The traditional history of the battle of Midway briefly covers the USS Hornet’s Torpedo Bomber attack and then dismisses the remainder of the air group as flying too far south and missing the Japanese carriers, but the truth is quite a bit different! In fact the air group was a dysfunctional formation, led by a poor performing commander that went on a ‘flight to nowhere’ that resulted in actions that amounted to mutiny, the loss of numerous aircraft without seeing action, and the near-suicidal lone attack by the torpedo bomber squadron from the group.
The above video is an excellent account of what really happened with USS Hornet at Midway, and also leaves you wondering what might have happened had things been different and Hornet’s Air Group had actually followed the correct course and arrived to attack the Japanese carriers as planned. If you’ve read the traditional histories none of this is mentioned, and most of Hornet’s activity is dismissed in brief terms based on the (unusually and non-standard) sole and only official report at the time; put in by Capt. Marc Mitscher (her captain, who was promoted to Rear Admiral enroute to Midway) and who both had ambitions of higher command, but also perhaps was protecting many of the pilots in his command from potential court martial.
Another good feature of this video is recommendations for modern histories of Midway that include this historical information, rather than the simplified white-washed official report in older histories. The key books to read for those interested are:
Also check out the description notes of the video for more references, but the three above are the most recommended. For other book recommendations for the Pacific, New Guinea & Far East in World War II check out my Pacific Theatre Reading List (from when New Zealand’s April 2020 COVID-19 Lockdown left me with lots of time for reading) and my recent D-Day New Guinea book post.
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