Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony W.
USS Yorktown - long live the ship that sank once for the Americans, and twice for the Japanese 
Does anybody know about when they found out about having NOT sank two carriers, only one? |
Frankly, they may have never figured it out. If they did, it probably wasn't ever officially admitted. Japanese intelligence and recon became so muddled during the Battle of Midway that as night fell with the last Japanese carrier out of action, Nagumo was convinced he was still facing
four intact US carriers. Two of the
Yorktown class, and two of an unidentified class. It was at that point that Yamamoto with his surface forces too far from the scene of the battle and no fleet carriers left, decided to throw in the towel and cancel the invasion of Midway.
Afterwards, Japan claimed officially to it's people, that they won a victory sinking two US carriers, while losing only one. Incredibly, Tojo wasn't told of the defeat until a month after the battle. Even in the dark days of 1944, when anyone could see the war was lost, Japan's military never had the moral fortitude to revise it's inflated claims of enemy ships sunk, or to admit that it had lost a single battle to date.