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A depiction of the bomber attack on the Japanese carriers, by Norman Bel Geddes
The turning point of the Battle of Midway came rather unexpectedly—at the hands of the hard-earned skill and sheer luck of a small group of American SBD-3 “Dauntless” bombers.
Led by Air Group Commander C. Wade McClusky, Jr., two squadrons, totaling 32 bombers, took off from the USS Enterprise on 4 June 1942. At this point in the battle, it looked like the Japanese might win, so McClusky’s group was tasked with finding and attacking the Japanese carriers. After circling the Enterprise for almost an hour, waiting for the takeoff of the torpedo bombers and fighters that were supposed to fly with them, McClusky was given the go ahead to leave without them.
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C. Wade McClusky, ca. 1943
McClusky’s squadrons were almost out of fuel and unable to find the carriers when McClusky spotted a Japanese ship. Correctly assuming that the ship would go to rejoin the others, McClusky flew in the direction the ship was sailing and found three Japanese carriers. The ships were already being attacked by torpedo bombers, distracting both the ships and the Japanese Zero planes from the squadrons’ approach.
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Excerpt from the USS Enterprise’s War Diary about the role of the torpedo bombers
Contrary to usual bomber protocol (in which the forward planes would attack the ship the furthest away, leaving the planes behind them to attack the closer ships), McClusky radioed that his squadron would attack the closer cruiser, the Kaga. Unfortunately, the leader of the other squadron, Richard H. Best, didn’t get the message, and he and his planes started going in to attack the same ship as McClusky. Luckily, Best saw what was happening and managed to pull up—but only two of his planes were able to follow him. The rest continued in their dive to attack the Kaga.
While McClusky and most of the planes were attacking the Kaga, Best and the other two planes went to attack the Akagi. At almost the same time, a group of bombers from the USS Yorktown arrived and bombed the third carrier, the Soryu. The bombers’ attack disabled the three carriers, with the Kaga and the Soryu sinking later that afternoon and the Akagi sinking by the following morning. Another carrier, the Hiryu, was also later sunk by the Americans.
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Excerpt from the USS Enterprise’s War Diary about McClusky’s role in the battle
Within the space of less than ten minutes, the course of the battle—and perhaps the war in the Pacific—had been changed. Not only had the Japanese lost their four best carriers, but they also lost the hundreds of planes that were on them—a major loss since Japan didn’t have the capability of producing more at a fast rate—setting the United States on a winning streak in the Pacific.
Read more about the bomber attack in this or this article in World War II magazine. Or read McClusky’s firsthand account or listen to him describe the battle. You can also find an account of the attack in the USS Enterprise‘s War Diary on Fold3.
