Shattered Sword - Untold Story of the Battle of Midway

2160 Pages·15.079 MB·English

by  Parshall J., Tully A.

Shattered Sword
The Untold Story of The
Battle of Midway
Jonathan B. Parshall • Anthony P. Tully
4/2160
First Paperback Edition 2007.
Copyright © 2005 by Jonathan Parshall and
Anthony Tully.
Published in the United States by Potomac
Books, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of
this book may be reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission from
the publisher, except in the case of brief quo-
tations embodied in critical articles and
reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publica-
tion Data
Parshal, Jonathan, 1962–
Shattered sword: the untold story of
the Battle of Midway / Jonathan Par-
shall and Anthony Tully.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references
and index.
6/2160
ISBN 978-1-57488-923-9 (hardcover :
alk. paper)
1. Midway, Battle of, 1942. 2. World
War, 1939–1945–Naval operations, ja-
panese. 3. World War, 1939–1945–Nav-
al operations, American. 4. World War,
1939–1945–Aerial operations,Japanese.
5. World War, 1939–1945–Aerial opera-
tions, American. I. Tully, Anthony,
1961–II. Title.
D774.M4P37 2005
940.54’26699–dc22
2005011629
ISBN 978-1-557488-924-6 (paperback: alk.
paper)
Designed and typeset by jonathan Parshall.
Printed in the United States on acid-free pa-
per that meets the American National Stand-
ards Institute Z39-48 Standard.
Potomac Books, Inc.
7/2160
22841 Quicksilver Drive
Dulles, Virginia 20166
First Edition
10 9 8 7 6 5 4
Jon Parshall dedicates this book to
Margaret, Anna, and Derek,
and to
the late Dr. David C. Evans, whose kindness
and collegiality rekindled a young man’s
dormant
interest in the IJN and set him on this path.
Tony Tully dedicates this book to
Dan, Kay, and Matt Tully, Heather
Cooper,
and his nieces and nephews, who speak of
their “writer” uncle,
and to
the late Walter Lord, whose careful sifting of
facts
and rich narrative inspired my own style and
love of history,
and whose help honored our work.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Introduction
1 Departure
2 Genesis of a Battle
3 Plans
4 Ill Omens
5 Transit
6 Fog and Final Preparations
7 Morning Attack–0430–0600
8 A Lull before the Storm–0600–0700
9 The Enemy Revealed–0700–0800
10 Trading Blows–0800–0917
11 Fatal Complications–0917–1020
12 A Fallacious Five Minutes–1020–1025
13 The Iron Fist–1020–1030
14 Fire and Death–1030–1100
10/2160
15 Up the Steel Steps–1100–1200
16 Japanese Counterstrikes–1200–1400
17 Last Gasp–1400–1800
18 Scuttlings–1800–Dawn, 5 June
19 Retreat
20 And Death to the Cripples …
21 A Bitter Homecoming
22 Why Did Japan Lose?
23 Assessing the Battle’s Importance
24 The Myths and Mythmakers of
Midway
Glossary of Terms
Appendix 1: List of Personnel
Appendix 2: Japanese Order of Battle
Appendix 3: The Carriers of Kido Butai
Appendix 4: The Aircraft of Kido Butai
Appendix 5: Japanese Amphibious Opera-
tions against Midway–An Analysis
Appendix 6: Discovery of Carrier Kaga
Appendix 7: Japanese Aircraft Tail Codes at
the Battle of Midway
Appendix 8: Japanese Radar at Midway