Was the USN really that much better than the IJN at midway?

Question

Were we really that far superior or was there a strong element of luck during the actual battle.

Answer 1

Well; I don't know if you could call it luck but the IJN carriers should have put the bombs back in their magazines ASAP instead of leaving them all over the decks when they decided to switch to torpedoes. Without the "induced explosions" from their own ordnance their carrier fleet might not have suffered the damage it did.

IMO the IJN was their victim of their hubris 3X over at Midway; first when they believed their code was unbreakable, and then again when they believed re-arming planes to go on the attack was a higher priority than stowing unused ordnance or maintaing enough aircraft in the air to protect their own motherships.

Answer 2

I can not quote the source for the following interesting snippet, but I know that I heard it somewhere, a while ago.

Computerised war-gaming with re-enactments of old battles is an essential component of training senior officers in the armed services, all over the world. Everything from Salamis and Actium, through Agincourt and Waterloo, to the Falklands and the present day is re-enacted. Almost every battle can come out differently depending on the players and their command decisions, maybe with an overall 60-40 or 70-30 split in favour of the actual result. The striking exception is Midway, which the Japanese ALWAYS win.

So yes, it took an enormous element of luck in the timing of events in this battle for their four aircraft carriers to lose against one and a half carriers.

Answer 3

We had broken their code and knew that they were coming so we had the element of surprise and that went in our favor and also we also had somewhat better planes at this point in time and that also added to our being able to withstand some attacks from the IJN. The York Town took some heavy bombing from the IJN's fighters too.

Answer 4

We were that much better. end of story!!!!!!!!!!


sorry, 5 year vet! USN GO NAVY!