Midway Pacific War Trivia

1. What were the names of the three US carriers?

From Quiz The Dark Day for the Japanese Navy: Midway

Answer: U.S.S Enterprise, U.S.S Hornet and U.S.S Yorktown

The USS Enterprise (CV-6) was the only carrier in the battle to survive the war. The Hornet was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, and the Yorktown was sunk in Midway.

From Quiz Battle of Midway - Turning of the Tide

Answer: He had appendicitis

Fuchida was the lead commander of the Japanese air forces that attacked Pearl Harbor. Admiral Nagumo was very disappointed when he was not able to participate as the lead air commander in the Battle of Midway.

From Quiz Midway: Turning Point in the Pacific

Answer: Nagumo

Admiral Yamamoto chose Admiral Nagumo, the 'hero' of Pearl Harbor, to lead the carrier strike force (Kido Butai) for the Midway operation.

From Quiz The Battle of Midway

Answer: AF

The Japanese used many unique identifiers throughout the war, but in early 1942 they had no idea that the Americans had broken their top secret code. The only problem the Americans had was that they had no idea what AF meant. They knew it was a location, but where? In order to find out, the commander on Midway Island was told to send a message that their Water Purification plant was not working. Within days, Japaneses coded messages started to state the AF was getting thirsty. By May the Americans knew AF was Midway Island.

From Quiz The Battle of Midway

Answer: Strawberry 5

Strawberry 5 spotted Kaga first and radioed it in. Midway then sent up VMSB 241 to look for Kaga they found the invasion force but all their bombs missed and they had to return to base. Subs and escort ships took out the invasion force. Spruance and Fletcher then order their torpedo bomber and bomber squadrons to take off. VT-8 takes off from Yorktown but once they reach Kaga all of them are shot down by Zekes and Captain George Gay is forced to bail out. He spends the rest of the battle on a life raft. VT-3 did make it to Kaga but their torpedoes missed and none of them hit. They also get jumped by Zekes, and Lloyd Chilvers managed to make it back to the ship but because of bullet wounds he had to ditch in the ocean and was rescued by the crew of the Enterprise. VB-6 made it to Kaga after running low on fuel and followed the destroyer Arashi to Kaga and took her out.

From Quiz The Dark Day for the Japanese Navy: Midway

Answer: IJN Akagi, IJN Kaga, IJN Soryu and IJN Hiryu

All four carriers were sunk in the Battle by American dive bomber warplanes. The Akagi, Kaga and Soryu were the first to be damaged while Hiryu was untouched by that wave of US planes. The Akagi and Hiryu were sunk later in the battle.

From Quiz The Battle for Midway

Answer: Singing "Kimigayo"

Captain Yanagimoto was witnessed singing the Japanese National Anthem by a sailor sent to rescue him, but the latter was immediately ordered off the ship when he stepped into the bridge.

From Quiz Midway: Factors Leading To U.S. victory

Answer: Yorktown

Yorktown's bomb damage from the Coral Sea battle was thought to require 3 months to repair. Both navy and civilian workers took on the challenge around the clock. Yorktown was badly needed for the ensuing battle. Lexington was lost at the Coral Sea battle. Hornet and Enterprise (task force 16) had just conducted the Doolittle Raid.

From Quiz Battle of Midway - Turning of the Tide

Answer: Lt. Tomonaga

Lt. Tomonaga was a veteran pilot aboard the Japanese carrier, Hiryu. He was killed during the Battle of Midway while leading an attack against the American carrier, Yorktown.

From Quiz Midway: Turning Point in the Pacific

Answer: the Doolittle raid

The Doolittle raid on Japan finally persuaded the Imperial Navy that a decisive battle was needed against the US surface fleet. Although the raid caused very little damage, it caused the Imperial Navy a loss of face.

From Quiz The Battle of Midway

Answer: Naval Order No. 18

Admiral Yamamoto received Naval Order No. 18 on May 5th, 1942 directing him to capture Midway Island and key areas of the Aleutian Islands. The date originally envisioned was much later in the year, but due to the Doolittle Raid on the homeland of Japan, it was imperative that Midway be taken as soon as possible. The Japanese never expected to be bombed and their morale was shaken by that raid. The capture of Midway would extend their sphere of control further from the homeland.

From Quiz The Dark Day for the Japanese Navy: Midway

Answer: Douglas TBD Devastator, Vought Vindicator and Brewster Buffalo

The Douglas TBD Devastator was probably the worst plane in the Battle of Midway. It had a crew of 3: a pilot, a bombardier and a rear gunner/radioman, armed with a useless single 30 caliber machine gun. It was succeeded by the Grumman TBF Avenger.

From Quiz Midway: Factors Leading To U.S. victory

Answer: A Japanese sub would refuel recon floatplanes

After a failed second attack against Pearl Harbor, the US Navy determined the floatplanes used in the attack may have been fueled at French Frigate Shoals. As a result, it was decided to keep a surface patrol force nearby. This caused the recon mission to be aborted. The Japanese had hoped to determine if U.S. carriers were at or near Pearl Harbor.

From Quiz Battle of Midway - Turning of the Tide

Answer: Shoho

The Shoho was sunk at the Battle of Coral Sea. Another Japanese carrier, Shokaku, was damaged at the Battle of Coral Sea and was not able to participate at Midway.

From Quiz Midway: Turning Point in the Pacific

Answer: she was badly damaged

The Shokaku and the Zuikaku did not participate in the Midway Operation because both had received damage and the loss of too many pilots at Coral Sea. These two carriers might have made a real difference, or perhaps both might have been sunk.

From Quiz The Battle of Midway

Answer: Yorktown & USS Yorktown & U.S.S. Yorktown

Hiryu's target was Yorktown. Yorktown was not in fighting condition. Fletcher hastily repaired her after Coral Sea and deployed her as support only. The Japanese found Yorktown and dropped three bombs on her deck in the same places that she was hit in Coral Sea. Yorktown was burning, but a repair crew from Pearl managed to patch her up and get her back into the fight. This victory was short lived, as Nagumo sent subs and Kates from Hiryu to finish her off. USS Hammann and fleet tug Vireo tried to tow her back to Pearl but three torpedoes were launched from the Kates and a fourth was launched from the Japanese sub I-168 causing the ship to sink. Yorktown went down with 141 of her crew, and there it remained at the bottom of the ocean until Bob Ballard found her on May 19, 1998, 56 years to the day that she went down.

From Quiz The Dark Day for the Japanese Navy: Midway

Answer: 0

All the bombs from the bombers missed since the Japanese fleet was battle-hardened from Pearl Harbor experiences and did evasive maneuvers to avoid the bombs. Round 1 to the Japanese!

From Quiz Midway: Factors Leading To U.S. victory

Answer: The subs were late forming up

By the time the subs assembled, the US carrier task forces had already passed their patrol zones. Enterprise, Hornet and Yorktown remained undetected.

From Quiz Battle of Midway - Turning of the Tide

Answer: Lexington

The Lexington was sunk at the Battle of Coral Sea. The Americans had a small number of operable carriers after Coral Sea.

From Quiz Midway: Turning Point in the Pacific

Answer: the Yorktown

The Lexington was sunk at the battle of Coral Sea; the Japanese also believed they sank the Yorktown as well. Believing this, they were under the assumption they only faced the Enterprise and possibly the Hornet.

From Quiz The Battle of Midway

Answer: Japanese destroyers torpedoed her.

We are talking about the carrier, Kaga, the largest of the the four aircraft carriers the Japanese had at Midway. Dive bombers from USS Enterprise hit her with at least four 1,000 lb bombs, which set off explosions throughout the ship. Captain Okada was killed by a bomb that hit the bridge. The ship was abandoned around 14:00. An American sub attacked her, but the torpedoes did not explode and did no damage. With the fires out of control, the Kaga was scuttled by two torpedoes from Japanese destroyers, and sank.

From Quiz The Battle of Midway

Answer: Elevator shaft

Earl Gallaher led the attack on Hiryu. Just as he dropped his bomb Nagumo ordered a hard turn to port and the bomb missed. Dusty followed him and his bomb hit where it should hit - on Hiryu's elevator. The bomb went into the shaft and exploded in the hanger. The next three bombs followed it. The second bomb followed Dusty's and exploded in the hanger, and blew up the powder magazine detonating all the bombs and starting fires. The third landed on the deck and took out any Zekes getting ready to take off. And the final bomb also landed in the hanger and fueled the explosion, which crippled Hiryu and caused her to sink.

From Quiz Battle of Midway - Turning of the Tide

Answer: Ensign George Gay

Ensign Gay spent over 30 hours in the water before being rescued. Actor Kevin Dobson played Ensign Gay in the movie "Midway".

From Quiz Midway: Turning Point in the Pacific

Answer: a flying coffin

Marine pilots called the F2A Buffalo a flying coffin. The Japanese A6m Zero easily outclassed this fighter.

From Quiz The Battle of Midway

Answer: Submarine shield was deployed late

The Japanese would have loved to have had the Shoho as their 5th carrier at Midway, but she was resting on the bottom of the Coral Sea after being sunk on May 7th, 1942. The Japanese did have spies in Hawaii, but none that were captured or had information critical to this operation. As for some missing oil tankers, all the ships were accounted for: they were either with the strike force or with Admiral Yamaoto 600 miles from Midway. That leaves only the submarine shield that failed to be set up in time. This was due to the fact that the American carriers left Pearl Harbor early so they could set up the trap Nimitz had planned. Had the Americans not broken the code, there would have been a good chance all three American carriers would have been lost on their way to Midway.

From Quiz The Battle of Midway

Answer: 150

The US lost 150 planes. Most of them were Yorktown's torpedo bombers and aircraft from Sand Island on Midway.

From Quiz The Dark Day for the Japanese Navy: Midway

Answer: Douglas SBD Dauntless

The Douglas SBD Dauntless was the main plane in the battle. It turned the tide of the war in favor of the US. Ensign George H. Gay was watching the dive bomber attack from the sea. The SBD Dauntless was succeeded by the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver.

From Quiz Battle of Midway - Turning of the Tide

Answer: Eastern and Sand

As its name suggests, Midway is about half way between North America and Asia.

From Quiz Midway: Turning Point in the Pacific

Answer: the squadron was annihilated in the attack

Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8) under the command of John C. Waldron, was annihilated in its attack on Kido Butai. All 15 aircraft and crews were lost with the exception of Ensign Gay who observed the sinking of the three Japanese carriers. The unit was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for its sacrifice.

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