The Battle of Midway (Pivotal Moments in American History) (72 page)

11
. Gay,
Sole Survivor
, 128–29. Gay later claimed that he remained in the middle of the Kidö Butai during the ensuing battle. Time-motion studies by Parshall and Tully and by Dallas Isom have suggested that this was unlikely.

12
. 1927
Lucky Bag
, USNA; Robert E. Barde interview of Wade McClusky (June 30, 1966), quoted in Barde, “The Battle of Midway: A Study in Command,” (Ph.D. diss., University of Maryland, 1971), 176; Clarence Wade McClusky, “The Midway Story,” unpublished manuscript in the Gordon Prange Papers, UMD, box 17. See Also Edward P. Stafford,
The Big E: The Story of the USS Enterprise
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2002), 78.

13
. Interview of Clarence Wade McClusky (June 30, 1966) by Gordon Prange, Prange Papers, UMD, box 17.

14
. I am grateful to John Lundstrom for helping me unravel this launch sequence.

15
. Gray to McClusky, June 8, 1942, Action Reports, reel 3; McClusky, “Midway Story”; Cressman et al.,
Glorious Page
, 86–87.

16
. Gray’s recollection of Browning’s instructions is from remarks Gray made at a 1988 Midway symposium and are quoted by Alvin Kernan in
The Unknown Battle of Midway: The Destruction of the American Torpedo Squadrons
(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005), 137; the discussion between Gray and Ely is in CAPT James S. Gray, “Decision at Midway,” USNA Museum, also available as part of the BOMRT archive at
www.midway42.org/aa-reports/vf-6.html
.

17
. Gray, “Decision at Midway.”

18
. Ibid.

19
. Laub to McClusky, June 4, 1942, Action Reports, reel 3.

20
. The fellow pilot was Dick Best in an interview with Walter Lord (April 13, 1966), in Lord Collection, NHHC, box 18.

21
. Ibid.; Cressman et al.,
Glorious Page
, 94–95; Parshall and Tully,
Shattered Sword
, 213. Gray’s remarks were made at a 1988 conference in Pensacola and are quoted in Kernan,
Unknown Battle of Midway
, 138. Gray’s radio report is quoted in John B. Lundstrom,
Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2006), 256–57.

22
. Laub to McClusky, June 4, 1942, Action Reports, reel 3; Barde, “Battle of Midway,” 179.

23
. Barde, “Battle of Midway,” 183–87.

24
. See the various naval messages from Midway to CINCPAC, plus CINCPAC to Task Force Commanders, all dated June 4 from 8:20 a.m. to 11:01 a.m., in Nimitz Papers, NHHC, box 8. As late as the afternoon of June 5, Midway was still reporting to Nimitz, “Our patrols have seen only two carriers.” By then, however, there were no carriers, since all four had been sunk. I thank John Lundstrom for directing my attention to these messages.

25
. Lundstrom,
Black Shoe Carrier Admiral
, 249–50. Pederson is quoted on p. 249.

26
. Steve Ewing and John B. Lundstrom,
Fateful Rendezvous: The Life of Butch O’Hare
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997), 93; 1927
Lucky Bag
, USNA,

27
. Thach oral history (Nov. 6, 1970), 230–31, U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Collection, USNA.

28
. Pederson to Buckmaster, May 16, 1942, Action Reports, reel 2; Lundstrom,
Black Shoe Carrier Admiral
, 249; Lundstrom,
The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway
(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1984), 340.

29
. Esders was very specific in noting that he sighted the smoke of the Kidö Butai at 9:33, though Machinist Harry Corl, in his report, said it was at 10:00 a.m. Since LCDR Shumway also put the sighting at 10:00, and claims he called Massey at 10:20, the later time is probably more accurate. The reports of Esders and Corl are available at the BOMRT website:
www.midway42.org/aa-reports/vt3-esders.pdf
and
www.midway42.org/aa-reports/vt3-corl.pdf
. The radio exchange between Max Leslie and Lem Massey is in Shumway’s squadron report, June 10, 1942, Action Reports, reel 3. The Devastator pilot was Esders, quoted in Stuart D. Ludlum,
They Turned the War Around at Coral Sea and Midway: Going to War with Yorktowns Air Group Five
(Bennington, VT: Merriam, 2000), 113.

30
. Commanding Officer Yorktown Air Wing (Pederson), June 14, 1942, Action Reports, reel 2.

31
. Lundstrom,
First Team
, 351–56; Parshall and Tully,
Shattered Sword
, 223–25.

32
. John S. Thach oral history (Nov. 6, 1970), 1:245–46, U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Collection, USNA; Machinist Harry Corl Report, June 15, 1942, available at
www.midway42.org/aa-reports/vt3-corl.pdf
; correspondence of Lloyd Childers to BOMRT, Nov. 8, 2004.

33
. Thach oral history (Nov. 6, 1970), 1:248; Lundstrom,
First Team
, 355.

34
. Report W. G. Esders, June 6, 1942, Action Reports, reel 3.

Chapter 14

1
. Nimitz to King, June 28, 1942, Action Reports, reel 3. Also available at
www.history.navy.mil/docs/wwii/mid1.htm
.

2
. 1927
Lucky Bag
, USNA.

3
. William H. Brockman, Jr., “U.S.S. Nautilus, Narrative of 4 June 1942,” Action Reports, reel 3. Hereafter “Nautilus Narrative.” Also available at
www.hnsa.org/doc/subreports.htm
.

4
. Ibid.

5
. John Campbell,
Naval Weapons of World War Two
(London: Conway Maritime, 1985), 89.

6
. Roy S. Benson (executive officer of
Nautilus)
Questionnaire, n.d., Walter Lord Collection, NHHC, box 18; John F. Davidson oral history (Sept. 4, 1985), 196, and Slade Cutter oral history (June 17, 1985), 297, both in U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Collection, USNA.

7
. Roy S. Benson Questionnaire, n.d., Walter Lord Collection, NHHC, box 18; “Nautilus Narrative.”

8
. “Nautilus Narrative”; Roy S. Benson oral history (March 18, 1980), U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Collection, USNA, 185.

9
. “Nautilus Narrative.” Brockman gives the time here as 9:00 a.m., but it was more likely around 8:30.

10
. Ibid.

11
. Ibid.

12
. This is compiled from the action reports by McClusky, Gallaher, and Best. It is evident that Gallaher and Best collaborated on their reports, for not only do they agree in every particular, they also used identical language to do so. See Action Reports, reel 3, also available at
www.cv6.org/ship/logs/action19420604.htm
.

13
. Richard Best interview (Aug. 11, 1995), NMPW, 39–40; Lew Hopkins interview (Jan. 15, 2004), NMPW, 17.

14
. Clarence Wade McClusky, “The Midway Story,” unpublished manuscript in the Gordon Prange collection, UMD, box 17.

15
. Gordon Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon,
Miracle at Midway
(New York: McGraw-Hill,1982), 260; Best to Walter Lord, Jan. 27, 1966, Lord Collection, NHHC, box 18.

16
. Prange et al.,
Miracle at Midway
, 259–60.

17
. Best interview (Aug. 11, 1995), NMPW, 42.

18
. Murray to Nimitz (via Spruance), June 13, 1942, Action Reports, reel 3. Also available at
www.history.navy.mil/docs/wwii/mid1.htm
.

19
. Gallaher to Walter Lord, Feb. 26, 1967, Lord Collection, NHHC, box 18; Penland After-Action Report, Jun 10, 1942, Action Reports, reel 3. Italics added. Also available at
www.cv6.org/ship/logs/action19420604-vb6.htm
. Both carriers turned to the northwest as McClusky approached, which put
Kaga
slightly ahead of
Akagi.
See schematic in Parshall and Tully,
Shattered Sword
, 222.

20
. Best to Walter Lord, Jan. 27, 1966, Lord Collection, NHHC, box 18; Dick Best Action Report, June 6, 1942, 3 (also available at
www.cv6.org/ship/logs/action19420604-vb6.htm)
; James T. Murray to Walter Lord, Feb. 26, 1967, Lord Collection, NHHC, box 18.

21
. Best interview (Aug. 11, 1995), NMPW, 41–42; Best to Walter Lord, Jan. 27, 1966, Lord Collection, NHHC, box 18.

22
. John S. Thach oral history (Nov. 6, 1970), U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Collection, USNA, 251.

23
. Jonathan B. Parshall and Anthony P. Tully,
Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
(Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2005), 233–34.

24
. Ibid., 234–35.

25
. Thach oral history (Nov. 6, 1970), 252; Best interview (Aug. 11, 1995), NMPW, 17; Norman (Dusty) Kleiss, BOMRT, Sept. 3, 2010; Parshall and Tully,
Shattered Sword
, 250. Subsequently, Jon Parshall estimated that, including the small 100-pound bombs, a total of twelve bombs probably hit the
Kaga.
BOMRT, Aug. 25, 2010,
www.midway42.org/Backissues/2010–28.htm
.

26
. Best interview (Aug. 11, 1995), NMPW, 19.

27
. Ibid., 42.

28
. Best to Walter Lord, Jan. 27, 1966, Lord Collection, NHHC, box 18.