Реферат: The Battle Of Midway In The Pacific

Island, destroying three oil tanks and setting fire to a seaplane hangar. The

attack on Eastern Island began with an unforgettable incident. “Suddenly the

leading Jap plane peeled off,” an eyewitness wrote. “He dove down about 100 feet

from the ground, turned over on his back and proceeded leisurely flying upside

down over the ramp.” The Marines watched for a few seconds, then opened fire and

shot him down. Val dive bombers struck VMF-221’s arming pit, killing four

mechanics and exploding eight 100-pound bombs and 10,000 rounds of .50-caliber

machine-gun ammunition. Another Val demolished Eastern’s powerhouse, disrupting

Midway’s electricity and water distillation plant. Japanese efforts to render

Eastern’s runways useless were unsuccessful; only two small craters were left on

the landing strips. Midway’s defenders fought back with everything they had.

Major Dorn E. Arnold of the 6th Defense Battalion fired a Browning Automatic

Rifle at the enemy; a sailor on Sand Island used a Colt .45. Second Lieutenant

Elmer Thompson and another Marine fired a .30-caliber machine gun from a

crippled SB2U. The Japanese attack ended at 6:48 a.m. The all-clear sounded on

Midway at 7:15, and the process of picking up the pieces began. Kimes ordered

VMF-221’s fighters to land. Six Buffaloes staggered in. Including four aircraft

that landed during the raid, only 20 U.S. fighters had survived. Of those, only

one Wildcat and a single Buffalo were fit to fly. Fifteen Buffaloes and two

Wildcats were shot down, and 13 pilots were killed. Eleven Japanese aircraft

were downed by the fighters and anti-aircraft fire, while 53 were damaged.

Colonel Shannon’s trenches, bunkers and revetments proved effective. Only 11 of

Midway’s ground defenders were killed and 18 wounded. None of Midway’s planes

were caught on the ground except for an old utility biplane and a decoy plane

made of crates and tin roofing called the “JFU” (Jap fouler-upper)(Robertson 15).

While Midway repaired its damage and its defenders licked their wounds, the

aircraft that were sent out to attack the Japanese carriers made contact.

Lieutenant Langdon Fieberling’s six TBFs reached the Japanese fleet at 7:10,

dropped to low altitude and bore on toward the carriers. So many Zeros swarmed