Why the Submarine is the unsung hero at Midway -- true story.

I'm goin' down · 10-04-11, 10:54 AM

Here is a copy of a PM I sent to Double R (Rockin Robbins.) It is true, if the Military Channel can be believed.

Originally Posted by I'm goin' down on 10/3/2011:
I saw a special on the Enterprise role at Midway on the Military channel. It was quite interesting. The USS Nautilus fired a torpedoe at a battleship or cruiser in early stages of the battle, but missed the shot. A Japanese aircraft spotted the sub and strafed it, trying to damage it or force it to dive. A Japanese destroyer saw the airplane's attack on the Nautilus and sailed to it, trying to find and sink the sub with its 26 depth charges. The Nautilus got away, and a after a couple of hours the destroyer quit the hunt and headed towards the Japanese carriers, which were sailing NE to contact the main US force which had been spotted by Japanese search planes. Meanwhile, dive bombers from the Enterprise showed up to the coordinates where the American torpedoe bombers had radioed that the Japanese carriers were located. The American planes were almost out of gas, and were close to having to turn for home. But there were no carriers spotted in the location where the American dive bombers expected to find them. The carriers had left, heading NE to find the American force. However, the dive bombers saw the destroyer that had been hunting for the Nautilus, which was now steaming NE (to join the main body of the Japanese force which was looking for the American main body) and decided to follow it. One American pilot said the dd was travelling at least 30 kts. and on a straight course. After a few minutes of following the destroyer, the main Japanese force was located. The rest is history. Even though the Nautilus did not score any hits, its role at Midway proved pivitol.

10-04-11, 10:54 AM	#1
I'm goin' down Ocean Warrior Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Notify command we have entered the Grass Sea Posts: 2,822 Downloads: 813 Uploads: 0	Why the Submarine is the unsung hero at Midway -- true story. Here is a copy of a PM I sent to Double R (Rockin Robbins.) It is true, if the Military Channel can be believed. Originally Posted by I'm goin' down on 10/3/2011: I saw a special on the Enterprise role at Midway on the Military channel. It was quite interesting. The USS Nautilus fired a torpedoe at a battleship or cruiser in early stages of the battle, but missed the shot. A Japanese aircraft spotted the sub and strafed it, trying to damage it or force it to dive. A Japanese destroyer saw the airplane's attack on the Nautilus and sailed to it, trying to find and sink the sub with its 26 depth charges. The Nautilus got away, and a after a couple of hours the destroyer quit the hunt and headed towards the Japanese carriers, which were sailing NE to contact the main US force which had been spotted by Japanese search planes. Meanwhile, dive bombers from the Enterprise showed up to the coordinates where the American torpedoe bombers had radioed that the Japanese carriers were located. The American planes were almost out of gas, and were close to having to turn for home. But there were no carriers spotted in the location where the American dive bombers expected to find them. The carriers had left, heading NE to find the American force. However, the dive bombers saw the destroyer that had been hunting for the Nautilus, which was now steaming NE (to join the main body of the Japanese force which was looking for the American main body) and decided to follow it. One American pilot said the dd was travelling at least 30 kts. and on a straight course. After a few minutes of following the destroyer, the main Japanese force was located. The rest is history. Even though the Nautilus did not score any hits, its role at Midway proved pivitol.