The Battle of Midway was an important turning point in the War for the Pacific. The forces fighting each other were the American forces on the island of Midway versus the Japanes fleet. Before the battle occurred the Americans cracked the Japanese code and found out about the Japanese planned to attack the island of Midway. The U.S. started preparing for a battle. The first attack occurred on June 4th when four PBY Catalina's attacked the Japanese Transports.
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Later on Japanese "Val" dive bombers, "Zekes" fighters, and "Kate" torpedo planes attacked Midway. The American pilots took a heavy toll defending Midway but the Japanes caused minor damage to the facilities on the island. Now it was the Americans turn to fight back. They sent "Dauntless" dive bombers, "Avenger" torpedo bombers, and fighters after the Japanese fleet. The Japanese put up a firm resistance. A combination of "Zeke" fighters and the anti-aircraft guns on the Japanese ships destroyed many U.S. planes.
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"Devestator" torpedo bombers attacked the carriers next and suffered sever casualties due to Japanese fighters. They did succeed in drawing the fighters away from the carriers. This allowed the "Dauntless" dive bombers an opening. They finally scored hits on the Kaga, Akagi, and the Soryu which were all air-craft carriers.
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The Japanese Carrier Hiryu made one final attack on the U.S. carrier Yorktown. Planes from the Hiryu damaged the Yorktown to a critical point but never sank it. After this happened the USS Enterprise launched an attack against the Carrier Hiryu and scored some very critical hits on it. After this attack the Japanes Admiral Yamomoto decided to head back to the West. It was a major victory for the United States.
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This video is about the attack on Midway.
