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c h a p t e r e i g h t Denouement BEFORE THE DELUGE After three hours of almost unremitting attacks on the Mobile Force, at 1000 a moment of calm ¤nally arrived in Nagumo’s headquarters on Akagi. The last torpedo from the second wave of American carrier-launched torpedo bombers had just been dropped at 0958, and there were no other American planes in sight. It had been a most harrowing three hours for Nagumo and his staff, but the Mobile Force had come through it unscathed. In all, seven groups of planes had attacked during three periods. First, between 0700 and 0720, six TBF Avenger torpedo bombers from Midway, followed by four torpedo-equipped B26s , attacked with torpedoes. None of their torpedoes had hit, and seven planes had been shot down, with the loss of only one Zero. Then between 0805 and 0839 three waves of bombers from Midway came in—sixteen Marine SBD Dauntless dive-bombers, followed immediately, at 0814, by fourteen B-17s, then by eleven SB2U Vindicator dive-bombers at 0828. No hits had been scored by any of them either, and eleven Marine dive-bombers had been shot down, for a loss of three Zeros. Finally, after a ¤fty-minute pause during which the Midway strike force was landed—and the discovery of the American carrier force had intensi¤ed the ur- denouement 205 gency to get the second-wave strike force rearmed and launched—the latest and most nerve-wracking period had begun: between 0928 and 0958 twentynine carrier-based torpedo planes attacked—¤rst ¤fteen TBD Devastators from Hornet and then, at 0940, fourteen more from Enterprise. None of those torpedoes had hit either, and twenty-¤ve torpedo planes had been shot down, for a loss of only three more Zeros. In all, ¤fty-one dive-bombers, B-17s, and torpedo planes had attacked from Midway, and twenty-nine torpedo planes from American carriers. Forty-three of the eighty planes had been shot down, with a loss of only seven Zeros from the combat air patrol. This was a most heartening kill ratio and further bolstered the con¤dence of Nagumo’s staff in the superiority of Japanese aircraft and aircrews over their American counterparts. Even the attack on Midway, though not a complete success, had substantially degraded its ability to function as an air base, and had cost only eleven planes—while destroying seventeen American¤ghter planes. (Two PBY Catalina search planes from Midway had also been shot down.) Thus, in the accounting as of 1000, the tally of planes shot down favored Nagumo 62 to 18.1 However, as we have seen, the American attacks had managed to make one troublesome impact on the Japanese: they had seriously disrupted rearming operations on Nagumo’s second-wave torpedo planes. Now, with the desperately needed respite at 1000, it would be possible to¤nish the rearming of the torpedo planes on Akagi and Kaga and get them, along with the dive-bombers on Hiryu and Soryu, up to the ¶ight decks so that the grand-scale attack envisioned an hour and a half earlier could ¤nally be launched against the American carrier force. The originally scheduled 1030 launch time would be delayed, but—it was hoped—not by much. In the meantime , the defense posture of the Mobile Force could also be improved. Several Zeros on combat air patrol were about to come down for rearming, and nine were being relaunched to replace them and others whose 20-mm cannon ammunition had been exhausted in defending against the torpedo bomber attacks of the past half-hour. This would enable a high-level patrol to be reestablished. The carriers of the Mobile Force could also begin tightening up their formation so that the combat air patrol could more ef¤ciently protect them against any further attack. (They had become widely dispersed because of their highspeed evasive maneuvers since 0930, and Hiryu had steamed almost beyond the horizon from the three other carriers.) Yes, at 1000, things were ¤nally looking much better to Nagumo and his staff. Optimism revived that the gamble made at 0835—when the decision to postpone attack was made—might still be won. Nagumo needed about another¤fty minutes—because of the disruptions—to ¤nish rearming his torpedo planes and get them up to the ¶ight decks. The dive-bombers on Hiryu and Soryu had been properly armed for attacking carriers since before 0830 but were mostly still...

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