They could be sighted at about 175 miles from Midway at around 0700 local time. Summarizing all my data, I told Nimitz that the carriers would probably attack on the morning of 4 June, from the northwest on a nearing of 325 degrees. plans to ambush the Japanese force near Midway were approved, giving Nimitz a stunningly predictive assessment: In his memoirs, Pacific Fleet Intelligence Officer Lieutenant Commander Edwin “Eddie” Layton recounted presenting the fruits of Hypo’s work on May 27th at the Pacific Fleet staff conference where the U.S. The identity of the Japanese objective was conclusively determined as Midway. Almost immediately afterward, American listening posts intercepted Japanese transmissions mentioning the water shortage and the need to bring along extra water to support the operation. In a famous trick, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Chester Nimitz approved a ruse proposed by Rochefort that saw the American garrison at Midway send a fake message “in the clear” (on open channels) regarding broken water evaporator units on the island. By late April, Rochefort’s team assessed that the Japanese were planning major operations against the central Pacific and Aleutians. Immediately after Pearl Harbor, Station Hypo began attempting to decode messages transmitted using the JN-25 code. signals intelligence (SIGINT) analysts led by then-Commander Joseph “Joe” Rochefort. Navy intelligence successfully breaking Japanese codes and discovering the Japanese Navy’s plans to attack Midway Atoll.
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Among these reasons is that it is an inexhaustible source of still-relevant lessons on how to successfully apply intelligence at all levels of war.Īt the root of the American victory at Midway was U.S. The Battle of Midway is important to memorialize and remember for many reasons. Navy’s Task Forces 16 and 17 ambushed and sank the Imperial Japanese Navy’s carrier force that only six months before had attacked Pearl Harbor and terrorized the Pacific. Between June 4 and 7, aircraft from aircraft carriers Enterprise, Yorktown, and Hornet of the U.S. The Battle of Midway in June of 1942 was one of the most important naval battles in world history and a turning point in the Second World War.