Air Commander for Battle of Midway, CDR Logan C. Ramsey, USN
Commander Patrol Wing Two, RADM Patrick N. Bellinger
VP-23, VP-24, VP-44, VP-53, and a detachment of VT-8
(31 PBY Catalinas, and 6 TBF Avengers)
Commander, Marine Aircraft Group 22, LCOL Ira L. Kimes, USMC
Commander, VMF-221, MAJ Floyd B. Parks, USMC
(21 F2A-3 Buffaloes, 7 F4F-3 Wildcats)
Commander, VMSB-241, MAJ Lofton R. Henderson, USMC
(19 SBD Devastators, 21 SB2U Vindicators)
7th Army Air Corps, Bomber Command, MGEN Willis P. Hale, USA
431st Bomber Squadron, LCOL Walter C. Sweeny, Jr., USA
(19 B-17 Flying Fortresses)
69th Bomber Squadron, CAPT James F. Collins, USA
(4 B-26 Marauders)
APPENDIX D
Japanese Order of Battle at Midway
(carriers in bold face)
Commander, Japanese Combined Fleet (CinC), ADM Yamamoto Isoroku, IJN
* * *
Main Body (3 heavy battleships, 1 small carrier, 1 light cruiser, 9 destroyers)
* * *
Commander, Main Body, ADM Yamamoto, IJN
Chief of Staff, RADM Ugaki Matome, IJN
Battleship Division One
BB Yamato (flagship), CAPT Takayanagi Gihachi, IJN
BB Nagato, CAPT Yano Hideo, IJN
BB Mutsu, CAPT Yamazumi Tejiro, IJN
Carrier Group Accompanying Main Body
Light Carrier Hōshō, CAPT Kaoru Umetani, IJN
Commander, Hōshō Air Group, LT Irikiin Yoshiaki, IJN
DD Yukaze, LCDR Kajimoto Shizuka
Commander, Destroyer Squadron 3, RADM Hashimoto Shintarō, IJN
CL Sendai, CAPT Morishita Nobue, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 11, CAPT Shōji Kichirō, IJN
DD Fubuki, CDR Yamashtia Shizuo, IJN
DD Shirayuki, CDR Sugahara Rokorō, IJN
DD Murakumo, CDR Higaashi Hideo, IJN
DD Hatsuyuki, LCDR Kamiura Junnari, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 19, CAPT Oe Ranji, IJN
DD Isonami, CDR Sugama Ryōkichi, IJN
DD Uranami, CDR Hagio Tsutomu, IJN
DD Shikinami, CDR Kawahashi Akifumi, IJN
DD Ayanami, CDR Sakuma Eiji, IJN
Fueling Unit, CAPT Nishioka Shigeyasu, IJN
AO Naruto, CAPT Nishioka
The Main Body also included a “Special Force” of two tenders carrying midget submarines, plus a supply ship.
* * *
First Carrier Strike Force (The Kido Butai) (4 carriers, 2 battleships, 2 cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 12 destroyers)
* * *
Commander, First Carrier Strike Force, VADM Nagumo Chūichi, IJN
Chief of Staff, RADM Kusaka Ryūnosuke, IJN
Senior Air Officer, CDR Fuchida Mitsuo, IJN
Commander, Carrier Division 1, VADM Nagumo
CV Akagi (flagship), CAPT Aoki Taijirō, IJN
Commander, Akagi Air Group, CDR Fuchida
Commander, Fighter Planes (Kansen Buntai), LT Itaya Shigeru, IJN
Commander, Bombing Force (Kanbaku Buntai), LT Chihaya Takehiro, IJN
Commander, Torpedo Planes (Kanko Buntai), LCDR Murata Shigeharu, IJN
Plus 6 fighters intended for Midway garrison
CV Kaga, CAPT Jisaku Okada, IJN
Commander, Kaga Air Group, LCDR Kusumi Tadashi, IJN
Commander, Fighter Planes (Kansen Buntai), LT Satō Masao, IJN
Commander, Bombing Force (Kanbaku Buntai), LT Ogawa Shō-ichi, IJN
Commander, Torpedo Planes (Kanko Buntai), LT Kazuraki Masuhiko, IJN
Plus 9 fighters and 2 bombers intended for Midway garrison
Commander, Carrier Division 2, RADM Yamaguchi Tamon, IJN
Air Officer, LCDR Egusa Takashige, IJN
CV Hiryū (flagship), CAPT Kaku Tomoeo, IJN
Commander, Hiryu Air Group, LT Tomanga Joichi, IJN
Commander, Fighter Planes (Kansen Buntai), LT Mori Shigeru, IJN
Commander, Bombing Force (Kanbaku Buntai), LT Kobayashi Michio, IJN
Commander, Torpedo Planes (Kanko Buntai), LT Kikuchi Rokurō, IJN
Plus 3 fighters intended for Midway garrison
CV Sōryū, CAPT Yanagimoto Ryusaku, IJN
Commander, Soryu Air Group, LCDR Egusa, IJN
Commander, Fighter Planes (Kansen Buntai), LT Suganami Masaji, IJN
Commander, Bombing Force (Kanbaku Buntai), LT Ikeda Masatake, IJN
Commander, Torpedo Planes (Kanko Buntai), LT Abe Heijiro, IJN
Plus one reconnaissance plane and 3 fighters intended for Midway garrison
Commander, Cruiser Division 8, RADM Abe Haroaki, IJN
CA Tone (flagship), CAPT Okada Tametsugu, IJN
CA Chikuma, CAPT Komura Keizō, IJN
Battleship Division 3
BB Haruna, CAPT Koma Tamotsu, IJN
BB Kirishima, CAPT Iwabughi, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Squadron 10, RADM Kimura Susumu, IJN
CL Nagara (flagship), CAPT Naoi Toshio, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 4, CAPT Ariga Kosaku, IJN
DD Nowaki, CDR Yoshida Masayoshi, IJN
DD Arashi, CDR Watanabe Yasumasa, IJN
DD Hagikaze, CDR Iwagami Juichi, IJN
DD Maikaze, CDR Nakasugi Seiji, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 10, CAPT Abe Toshio, IJN
DD Kazagumo, CDR Yoshida Masayoshi, IJN
DD Yugomo, CDR Semba Shigeo, IJN
DD Makigumo, CDR Fujita Isamu, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 17, CAPT Kitamura Masayuki, IJN
DD Urakaze, CDR Shiraishi Nagayoshi, IJN
DD Isokaze, CDR Toshima Shunichi, IJN
DD Tanikaze, CDR Katsumi Motoi, IJN
DD Jamakaze, CDR Orita Tsuneo, IJN
Plus 5 small oilers escorted by DD Akigumo, CDR Soma Shohei
* * *
Close Support Group (4 cruisers, 2 destroyers)
* * *
Commander, Close Support Group, VADM Kurita Takeo, IJN
Commander, Cruiser Division 7, VADM Kurita
CA Kumano (flagship), CAPT Tanaka Kikumatsu, IJN
CA Suzuya, CAPT Kimura Masatomi, IJN
CA Mikuma, CAPT Sakiyama Shakao, IJN
CA Mogami, CAPT Soji Akira, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 8, CDR Ogawa Nobuki, IJN
DD Asashio, CDR Yoshii Gorō, IJN
DD Arashio, CDR Kuboki Hideo, IJN
Plus an oiler, the Nichiel Maru
* * *
Midway Invasion Force (1 small carrier, 2 battleships, 4 cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 8 destroyers)
* * *
Commander, Midway Invasion Force, VADM Kondō Nobutake, IJN
Chief of Staff, RADM Shiraishi Kazutaka, IJN
Commander, Battle Division 3, Section 1, RADM Mikawa Gunichi, IJN
BB Kongo (flagship), CAPT Koyanagi Tomiji, IJN
BB Hiei, CAPT Nishida Masao, IJN
Cruiser Division 4, Section 1
CA Atago (invasion force flagship), CAPT Ijuin Matsuji, IJN
CA Chokai, CAPT Hayakawa Mikio, IJN
Commander, Cruiser Division 5, VADM Takagi Takeo, IJN
CA Myoko (flagship), CAPT Miyoshi Teruhiki, IJN
CA Haguro, CAPT Mori Tomoichi, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Squadron 4, RADM Nishimura Shōji, IJN
CL Yura (flagship), CAPT Sato Shirō, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 3, CAPT Tachibana Masao, IJN
DD Murasame, CDR Suenaga Naoji, IJN
DD Samidare, CDR Matsubara Takisaburo, IJN
DD Harusame, CDR Kamiyama, IJN
DD Yudachi, CDR Kikkawa Kiyoshi, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 9, CAPT Satō Yasuo, IJN
DD Asagumo, CDR Iwahashi Tōru, IJN
DD Minegumo, CDR Suzuki Yasuatsu, IJN
DD Natsugumo, CDR Tsukamoto Moritarō, IJN
Commander, Escort Carr
ier Group, CAPT Obayahi Sueo, IJN
Light Carrier Zuihō, CAPT Obayashi
Commander, Fighter Planes (Kansen Buntai), LT Hidaka Moriyasu, IJN
Commander, Torpedo Planes (Kanko Buntai), LT Matsuo Kaji, IJN
DD Mikazuki, LCDR Maeda Saneho, IJN
The Midway Invasion force was accompanied by 4 oilers and a supply ship.
* * *
Transport Group (1 light cruiser, 10 destroyers, 13 transports)
* * *
Commander, Transport Group, RADM Tanaka Raizō, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Squadron 2, RADM Tanaka
CL Jintsu (flagship), CAPT Kozai Torazō, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 15, CAPT Satō Torajirō, IJN
DD Kuroshio, CDR Ugaki Tamaki, IJN
DD Oyashio, CDR Arima Tokikichi, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 16, CAPT Shibuya Shirō, IJN
DD Yukikaze, CDR Tobita Kenjirō, IJN
DD Amatsukaze, CDR Hara Tameichi, IJN
DD Tokitsukaze, CDR Nakahara Giichirō, IJN
DD Hatsukaze, CDR Takahashi Kameshirō, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 18, CAPT Mikyasaka Yoshito, IJN
DD Shiranuhi, CDR Akasawa Jisuo, IJN
DD Kasumi, CDR Tomura Kiyoshi, IJN
DD Kagero, CDR Yokoi Minoru, IJN
DD Arare, CDR Ogata Tomoe, IJN
Commander, Landing Force, COL Ichiki Kiyonao, IJA
(5,000 soldiers carried in 13 transport and supply ships)
* * *
Submarine Force (15 submarines)
* * *
Commander, Submarine Force, VADM Komatsu Teruhishi, IJN
Chief of Staff, RADM Mito Hisashi, IJN
Commander, Submarine Squadron 3, RADM Kono Chirnaki, IJN
Submarine Division 11
I-174, LCDR Kusaka Toshi, IJN
I-175, LCDR Uno Kameo, IJN
Submarine Division 12
I-168, LCDR Tanabe Yahachi, IJN
I-169, LCDR Watanabe Katsuji, IJN
I-171, LCDR Kawasaki Rokuro, IJN
Submarine Division 13 (CAPT Miyazaki Takeharu)
I-121, LCDR Fujimori Yasuo, IJN
I-122, LCDR Norita adatoshi, IJN
I-123, LCDR Ueno Toshitake, IJN
Commander, Submarine Squadron 5, RADM Tadashige Daigo, IJN
Submarine Division 19 (CAPT Ono Ryōjirō)
I-156, LCDR Ohashi Katsuo
I-157, LCDR Nakajima Sakae, IJN
I-158, LCDR Kitamura Soshichi, IJN
I-159, LCDR Yoshimatsu Tamori, IJN
Submarine Division 30 (CAPT Teraoka Masao)
I-162, LCDR Kinashi Takakuzu, IJN
I-165, LCDR Harada Hakue, IJN
I-166, LCDR Tanaka Makio, IJN
* * *
The Aleutians Force (5th Fleet) (1 carrier, 1 light carrier, 3 cruisers, 3 destroyers)
* * *
Commander, Aleutians Force, VADM Hosogaya Moshirō, IJN
Chief of Staff, CAPT Nakazawa Tasuku, IJN
CANachi (flagship), CAPT Kiyota Takahiko, IJN
DD Inazuma, CDR Takeuchi Hajime, IJN
DD Irazuchi, LCDR Kudo Shunsaku, IJN
Commander, 2nd Carrier Striking Force, RADM Kakuta Kakuji, IJN
Light Carrier Ryūjō (flagship), CAPT Kato Tadao, IJN
Commander, Ryūjō Air Group, LT Kobayashi Minoru, IJN
Commander, Fighter Planes (Kansen Buntai), LT Kobayashi
Commander, Torpedo Planes (Kanko Buntai), LT Yamagami Masayuki, IJN
CV Jun’yō, CAPT Ishii Shizue, IJN
Commander Jun’yō Air Group, LT Shiga Yoshio, IJN
Commander, Fighter Planes (Kansen Buntai), LT Shiga
Commander, Bombing Force (Kanbaku Buntai), LT Abe Zenji, IJN
Cruiser Division 4, Section 2
CA Maya, CAPT Nabeshima Shunsaku, IJN
CA Takeo, CAPT Asakura Bunji, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 7, CAPT Konishi Kaname, IJN
DD Akebono, LCDR Nakagawa Minoru, IJN
DD Ushio, CDR Uesugi Yoshitake, IJN
DD Sazanami, LCDR Uwai Hiroshi, IJN
* * *
Attu Invasion Force (1 light cruiser, 4 destroyers, plus transports)
* * *
Commander, Attu Invasion Force, RADM Ōmori Sentarō
CL Abukuma (flagship), CAPT Murayama Seiroku, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 21, CAPT Shimizu Toshio, IJN
DD Wakaba, LCDR Kuroki Masakichi, IJN
DD Nenohi, LCDR Terauchi Saburō, IJN
DD Hatsuharu, CDR Makino Hiroshi, IJN
DD Hatsushimo, LCDR Migihama Satoru, IJN
Army North Seas Detachment (1,200 soldiers), MAJ Hozumi Matsuoshi, IJA Plus 3 oilers, 3 supply ships, and 2 minelayers
* * *
Kiska Invasion Force (2 light cruisers, 3 destroyers, 4 support vessels, 3 minesweepers)
* * *
Commander, Kiska Invasion Force, CAPT Ono Takeji, IJN
Cruiser Division 21
CL Kiso, CAPT Ono
CL Tama, CAPT Kawabata Masaharu, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 6, CAPT Yamada Yusuke, IJN
DD Hibiki, LCDR Ishii Hagumu, IJN
DD Atatsuki, CDR Takasuka Osamu, IJN
DD Hokaze, LCDR Tanaka Tomō, IJN
Plus 4 support vessels and 3 minesweepers
* * *
Submarines Assigned to Aleutians Group (6 submarines)
* * *
Commander, Submarine Squadron 1, RADM Yamazaki Shigenaki, IJN
I-9 (flagboat), CDR Fujii Akiyoshi, IJN
Submarine Division 2, CAPT Imazato Hiroshi, IJN
I-15, CDR Ishikawa Nobuo, IJN
I-17, CDR Nishino Kozo, IJN
I-19, CDR Narahara Seigo, IJN
Submarine Division 4, CAPT Nagai Mitsuru
I-25, CDR Togami Meiji, IJN
I-26, CDR Yokota Minoru, IJN
* * *
Aleutians Guard Force (4 battleships, 2 light cruisers, 12 destroyers)
* * *
Commander, Guard Force, VADM Takasu Shirō, IJN
Chief of Staff, RADM Kobayashi Kengō, IJN
Battleship Division 1
BB Hyuga (flagship), CAPT Matsuda Chiaki, IJN
BB Ise, CAPT Takeda Isamu, IJN
BB Fuso, CAPT Kinoshita Mitsuo, IJN
BB Yamashiro, CAPT Kogure Gunji, IJN
Commander, Cruiser Division 9, RADM Kishi Fukuji, IJN
CL Kitakami (flagship), CAPT Norimitsu Saiji, IJN
CL Oi, CAPT Narita Mōichi
Commander, Destroyer Division 20, CAPT Yamada Yuji, IJN
DD Agagiri, CDR Maekawa Nisaburo, IJN
DD Yugiri, CDR Motokura Masayoshi, IJN
DD Shirakumo, CDR Hitomi Toyoji, IJN
DD Amagiri, CAPT Ashida Buichi, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 24, CAPT Hirai Yasji, IJN
DD Umikasa, CDR Sugitani Nagahide, IJN
DD Yamakaze, CDR Hamanaka Shuishi, IJN
DD Kawakase, CDR Wakabayashi Kazuo, IJN
DD Suzukaze, CDR Shibayama Kazuo, IJN
Commander, Destroyer Division 27, CAPT Yoshimura Matake, IJN
DD Ariake, CDR Yoshida Shōichi, IJN
DD Yugure, CDR Kamo Kiyoshi, IJN
DD Shigure, CDR Seo Noboru, IJN
DD Shiratsuyu, LCDR Hashimoto Kimmatsu, IJN
APPENDIX E
How Much Did the U.S. Know
of Japanese Plans?
Though it was long kept a secret, the contribution of the code breakers to American victory in the Battle of Midway is now well known. At the center of that story, however, is a continuing mystery about a particular message: the detailed twelve-part Japanese operational order dated May 20 that Joseph Rochefort says he took with him to the meeting with Chester Nimitz on May 25. According to the oral testimony of several cryptanalysts at both Melbourne and Pearl Harbor who claim to have seen it, this message contained the complete Japanese order of battle as well as
their prescribed route, the bearing to Midway, and even the timing of the air attack. In many subsequent histories of the battle, this document is credited with giving the Americans the decisive edge against their superior foe and making American victory not only possible but even inevitable.* The problem is that no copy of this intercept has survived.
At least six men later testified that they saw and handled the document. Petty Officer Bill Tremblay, who found it, Lieutenant Commander Gil Richardson, the duty officer at FRUMEL, who sent it on to Hypo, Ensign (later Rear Admiral) Ralph Cook who was at FRUMEL during the effort to break the message, Ensign (later Rear Admiral) Donald “Mac” Showers, and Lieutenant (later Captain) Jasper Holmes at FRUPAC, who worked on it, and of course Commander (later Captain) Joseph Rochefort, who took it with him to his meeting with Nimitz on May 25. It is improbable that all six men should invent such a document and cling to the story of it so consistently over seventy years. Nevertheless, the document itself has never been found. Such a mystery has led some scholars to wonder if it ever existed at all.
Edwin Layton, who was the person in the best position to know, insisted for the rest of his life that no such document ever existed and, moreover, that the code breakers never had the complete Japanese order of battle for Midway. In an interview with Etta Belle Kitchen on May 31, 1970, Layton declared emphatically that “everything that has been written about that is absolutely, unqualifiedly false,” and that “there was no such message.” When Kitchen pressed him, asking “to make it perfectly clear, [that] there never was a complete battle order as it reported in some of the books,” Layton replied: “Never was. Not available to us” (Layton Oral History, 125–27).
Why, then, do so many people remember it? An investigation of the Layton Papers at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, suggests a possible explanation. Layton kept a personal (and highly confidential) journal during his time as Nimitz’s intelligence officer. The physical journal itself offers insight into the kind of mind that is drawn to cryptanalysis, for it is written in four colors and in tiny—almost microscopic—handwriting; reading it today requires the use of a magnifying glass. In this journal, Layton carefully recorded all the intercepted messages that he considered important each day. There is no record in that journal of a unified twelve-part message on May 20, but it does indicate a dramatic upswing in the volume of message traffic that day. Some of the messages concerned a planned Japanese “fleet exercise,” but a dozen others obviously referred to a forthcoming operation. One revealed the presence of “occupation forces” for both Midway and Alaska. Another mentioned that Japanese forces would approach the target from the northwest. As the Hypo analysts worked on these messages, the results would have been collated and compared so that Rochefort could present the collected findings to Nimitz. Very likely, therefore, the men who achieved this intelligence coup recalled their effort as having focused on a single message rather than a group of shorter messages. If so, instead of one lengthy and detailed operational order, the May 20 decrypt remembered by several of the Hypo analysts and reported in several histories of the battle may well have been a composite of a dozen shorter messages.
The Battle of Midway (Pivotal Moments in American History) Page 41
