| Home |

 

 

The Battle of Midway Roundtable

 

http://www.midway42.org

 

 

Warrant Officer Tom Cheek escorts Torpedo Squadron 3 at the Battle of Midway,

4 June 1942.  Original artwork by John Greaves, http://www.johngreavesart.ca/

 

 

 

Here is the latest edition of our association’s newsletter, The Roundtable Forum.  A new issue appears here at approximately one week intervals.  By becoming a registered member of the Roundtable, you can participate in our forum by contributing comments or inquiries for publication.  To join, click here.

           

 

 

THE ROUNDTABLE FORUM

 

Official newsletter of the Battle of Midway Roundtable

 

"To promote awareness and understanding of the great battle

and to honor the men who fought and won it."

 

 

 

 

19 March 2010

Issue Number:  2010-10

Our 13th Year

 

 

 

~ AROUND THE TABLE ~

 

MEMBERS’ TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE:

 

1.  Japanese WW2 Documentary

2.  Did Midway Know About TF 16 & 17?

 

 

<>   <>   <>   <>   <>

 

 

1.  Japanese WW2 Documentary   ( see issue #09 , Link of the Week)

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12 March 2010

From:  RADM D. M. (Mac) Showers, USN-Ret

Virginia

BOM vet, intel analyst, Combat Intel. Unit, Pearl Harbor (“Station HYPO”)

 

Re the Japanese film clips, Part 9.  The photo of Rochefort is as a captain, not when he was at HYPO.  Also, in the other photos of alleged workers at HYPO, Navy blues were never worn in Hawaii, and none of the background scenery is familiar to me.  No one in HYPO had any cameras and no photos were taken.  I've always assumed the few interior photos that we see from time to time were taken in Washington.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

<>   <>   <>   <>   <>

 

 

2.  DID MIDWAY KNOW ABOUT TF 16 & 17?   ( see issue #09 )

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12 March 2010

From:  John Lundstrom

Wisconsin

author, The First Team, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral

 

The assumption that Midway did not know of TF-16 and TF-17 prior to the battle is false. The dispatches in the CINCPAC Secret and Confidential Message File show that the commander of NAS Midway (Capt. Simard) was a recipient of CINCPAC Op-Plan 29-42.  Incidentally, so was the commander of NAS Johnston Island.  How could Midway not know of the presence of the US carriers?  Its searches spotted them or their planes repeatedly in the days prior to the battle.  Why would Nimitz keep one of his key commanders in the dark during an absolutely crucial battle?  Simard would have to warn his PBY pilots that friendly carriers were in the neighborhood so they wouldn't just blurt out a sighting report and thus risk warning the Japanese.  Remember, Nimitz could communicate directly with Simard by underwater cable, which greatly facilitated passing information.  The routine was for Simard to communicate in the clear to CINCPAC via cable, and CINCPAC radio to relay his messages to the TF commanders.

Here are some examples that show Simard knew about the U.S. carriers prior to 4 June.  Message 021105 of June 1942, Midway to CINCPAC, (2305, 1 June Midway local time), notes the results of the searches on 1 June and adds: "Saw Raymond Spruance bearing 021 distance 290 at 1400 Y (plus 12) headed 320 into reduced visibility."  Simard is reporting the arrival of TF-16.  Message 040459 of 4 June 1942 (1659, 3 June Midway local time), CINCPAC to CTF-16, CTF-17:  "This from Midway being passed by CINCPAC Quote Two patrol planes to north reported sighting observation plane but continuing search.  Believed from Spruance Unquote."

For the US side of the Battle of Midway, the voluminous CINCPAC message files remain virtually untapped.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Ed. note:  Many thanks to John for this important clarification, and it’s noteworthy that Black Shoe Carrier Admiral is unique among BOM histories in its reliance on the largely ignored CINCPAC message files.  When I said in the last issue that the defenders on Midway had not been informed of the presence of TF 16 & 17, I was referring primarily to the rank-and-file personnel there, not their commanders.  Some of the Marines said that the first inkling they had of any U.S. carriers being in the area was when part of VB-8 landed there—which they initially tried to shoot down, assuming them to be another Japanese raid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ NOW HEAR THIS! ~

 

NEWS & INFO IN THIS ISSUE:

 

-  Important Change for the Roundtable

-  Link of the Week

-  BOM Anniversary and Unit Reunions

-  Editor’s Notes

 

 

<>   <>   <>   <>   <>

 

 

IMPORTANT CHANGE FOR THE ROUNDTABLE

 

Some time within the next week or so the Roundtable will get a new web host.  The change should be transparent to our members, but there are a couple of things you might need to know.

 

Right now, all of our web pages are hosted (stored) on the Comcast Internet site, because the necessary file space is included with my Comcast account.  I will be vacating Comcast soon; hence the need for a new web host.

 

You might notice in the web address bar at the top of this page that the URL has “home.comcast” in it.  That could be slightly confusing, since our domain name is “midway42.org.”   You can get to our home page directly by typing www.midway42.org in your browser.  But what’s really happening is that “midway42.org” automatically redirects to my Comcast web pages, a service that I’ve bought from an Internet domain registrar.   “Midway42” is a lot easier to remember than that complex string you see in the title bar above.

 

So, what happens when I change us to a new host?  Nothing if you have created a bookmark (Firefox) or favorite (Internet Explorer) for the Roundtable in your browser, using our domain name:  http://www.midway42.org.   After the switch, that domain name will automatically go to the new destination.  You won’t have to do anything.

 

On the other hand, if you have set up a bookmark or favorite by capturing the URL you found at the top of our home page, which is a Comcast URL, then it won’t work after the cutover.  You should manually edit it to read our correct domain name (above).  Once you’ve done that, you’ll never again have a reason to be concerned about this subject.  Our domain name won’t change.

 

There is a similar issue with our e-mail address.  Some members have my personal Comcast e-mail address in their address books (____@comcast.net).  You should change that to the Roundtable’s permanent e-mail address, midway.rt@gmail.com.  My Comcast e-mail ID will be gone after the cutover is completed.

 

None of this has anything to do with the weekly “new issue” announcement that you get in e-mail.  That message contains the correct domain name and e-mail address.

 

Bottom line:  if you’ve been using midway42.org and our proper e-mail address, you have nothing to do.  If not, you should make the necessary changes now to ensure continued contact with the Roundtable and access to our web site.  —RR

 

 

<>   <>   <>   <>   <>

 

 

LINK OF THE WEEK

 

Okay everyone,  this may be the Link of the Week to end all Links of the Week.  William Reece sent in the URL to page one of ten pages of the Life Magazine collection, which has about two hundred photos from Midway, chiefly of VMSB-241 in November 1942.  Click the link for the first page which has thumbnail versions of 20 images, each of which you can click to see the full screen view.  Then, continue on for the next nine pages.  You may want to bookmark that first page, as this will take you a while!

 

Click here for the link of the week.

 

 

<>  <>  <>  <>  <>

 

 

BOM ANNIVERSARY AND UNIT REUNIONS

 

Here are the BOM anniversary and reunion events for 2010 that have been reported to us.  Please click this link to add or update an event to the list.  Each event has an open invitation for BOM veterans, and many are seeking guest speakers.  Interested members can make direct contact with an event organizer via the e-mail address provided in your “new issue” announcement.  Non-members can request info here.

 

 

1.      May 26:  NOUS BOM luncheon, Macao’s Restaurant, Phoenix, AZ.

 

2.      May 31 - June 5:  “Return to Midway” Pearl Harbor symposium and Midway tour.  For details, click here (.pdf file)

 

3.      June 3:  NOUS “Dining Out” at Army-Navy Country Club, Arlington, VA.

 

4.      June 3 - 6:  Annual Yorktown CV-5 reunion, Little Rock, AR.

 

5.      June 4:  USN BOM commemoration at the Navy Memorial, Washington, D.C.

 

6.      June 4:  Naval War College, BOM commemoration with Jon Parshall as guest speaker, Newport, RI.

 

7.      June 4:  NOUS “Dining Out” Newport RI (Jon Parshall also guest speaker at this one).

 

8.      June 4:  NOUS BOM luncheon at the Hess Club, Houston, TX.

 

9.      June 5:  USN BOM commemoration aboard USS Midway museum, San Diego, CA

 

10. June 5:  Navy League BOM luncheon, Phoenix, AZ.

 

11. June 5:  NOUS “Dining Out” at Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA.

 

12. June 5:  NOUS “Dining Out” at Marines Memorial Club, San Francisco, CA.

 

13. June 5:  NOUS & Navy League “Dining Out” at Renaissance Center, near Jacksonville, FL.

 

14. June ?:  (date TBA)  NOUS BOM commemoration, New York, NY.

 

15. June ?:  (date TBA)  NOUS BOM commemoration, Virginia Beach, VA.

 

NOUS = Naval Order of the United States

TBA = to be announced

 

 

<>  <>  <>  <>  <>

 

 

EDITOR’S NOTES

 

~  For those who remember Roundtable member and Yorktown vet Chaplain Stan Linzey, click here for a fine biographical tribute published by his son James Linzey.

 

~  Interment for BOM TBF pilot Bert Earnest is scheduled for April 7th at Arlington National Cemetery.  Check-in time at the ANC Visitor Center is 2:30 PM, with the honor guard departing exactly at 3:00 for the Columbarium.  Everyone who attends must have transportation since the Columbarium is some distance from Visitor Center.  (With thanks to Kathy Earnest.)

 

~  Here’s another request to all members to please remember the Roundtable when you change your e-mail address.  With nearly 500 members on our roster, I get a number of “reject” messages from e-mail servers every week.  A frequent cause is people who change their e-mail address and don’t tell us.  That makes a lot of extra work for me, which I’d really like to avoid.  Thanks in advance for your consideration.

 

~  One more important point about changing your e-mail address:  when you send the announcement to the Roundtable, it has to come from the new address, not the old one.  I can’t change your address if you’ve manually typed the new one in a message sent from anywhere else.   That’s an anti-spam requirement imposed upon bulk mail senders, like me.  Our FAQs have more on this subject.  Once again, thanks for your consideration.

 

 

 

 

 

Get the Roundtable's book:

 

 

 

 

Click for full information:   http://www.midway42.org/book

 

 


 

 

For a glossary of abbreviations, acronyms, and terms used in The Roundtable Forum, click here or go to our home page and click "The Roundtable Glossary" link.

 

All original content in this issue of The Roundtable Forum, the Official Newsletter of the Battle of Midway Roundtable is copyright 2010 by Ronald W. Russell (see the “About the BOMRT” page).  Permission to forward, copy, or quote from this issue is granted if the following citation is included:  The Roundtable Forum, official newsletter of the Battle of Midway Roundtable, www.midway42.org.”

 

Webmasters:  we'll appreciate a link on related web sites.  Please link to our domain name:  http://www.midway42.org.  To download a banner for the purpose, click here.

 

 


 

 

For a complete index of all issues of The Roundtable Forum,  click here.

 

 

Return to Top               Return to Home Page