It's 7 am in the morning on June 4th, 1942. In the midst of the Pacific Ocean, Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi paces the bridge of the immense Japanese aircraft carrier, the Hiryū. Today he bears the great honor of commanding two aircraft carriers, the Hiryū and the Sōryū.
Alongside two other carriers, the Akagi and Kaga, the four ships make up an elite task force known as the Kidō Butai. It’s a crucial day for both Yamaguchi and the Japanese Navy: just two hours ago, a Japanese force of 108 planes was launched to attack Midway atoll, a vital US military base in an ambitious operation. Yamaguchi’s restless steps are halted by the captain of the Hiryū Tomeo Kaku with the urgent message from their superior and head of the operation, Admiral Nagumo.
The alarm is raised aboard the Hiryū. The Hiryū comes under attack from American aircraft flying from the still operational Midway base. They're spotted and Zeros come in quickly to intercept the Americans.
They savagely cut through the American torpedo bombers who lack fighter escorts to keep them safe. Some American aircraft still manage to launch attacks. But the gods are with the Japanese.
They narrowly miss the Hiryū and the others in the Kidō Butai. There is to be a second attack on Midway Islands. The sailors frantically begin to rearm the planes.
Half an hour into rearming, they barely manage to switch bombs on just half of the planes, leaving the Kidō Butai unfit to attack enemy ships. And with the Japanese hangars filled with explosives they are especially vulnerable to bombing attacks. That’s exactly when Yamaguchi receives the news that confirms his worst fears.
Although they can’t tell specifically what types of vessels they are, any naval presence is a threat and cause for immediate alarm. An order comes from Nagumo. Precious time has been wasted, and now they're stuck between two strategies.
Meanwhile, planes from Midway keep coming. The Japanese anti-aircraft guns fire towards the attackers. The awesome stopping power of the Japanese defense does its grim work.
An American plane goes down, then another. The Americans, though, are relentless, and the Hiryū is showered in near misses. Yamaguchi grows ever more impatient with Admiral Nagumo.
Why don’t the other carriers launch an attack while Hiryū deals with the bombers? But there's no time to launch. The Japanese planes that attacked Midway earlier on arrive and they need to land immediately.
For half an hour the Kidō Butai carries out the painstaking, time-consuming effort of recovering all the returning planes. All the while Yamaguchi can barely hold his composure. The last plane screeches to a halt.
Swarms of American torpedo planes appear over the water, heading straight for the Kidō Butai. And these are different to the Army Air Force planes from before. It's not just American surface ships they're up against, it's aircraft carriers.
The American Naval Air Force has found them. The Zeros that are in the air jump into action. The Zeros dive down and swoop behind the slow and vulnerable American torpedo planes.
The skill of the Zero pilots is unquestionable. They let loose their guns and American planes are shot down in scores. Yamaguchi watches the distant splashes as American torpedo bombers go down.
But in the lead, there are still bombers flying. They get closer and closer, and somehow through the maelstrom manage to launch their torpedoes. The deadly payload streaks silently beneath the blue waves.
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Jump into the action and try not to catch a spicy fish. Back on Hiryū Captain Kaku puts her into a hard turn. The ship swings round.
Despite her size, Hiryū is nimble. Incredibly, under the skill of the Japanese captains no Japanese ships are hit. But with all the maneuvers made, Kidō Butai has broken formation.
There's a brief celebration and the men cheer. But Yamaguchi frowns, knowing that despite their victory in fielding off the American torpedo attack, it’s far from over. At 10:22 am he glances to the sky.
What he sees nearly stops his heart. Nearly 50 US Navy SBD Dauntless bombers from two different flights appear above. The Japanese Zero fighters are all engaged down low, seeing off the last of the enemy torpedo bombers.
There are none in place to stop the swarm of Dauntlesses preparing to dive from high above. Yamaguchi’s stomach sinks as he watches the Americans slowly edge into their dives and descend upon the Kidō Butai. Southwest, 30 bombers dive straight for the Kaga, anti-aircraft fire snakes skywards as the Japanese put up a wall of lead.
But it's not enough. On board the Kaga her hangar decks are strewn with bombs and torpedoes. A series of catastrophic explosions rip the Kaga apart.
Yamaguchi sees the fireball and feels a shockwave, but doesn't even have time to register the cataclysmic blast from the Kaga as he spins round to the East to see 17 Dauntlesses dive on the Sōryū. Bombs are dropped. There's an explosion.
Through the flaming sea Yamaguchi turns to look upon the Akagi, the flagship of his superior, Admiral Nagumo, to see just 3 Dauntlesses dive upon the Akagi. They bear right down on her and drop their payloads. One bomb is released.
Two. Two bombs miss, but there's a third. And it smashes into the middle of the flight deck, penetrating into the lower decks and exploding.
Devastating secondary explosions soon follow. All that remains of the Kidō Butai is Yamaguchi and his ship, the Hiryū. As a wave of dive bombers, now out of bombs, are forced to disengage and head for home.
Yamaguchi is in command of the last strike capability of the Kidō Butai. He is gripped by a sense of determination. Yamaguchi allows himself a slight smile and nods to his second-in-command.
The 24 aircraft launch, led by Lieutenant Michio Kobayashi, commander of Hiryū’s dive-bombers. En-route to the American carriers, the formation encounter a group of US aircraft. The Japanese fighter escort peels off to engage and gets left behind, leaving the bombers unprotected.
At 11:55 Kobayashi sights the American fleet some 25 miles away. He takes his 18 dive bombers into a climb to gain altitude. The Japanese planes fly in two groups of nine, one slightly above the other, ready to make their attack.
Just as 12 American Wildcat fighters rush onto the scene The first group of Japanese bombers is blasted by 5 Wildcats, the other seven Wildcats attack the second group of the Japanese head on. Without the fighter escort, it soon becomes a massacre as Japanese planes rapidly fall from the sky. By the time 4 Zero fighters from the escort catch up the damage has already been done.
Only 10 Vals remain, 2 of which jettisoned their bombs during the melee in order to maneuver. A desperate Lieutenant Kobayashi spots an American carrier below. It’s the USS Yorktown.
Despite the casualties, he’s determined and signals for them to begin the attack. The eight armed aircraft break into two groups, ready to dive. One group of three heads East, and the other group of five circles to approach from out of the sun.
Anti-aircraft fire snakes up towards the Japanese as the ship’s gunners throw all they have at the attackers. Bravery of the Japanese pilots is unquestionable, and they push on. Bombs are released.
Lieutenant Kobayashi is last seen in the middle of the action over the Yorktown as his Val is hit and goes down. Then two more suffer the same fate. But 3 bombs in succession make direct hits on the Yorktown!
The first bomb penetrates the hangar deck. The second lands just next to the island amidships. The last hits the elevator and detonates deep within her hull.
The 5 remaining Vals turn for home. By the end of the attack Hiryū's dive-bomber unit has been shattered: 13 out of 18 Vals have been shot down with three Zero fighters also lost. Despite their losses, the attack has not been in vain.
From the reports from scout planes Yamaguchi is aware that he’s facing 3 American carriers He calls on Lieutenant Jōichi Tomonaga, who originally led the morning strike on Midway. Tomonaga’s own plane was damaged during the morning strike and has technically been deemed unserviceable. The technicians of Hiryū patch it up as best as they can, but the fuel tanks are leaking heavily.
He climbs into his damaged plane solemnly, knowing that this is destined to be a one-way mission. An hour into the flight, Tomonaga sights the US carrier task force some 35 miles away with one seemingly intact carrier, Tomonaga has no idea that this is actually the previously damaged Yorktown. He immediately orders an attack.
The Japanese enter a gentle dive from altitude. Tomonaga splits his force into two groups of five. Each group will sweep ahead of the target and conduct an anvil attack.
Tomonaga coaxes his plane nearer and nearer to the Yorktown, aching to score a hit. But before he’s close enough, an American Wildcat intercepts from behind and opens fire. Tomonaga’s Kate catches alight but with grim determination and skill, he holds the burning plane level, long enough for him to drop his torpedo.
He’s shot down and tumbles into the water. The last thing he sees is his torpedo trail. His torpedo doesn’t hit.
Neither do the two other two launched by his four-wing section. All of them are shot down by fighters or anti-aircraft fire. The damaged Yorktown turns as quick as she can, but as she does, the second force of five planes streak towards the port bow.
The release system of one of the torpedo planes fails and 4 torpedoes are launched. They streak towards the desperately maneuvering ship. .
. Two devastating explosions rock the port side and the ship immediately comes to a halt and takes a 23-degree list. Their work is done, the surviving planes return to Hiryū.
In spite of the heavy losses, the debriefing of the surviving pilots gives Yamaguchi cause for encouragement. Yamaguchi believes he has disabled a second American carrier, and he plans a third strike for 6 pm. But before he can launch his plan into action, Yamaguchi's optimism is shattered.
At 3:50 in the afternoon, a Japanese scout aircraft radios that two other American carriers are operating in another large task force located to the northwest, some 120 miles from the Hiryū. Yamaguchi’s worst fears come true, just over an hour later at 5 pm, 24 American aircraft appear overhead. 6 Dauntless bombers dive on Hiryū, but the ship turns sharply to port.
Japanese gunners unleash their guns and all enemy planes fail to make a hit. Soon 14 more dive bombers turn for Hiryū. The Hiryū is straddled with spouts of white water as she violently turns, two bombs hit her on the forward flight deck.
Yamaguchi looks up to see a final group of 3 begin their dives. In a matter of seconds, two more bombs hit the forward flight deck of Hiryū creating a deep crater. The fires now burn out of control and the last hope of Yamaguchi's strike lie blazing down in the hangars.
At 9:23 pm, the ship goes dead in the water but with Yamaguchi still aboard. Darkness settles across the flaming ocean. At 2:30 am, some 800 survivors gather around Yamaguchi in the flickering light of the flaming ship.
With that, the men turn to face Tokyo. "Banzai, Banzai, Banzai! " The national ensign is then lowered.
As the Rising Sun flutters down from the yardarm, a flourish of bugles rings through the night, playing the national anthem, “Kimigayo. ” Yamaguchi asks for 2 messages to be conveyed, the first to Admiral Nagumo: The second message goes to Captain Toshio Abe, commanding Destroyer Division 10 on the nearby flagship Kazagumo. Captain Kaku chose to share the fate of the ship despite Yamaguchi's order.
The admiral understood and did not protest. At 5:10 am the destroyer Makigumo fires 2 torpedoes: one misses, the other explodes with a roar. The carrier finally sinks at 9:12 am.
Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi went down with this ship and was posthumously awarded the Order of the Golden Kite, 1st class. Captain Kaku who stayed with him till the end was posthumously promoted to Rear Admiral. Thanks again to World of Warships!
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