A Meticulous, Comprehensive Study of the Battle of Midway
Mark Stille, the veteran author of numerous books on naval history, among them Pacific Carrier War and, Leyte Gulf: A New History of the World's Largest Sea Battle, has produced a meticulous, comprehensive study of the battle of Midway, the most famous carrier battle of World War II. He has covered every aspect of the battle, from the earlier engagements that set the stage for this encounter and the structure of both the Combined Fleet and the US Pacific Fleet, to the impact of the American victory on the rest of the war in the Pacific. He chooses to begin with a Prologue set in an unexpected action, but one that establishes his major theme for Midway, the Indian Ocean Raid. From March 31 to April 10, 1942, the Japanese Striking Force—the same carriers that had attacked Pearl Harbor—attacked Royal Navy bases in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and other locations near India. In some ways the raid was a great success, since the Japanese suffered almost no casualties and sank several British ships. But the British were able to evacuate most of their ships to East African ports, and the Japanese were not in a position to invade this area. And, although they caused no damage, at one point a squadron of British bombers appeared above the Striking Force, and were not detected until the bombs splashed into the sea around the carriers. Stille’s point is that the Imperial Japanese Navy—then and a few months later at Midway—lacked radar and was poor at detecting incoming air raids.
Midway emphasizes the presentation of background information, rather than providing drama as the battle itself unfolds. Stille outlines the commanders on both sides, their strengths and weaknesses, and their plans as the two fleets move into the waters off Midway Island. He also provides a catalog of the weapons that each side would use, from the wretched American Mark 18 aerial torpedo, so slow that Japanese carriers could simply steam away from it, to the Nakajima B5N “Kate” torpedo bomber. He tells readers about the Zero’s great strengths: it was fast, maneuverable, could climb quickly, and had an impressive combat radius. On the other hand, its armament was barely adequate, and its radio was not reliable. The American Wildcat was very different. It was heavily armed, could take a lot of damage and keep flying—but so short-ranged that its ability to escort attack planes was limited. He similarly describes and assesses the ships that both task forces brought to Midway, from the three American and four Japanese carriers to the battleships, cruisers and destroyers that escorted them. In evaluating the ships, he rightly concentrates on their antiaircraft armaments: the US Navy had a distinct advantage, he points out, not only in having more and more powerful guns, but in possessing both radar and high-angle fire control systems to direct their shells.
Stille devotes several pages to two issues that helped decide the battle, intelligence and search. The first covers well trodden ground: American code-breakers were able to read enough of JN-25, the IJN’s main cipher system, to determine the make-up of the Japanese force, its course and schedule. This enabled Nimitz to put his smaller carrier task force in exactly the right position. Then, as the fighting unfolded, superior American air search capabilities allowed both the planes based on Midway Island, and then the carrier strike forces, to attack the Japanese carriers. This was not entirely one-sided. Almost all of the Hornet’s air group missed the enemy fleet—but he explains how and why the Japanese search doctrine, along with some bad luck, caused Admiral Nagumo to be caught by surprise. As for strategic intelligence, the Japanese Navy never knew how many American carriers were at sea that June.
All this attention paid to order of battle, weapons, doctrine and intelligence is in contrast with the space Stille devotes to the battle itself. It is not until page 154 that combat begins. The sequence of events—the planes from Midway Island attacking the Striking Force, the Japanese attack on Midway, the series of American carrier attacks that destroyed the Japanese carriers, and the final days of Japanese retreat—are all covered adequately. But there is no excitement, much less suspense. This is in striking contrast to Shattered Sword, Jon Parshall and Tony Tully’s 2007 revisionist account of the battle. Stille has made good use of Shattered Sword, as well as John Lundstrom’s The First Team, published in 2005; his thorough endnotes cite both works, as well as recently found documents, Japanese and American, that those authors never saw.
Readers who want a comprehensive study of this battle, and do not crave the minute-by-minute excitement of falling bombs and sinking ships, will do well to read Midway.