HISTORY

Source: US Navy

SEARCHING FOR THE LOST SHIPS

WITH PAUL ALLEN

MIDWAY

Text: Miro Barič

Aerial shot of Midway on November 24, 1941, shortly before the start of the war with Japan.

Source: Naval History and Heritage Command

To describe the Battle of Midway would be beating of the dead

horse. The details about the air combat can be found in Tom

Cleaver’s article in the Info No. 152 (issue 10/2022). Therefore, in

the following text we will focus on some key moments and also

look into the search for the ships sunken during this battle.

Battle of the Corral Sea, described in the

previous part of this series, marked the

very first aircraft carriers encounter in the

history. It was a Japanese tactical victory

since they lost only one small aircraft carrier, Shōhō and one destroyer while they

sank a large American aircraft carrier Lexington, a tanker and a destroyer. Strategically the battle meant an Allied success

since they prevented the Japanese landing

at Port Moresby.

In comparison Midway represented the

very first American victory which not only

hampered the Japanese offensive plans

but also struck a devastative blow against their Navy from which they have never

fully recovered. The ground for this was

laid exactly by the Battle of the Corral Sea

Midway became the target of the first attack as early

as December 7, 1941. Pictured here is the wreck of

PBY-3 Catalina (BuNo 0824), destroyed in a night

bombardment by the destroyers Ushio and Sazanami.