Midway, 1942

The battle of Midway was heralded at the time as a triumph of technology. It saw the confluence of three technologies that had deep implications for the war in progress and the future of warfare. Naval aviation proved itself to be a central part of the future of naval warfare as at both Midway and its predecessor battle Coral Sea the opponents never came within gun range of each other. Code breaking and signal interception, while not new disciplines, played decisive roles in developing the strategy of the battle far beyond the earlier developments of such techniques. Long range location detection made naval airstrikes possible and deadly over what seemed immense distances. In these ways Midway was a battle of technology.

But Midway was more than a technical battle. Other, very human characteristics influenced the battle and contributed to its outcome. It’s equally important to consider these factors as well when looking back into the long lens of history and trying to draw lessons for the future.

First there was dumb luck. As the Japanese dispatched spotter planes to find their American enemy, one cruiser experienced problems with its launching catapult. Their plane left late. The coordinated search by the other planes failed to sight the American battle group causing the fleet commanders to assume that the Americans had remained in harbor. Only when the tardy plane reported, did the commanders realize that an American strike force maneuvered within range. This mishap of bad luck caused a tumbling set of errors that resulted in the sinking of an American carrier and the annihilation of the Japanese fleet.

Then stupidity and arrogance played its role in the battle. The Japanese were pioneers and leaders in naval aviation. They knew better than to refuel aircraft on deck in the middle of a battle. A previous wargame demonstrated the disastrous consequences of an American air raid while this happened. The scenario was overruled as being unlikely and beneath the skill of the American aviators. On the day of battle, in the excitement of trying to launch another strike, the Japanese operational commanders broke their own rules. The wargame scenario proved eerily prescient.

Finally, human courage on both sides weighed into the balance. Naval aviation is a very risky endeavor today. In its early teen years, it was an unknown. A body of knowledge from the years between the two world wars regarded naval aviation as dangerous, an expensive form of junk science. The aircraft, relative to today, were primitive. The carriers were crude. Their operations and tactics were an emerging discipline. Yet, men of courage on both sides walked among all those spinning propellers and fought fires when their ships were set on fire out of duty. Other men took off from those ships and spread out over a vast ocean in search of other brave men who were seeking them. In the end, it was this courage that delivered the battle.

These days we are bedazzled by technology. We fear the future of technology and work overtime to bring it about. We believe technology will determine the arc of our lives. And it will. But let Midway give us pause to remember that in the face of raging technology, dumb luck, stupidity, and raw human courage will have their sway too.