The Unknown Battle of Midway
Subtitle: The Destruction of the American Torpedo Squadrons
Series: Yale Library of Military History
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2005
Language: eng
Format: Hardback
Number of pages: 208
ISBN-13: 9780300109894
Description: "The Battle of Midway is considered the greatest U.S. naval victory, but behind the luster is the devastation of the American torpedo squadrons. Of the 51 planes sent to attack Japanese carriers only 7 returned, and of the 126 aircrew only 29 survived. Not a single torpedo hit its target."

"A story of avoidable mistakes and flawed planning, The Unknown Battle of Midway reveals the enormous failures that led to the destruction of four torpedo squadrons but were omitted from official naval reports: the planes that ran out of gas, the torpedoes that didn't work, the pilots who had never dropped torpedoes, and the breakdown of the attack plan. Alvin Kernan, who was present at the battle, has written a troubling but persuasive analysis of these and other little-publicized aspects of this great battle."--Jacket.