(Midway Series, Part 7, Second Last Part) Watch our video “Americans Have Hit Hiryu The Last Of Our Carriers ” and embark on an immersive journey through the riveting memoirs of two distinguished aviators who played pivotal roles in World War II. Join us as we delve into the captivating stories of individuals who shaped history, sharing firsthand accounts from the front lines. Witness the strategic brilliance and sacrifices of those who led the first air strike on Pearl Harbor, commanded carrier air groups, and soared through the skies as dive-bomber pilots. Our exclusive series provides a unique perspective on a poorly planned and executed operation (Battle of Midway from Japanese Perspective).
Link of Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGjbe3ikd0XHOEvJ_fiy9mB66QYTadhKc
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Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Part 7 (Second Last Part) of memoirs of Two Japanese naval aviators who participated in the Midway Operation and provided an unsparing analysis of what caused Japan's staggering defeat in this Operation. The first aviator led the first air strike on Pearl Harbor, commanded the Akagi carrier air group and later made a study of the battle at the Japanese Naval War College . The second aviator was one of Japan's first dive-bomber pilots, was aboard the light carrier Ryujo and later served as a staff officer in a carrier division. They were both key figures in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War two.
Here is the link of the playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGjbe3ikd0XHOEvJ_fiy9mB66QYTadhKc
Link of Part 1 https://youtu.be/8039mt4fP6s
Link of Part 2 https://youtu.be/9nYn80oJftk
Link of Part 3 https://youtu.be/qosHnZF7Sns
Link of Part 4 https://youtu.be/24WsZ5bWJZs
Link of Part 5 https://youtu.be/EIUO4NRdI_k
Link of Part 6 https://youtu.be/nroeI5IrB80
Tomonga was a warrior idiot! You don't go into battle with a broken weapon!! It was also reported that Jimmy Thatch shot him down right when he entered the intense fire from The Yorktown! And I think they gave him the credit for it as well!?
Admiral Yamaguchi was a good commander but had a temper that kept him from being a better commander.
But look at it this way!? The Japanese commanders Yomamoto was an intelligent man and was highly educated! Admiral Nagumo was was tough minded but was knocked out of his strength very easily and it would be his downfall. Admiral Yamaguchi was had a temper but was very intelligent similarly to Yomamoto!
Look at there opposite numbers! Nimitz was intelligent and always longed for home but followed his own orders! Fletcher liked having a drink know and again also he didn't give what his place in history would be, but listened to his subordinates! Spruance ran a quiet bridge and didn't allow anyone to yell on his bridge and also listen to his subordinates!
Hear is the conclusion I came up with! The Japanese didn't listen to anyone subordinate and the battle of Midway was doomed to fail before it was started! While the American Navy listened to there subordinates at every turn before the battle during and after the battle!
One more thing that always makes me think about this battle! Fletcher asked one of his subordinates that he would give his retirement money to know what Yomamoto and Nagumo were doing at that moment!? His subordinate said: the same thing were doing sir, waiting to see what happens next!
Never forget what the Japanese did to the American flyers and sailors that they picked up in the water , they tortured them and killed them brutally . I am. Only interested in this for historical reasons. It's for the same reason that I visited Japan. That and it's beauty. It's nature .
Sound is awesome! 🖤🐈⬛🖤
Getting weird at 23:00. Went back a day. Guess it's the battle from Yamamoto's view.
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Excellent 🤔
Great men working for the devil are not great men.
In my opinion the best option for the Hiryu is just to F off. This is the opinion of the authors of Shattered Sword. This is the presently (at 2024) definitive account from the Japanese point of view (despite the American authors). But given the second attack on the Yorktown the the next best course of action is still to just bugger off. Go away and at all costs save a carrier for the future defence of Japan. (Again the opinion of Shattered Sword). It is now likely that Hiryu will be found and attacked but the range is increased and just maybe she will escape. Of course the Fog of War is a reality and who knows what may have happened and who knows without the wisdom of hindsight what the best course of action was.
Shattered Sword is a literally (as in literature) tour de force. Not only that it is a gripping read but a real insight into Japanese Naval Doctrine.
Why is Adm Yamamoto with his battleships group was 800 miles behind Nagumo carrier force? He should have been near and attack with his battleships and cruisers the US carrier force ..
there is neve ONE word about the other crew member of his plane. Was he not also brave. Did that man also know he was not coming back.
The Japanese made several mistakes in prosecuting the war on THE MIDWAY campaign …… one they did not keep secret – OUR BOYS BROKE THE CODE ….Then assumed they were better flyers, more bold, resilient and higher I.Q. and could swing the fight to their way …. they got hit without much damage and presumed it would hold true …. they tried to finish the American Battle group with a last minute swapping out of munitions some already mounted on deck planes … switching and bringing forth ready to launch GOT STRUCK BY TWO SQUADRONS OF BOMBERS, FIGHTERS, FINALLY fortunate with the Japanese fighter protection over the four Carriers DOWN to refuel and some wave hopping to murder pilots downed on the surface …. they lost in minutes THREE of their First line Carriers and Planes Pilots and staff and officers aboard them. A nightmare turn of events ……. followed by arrogance to pursue the American Carriers … costing one Carrier (Yorktown) and FINALLY THIS Hiryu Carrier which could have salvaged & returned to Japan …. through self serving ego REMAINED to sunk by Bombs, Torpedoes and cannon fire from all the two Carriers had to pitch a sweep …. The very last time there would be dominance of Japan air power. The attrition of Men, machines and resources began there …. and steadily increased for American Forces. GBjj
as an aside, Take note that when Hiryu went to make it's counterattack. While it still had a full squadron of Dive Bombers it only had a handful of damaged Torpedo Planes remaining. This is because the Anti-Aircraft Defenses at Midway itself turned out to be much much more robust than any of the Japanese were expecting. Nimitz had had crews working day and night installing More AA guns slaved to the latest AA Directors and radar. Between all the new AA guns and the WIldcats that had been reporsitioned to Midway the first wave of Japanese Attackers in the morning got really badly chewed up. Suffering a 25% lass rate. What often gets overlooked is almost all of those losses were concentrated in the Torpedo Bombers, which were being used as ground attack level bombers. They got shredded. Because of how the Kido Buttai Strike Waves worked, the first wave would consist of all of the Dive Bombers from 2 Carriers and all of the Torpedo Planes from the other 2. The next wave this would reverse. On the first wave all of the Torpedo Bombers were from Hiryu and Soryu. What this meant was when Hiryu was left alone she had far fewer Torpedo planes available than normal.
I have lived in Japan for over 40 years, and these are fascinating accounts of the war from Japan's perspective. Never have I come across anything like it in English.
Once again a reminder, much of these tales come from legendary liar Mitsuo Fuchida. With some color from Genda. But do please take note of the amount of fluff being spilled in this one regarding Admiral Yamaguchi. "Oh he was the best wisest most glorious Admiral. Had he lived he would have been Yamamoto's replacement. Everyone wished to serve under him". Yeah no. Yamaguchi is one of history's great idiots. A General Custer tier idiot. Hiryu could have been saved. Hiryu should have been saved. From the moment the bombs fell on Akagi, Kaga and Soryu, Yamaguchi made bad decision after bad decision. A brilliant Carrier Admiral would have swung his Carrier west and put it into the sweet spot where the relatively short ranged American Carrier Planes could not reach him, but his longer ranged planes could reach them. That alone would have saved his ship. Instead he chose to charge the enemy at flank speed alongside the Battleships. Bringing his precious carrier within 90 miles of the US Fleet. he did not need to do this. He should not have done this. DOing this is one of the most incompetent acts in naval history. And then when it all went to hell, instead of leading his men to safety and preparing for the next battle, he committed suicide in the most poetic and dramatic way possible. "Come let us watch the moonlight". This is a failure of command in every way possible. Yamaguchi was not a great admiral. He was a moronic narcissi.
Oh and those men spotted on Hiryu in the morning. They were the Engine Room Crew. They weren't "bravely and heroically standing by their posts!" Nobody in command bothered to tell them what was going on. Nobody told them the ship was being evacuated. Finally when things started getting really really hot they decided they better try and make it topside to see what the deal was. It took them most of the night climbing through the bilges and over and around twisted burning metal. There were 50 engine room crew when they started their climb. Only 30 made it. They found the ship listing. No sign of anybody including the poetry spouting Admirals. They quickly assessed their situation, found some provisions mainly consisting of 2 cases of Beer, and managed to pile into one of the ships boats just before the carrier sank. They drifted off. They were finally spotted by an American Patrol plane and rescued by a Destroyer 3 weeks later. When the Americans found them there was a bit of a violent leadership dispute in progress seeing as the Chief Engineer had declared himself to be the keeper of the beer. The stories that Japanese Sailors always refused to surrender clearly did not apply to these guys. They were thrilled to see the Americans. And were even more thrilled when once they got to a prison camp on land, the Americans politely looked away so the crew could kick seven kinds of sh@t out of the Chief Engineer.
Admiral Oishi should never jump off the ship into the sea. All the sharks would try to eat him because he was "oishii".
Incredible description of Japan's worst naval defeat. Japan never recovered from the lost of 4 carriers and the many of Japan's best pilots and best trained carrier crews.
The suicidal propensity of the Japanese soldiers and leaders consumed untold brave soldiers and in the end served no real purpose. I hope there are not many nations that carry on this devastating anomaly – thanks for sharing.
Why didnt the japanese keep the battleships with the carrier, they could have give the american flyers 2 targets to consider, go after the battleships and they carriers get us , go after the carriers and the battleships close with us
A very happy story.
They kept thinking if we can just hit us hard enough we would quit and sue for peace they didnt understand our mind set even then . We would never accept anything but complete surrender and or destruction..
Yorktown saved American biscuits multiple times by being a resilient punching bag. Japan thought she had been sunk, what? 7 times? As 3 different carriers?
Short of a very narrow scenario…which is close to 0% there is NO SCENARIO the Japanese would ever win. Maybe delay the inevitable….but that would've taken competence, also not present, overwhelmed by culture. Idiots. But that was the time…..
21:40 Why does the video go from the beaten Japanese force being soundly beaten and retiring to starting
the whole battle from the start again?
Seems this clips to the previous episode @ 21 minutes. Was there more of pt. 1 of 2? Or will pt2 pick up where intended?
Edit; I think the first 21 mins should be added to the end of the clip, it’s out of order. It happens!
They weren't afraid of dying, they were afraid of losing their honor.
That cost them dearly.
The senior officers were raised by medieval people.
I will say it was always very considerate that the upper level Naval officers elected to go down with their ships rather than living. Kind of penny wise and pound foolish yet to the advantage of the U.S. Navy. Also this idea that they thought they could get into a surface duel against fleet carriers was ludicrous. The fleet carriers could do in excess of 30 knots which was faster than most all Japanese BBs. These carriers were not the escort carries of Taffy 3.
The Japanese were too eager to die for the Emperor, and thus their country lost important warriors. That was wrong because war is not a 100 m run but rather a Marathon.
The audio file seems to be incorrectly edited. The battle is almost over and then the audio talks about preparing for the attack. Am I the onl6 one who is hearing this?
The audio first messes up the narrative just before minute 23.
I’ve played a was game of Midway. I learned it made no sense not to focus the fleet into a powerful single force. Yamato and should have been with the carriers. Musashi too. All the capital ships would have given the carriers a huge amount of anti aircraft support. It was overwhelming in the games.
HAVE THE JAPANESE EVER CONSIDERED THAT BY PRESERVING THEIR LIVES THEY COULD POSSIBLY KILL MORE ENEMIES OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE?😅😊
Japan had a couple of disadvantages. Car and farm tracktors was low pre war, enem by axis standards, meaning that more time was needed to train even basic mechanics. Second training focused on doing your job and only your job. Americans expected that if you were incapable of doing your primary job you piched in where you were. By midway american ships carried more portable emergency and repair equipment, including rescue breathers that had been developed originaly for mining, shoring, tools, and self powered portable pumps than had been stocked before pearl harbor. In fact a number of changes came about because of reports from the RN before pearl, along weith reports from earlyer in the war.
Losing experienced officers because of a defeat was criminally irresponsible.
One of the biggest mistakes made by the Japanese during the war was their failure to rotate their best pilots back home to train new pilots. The Americans did this and it gave them a great advantage as the war progressed.
When I watched Midway and the admiral chose to go down with his ship, I thought that was utterly foolish. His skill, experience, and leadership would have helped the Japanese.
I've read other accounts that said Yorktown was damaged by Japanese attacks but US Navy next day had to scullte her. US sunk Yorktown.
The Pacific Theater of WW2 was a clash of cultures, East versus West. Many aspects of how the two sides fought were opposites. Fascinating how most history books ignore this very important factor.