I've just received my much-anticipated copy of Shattered Sword by Jonathan Parshall and Tony Tully. These are the gents behind Nihon Kaigun aka combinedfleet.com, probably the first and last source of information on the Imperial Japanese Navy of World War II.
This book is simply incredible. If you have any interest in the Battle of Midway and have read about it before, then this book is definitely for you. Let me get that out of the way.
It's a fresh look at what you thought you knew about the IJN and the first 7 months of the Pacific War and the Battle of Midway.
It's packed with diagrams, very rare pictures, incredibly diverse sources...I could go on and on.
So what are some of these "Myths of Midway"? From the well-written introduction of Shattered Sword:
• The Americans triumphed against overwhelming odds at the Battle of Midway.
• The Aleutians Operation was conceived by Admiral Yamamoto,
the commander in chief of Combined Fleet, as a diversion
designed to lure the American fleet out of Pearl Harbor.
• During the transit to Midway, Admiral Yamamoto withheld important
intelligence information from Admiral Nagumo, the operational commander of the carrier
striking force. As a result, Nagumo was in the dark concerning the nature of the
threat facing him.
• Had the Japanese implemented a two-phase reconnaissance search on the
morning of 4 June, they would have succeeded in locating the American fleet in
time to win the battle.
• The late launch of cruiser Tone’s No. 4 scout plane doomed Admiral Nagumo to
defeat in the battle.
• Had Admiral Nagumo not decided to rearm his aircraft with land-attack weapons,
he would have been in a position to attack the Americans as soon as they were
discovered.
• The sacrifice of USS Hornet’s Torpedo Squadron Eight was not in vain, since it
pulled the Japanese combat air patrol fighters down to sea level, thereby allowing
the American dive-bombers to attack at 1020.
• Japan’s elite carrier aviators were all but wiped out during the battle
Did I mention it would challenge what you thought you knew about the Battle of Midway? ;)
This book is simply incredible. If you have any interest in the Battle of Midway and have read about it before, then this book is definitely for you. Let me get that out of the way.
It's a fresh look at what you thought you knew about the IJN and the first 7 months of the Pacific War and the Battle of Midway.
It's packed with diagrams, very rare pictures, incredibly diverse sources...I could go on and on.
So what are some of these "Myths of Midway"? From the well-written introduction of Shattered Sword:
• The Americans triumphed against overwhelming odds at the Battle of Midway.
• The Aleutians Operation was conceived by Admiral Yamamoto,
the commander in chief of Combined Fleet, as a diversion
designed to lure the American fleet out of Pearl Harbor.
• During the transit to Midway, Admiral Yamamoto withheld important
intelligence information from Admiral Nagumo, the operational commander of the carrier
striking force. As a result, Nagumo was in the dark concerning the nature of the
threat facing him.
• Had the Japanese implemented a two-phase reconnaissance search on the
morning of 4 June, they would have succeeded in locating the American fleet in
time to win the battle.
• The late launch of cruiser Tone’s No. 4 scout plane doomed Admiral Nagumo to
defeat in the battle.
• Had Admiral Nagumo not decided to rearm his aircraft with land-attack weapons,
he would have been in a position to attack the Americans as soon as they were
discovered.
• The sacrifice of USS Hornet’s Torpedo Squadron Eight was not in vain, since it
pulled the Japanese combat air patrol fighters down to sea level, thereby allowing
the American dive-bombers to attack at 1020.
• Japan’s elite carrier aviators were all but wiped out during the battle
Did I mention it would challenge what you thought you knew about the Battle of Midway? ;)
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