factor in the loss of many of their vessels
Despite the jingoistic rhetoric from the narrator, please remember that, when this series was first broadcast in 1952, the Korean War was on, and Japan was the "unsinkable aircraft carrier" that was crucial to the allied success in that war.
Sadly, the military was still saddled with that narcissistic loser, MacArthur. Truman finally found his balls and sacked that bastard but not before a lot of men died for nothing!
@@richardcline1337 well his attack on Seoul did break the deadlock. But I agree he was a diva.
WHAT ? Do you mean that Japan should have been bombed some more, since it was unsinkable ? Its like you are suggesting that the americans stopped at 2 nukes because it might sink if they kept going. ??? What are we to remember ? What they did think... better to build the country back up so that it can be a good ally ??? Or do you mean Japan was anti-communist at the start ? But you could say Japan attacking turned China communist...looking at the dates...
@@isilder Not at all. I was stating that I think the narrator's rhetoric was overly jingoistic because the Japanese/US relationship in 1952 when this series was first broadcast was dramatically different from what it was in 1941 when the Battle of Midway occurred.
The Doolittle raid sunk the Yorktown. It was a boneheaded idea expertly conducted. As a result we lost Lexington and Yorktown.
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?????
The Yorktown was sunk at Midway, it was damaged at Coral Sea.
@@JS-fe8sx For the want of the others they were lost in succession.
@@MrDavePed I’m still a little confused. For the want of what?
@@JS-fe8sx The Lexington was lost for want of the Hornet and the Enterprise. The Yorktown was lost for want of the Lexington.
@@MrDavePed OK, now I understand. I’d have to disagree. Hornet and Enterprise weren’t back in time from Doolittle that’s true. However I think it’s entirely possible that we would have lost at least 2 carriers had they been there. This is debatable. It’s one of those “what ifs”. However, Yorktown was sunk by a sub, another carrier would not have prevented this, fighter protection at this point in the war being a little sketchy. She was under tow but… The Doolittle raid was partially responsible for Midway and a badly needed morale booster. Neither battle would have caused a change in the outcome of the war, it would have changed the length by a month or two either way is all.
Smashed and sinking!
Did they cover Wake?
I don't think it was even mentioned.
고마워요.
12:32 "The same carriers that hit Pearl Harbour are headed for Midway"... Well the best 4 out of the 6.. so yes the 4 had been at Pearl, but 2 were not available for Midway due to Battle of the Coral Sea. The Battle of the Coral Sea was a waste. a great strategic loss. The USN might not have attended Midway if 6 carriers had turned up. "We will just have to not lose any more islands", they'd say, and carry on. For Japan, the Battle of Midway was always about sinking the USN . Not about having Midway.
25:11
A Japanese Judy 2 dropping a bomb.
According to relevant information,
this footage was taken by a nerveless cameraman aboard USS Lexington (the new one) in 1944.
This video was made in 1952. They still could not mention the intelligence coup that won the Battle of Midway.
A PLUS
Ok I note some intercuts with Japanese propaganda films, 2:57 suspiciously looks like Toshiro Mifune who served in the Aerial Photography unit during World War II.
That is very interesting.
@@corkcamden9878 you see it too? and the guy at 2:46 with the mustache is also a familiar face form 50's samurai films
note no reference to decrypting Japanese codes. All just intuition
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