Japanese run
Pearl Harbor to Coral Sea.
Pearl Harbor and Coral Sea are the preface. Midway is the first US fleet-scale answer that worked.
Without HYPO, Nimitz does not get to choose the square of ocean.
Timeline
- Coral Sea
A preview; Yorktown damaged; Japan's southern push blunted.
- AF ruse
HYPO confirms Midway as the target.
- Aleutians open
The northern feint begins.
- Midway strike
Japanese first wave on the atoll; US searches outbound.
- Torpedo squadrons
Devastating US losses; Japanese CAP pulled low.
- Dive bombers hit
Three carriers fatally struck in minutes.
- Hiryu strikes
Yorktown mortally wounded.
- Hiryu found
The fourth carrier is wrecked.
- Yorktown sinks
A US price for a Japanese catastrophe.
- Guadalcanal
The next campaign -- Midway was a turn, not a peace.
Eras
Intelligence race
HYPO, AF, Nimitz's gamble.
The day
Five minutes that English books never tire of.
Pursuit and Yorktown
Hiryu gone; Yorktown down.
Solomons
A long war with a new balance.
Milestones
Four carriers gone
Kido Butai's first team wrecked.
HYPO's proof of value
Intelligence as a named force.
Industrial sequel
Who could replace decks and pilots.
Four wrecks did not take Tokyo. They took away Japan's cheapest path to a short war.
Pair the day with Tsushima when teaching East Asian naval history -- two decisions, two centuries.