Mitscher and the Mystery of Midway

[aurora]

For more than 50 years, students of the Battle of Midway took Mitscher at his word and described the Hornet air group as missing the Japanese because the American planes flew south of the target. But, as Ronald Russell noted in his February 2006 article, unofficial evidence, mainly from post battle interviews, memoirs, letters, and other such sources, mostly (though not exclusively) indicate that the Hornet air group had not flown to the south west on a course of 239, but to the west—on a course of 265 degrees.

That evidence comes mostly from the pilots themselves, who, in postwar oral interviews recalled that they had flown “westerly,” as one put it, “almost due west,” according to another, or more precisely (from yet another), “at 265 degrees.” When one pilot, Troy Guillory, initially said that the air group flew “westerly,” his interviewer suggested that he must be mistaken, that the course was to the southwest, at 239 degrees. No, said Guillory. “We went the wrong way to start with”—and pointing to the chart—“to the 265 line.” Ensign Ben Tappan stated simply, “We were going west.” The commander of the Hornet ’s scouting squadron (VS-8), Lieutenant Commander (later Rear Admiral) Walt Rodee bluntly said, “We took the bearing and the course they gave us. It was about 265. . . . It was almost due west.” Rodee did not file an after-action report, but he did make note of the course in his flight log—which he kept. Finally, the radar operator on board the Hornet recalled tracking the air group as it flew away from TF 16, and said that as far as the CXAM radar could track the air group, it had flown outbound on a course of 265 degrees. Significantly, not all the pilots agreed. Ensign Clayton Fisher, who flew as wingman for the group commander on 4 June, claimed until his death in January 2012 that the air group flew southwest on a bearing between 235 and 240 degrees. 6

Explaining the discrepancy between Mitscher’s report and the pilots’ memories is difficult. The absence of any squadron reports from the Hornet is by itself suspicious and encourages the conclusion that Mitscher’s official report may well be in error. Not surprisingly, Spruance thought so, too. In his own report on the battle, he wrote, “Where discrepancies exist between Enterprise and Hornet reports, the Enterprise report should be taken as more accurate.” That is an astonishing statement to make in an official report, and comes close to asserting that Mitscher’s report was not to be trusted.7
For the Full Article see link

http://www.usni.org/magazines/navalhist ... ery-midway

[Rick Rather]

The author of that article, Craig L. Symonds recently published The Battle of Midway, in which he uses Parshall & Tully's research on the Japanese and combines it with his own research into the Hornet's "flight to nowhere" to make one of the most complete narratives of the battle yet (though it does lack some of the 'fire' of earlier books, such as Lord's & Prange's).

His case against Mitscher & Ryng is detailed and compelling.

[aurora]

My thanks Rick for your comment-it would seem the case against Mitscher was proven

Everything that could have gone wrong for the Hornet's Air Group on June 4th, 1942, did. The escorting fighters gave no protection to the torpedo planes, got lost, ran out of fuel and ditched without ever firing their guns. The bombers never saw the enemy. The torpedo squadron was annihilated without scoring a hit. It was the sort of performance that could ruin careers. For a time, Mitscher believed his was completely over. Ring had lost all control over his Air Group entirely, and probably should have been lucky to ever get back to sea.

But the whitewashing of the entire incident began almost immediately. The Battle of Midway was, as Walter Lord put it, an "Incredible Victory." It was a time to celebrate, and the ugly truth was swept under the rug. Shortly after Midway, now-Admiral Mitscher was relieved of command of the Hornet and assigned a number of positions over the next year, before begin given command of Carrier Division 3 in early 1944. Stanhope Ring was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on June 5th, 1942, during the attacks on the Japanese cruiser Mikuma. When Mitscher left the Hornet, Ring went with him as his Operations Officer. Both men probably should have seen their careers end at Midway. Instead, both moved up the ladders of command. Mitscher became a legendary commander, greatly admired by his pilots. Ring got his stars after the war.

http://wonderduck.mu.nu/the_flight_to_nowhere

[aurora]

Finally (and this may have been decisive) by 13 June when Mitscher wrote his report, it was very clear that the Americans had won an overwhelming victory at Midway—indeed, the greatest triumph in U.S. naval history. It simply would not do, then, to sully that achievement with a raft of posthumous courts-martial against men such as Waldron.

So instead of filing mutiny charges, Mitscher wrote this: “Torpedo Eight, led by Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron, U.S.N., was lost in its entirety. This squadron flew at 100 knots below the clouds while the remainder of the group flew at 110 knots climbing to 19,000 feet. Lieutenant Commander Waldron, a highly aggressive officer, leading a well-trained squadron, found his target and attacked. . . . This squadron is deserving of the highest honors for finding the enemy, pressing home its attack, without fighter protection and without diverting dive bomber attacks to draw the enemy fire.”

http://www.usni.org/magazines/navalhist ... ery-midway

[Olaf]

So, in a nutshell ... another PLOT?


Happy ~ Olaf!

[aurora]

Looking at what Mitscher did objectively-I am of the opinion that he made the right decision- in the circumstances that he found himself in- at that time in the war.