Post by flakstruk on Jul 10, 2017 6:53:10 GMT
Eccles's Midway thread go me thinking, which got me reading. The key points of the battle are all pretty well know, the Japanese were hasty in preparation and made big assumptions about the USN's likely actions without thinking about if they were wrong. The US had access to mission critical data from broken codes. So what if the codebreakers were wrong... What if the plan called for the invasion as the bait and carriers to lie in wait. What if the Second Fleet/Midway Invasion first in the lead.
So rather than the the Kido Butai we get a fleet looks likes this:
Second Fleet (Midway Invasion Force)[edit]
Second Fleet Main Body (Vice Adm. Nobutake Kondō in Atago)
3rd Battleship Division less 2nd Section (Rear Adm. Gunichi Mikawa):
Kongō (Capt. Tomiji Koyanagi)
Hiei (Capt. Masao Nishida)
4th Cruiser Division less 2nd Section (Vice Adm. Kondo):
CA Atago (Capt. Baron Matsuji Ijuin)
CA Chōkai (Capt. Mikio Hayakawa)
5th Cruiser Division (Vice Adm. Takeo Takagi):
CA Myōkō (Capt. Teruhiko Miyoshi)
CA Haguro (Capt. Tomokazu Mori)
Screening Force
4th Destroyer Squadron (Rear Adm. Shoji Nishimura in CL Yura):
CL Yura (Capt. Shiro Sato)
3rd Destroyer Division (Capt. Ranji Oe):
Murasame (Lt. Cmdr. Naoji Suenaga)
Samidare (Cmdr. Takisaburo Matsubara)
Harusame (Lt. Cmdr. Masao Kamiyama)
Yūdachi (Cmdr. Kiyoshi Kamiyama)
9th Destroyer Division (Capt. Yasuo Sato):
Asagumo (Cmdr. Toru Iwahashi)
Minegumo (Lt. Cmdr. Yasuatsu Suzuki)
Natsugumo (Lt. Cmdr. Moritaro Tsukamoto)
Carrier Group (Capt. Sueo Obayashi):
CVL Zuihō (Capt. Obayashi)
12 Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 21 'Zeke' fighters (Lt. Moriyasu Hidaka)
12 Nakajima B5N2 'Kate' torpedo bombers (Lt. Kaji Matsuo)
DD Mikazuki (Lt. Cmdr. Saneho Maeda)
Midway Occupation Force (Rear Adm. Raizo Tanaka)
Transport Group carrying about 5000 troops under Capt. Minoru Ota IJN and Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki IJA
Transports: Kiyosumi Maru (Capt. Seiichiro Kito), Keiyo Maru (Capt. Masamichi Ikeuchi), Zenyo Maru, Goshu Maru (Capt. Hiyoshi Furuya), Toa Maru, Kano Maru (Capt. Tomosaburo Miura), Argentina Maru (Cmdr. Takeshi Watanabe), Hokuroku Maru (Capt. Hiotaro Tsukagoshi), Brazil Maru (Capt. Kyujiro Jintsu), Kirishima Maru (Capt. Hiroshi Okubo), Azuma Maru (Capt. Nobuyoshi Morikawa), Nankai Maru (Capt. Akira Maki)
Patrol Boats: Patrol Boat #1, Patrol Boat #2, Patrol Boat #34 also carrying SNLF detachment
AO Akebono Maru (damaged by torpedo night of June 3–4) (Capt. Miki Otsuka)
Escort Force (Rear Adm. Tanaka in CL Jintsu):
CL Jintsu (Capt. Torazo Kozai)
15th Destroyer Division (Capt. Torajiro Sato):
Kuroshio (Cmdr. Tamaki Ugaki)
Oyashio (Cmdr. Tokiyoshi Arima)
16th Destroyer Division (Capt. Shiro Shibuya):
Yukikaze (Cmdr. Kenjiro Tobita)
Amatsukaze (Cmdr. Tameichi Hara)
Tokitsukaze (Cmdr. Giichiro Nakahara)
Hatsukaze (Cmdr. Kameshiro Takahashi)
18th Destroyer Division (Capt. Yoshito Miyasaka):
Shiranui (Cmdr. Shizuo Akazawa)
Kasumi (Cmdr. Kiyoshi Tomura)
Arare (Cmdr. Tomoe Ogata)
Kagerō (Cmdr. Minoru Yokoi)
Seaplane Tender Group (Rear Adm. Ruitaro Fujita in Chitose)
11th Seaplane Tender Division
CVS Chitose (Capt. Tamotsu Furukawa)
16 Nakajima A6M2-N 'Rufe' floatplane fighters
4 Aichi E13A 'Jake' scout floatplanes
AV Kamikawa Maru (Capt. Tarohachi Shinoda)
8 Nakajima A6M2-N 'Rufe' floatplane fighters
4 Aichi E13A 'Jake' scout floatplanes
DD Hayashio (Cmdr. Kiyoshi Kaneda)
Midway Support Force (Vice Adm. Takeo Kurita in Kumano)
7th Cruiser Division (Vice Adm. Kurita):
CA Kumano (Capt. Kikumatsu Tanaka)
CA Suzuya (Capt. Masatomi Kimura)
CA Mikuma (sunk) (Capt. Shakao Sakiyama†)
CA Mogami (Capt. Akira Soji)
8th Destroyer Division (Cmdr. Nobuki Ogawa):
Asashio (Lt. Cmdr. Goro Yoshii)
Arashio (Cmdr. Hideo Kuboki)
Lets not overlook that the US did struggle to hit targets. In the face of dense AA and with significantly more targets to sink and the big carriers still lurking, it would give the battle a quite different character.
Do the US carriers hold off attacking the the invasion force until the carriers are found, or do the defend the atoll, and potentially let the first air fleet escape?
So rather than the the Kido Butai we get a fleet looks likes this:
Second Fleet (Midway Invasion Force)[edit]
Second Fleet Main Body (Vice Adm. Nobutake Kondō in Atago)
3rd Battleship Division less 2nd Section (Rear Adm. Gunichi Mikawa):
Kongō (Capt. Tomiji Koyanagi)
Hiei (Capt. Masao Nishida)
4th Cruiser Division less 2nd Section (Vice Adm. Kondo):
CA Atago (Capt. Baron Matsuji Ijuin)
CA Chōkai (Capt. Mikio Hayakawa)
5th Cruiser Division (Vice Adm. Takeo Takagi):
CA Myōkō (Capt. Teruhiko Miyoshi)
CA Haguro (Capt. Tomokazu Mori)
Screening Force
4th Destroyer Squadron (Rear Adm. Shoji Nishimura in CL Yura):
CL Yura (Capt. Shiro Sato)
3rd Destroyer Division (Capt. Ranji Oe):
Murasame (Lt. Cmdr. Naoji Suenaga)
Samidare (Cmdr. Takisaburo Matsubara)
Harusame (Lt. Cmdr. Masao Kamiyama)
Yūdachi (Cmdr. Kiyoshi Kamiyama)
9th Destroyer Division (Capt. Yasuo Sato):
Asagumo (Cmdr. Toru Iwahashi)
Minegumo (Lt. Cmdr. Yasuatsu Suzuki)
Natsugumo (Lt. Cmdr. Moritaro Tsukamoto)
Carrier Group (Capt. Sueo Obayashi):
CVL Zuihō (Capt. Obayashi)
12 Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 21 'Zeke' fighters (Lt. Moriyasu Hidaka)
12 Nakajima B5N2 'Kate' torpedo bombers (Lt. Kaji Matsuo)
DD Mikazuki (Lt. Cmdr. Saneho Maeda)
Midway Occupation Force (Rear Adm. Raizo Tanaka)
Transport Group carrying about 5000 troops under Capt. Minoru Ota IJN and Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki IJA
Transports: Kiyosumi Maru (Capt. Seiichiro Kito), Keiyo Maru (Capt. Masamichi Ikeuchi), Zenyo Maru, Goshu Maru (Capt. Hiyoshi Furuya), Toa Maru, Kano Maru (Capt. Tomosaburo Miura), Argentina Maru (Cmdr. Takeshi Watanabe), Hokuroku Maru (Capt. Hiotaro Tsukagoshi), Brazil Maru (Capt. Kyujiro Jintsu), Kirishima Maru (Capt. Hiroshi Okubo), Azuma Maru (Capt. Nobuyoshi Morikawa), Nankai Maru (Capt. Akira Maki)
Patrol Boats: Patrol Boat #1, Patrol Boat #2, Patrol Boat #34 also carrying SNLF detachment
AO Akebono Maru (damaged by torpedo night of June 3–4) (Capt. Miki Otsuka)
Escort Force (Rear Adm. Tanaka in CL Jintsu):
CL Jintsu (Capt. Torazo Kozai)
15th Destroyer Division (Capt. Torajiro Sato):
Kuroshio (Cmdr. Tamaki Ugaki)
Oyashio (Cmdr. Tokiyoshi Arima)
16th Destroyer Division (Capt. Shiro Shibuya):
Yukikaze (Cmdr. Kenjiro Tobita)
Amatsukaze (Cmdr. Tameichi Hara)
Tokitsukaze (Cmdr. Giichiro Nakahara)
Hatsukaze (Cmdr. Kameshiro Takahashi)
18th Destroyer Division (Capt. Yoshito Miyasaka):
Shiranui (Cmdr. Shizuo Akazawa)
Kasumi (Cmdr. Kiyoshi Tomura)
Arare (Cmdr. Tomoe Ogata)
Kagerō (Cmdr. Minoru Yokoi)
Seaplane Tender Group (Rear Adm. Ruitaro Fujita in Chitose)
11th Seaplane Tender Division
CVS Chitose (Capt. Tamotsu Furukawa)
16 Nakajima A6M2-N 'Rufe' floatplane fighters
4 Aichi E13A 'Jake' scout floatplanes
AV Kamikawa Maru (Capt. Tarohachi Shinoda)
8 Nakajima A6M2-N 'Rufe' floatplane fighters
4 Aichi E13A 'Jake' scout floatplanes
DD Hayashio (Cmdr. Kiyoshi Kaneda)
Midway Support Force (Vice Adm. Takeo Kurita in Kumano)
7th Cruiser Division (Vice Adm. Kurita):
CA Kumano (Capt. Kikumatsu Tanaka)
CA Suzuya (Capt. Masatomi Kimura)
CA Mikuma (sunk) (Capt. Shakao Sakiyama†)
CA Mogami (Capt. Akira Soji)
8th Destroyer Division (Cmdr. Nobuki Ogawa):
Asashio (Lt. Cmdr. Goro Yoshii)
Arashio (Cmdr. Hideo Kuboki)
Lets not overlook that the US did struggle to hit targets. In the face of dense AA and with significantly more targets to sink and the big carriers still lurking, it would give the battle a quite different character.
Do the US carriers hold off attacking the the invasion force until the carriers are found, or do the defend the atoll, and potentially let the first air fleet escape?
