Author Topic: Did the Japanese Capture Midway? (Read 935 times)

Denholm · « **on:** March 06, 2007, 09:41:30 AM »

Hey guys, I have a stupid question thanks to my school curriculum. They said, "With the American navy badly damaged at Pearl Harbor, Japan captured much of the western Pacific and eastern Asia. Guam, Midway Island, and Wake Island were taken in addition to the East Indies, the Philippines, and the Gilbert Islands."
Midway Island? I don't recall hearing ANYTHING about Midway being captured by the Japanese in WWII. I looked on google, didn't find much of anything that would hint that Japan actually captured Midway.

I'm trying to figure this out so that I can prove these morons wrong for once. Anyone have any idea if Midway was captured, even for a day, during WWII by the Japanese?

rabbidrabbit · « **Reply #1 on:** March 06, 2007, 09:44:18 AM »

nope, they had too much uber ack.

Denholm · « **Reply #2 on:** March 06, 2007, 09:45:46 AM »

That's what I was thinking, but does anyone have proof, as in History text, so these idiots won't blow me off saying, "We analyzed the National Archives, and they say na na na na na...."

CAV · « **Reply #3 on:** March 06, 2007, 09:46:21 AM »

it never was...

U.S. won that battle and the jap landing force never got near the island.

http://www.worldwar2history.info/Midway/Battle-of-Midway.html

Denholm · « **Reply #4 on:** March 06, 2007, 09:49:00 AM »

Yeah, thanks for re-assuring me, I'll go ahead and pummel them.

rabbidrabbit · « **Reply #5 on:** March 06, 2007, 09:49:29 AM »

It was really the Japs fault for not taking it. No one wanted to de ack or take the town down, they all wanted to vulch.

Karash · « **Reply #6 on:** March 06, 2007, 09:51:37 AM »

They only attacked Midway to get our fleet in a fight. But Yamoto split his navy to attack the Alaskan islands as a decoy, but Nimitz (I think) had already broken the Jap code and didnt take the bait.

The result was a lot of Japanese carriers destroyed. After Midway, Yamoto did not win anything signifigant in the war and was shot down in a transport plane going to the soloman islands (again, I think...)

Ripsnort · « **Reply #7 on:** March 06, 2007, 09:57:57 AM »

Many say Midway was the turning point of the war. (Those in the navy)
Many say Guadacanal was the turning point (Those in the Marines)

Denholm · « **Reply #8 on:** March 06, 2007, 10:03:47 AM »

Yes, my google search did return the mentions of wanting to lure the Americans into a fight and allow the Japanese Navy to destroy the American fleet. Yet I don't believe the Nimitz was in the fight!

rabbidrabbit · « **Reply #9 on:** March 06, 2007, 10:05:31 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Denholm
Yes, my google search did return the mentions of wanting to lure the Americans into a fight and allow the Japanese Navy to destroy the American fleet. Yet I don't believe the Nimitz was in the fight!

This proves the Americans are a bunch of haxors!

soda72 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 06, 2007, 11:30:30 AM »

When the Japanese attacked on Pearl Harbor, Japaneses destroyers shelled Midway island.

Ripsnort · « **Reply #11 on:** March 06, 2007, 11:36:11 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by soda72
When the Japanese attacked on Pearl Harbor, Japaneses destroyers shelled Midway island.

I'll bet that was quite a reach from P.H.

soda72 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 06, 2007, 11:37:16 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Ripsnort
I'll bet that was quite a reach from P.H.

I think they were a little closer then where the main CV's was at..

rpm · « **Reply #13 on:** March 06, 2007, 11:52:40 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by rabbidrabbit
It was really the Japs fault for not taking it. No one wanted to de ack or take the town down, they all wanted to vulch.

Hornet33 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 06, 2007, 12:05:26 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Karash
They only attacked Midway to get our fleet in a fight. But Yamoto split his navy to attack the Alaskan islands as a decoy, but Nimitz (I think) had already broken the Jap code and didnt take the bait.

The result was a lot of Japanese carriers destroyed. After Midway, Yamoto did not win anything signifigant in the war and was shot down in a transport plane going to the soloman islands (again, I think...)

Commander Joseph Rochefort led the unit that broke the JN-25 naval code that allowed Admiral Nimitz to position his carrier force in an ambush for the Japanese attacking Midway.

On the morning of April 18, despite urgings by local commanders to cancel the trip for fear of ambush, Yamamoto's planes left Rabaul as scheduled for the 315-mile trip. Shortly after, eighteen specially-fitted P-38s took off from Guadalcanal. They wave-hopped most of the 430 miles to the rendezvous point, maintaining radio silence throughout. At 09:34 Tokyo time, the two flights met and a dogfight ensued between the P-38s and the six Zeroes escorting Yamamoto.

1st Lt. Rex T. Barber engaged the first of the two Japanese bombers, which turned out to be Yamamoto's plane. He sprayed the plane with gunfire until it began to spew smoke from its left engine. Barber turned away to attack the other bomber as Yamamoto's plane crashed into the jungle. Afterwards, another pilot, Capt Thomas George Lanphier, Jr., claimed he had shot down the lead bomber, which led to a decades-old controversy until a team inspected the crash site to determine direction of the bullet impacts. Most historians now credit Barber with the claim.