The Battle of Midway in the Pacific Nothing distinguished the dawn of June 2, 1942 from countless other dawns that fell on the small Midway Atoll in the North Pacific. Nothing, that is, except the tension, the electric tension of men waiting for the enemy to make his move. On Midway's two main islands, Sand and Eastern, 3,632 U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel, along with some Air Force crews, stood at battle stations in and near their fighters, bombers and seaplanes , waiting for the Japanese attack they had. we had been waiting for weeks. The main battle of Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Midway, one of history's decisive naval battles, is well documented. But the role played by the Midway garrison, which manned the naval air base on the atoll during the battle, is not as well known. Midway is located 1,135 miles west-northwest of Pearl Harbor, Oahu. The entire atoll is just six miles in diameter and consists of sandy, eastern islands surrounded by a coral reef enclosing a shallow lagoon. Midway was discovered in 1859 and annexed by the United States in August 1867. Between 1903 and 1940 it served both as a cable car station on the Honolulu Guam Manila submarine telegraph line and as an airport for the Pan American Airways China Clipper (Miracle 5) . In March 1940, after a report on U.S. Navy bases in the Pacific declared Midway second only to Pearl Harbor in importance, construction of a formal naval air station began. Midway Naval Air Station was commissioned in August 1941. At that time, Midway's facilities included a large seaplane hangar and ramps, an artificial harbor, fuel storage tanks, and several buildings. Sand Island was populated by hundreds of civilian construction workers and a Fleet Marine Force defense battalion, while East Island boasted a 5,300-foot airstrip. Commander Cyril T. Simard, a veteran naval pilot who had served as an air officer on the aircraft carrier USS Langley and as an executive officer at Air Station San Diego, was designated commanding officer of the atoll. Along with the naval personnel manning the air station was a detachment of Marines. The first detachment was from the 3rd Marine Defense Battalion; it was replaced on 11 September 1941 by 34 officers and 750 men of the 6th Defense Battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Harold D. Shannon, a veteran of World War I and serving in Panama and Hawaii. Shannon and Simard quickly gelled into an effective team. World War II began at Midway at 6:30 a.m. on December 7, 1941, when the garrison received word of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. At 6.42pm, a Marine sentry spotted a flashing light at sea and alerted the garrison. Three hours later, the Japanese destroyers Sazanami and Ushio opened fire, damaging a seaplane hangar, knocking out the Panamerican radio direction finder, and destroying a consolidated PBY Catalina seaplane. The Japanese retreated at 10:00 pm, leaving four Midway defenders dead and 10 wounded. On December 23, 1941, Midway's air defenses were reinforced with 17 SB2U-3 Vought Vindicator dive bombers, 14 Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo fighters, and pilots and crews originally intended for the Wake Island relief effort. The Buffaloes and Vindicators were decommissioned aircraft, having been replaced by Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless dive bombers and Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighters on US aircraft carriers. The Buffaloesthey became part of Marine Fighter Squadron 221 (VMF-221), while the Vindicators were placed in Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 241 (VMSB-241), both constituting Marine Air Group 22 (MAG-22) under Lt. Col. Ira B. Kimes. Midway settled into a routine of training and anti-submarine flying, with little else to do but play endless games of cards and cribbage, and watch Midway's famous albatrosses, nicknamed gooney birds, in action (Stevens56). Then, in May 1942, Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto, commander in chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, devised a plan, called Operation Mi, to lure the U.S. Pacific Fleet into attacking Midway. Using Midway as bait and assembling a massive naval armada of eight aircraft carriers, 11 battleships, 23 cruisers, 65 destroyers, and several hundred fighters, bombers, and torpedo bombers, Yamamoto planned to crush the Pacific Fleet once and for all. Alerted by his codebreakers that the Japanese intended to seize Midway, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander in chief of the Pacific Command, flew to the atoll on May 2, 1942, to make a personal inspection. After his inspection, Nimitz took Simard and Shannon aside and asked them what they needed to defend Midway. They explained their needs to him. “If I get you all these things, can you defend Midway from a major amphibious assault?” Nimitz asked the two officers. "Yes, sir!" Shannon replied. That was good enough for Nimitz, who returned to Oahu (Robertson 58). On May 20, Shannon and Simard received a letter from Admiral Nimitz, commending their good work and promoting them to full captain and colonel, respectively. Nimitz then 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 detonated a demolition charge under the Midway's gasoline supply. The explosion destroyed 400,000 gallons of jet fuel and also damaged the distribution system, forcing the defenders to manually refuel the planes from 55-gallon drums. Meanwhile, the Marines continued to dig gun emplacements, place sandbags and prepare shelters on both islands. Barbed wire sprouted along Midway's coral beaches. Shannon believed he would stop the Japanese as he had stopped the Germans in World War I. He ordered so much rope that one Marine exclaimed, "Barbed wire, barbed wire! Damn, the old man thinks we can stop planes with barbed wire" (Miracle 27)! The defenders also had a large supply of explosive gelatin, which was used to make anti-boat mines and booby traps. On May 25, as the work continued, Shannon and Simard received some good news. The Japanese attack would occur between June 3 and 5, giving them another week to prepare. The light cruiser St. Louis arrived the same day, to deliver a 37 mm anti-aircraft battery and eight guns from the 3rd Marine 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 which ones are fresh. After flight school, May 29 saw the arrival of four Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers of the 22nd Bomb Group. These planes were specially equipped to carry torpedoes and led by Captain James Collins. That same day, 12 Navy PBY-5A Catalinas joined the 12 PBY-5s stationed at Midway. Starting on May 30, Midway planes began searching for the Japanese. Twenty-twoLieutenant Commander's PBY. Robert Brixner's Patrol Squadron 44 (VP-44) and Commander Massie Hughes' VP-23 took off from Midway Lagoon, then headed in an arc extending 700 miles from Midway in search of the Japanese. Midway obtained additional air reinforcements on June 1 when six new Grumman TBF torpedo bombers arrived, commanded by Lieutenant Langdon K. Fieberling. None of the TBF pilots had ever been in combat and only a few had ever flown out of sight of the earth before. The TBF would later be called the Avenger in honor of its introduction to combat at Midway. By June 1, both the Sand and Eastern Islands were surrounded by coastal defenses. Six 5-inch guns, 22 3-inch guns, and four older Navy 7-inch guns were placed along the coasts of both islands for use as anti-aircraft and anti-boat guns. As many as 1,500 mines and booby traps were placed underwater and along beaches. Ammunition depots were placed throughout the islands, along with food depots for resistance pockets and an emergency supply of 250.55-gallon gasoline drums. Midway had just about everything it needed for its defense. Along with the 121 aircraft crowding the runways on East Island, Midway had 11 PT boats in the lagoon to assist the ground forces with anti-aircraft fire. A yacht and four converted tuna boats stood ready for salvage operations, and 19 submarines guarded the approaches to Midway. Even with these preparations there were problems. The air station's radar, an older SC-270 set installed on Sand Island, showed many signals that were more often albatrosses than aircraft. There was also no plan to coordinate Midway's air operations, which depended on a mix of Air Force, Navy, and Navy pilots and crews. With this in mind, Midway's commanders believed their only chance was to attack the Japanese carriers once they were spotted, in hopes of capturing them with their aircraft on deck. “This meant extremely precise timing, an enormous amount of luck, or both,” Admiral Nimitz explained. "Balsa [Midway's] Air Force must be employed to inflict timely and timely damage on the flight decks of Japanese carriers if recurring attacks are to be stopped..." By June 2, the three Pacific Fleet carriers: Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown --were in position northeast of Midway, but only a few key officers were aware that they would support Midway's defenders. Navy pilots at Midway were told not to "expect any help from U.S. carriers; they are defending Hawaii." Midway's only chance was for Nimitz's carriers to catch the Japanese by surprise. In the early morning of June 3, PBYs from VP-44 and VP-23 took off on their 700-mile search missions, joined by B-17 Flying Fortresses in their search-and-attack missions. The remaining planes at Midway were armed, fueled, and waiting for the order to take flight once the Japanese carriers were located. At 9:04 a.m., Ensign Charles R. Eaton, on patrol 470 miles from Midway, sighted three ships and got a barrage of antiaircraft fire for his trouble. Eaton quickly radioed Midway the first enemy ship contact report of the battle. Seven hundred miles west of Midway, Ensign Jack Reid flew his PBY-5A across a largely empty ocean, nearing the end of the outward leg of his patrol. He found nothing interesting and started to turn back. Just as he did so, Reid saw some dots on the horizon 30 miles ahead. At first he thought they were stainsdirt on the windshield. Then he looked again and shouted to his co-pilot, Ensign Gerald Hardeman, "Do you see what I see?" "You're damn right," Hardeman replied (Miracle 49). At 9:25, Reid radioed "Main Corps Spotted" to Midway and began tracking the Japanese ships. Midway ordered Reid to amplify his report and at 9:27 a.m. he radioed: "Bearing 262 degrees, range 700." At 10.40 he reported: "Six large ships in column..." At 11.00 "Eleven ships, course 090 degrees, speed 19". At 11:30, Reid was ordered back to Midway (Stevens 96). At 12:30 a flight of nine B-17 bombers took off, each armed with four 600-pound bombs and led by Lieutenant Colonel Walter C. Sweeney (Lucas 28). Three and a half hours later, the B-17s found the Japanese ships 570 miles from Midway and attacked under cover of the sun. Sweeney reported seeing two ships burning after the attack. In reality, Sweeney's B-17s scored no hits on the Japanese ships, and the flight back to Midway proved just as harrowing as the attack itself. With fuel nearly exhausted, the B-17s came within sight of East Island at 8:30 p.m. The last Flying Fortress landed at 9.45pm As Sweeney's B-17s returned from their attack, another attack by four PBY Catalinas, each armed with a torpedo and led by Lieutenant W.L. Richards, left Midway at 9.15pm to attack the Japanese. All four PBYs returned safely, sustaining three torpedo hits. A torpedo hit the bow of the tanker Akebono Maru, killing 13 sailors and wounding 11; the transport Kiosumi Maru lost some crew members to strafing. June 4th began for the Midway defenders at 3:00 am with a wake-up call. All gun positions on both islands were manned while pilots and crews stood by their aircraft. At 4:00, six F4F Wildcats from Major Floyd B. "Red" Parks' VMF-221 took off on a combat air patrol. They were followed by 11 PBYs from VP-44, searching for the Japanese carriers, and 16 B-17s led by Sweeney who were to attempt another attack on the Japanese carriers. At 4:30, the aircraft carriers of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's First Strike Force - Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu and Soryu - launched their aircraft. Fifteen minutes later, 36 Nakajima B5N2 Kate torpedo bombers, 36 Aichi D3A1 Val dive bombers, and 36 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighters were on their way to Midway. At 5:30 am, Lieutenant Howard P. Ady emerged from a cloud bank and spotted Nagumo's carriers. Ady radioed to Midway: "Carrier: bearing 320 degrees, range 180." Ady returned to the clouds and circled the Japanese fleet, again radioing: "0553, Two carriers and main body of ships, carrier ahead, course 135 degrees, speed 34." Fifteen minutes after sighting Ady, Lt. jg William Chase, flying south of the Ady sector, saw a formation of Japanese fighters and bombers. Chase quickly radioed, “Many enemy planes headed for Midway, heading 320 degrees, range 150.” At Midway, Sand Island radar detected approaching Japanese planes at 5:53 am. The air raid sirens sounded and all personnel ran to their benches and gun positions. Major Parks' 21 Buffaloes and six Wildcats took off into the air, followed by Lieutenant Fieberling's six TBFs and Captain Collins' four B-26s. Major Henderson's dive bombers were the last to take off. By 6:16 a.m., all 66 Midway planes were in the air. As the bombers headed for the Japanese carriers, Parks led six Buffalos and three Wildcats to intercept the 108 incoming Japanese planes. Captain John Carey, who led the flight of three Wildcats into Parks, was the first to sight the Japanese. “Tallyho! Hawksto the angels twelve!" Carey spoke over the radio. The Japanese bombers flew in a large V formation, followed by groups of Zeros. Carey rolled his Wildcat and screamed into the V, blowing a Kate to pieces with his 4 caliber machine guns ,50, then closed in for another attack. Japanese rear gunners raked his Wildcat, riddling Carey's legs Second Lieutenant Clayton M. Canfield followed Carey in his attack, destroying a Canfield saw the Zeros dive on he. A 20 mm cannon shell damaged his Wildcat, which stopped in the clouds and lost his pursuers. Coming out of the clouds, Canfield caught up with Carey and brought him back to Midway the third Wildcat, was attacked by several Zeros after attacking the Kates and was forced to abort his attack. While the Wildcats fought for their lives, Parks led his six Buffaloes in an attack on the Kates. The Marines managed to overcome a passage before the Zeros overwhelmed them. Parks and four other Marines were killed. Only Lieutenant Daniel J. Irwin survived. He managed to fly his damaged Buffalo back to Midway with the Zeros behind him the whole way. “Their artillery was very good,” Irwin reported, “and I doubt that in every run they did not fail to hit my plane.” VMF-221's 12 reserve fighters, led by Captains Daniel J. Hennessy and Kirk Armstead, also attacked the Japanese planes (Lucas 104). Hennessy's six Buffaloes crashed into the bombers and were jumped by the escorting Zeroes, which destroyed four of them. Only two of Hennessy's men survived. Armstead's Buffalo intercepted the Japanese a few miles from Midway and shot down three Kates before the enraged Zeros destroyed three. Observing the dogfight from the ground, Lieutenant Charles Hughes said the Buffaloes "appeared to be tied to a rope as the Zeros passed them." The Japanese pushed relentlessly toward Midway. To Marine PFC Phillip Clark of D Battery on Sand Island, the Japanese formations looked like "three distant wisps of cloud on the horizon." On Sand and Eastern, Marines and sailors awaited the attack. One observer marveled at the "very calm... apathetic air" with which the defenders awaited the blow, "as if they had been experiencing this sort of thing all their lives" (Stevens 98). “Open fire when targets are in range,” the 6th Battalion headquarters informed all weapons at 6:30 am. A minute later, the Midway's guns opened fire. One Kate caught fire and dove downwards. A second Kate crashed into the lagoon, missing the PT boats. The remaining Kates hit Sand Island, destroying three oil tanks and setting fire to a seaplane hangar. The attack on East Island began with an unforgettable incident. “Suddenly the first Japanese plane broke away,” wrote an eyewitness. “He dived about 100 feet to the ground, rolled onto his back and continued to fly calmly upside down over the ramp.” The Marines watched for a few seconds, then opened fire and shot him down. Val dive bombers hit VMF-221's armament pit, killing four mechanics and detonating eight 100-pound bombs and 10,000 rounds of .50-caliber machine gun ammunition. Another Val demolished Eastern's power plant, knocking out Midway's electricity and water distillation plant. Japanese efforts to render the Eastern runways unusable were unsuccessful; only two small craters remained on the landing strips. Midway's defenders fought back with everything they had. Major Dorn E. Arnold of the 6th Defense Battalion fired a rifle at the enemyBrowning automatic; a sailor from 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. At 7:15 a.m. the all-clear sounded at Midway and the process of picking up the pieces began. Kimes ordered VMF-221's fighters to land. Six Buffaloes staggered in. Including four planes that landed during the raid, only 20 U.S. fighters had survived. Of these, only a Wildcat and a single Buffalo were fit to fly. Fifteen Buffalos and two Wildcats were shot down and 13 pilots were killed. Fighter and anti-aircraft fire shot down eleven Japanese planes, while 53 were damaged. Colonel Shannon's trenches, bunkers and revetments proved effective. Only 11 Midway ground defenders were killed and 18 wounded. None of the Midway planes were trapped on the ground, except for an old utility biplane and a decoy plane made of crates and a tin roof called the "JFU" (Jap fouler-upper) (Robertson 15). While Midway repaired the damage and her defenders licked their wounds, planes sent to attack the Japanese carriers made contact. Lieutenant Langdon Fieberling's six TBFs reached the Japanese fleet at 7:10 a.m., dropped to low altitude, and continued toward the carriers. So many Zeros swarmed around the vulnerable torpedo bombers that the fighters got in each other's way. In the first attack two TBFs were destroyed, followed by three more. Realizing that he could not reach the carriers, Ensign Albert K. Earnest fired his torpedo at a cruiser, then broke away with two Zeros behind him. Earnest returned his TBF to Midway, sailing "by guess and by God." Directly behind the TBFs, Captain James Collins led his four B-26 Marauders in a contest of anti-aircraft fire and six Zeros. Collins led his planes 200 feet above the water and, followed by Lieutenant James P. Muri, continued toward the aircraft carrier Akagi. Collins released his torpedo 850 yards from the carrier and moved away. Muri dropped his torpedo at 450 yards, then turned and flew to the center of the Akagi's flight deck. Once Muri's B-26 was clear of Akagi, the Zeros attacked with a vengeance, wounding two crew members and riddling the landing gear, fuel tanks, propeller blades, radio and top of a wing. Despite that punishment, Muri and Collins were the only survivors of the group of four B-26s. Then, at 7:48, VMSB-241's 16 Dauntless and Vindicator dive bombers led by Major Lofton Henderson followed up with the TBF and B-26 attacks. Henderson had divided the squadron into duels; leading the SBDs himself while Major Benjamin W. Norris led the Vindicators. While Henderson led the squadron northwest, the faster Dauntlesses soon left the Vindicators behind. Henderson's SBDs got their first look at the Japanese carriers at 7:25 a.m., and he radioed his Dauntless pilots, "Attack the two enemy CVs to port of the bow." Henderson had led his squadron to 4,000 feet when the Japanese combat air patrol attacked. The Dauntlesses also encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire from Japanese ships. Henderson's plane was hit and its left wing caught fire. He tried to keep his burning Dauntless ahead, but eventually lost control and crashed into the sea. Captain Elmer C. Glidden quickly took command of the Dauntlesses. “The fighter attacks were heavy,” he wrote, “so I led the squadron through a protective layer of clouds” (Stevens 102). The Zeros followed the Marines into the clouds. Glidden broke out of the clouds and found two Japanese carriers, Kaga and Hiryu, 2,000 feet below. The 10Remaining Dauntless dived to 500 feet or less before releasing their bombs, then fled at full throttle, pursued by the Zeros. Three SBDs crashed into the sea near Midway. Their crews were later rescued. The remaining six, some seriously injured by gunfire, reached Midway. Eight SBDs, including Henderson's, were lost, with no damage to the Japanese. Sweeney's 15 Flying Fortresses arrived over Nagumo's fleet at 8:10, when the Dauntless ended their attacks. Viewed from 20,000 feet, the Japanese fleet was "an astonishing sight," recalled B-17 pilot Don Kundinger. “A panoramic view of the largest array of surface ships any of us had ever seen – they seemed to stretch endlessly from horizon to horizon.” Each three-plane B-17 element attacked alone. Lieutenant Colonel Brooke Allen's element dumped its bombs on the aircraft carrier Soryu, but all of them failed. Sweeney targeted Kaga, surrounding her stern with, he said, “a bomb hit…causing heavy smoke” (Robertson 22). Three Zeros ganged up on Captain Cecil Faulkener's bomber, riddling its fuselage and wounding the tail gunner. Another Zero dueled Captain Paul Payne's Fortress but never came close. “The Zeros barely touched the B-17s,” reported Captain Paul Gregory. “Enemy pursuit seemed to have no desire to get close to the modified B-17E” (Young 25). The B-17s finished their attack by 8:20 a.m. and returned to Midway. Sweeney believed his B-17s had hit at least one of the Japanese carriers. In reality they hadn't. Shortly after the B-17s departed, Major Benjamin Norris's 11 Vindicators arrived and the Zeros swarmed them (Miracle 45). Norris, having no illusions about his old "Vibrators", decided not to continue towards the aircraft carriers. He led his men into the clouds. Breaking out of the cloud cover, Norris discovered a battleship below. This was the Haruna, supposedly sunk in December 1941. “Attack target below,” Norris radioed, and led the Vindicators in a high-speed glide. The anti-aircraft guns on Haruna opened fire with an "extremely heavy and troublesome but inaccurate barrage" (Stevens 121). Only two of Major Norris' Vindicators were lost in the attack. Three ditched at sea near Midway due to battle damage. Despite reports that they had scored two direct hits and three near misses, the Vindicator pilots had not even made a dent in Haruna. If the Battle of Midway had ended with the return of the Vindicators of VMSB-241, it would have been another victory for the Japanese. Midway had sent 52 planes against the Japanese and lost 19 without scoring a single hit. “From the time of the attack and the known location of the enemy carriers, we estimated that they would return in three to four hours,” Kimes wrote (Stevens 54). Only six Dauntlesses, seven Vindicators, a Buffalo, and a single Wildcat remained to oppose the Japanese. Midway's defenders steadied themselves for another air raid. Nothing happened. The only aircraft to arrive were 11 Dauntlesses from the aircraft carrier Hornet at 11:00. Some Navy gunners, believing they were Japanese planes, opened fire on the SBDs before recognizing their silhouettes. The Dauntlesses were refueled and back in the air by 2pm. At 3:58 p.m., Midway's defenders received an indication that the Japanese were taking a beating when a PBY pilot reported "three ships on fire." At 5:45 a.m. he reported, "The three ships on fire are Japanese aircraft carriers." The stricken ships - Akagi, Kaga and Soryu - were victims of SBD Dauntlesses from the American aircraft carriers Enterprise and Yorktown.At the same time, at sea, Midway's B-17s, along with six other Hawaiian Flying Fortresses, attacked. Remember: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay for the Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryu, which had been damaged and set on fire by dive bombers from Enterprise and Hornet. The B-17s claimed to have hit the burning Hiryu, as well as a cruiser and a battleship, and to have sunk a destroyer. In fact, the land-based bombers were no more successful in the afternoon than they had been in the morning. With all four of Nagumo's carriers destroyed, Yamamoto decided he could not proceed with his plan to occupy Midway and ordered his fleet to retreat. Midway's defenders, however, still expected the Japanese invasion. Captain Simard dispersed his PBYs, evacuated non-essential personnel, and warned his PT ships to expect a night attack. At 1:20 a.m., the Japanese submarine I-168 opened fire on Midway with its 5-inch gun. Batteries B and E on the eastern island, along with Battery D on Sand Island, returned fire with their 3- and 5-inch guns, launching 42 shells at I-168, which launched eight. The brief exchange caused no damage to either party. Most of the I-168's shells fell into the lagoon. The submarine submerged at 1:28, the Marine gunners ceased firing, and Midway retreated into uneasy silence (Miracle 68). June 5, 1942 began for the defenders of Midway at 4:15 a.m., after Sand Island's radio picked up a report from the submarine USS Tambor of a large enemy force possibly at close range. The Midway garrison still had every reason to believe that an invasion was imminent. Within 15 minutes, eight B-17s took off from East Island to counter the threat. Army pilots could not locate enemy ships in the morning fog, and by 6:00 a.m. B-17s were circling near Kure Atoll waiting for information. At 6:30 a.m., a Midway-based PBY reported, “Sighted 2 battleships heading 256 degrees, range 125 miles, course 268 degrees, speed 15.” Two minutes later the PBY added: "Ships damaged, oil spill." The Japanese ships were retreating, and the island's defenders breathed a collective sigh of relief. Marine Aircraft Group 22 dispatched two flights from VMSB-241, six Dauntlesses under the command of Captain Marshall A. Tyler and six Vindicators led by Captain Richard E. Flemming, to attack the two "battleships", actually the heavy cruisers Mikuma and Mogami , damaged in a collision the night before. Forty-five minutes later, Marine pilots spotted the oil slick left by the damaged cruisers and followed it to Mogami and Mikuma. Tyler led his six Dauntlesses in an attack on Mogami amid heavy anti-aircraft fire. The Marines dropped the bombs, scoring some near misses. At 8:40, a few minutes after Tyler's attack, Flemming led his Vindicators out of the sun, through heavy flak from the Japanese ships, against Mikuma. Captain Leon M. Williamson, a pilot on Flemming's flight, saw Flemming's engine smoking during his dive. As soon as Flemming pulled out, his Vindicator caught fire. Flemming, by accident or on purpose, crashed his flaming Vindicator into Mikuma's aft 8-inch turret. The crash started a fire that was sucked into the starboard vents of the cruiser's engine room, suffocating the engineers. After the Marines ended their attacks, Midway's eight B-17s, led by Lieutenant Colonel Brooke Allen, appeared and dropped their bombs, scoring a near.