Thoughts from my bookshelf on Midway: The Pacific War’s Most Famous Battle. (4/5 Stars)

Mark Stille has synthesized mostly current histories of the Midway battle that began on June 4, 1942 into a stirring, articulate account that makes an important contribution to the volume of writings on Midway. A review of his end notes indicates no reading of the CincPac after-action report of June 15, 1942 that identifies crucial elements of the battle plan formulated by Pacific commander Admiral Chester Nimitz. Early authors such as Samuel Eliot Morison, Richard Bates and E. B. Potter, who had the opportunity to interview battle participants during and after the war, acknowledged the plan in their writings.

The battle plan formulated by Admiral Nimitz called for the Pacific Fleet carriers to approach the Japanese carrier fleet under cover of morning darkness on June 4 and be 200 miles directly north of Midway at 0600. This position would allow a simultaneous attack on the Japanese carrier fleet with planes from Midway in a concentration of force while half the Japanese total air complement was away attacking defenses on Midway. Execution of the plan could have produced a victory by 0800. The plan failed when the Pacific Fleet carriers engaged in superfluous scouting and were out of range at the appointed time. Scattered, piecemeal attacks against the Japanese all failed, and the Japanese, after a series of flagrant misjudgments, finally were preparing to launch a devastating attack on the Pacific Fleet carriers at 1045. However, three Pacific Fleet squadrons of dive bombers managed to find the Japanese carriers at 1025. The rest is history.

Admiral Nimitz has never been given credit for a brilliant battle plan that probably would have produced an early victory with minimal losses. Even when victory was achieved in a last-minute hail-Mary attack no one was going to complain about not following the Nimitz plan, least of all Nimitz. Consequently, the battle plan has been overlooked until now. Full details of the Nimitz battle plan is contained in Diplomats & Admirals, 402 pages, Aubrey Publishing Co., New York, Dec., 2022.