imperial japanese navy

• Aboard the Japanese CVs
• What is the morning looking like at this point aboard the CVs?
• What are the Japanese briefed about?
• When do they launch?
• Who is the strike leader?
• Talk about the flight into Midway…
• Aboard the American CVs
• Reveille for US aircrews is at 0300, breakfast at 0400, ready rooms shortly after that
• Talk about the anticipation in the ready rooms
• Nervous energy

• Aboard Midway island
• Search planes take off around 0415
• Americans prepare for the battle they know is coming today
• Planes fueled and armed
• Bert Earnest and his two dollar bill

• At 0545 a search plane sees the incoming strike and radios “Many Planes Heading Midway”

• PBY search planes sight Japanese CVs at 0552

• Because of incoming aircraft and CV sighting, Midway scrambles damn near everything with wings by 0600

• Japanese Midway strike
• Give us the run-down of the Japanese attack on the island and the aerial encounters with the American fighters
• Bill Brooks and his Brewster engage Japanese as they come into the island around 0616
• What are the effects of the Japanese strike on the island?
• Who decides another strike is needed?
• Why?
• When does Nagumo get word of another strike being needed?
• Take us through his decision making here

• Aboard the American CVs
• 0645 Pilots Man Your Planes!
• Dusty Kleiss
• Don Hoff
• Spruance on orders from Fletcher decides to launch at 0700
• CV6 launches and orbits the TF awaiting CV5 and her birds
• US CV strike launch is discombobulated and unorganized 
• (clusterfuck is a good term but we shouldn’t say that)
• “Proceed on mission assigned” flashed to McClusky
• Hornet’s strike
• Stanhope Ring versus John Waldron

• As the American CVs strike is being launched, the first attackers from Midway see the Japanese CVs…
• Bert Earnest and Harry Ferrier in 8-T-1 attack Hiryu
• The B26s attack Akagi at almost the same time
• Talk about the near miss by the B26 on Akagi’s bridge
• 0800 VMSB-241 attacks Japanese fleet
• Japanese CAP proves to be incredibly deadly to these attacks

• While the Midway based aircraft are attacking the fleet, the Japanese are also attacked by a submarine 
• Talk about the effects that the Nautilus attack on the fleet have as far as timing is concerned, and what do the Japanese do 
• Nautilus’ attack, while not successful, is HUGE when it comes to the events that soon follow
• Arashi…

• Around 0840 the American attacks cease
• Talk about Nagumo’s timetable…
• What does it look like inside the hangar decks of the Japanese CVs right now?
• US VT attacks on Kido Butai
• VT8 and VT6 shortly afterwards

• Let’s once and for all dispel the George Gay myth…

• The Flight to Nowhere
• Where the hell is HAG?
• What happens to them?
• Could they have helped?
• Tease the cover up by Mitscher for Ring to be discussed at length in the next episode

• EAG flight and McClusky’s decision
• Talk about what is happening in the air right now 
• What is McClusky thinking
• What is happening to the SBD formation?
• McClusky’s decision to continue the search
• Seeing Arashi…
• Set up the attack of EAG on Kaga and Akagi from Japanese and US sides
• What is going on aboard the Japanese CVs right now?
• PLANES ON THE FLIGHT DECKS MYTH!
• Flash warning to Kaga
• McClusky breaks doctrine and attacks Kaga

• Attack on Kaga and Akagi
• Earl Gallaher
• Dusty Kleiss
• Don Hoff
• Aboard Kaga
• Briefly discuss attacks on Soryu
• Talk about the damage done to Kaga, Akagi and Soryu
• Just how bad is it?

• Discuss the Hiryu strikes on CV5

• Afternoon strike on Hiryu
• Lots of AAA this time and CAP
• Dusty Kleiss
• Don Hoff

• Wrap up June 4 and tease the next episode
• Japanese losses
• US losses

• Nimitz Pre War
• Who was he and where did he come from?
• Texas Hill Country, Fredericksburg
• Too poor to go to college, worked his tail off to go to Naval Academy
• Spent time in Japan before the war
• Nimitz was a submarine officer in his early years
• Commanded a DD in the Philippines
• Commanded a cruiser division and battleship division
• XO of SC, CO Chicago
• Highly experienced in the realm of command

• Nimitz Upon Assignment as CINCPAC
• 56 Years Old currently occupying the office of the Bureau of Navigation
• Whose decision was it to promote Nimitz to the position?
• FDR
• He had been offered the job before December 41 and turned it down for fear of upsetting senior officers.
• He was junior to some 50 other Admirals
• He feared that taking the job and leapfrogging them would have created resentment and made it more difficult to do the job.

• Nimitz the Leader
• What kind leadership style did Nimitz utilize?
• He was a people person
• Never cussed, raised his voice or dressed men down in public
• He gave his subordinates a lot of autonomy and assumed they knew their jobs until they proved they did not
• If that occurred, he spoke in low tones, was blunt but not rude or insulting
• Always looked after his men and took care of them

• Nimitz the Executive
• Juggled personalities of subordinates and his boss extremely well
• Dealings with King
• Dealings with subordinates
• Turner
• GEN Smith
• Halsey
• Towers
• JO Richardson
• MacArthur
• Spruance and Nimitz relationship
• Nimitz handled the various personalities in the Pacific in check much as Ike did in the ETO. 
• Was very similar to Ike in terms of Supreme Commander, even though, Nimitz was no Supreme Commander

• What did Nimitz inherit in December 41 and how did he go about fixing the problems?
• Inherited a shattered command
• Devastated morale
• Staff, fleet and populace
• Fear of a Japanese invasion
• When he landed in Pearl on Xmas Day he asked about the relief of Wake
• When told it fell and was abandoned, he fell silent
• Didn’t take command immediately. Worked with Admiral Pye to get the lay of the land, latest issues and intel.
• Took command on December 31, 1941 aboard USS Grayling (SS-209) fittingly

• Nimitz’s Strategy 1941-42
• Be cautious, yet forceful and hit them where they least expect it
• Strike  back was essential
• (Set the stage for next episode about the Hit and Run Raids)

• Nimitz’s biggest gamble
• Midway
• Recognized the role of intel and believed in it, believed in his people and their skills
• Nimitz’s Legacy
• Developed and implemented the island hopping strategy that won the war.
• Inherited a shattered fleet, trusted his subordinates, built his leadership teams and won when it was absolutely necessary.

• Why did the Japanese invade the Philippines in the first place?

• Why after so much warning, especially after the attack on Pearl Harbor, were the American forces so unprepared to meet a Japanese attack? 

• Why were the aircraft not dispersed?
• Why was there so little American air defense?
• Mac’s belief that Japanese suffered a defeat at Pearl?  Excuse for not acting more aggressively?

-We’ve harangued the Army Air Corps, as they were called then, enough I guess, lets focus on other commands.  What about the Navy?  Where was the Asiatic Fleet?  

-What was MacArthur’s plan to meet the invaders?  What did he want to do?  

-Why would that simply not work?

-Talk about the US tanks that ran out of gas trying to get to Lingayen?  Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics.

-Mac’s change in strategy from War Plan Orange to “defend the beaches, hit ‘em where they ain’t” was ludicrous.  

-He had nowhere near the resources to do this.  Ironically, it was the Japanese that succeeded in “hitting ’em where they ain’t.”

-Needs to be said: Gen Short pilloried for loss of Hawaii with no warning.  Mac had warning and received Medal of Honor.

-Once the Japanese landed on Luzon in their main assault on December 22, they advanced rapidly, running over most resistance they came across.   The largest amphibious invasion in history, to that point, was wildly successful.  Another large landing occurred and now the Japanese had two armies advancing on Manila.  

-With such numbers on the American and Filipino side, why did this happen?

-Admiral Hart was one of the first leaders to publicly say that the Philippines were indefensible. 

Why was this a surprisingly common thought?

- ADM Hart was Annapolis classmate & friend of Mac’s older brother.  Knew Mac well, called him Douglas.  Said “Douglas is certain about a lot of stuff that just ain’t so, and is an effective talker, which leads to danger.”   Maybe hint at our MacArthur episode?

-Let’s talk about the ineffectiveness of the Cavite submarines that were sortied by Hart

-Staring defeat in the face, what did Mac Arthur do next?

-How did the American forces do in the defense of the Bataan Peninsula?

-Despite their very good showing and heavy casualties inflicted on the Japanese, did they actually have any hope of rescue?

-March 11, MacArthur leaves.  By May, the Philippines are surrendered to the Japanese.  Over 90,000 Americans and Filipinos are captured.  

-How is this news reacted to in the US?  

-What does this do to American morale, both in the military and at home?

https://williamtoti.com

-Historians often cite Japanese expansionism, imperialism, what have you, for their desire to attack Pearl Harbor.  Others say it the United States’ embargos that led to the attack.  Which was it?  And could there have been another alternative to Kido Butai flinging airplanes at the sleeping American Pacific fleet?

-There were many warnings about the impending attack before the first aircraft dropped their ordnance.  What were some of those warnings?  What, if any, actions could of/should have been taken?

-After the attack, the US government needed scapegoats.  They had to pin the blame on their overall intelligence failure on anybody but themselves, and so they harpooned both Army General Walter Short, and Navy Admiral Husband Kimmel.  Who were these guys, what were their respective roles and were they actually to blame for the entire attack?  Were they to blame for anything?  What should they have done prior to the attack?  Were they aware of any real threat?

-The actual attack on Pearl Harbor was a military feat in its own right.  Who was the planner?  Why was attacking PH such a risk militarily?    

-Let’s talk about the opposing forces…Japanese planning, skill and execution versus American response…

https://williamtoti.com

The Battle of Guadalcanal took place from August 1942 until February 1943.  Because Guadalcanal is an island, both the Japanese and the Americans relied on the sea to supply their forces and bring in reinforcements.    James D. Hornfischer’s “Neptune’s Inferno” tells the story of the fight to control the seas around Guadalcanal.  These sea battles cost roughly three times as many American lives as the fighting on the island and gave the American surface fleet a hard lesson in modern fleet-on-fleet action.

The world was on fire. Evil had spread across the lands and seas like a virus, infecting everything with death and hatred. The monstrous Empires of Europe and the East seemed unbeatable and destined to victory. To win the Allies would need to try every trick in the book, use every method of war known to them. And at times even invent new methods. The more daring the more dangerous. But in a fight that could mean the end of everything, there can be no reserves, no plans too risky. Better to leave no stone unturned. Better to lose, if lose you must, having exhausted every possible or even impossible chance. The Allies in WWII knew this and in the Pacific theatre they tried every imaginable gambit.

Let’s go back to beautiful Bali and the perilous Lombok Strait. Let’s go back to the hundreds of empty featureless miles of the Java Sea. To the craggy bushland and winding river training grounds of Camp X on the Hawkesbury River. Let’s go back to the crowded shipping lanes and jam-packed wharves of the Jewel of the East, Singapore itself. Let’s go back to a time when everything was on the line, freedom hung in the balance, and a few fearless men had the courage to gamble their lives in the hopes of striking the enemy a blow. Men that recognized the truth in Faulkner’s line "You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore." Let’s go back to September of 1943 and Operation Jaywick.