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N0KFQ > TODAY 11.02.08 03:01l 31 Lines 1421 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Feb 10
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From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@ALLUS
February 10, 1942
Japanese sub bombards Midway
On this day, a Japanese submarine launches a brutal attack on
Midway, a coral atoll used as a U.S. Navy base. It was the fourth
bombing of the atoll by Japanese ships since December 7.
The capture of Midway was an important part of the broader
Japanese strategy of trying to create a defensive line that would
stretch from the western Aleutian Islands in the north to the
Midway, Wake, Marshall, and Gilbert Islands in the south, then
west to the Dutch West Indies. Occupying Midway would also mean
depriving the United States of a submarine base and would provide
the perfect launching pad for an all-out assault on Hawaii.
Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, mastermind of the Pearl Harbor attack and
commander in chief of the Japanese combined fleet, knew that only
the utter destruction of U.S. naval capacity would ensure
Japanese free reign in the Pacific. Japanese bombing of the atoll
by ship and submarine failed to break through the extraordinary
defense put up by Adm. Chester Nimitz, commander of the U.S. Navy
in the Pacific, who used every resource available to protect
Midway and, by extension, Hawaii. Yamamoto persevered with an
elaborate warship operation, called Mi, launched in June, but the
Battle of Midway was a disaster for Japan, and was the turning
point for ultimate American victory in the Pacific.
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