Question

Japan’s goal in attacking Midway Island was to

Answer 1

To prevent US forces from further enhancing the forces they already had there, similar to the base Japan established in Rabaul, which was virtually immune from attack early in the war. Midway would have provided the US with a forward base from which we could have roamed at will. We took care of that little problem though. During the sea battle of Midway we sank three of Japan's principle carriers and (maybe) a battleship or two. I forget. The war in the Pacific virtually turned on that action. Those sinkings took something like six minutes. The Japs never fully recovered - though they still put up one hell of a fight for about four years after that. Read Morison's (yes one "r") book "The Two Ocean War." You'll be glad you did. Also rent the movie "Midway" - the one with Henry Fonda. It's dramatized some - but not much - it's pretty dead on.

Answer 2

That's partly right. The main thrust of the Japanese intention towards Midway was to draw out America's remaining carriers and destroy them in a decisive battle. Yamamoto didn't want to lose the initiative that his fleet enjoyed and knew that given time, the US would be able to quickly replace its losses and rebound from Pearl Harbor. The Doolittle Raid had also spooked the IJN and they wanted to push their defensive lines out much further by taking Midway. Yamamoto wanted to finish off the American fleet in the Pacific before it was too late.

The problem was that they had no idea that US intelligence was reading their mail.

In this case, the US had broken their codes and knew exactly where and when they were going to attack allowing the Navy to set its own trap. They sent out their three remaining carriers (which included the Yorktown which the Japanese thought they had sunk in Coral Sea) out to wait for them and sunk the four carriers their fleet had arrived with. The US lost one carrier and a few ships, but the Japanese lost thousands of experienced personnel and were forced on to the defensive.

Answer 3

livelove123, I would mark Captain Page's response as the best answer. You might incorporate parts of mine into your work (whatever it is) - the Japanese, throughout their history, have always followed an "all or nothing" sort of battle policy.