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Halsey at Midway

In one thread in this website members are asked, who the greatest Admiral of all time is. One person nominated Admiral Halsey. Admiral Halsey missed two major carrier battles in the Pacific due to illness but supposing he hadn’t developed a rash. Halsey was impulsive and the outcome of Midway may have been different. Here is how events may have developed if Halsey hadn’t had a poor sickness record. There are quite a few managers in local government in the UK who appear to have been educated in the Admiral Halsey School of management.

Halsey put to sea expecting a Japanese attack on Midway with three aircraft carriers against four Japanese carriers. Halsey flag was in Enterprise. Halsey split his forces with Frank Fletcher proceeding with Yorktown. Halsey’s flight commanders pushed for a long-range strike on the Japanese task force and Halsey gave consent. They were spotted and Nagumo sent fighters to drive them off and manoeuvred to avoid torpedoes. Reconnaissance aircraft followed the survivors and Halsey was located. The Japanese launched a counter attack sinking the Hornet and leaving Enterprise damaged.

Fletcher launched an air strike from Yorktown sinking the Kaga and damaging Akagi. However Yorktown was now located and the two other carrier sent off torpedo and dive bombers and left Yorktown damaged with a reduced speed. Yorktown was incapable of recovering aircraft and headed back for Pearl Harbour, airborne aircraft were directed to Midway or Enterprise. A further airstrike crippled the Enterprise which was abandoned and sunk by a torpedo. Midway was open for invasion and the Japanese landed securing an airfield from which Pearl Harbour could be reached. The central Pacific was no longer safe and the Pearl Harbour was unusable as a naval base.

Wasp is sent from the Atlantic to San Diego and HMS Indomitable is sent from the British Eastern fleet to Sydney where American aircraft are supplied. Wasp and Indomitable cover a landing in the Solomons in October 1942. Wasp is sunk off the East Solomons and Yorktown now repaired is sent to Sydney. Yorktown and Indomitable are damaged when Japan invades the Hawaiian Islands and Saratoga now repaired is sunk. Ryujo and Hiryu are sunk.

HMS Victorious is despatched in early 1943 pending the arrival of newly constructed carriers. In the reinvasion of Hawaii February 1944 Halsey faces Japanese carriers with new carriers and the United States is able to replace planes and pilots whilst Japan has begun to loose both at a faster rate than they can be replaced. Submarines sink several Japanese aircraft carriers submarines sink two Japanese carriers. Halsey launches an air strike on Pearl Harbour. Japanese submarines sink Princeton and Cowpens, Yorktown is damaged by bombs and is given the nickname USS Unsinkable.

Midway comes under heavy air attack from Hawaii and the airstrip is knocked out Midway is recaptured in June and Wake Island in August. In November Halsey leads a task force to cover the invasion of the Marianas in November. The Japanese under Nagumo sail out to attack but submarines take their toll sinking two Japanese carriers. Air strikes take a heavy toll of Japanese aircraft and pilots and sink another Japanese carrier. However the aircraft are operating at the end of their range and return in darkness. Concerned about the danger of the submarine threat, Halsey refuses to turn on the deck lights; this results in a heavy toll in pilots and aircraft. Although the Japanese fleet air arm is virtually finished as a fighting force, the American advance is held up and Halsey suffers further losses in December from a typhoon mainly in terms of damage. However Japan is now in the reach of long range bombers. An assault on the Philippines is planned for April 1945. The casualty rate is causing concern at home and air raids on Japan are stepped up. President Truman gives sanction for the use of the atomic bomb and Japan surrenders.

As far as American admirals go, I think Ray Spurance is in the running as a commander by default at Midway and having played a major role at the Philippine Sea although Mark Mitscher mad the decision that saved a large number of aircraft and fliers by turning on the deck light or aircraft carrier to enable his pilots to land at night. Spurance actually opposed the rounding up of Japanese Americans at the start of Americas entry in the Second World War. This is an enlightened attitude for a senior officer at the forefront of the war against Japan and shows more thought than Halsey’s famous “Kill Japs, kill Japs, kill more Japs. This is probably why John Birmingham made Spurance the principal character in his Axis of Time Trilogy
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