The Battle Of Midway In The Pacific :: War History American Historical Essays

The Battle of middle(prenominal) in the PacificNothing imposing the dawn of June 2, 1942, from countless other dawns thathad fallen over tiny Midway atoll in the North Pacific. Nothing, that is, exceptthe tension, the electric tension of men waiting for an opponent to make his move.On Midways two main islands, Sand and Eastern, 3,632 United States Navy and nautical Corps personnel, along with a few Army Air throw aircrews, stood atbattle stations in and near their fighters, bombers, and seaplanes, waiting forthe Japanese attack they had been expecting for weeks. The carrier battle ofMidway, one of the decisive nautical battles in history, is hale documented. Butthe role played by the Midway garrison, which manned the naval air station onthe atoll during the battle, is not as well known. Midway lies 1,135 miles west- northwestern United States of Pearl Harbor, Oahu. The entire atoll is barely six miles indiameter and consists of Sand and Eastern islands surrounded by a coral reef enclosing a shallow lagoon. Midway was discovered in 1859 and annexed by theUnited States in August 1867. Between 1903 and 1940, it served both as a cablestation on the Honolulu GuamManila underwater telegraph line and as an airportfor the Pan American Airways China Clipper (Miracle 5). In March 1940, after areport on U.S. Navy Pacific bases declared Midway second only to Pearl Harbor inimportance, construction of a formal naval air station began. Midway Naval AirStation was placed in commission in August 1941. By that time, Midwaysfacilities included a extensive seaplane hangar and ramps, artificial harbor, fuelstorage tanks and several buildings. Sand Island was populated by hundreds ofcivilian construction workers and a defense battalion of the communicate Marine Force,while Eastern Island boasted a 5,300-foot airstrip. Commander Cyril T. Simard, aveteran naval pilot who had served as air officer on the carrier USS Langley andas executive officer at the San Diego Air Station, w as designated the atollscommanding officer. Along with the naval personnel manning the air station was adetachment of Marines. The first detachment was from the Marine 3rd DefenseBattalion it was relieved on September 11, 1941, by 34 officers and 750 menfrom the 6th Defense Battalion under the command of Lt. Col. Harold D. Shannon,a veteran of World War I and duty in Panama and Hawaii. Shannon and Simardmeshed into an effective team right away. World War II began for Midway at 630a.m. December 7, 1941, when the garrison received word of the Japanese attack on