Реферат: The Battle Of Midway In The Pacific

requirements. “If I get you all these things, can you hold Midway against a

major amphibious assault?” Nimitz asked the two officers. “Yes, sir!” Shannon

replied. It was good enough for Nimitz, who returned to Oahu (Robertson 58). On

May 20, Shannon and Simard received a letter from Admiral Nimitz, praising their

fine work and promoting them to captain and full colonel, respectively. Then

Nimitz informed them that the Japanese were planning to attack Midway on May 28;

he outlined the Japanese strategy and promised all possible aid. On May 22, a

sailor accidentally set off a demolition charge under Midway’s gasoline supply.

The explosion destroyed 400,000 gallons of aviation fuel, and also damaged the

distribution system, forcing the defenders to refuel planes by hand from 55-

gallon drums. All the while the Marines continued digging gun emplacements,

laying sandbags and preparing shelters on both islands. Barbed wire sprouted

along Midway’s coral beaches. Shannon believed that it would stop the Japanese

as it had stopped the Germans in World War I. He ordered so much strung that one

Marine exclaimed: “Barbed wire, barbed wire! Cripes, the old man thinks we can

stop planes with barbed wire” (Miracle 27)! The defenders also had a large

supply of blasting gelatin, which was used to make anti-boat mines and booby

traps. On May 25, while the work continued, Shannon and Simard got some good

news. The Japanese attack would come between June 3 and 5, giving them another

week to prepare. That same day, the light cruiser St. Louis arrived, to deliver

an eight-gun, 37mm anti-aircraft battery from the Marine 3rd Defense Battalion

and two rifle companies from the 2nd Raider Battalion. On May 26, the ferry USS

Kittyhawk arrived with 12 3-inch guns, 5 M-3 Stuart light tanks, 16 Douglas SBD-

3 Dauntless dive bombers, and 7 Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters, along with 22

pilots–most of them fresh out of flight school, May 29 saw the arrival of four

Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers from the 22nd Bomb Group. These planes were

specially rigged to carry torpedoes and led by Captain James Collins. That same

day, 12 Navy PBY-5A Catalinas joined the 12 PBY-5s stationed on Midway.

Beginning on May 30, Midway’s planes began searching for the Japanese. Twenty-