Guys don’t ever worry about running long on these shows. I’m sure I’m speaking for everyone we could listen to you all day. Great job guys!!

Does anyone besides me wish they could imbibe a frosty adult beverage with these guys? You've got to love their conversations.

Anyone else enjoy watching these as much as I do lol or rewatching them. Again and again.

Bit of an aside. In the mid 1990s I interviewed an RAAF fighter pilot Ian Kinross. When the Japanese conducted their raid into the India Ocean Australian authorities were concerned that the Japanese would turn south and attack the West coast of Australia. Ian was at an operational training unit in West Australian at that time. Had a West coast raid eventuated Ian and his mates were to attack the Japanese in Fairy Battles and Avro Ansons. This sends chills down my spine just thinking about it. Thankfully it didn't happen. Later Ian flew Kittyhawks in defence of Darwin. The fuselage of his P40 is now at the aviation museum at Moorabbin airport in Victoria, Australia

My dad volunteered for the defense Midway as a U.S Marine , next was the Battle Of Tarawa

I really like Jon. He is a good historian, and a nice guy.

loved Dusty's book. it informed me how well trained many of our pilots were prior to the battle. the win, wasn't an accident

Nearly 4 hours with Jon Parshall about the Battle of Midway. Thank you for this episodes. And all the other ones. This is like christmas!

I am negligent about commenting my feelings about the "unauthorized history", which is that this is a captivating series! I have shared the video link with my father and brother, both retired Naval Aviators. All three of us are pilots and students of the Battle of Midway. This is a fantastic production filled with new information about a battle that we thought we knew.

Hah! At 17:30, JP casually uses the word "grok", as if it's just a regular word, that everyone, well, groks!!😂 A nice homage to Naval Academy grad & sci fi author Robert Heinlein.

Shattered Sword is a great book. Highly recommended. Props to Jon Parshall and Tony Tully.

My understanding from another source is that many of the civilian drydock workers sailed with Yorktown to continue the damage mitigation on the way to the Midway battle.

Prior to the internet, I read every thing I found about the war in the Pacific. After the internet , I viewed every thing I could find. Your podcasts are wonderful. Keep them coming. I believe this podcast about preparing for Midway is absolutely the singular beat ever. Thank you profusely.

Love Captain Toti's swipes at MacArthur. He just can't help himself.

Regarding the Japanese disrespect for U.S. carrier effectiveness at this stage of the war, I wonder about another possible nuance. IIRC, the Japanese believed the torpedo plane to be the arm of decision of carrier warfare and up to this point - particularly in the Coral Sea attacks against Shokaku - the Devastator did not fare well. That may have led Japanese admirals to crucially underrate U.S. carrier attack capability. They were looking at the torpedo plane when it was the Dauntless dive bomber that was the arm of decision in the U.S. Navy. Also, the Devastator attacks at Midway that were so catastrophic for the Americans in terms of combat effectiveness and lives lost may have confirmed that misapprehension in the minds of the brass aboard Akaki, Kaga, Hiryu and Soryu.

I can't say how much I enjoy listening to Jonathan talk about this subject. The amount of CONTEXT he incorporates into his works is at the minimum AMAZING! Shattered Sword was a masterwork. I can't see it surpassed unless there's information that hasn't been made available for whatever reason.

I consider myself a keen student of WW2 history, and have had a long interest in Battle of Midway in particular. I watched the 1976 movie many times, and read several books on the Battle before discovering the transformative work Shattered Sword. Not surprisingly I am a big fan of Jon Parshall and would love to discuss logistics and war economics with him but but will likely never get that opportunity. I am only the first episode in and was really interested to hear the accounts of the US airmen which is not something I have heard much about before. Seems there is always something new to learn. Great work.

Wow! The discussion you had regarding Midway was so useful in destroying the misinformation I had about that battle. I told my son that what I told him about the battle was so far off the truth he should watch your Midway video which he did. He enjoyed it just like did. My son enjoyed the thinking behind the key players of the battle. Thank you

I also wonder what were the Marines were thinking about on Midway. The Heroic defense of Wake Island was still fresh on their minds. Would they be able to mount the same stubborn defense and repulse the invasion or would it be similar to the second invasion. I believe they wanted revenge.

Outstanding presentation ... simply outstanding.

Being a wwII buff this is precious information on what really happened, thank you for your time to share.

Thank you guys so very much for this fantastic episode! The addition of Jon is always a special treat and I appreciate you guys dispelling all the myths about Midway. I thought I knew so much about that battle but it turns out I knew very little and most of it was wrong! Thank you for setting the record straight and taking the time to do so! 🇺🇲⚓️💯❤️☕️🍻🙏

Again thank you for all the hard work put in this episode.

When the topic of quotes by Admiral Yamamoto came up, I couldn’t help but smile. The story is told that, when asked about the prospective invasion of the US mainland, he said it would never happen, because in America there was, behind every blade of grass, a farmer with a gun. Anyway, thanks for all your effort and time. Great presentation!

Great job - love the broadcast and especially the way you give each other the freedom to comment!!

Seth, I’m from the Gulf Coast and call Bay St Louis as my home. The work you guys do at Shelby is outstanding. My Father Kenneth McLaughlin served on USS Gambier Bay, can y’all cover the Battle off Samar. The coast had a couple of people serve on Gambier Bay, Boyce Holleman served in the composite air group VC-10 and a Edro Lee was a crewman on Gambier Bay. My father passed when I was 3 in 1969.

I just finished re-reading Martin Caidin's "The Ragged, Rugged Warriors." I read that in high school about 40 years ago. The last two chapters are about the 22nd Bomb Group and Jim Muri's wild ride in attacking the Japanese carriers at Midway. Caidin originally published this book in the early 1960s and had the luxury of interviewing many of those who fought the Japanese in the six months leading up to the Midway battle which lends credence to his writing. According to Caidin, the Navy trained the Marauder crews in torpedo attacks while they were in Hawaii prior to them being sent to Midway. Muri said the cruisers escorting the carriers blasted away at them with their big guns to create massive columns of water for them to dodge. He said at least two of the Avengers were slapped out of the air by them. Then there was the epic story of Muri tearing across the flight deck of one of the carriers, something I believe deserves more than a passing mention. At minimum it reinforces Jon Parshall's contention that the decks of the Japanese carriers were devoid of aircraft. Also I'd love to see someone take a stab at discussing the 22nd Bomb Group and their work out of the Seven Mile Aerodrome complex in Port Moresby area while tangling with the Japanese fighter bases at Salamaua and Lae. According to career USAF officer and, at that time, one of the most experienced Marauder pilot in the USAAF, Walt Krell, the B-26B was the best medium bomber in the world. When asked if they were experiencing problems with the airplane, he said basically "yeah, send us more of them!" In short, these guys were not only tangling with the best Zero pilots in the Southwest Pacific without escorts but were flying from a patch grass and had to contend with clouds of mosquitoes, blazing heat, towering tropical storms, lack of food and supplies, dysentery, ankle deep mud, and of all things, cannibalistic natives. Add to that, these guys didn't have the nifty uniforms their British based counterparts had, they were sent to war on a moments notice. Some even flew in their bedroom slippers. There no time to pack and go, it was just go at zero dark thirty. My dad was enlisted Navy, but he was 14 when the war ended. I think newsreels of the Pacific war that inspired him. I was born at what was then called the Naval Ordnance Test Station China Lake in 1957. I grew up on military bases around 1950s jets and they were the focus of my history reading for the most part. But, in high school when other young'ns were skipping class to hang out off campus, I skipped class to go the library and read books like "Incredible Victory," and almost anything concerning aerial warfare. I'm very pleased to have discovered your channel and others with a similar passion for learning about that conflict.

Midway was the great equalizer. It provided the US with confidence, experience, and leveled the playing field enough to allow offensive action.

Im happy that I found this channel

Fantastic! Loving this. I'm gaining new insights into the Pacific war. Thanks, guys!

Grat episode! While I have heard Jon talk about Midway before, that ''point Luck'' nugget was very interesting!

Wow, at last the supporting details of the interactions of air operations and how they derived at their battle planning for the Midway campaign. There are a lot of situations of the battle that one cannot figure out without knowing what the positions of the commanding personal took on the battle plan.

I compliment Jon on correctly acknowledging Fuchida’s role as coordinator, despite Fuchida’s postwar errors

Extremely well done...all three episodes.

Always a pleasure to see John Parshall speak, and I have to admit I have so far found the quality of this channel (only recently found by myself) excellent. Two questions I do have however, will you at some point be covering the fighting on Papua New Guinea? Especially the role of the Australian's on that Island? And do you consider the actions of 14th Army under Slim part of the Pacific war? I know the actions of the 14th army did not have any direct impact on the American operations in most of the Pacific but do you see that in the perview of your channel? If you do I would be fascinated to see an American perspective on the Battle of Imphal and Kohima, and of the very real issues Slim had in forging what was very much a multinational army, one with something like 30 different languages, 4 major religions, and so on.

The ineffectiveness of the B26 Marauders at Midway is well known, and you noted the combination of inexperienced flight crews flying a tricky aircraft, but what about the unreliability of the the torpedo itself? The problems of flying the B26 were eliminated when Jimmy Doolittle was tasked with showing the crews how to fly it. They were used with great success in Italy and Germany. Thanks for this great channel!

Well done as always gentlemen.

Awesome conversation gentleman! Looking forward to more episodes.

I do wish the intro music was a bit quieter... I find myself falling asleep listening to these... But everytime it's the beginning of end of a episode... It wakes me up.. loudly

The Fins were flying against obsolete Russian aircraft for the most part. That did have some success against Messerschmitts, but by then they were veteran pilots flying in heroic fashion. They were not inexperienced flyers up against fast and nimble Zeros. By the way you guys are great. I’m back in History class with the best.

I was going to say, the 1976 film Midway brought up that exact point, that they were only actually reading one word in ten. And STILL cant get my head wraped around the fact that Chester Nimitz was a submariner, no matter how many times I hear it.

GOOD JOB!! I honestly ddn't realize Midway was so close to Hawaii. Less than 2 days steaming for a Japanese "Strike Force"... It's actually part of the volcanic "Hotspot" that ended up forming the Hawaii Islands as we know them today.

Gawd-damn, these podcasts are awesome. Well done, fellas!

I almost did not watch this series, simply because I was burned-out from the same old canned Midway histories, that never seem to have anything new to add. So glad I did. 😃

Great Podcast….great detailed discussion amongst you three pros! Scott

Second time through. So much great info. Always enjoy Jon. Thank you for sharing your passion.

I love Commodore Toti's often comments of MacArthur's capabilities. He is a better leader than I will admit. When his plan goes as mapped it was good but when it goes south he was MIA and looking for scape goats.

How is this unauthorized?! This is legit some of the best history there is. I e learned so much more from a few episodes of your content than I have the whole year in 10th grade history. P.S Mr Parshall, may I entice you to get a podcast mic like Seth’s sir?

Got to wonder how those risk assessments would've gone had we recognized the range of Long lance torpedoes or the functionality issues of Mark 14 and 15 torpedoes considering their numerical advantage in destroyers . . . which they might also not have realized previous to the battle. And yeah, obsolescence in the late '30s and early '40s sometimes happened by the time prototypes of an aircraft were done with their work and the types had barely become operational. Brewster's F2F might be an example.. As advanced as the TBD was in 1936 they were arguably made obsolete upon Nakajima's B5N having become operational. With that said torpedo passes with any aircraft were just crazy risky as long as AA were waiting.

Given what Jon said about the closeness of available strength at the point of the spear, his point is extremely valid. It is a fact that even by the time of Coral Sea, the Japanese were having problems getting replacement aircraft to the front in a timely manner. As a for instance, the four Japanese carriers at Midway had fewer planes per carrier air group available, than the six carriers on the Pearl Harbor attack. And that was keenly felt by the land-based IJN air forces in the SouWesPac, who had lost an alarming number of Betty's out of the original complement stationed at Rabaul, as well as losses, of fighters in transit from Truk to Rabaul. All of the actions, at Coral Sea and Midway, as well as attrition at Rabaul really put the Japanese behind the eight ball, which was compounded by later bad decisions in the Solomons Campaign, which was the REAL turning point of the war in the PTO.

Thanks, you guys always do a great job and always love to hear from Jon Parshall.

Thoroughly enjoyed this discussion, I hope I can meet Seth on my next visit to the museum.

Parshall, wow! I read his "Shattered Sword" cover to cover ... twice!

I was going to say earlier just looking at dusty's picture you can see confidence in his eyes. He was good and he knew it. I would have loved to have met him.

In the photo where Nimitz is handing out a medal, Doris Miller is the sailor standing to the right. As in CVN81 USS Doris Miller .

Second season was great, especially the submarine and aviation episodes! You get a lot of stuff here that you don't see in the standard DVDs on the Pacific War.

Great show!

41:55 - I don't hear much about it, but one thing that hurt flexibility in Japanese carrier aviation was their practice of linking the air group closely to a specific carrier, as if the pilots and technicians were part of the ship's crew. This limited their options after losses. The USN did not do that.

This is my second time watching. So interesting and so well presented. Thank God I found you. Had enough politics. WW II is so much better.

I believe Dusty could poop in a swinging jug. Hit it every time. Great job guys!!

Great broadcast pure and simple. Thanks

Let’s jump in on the F2A. The single airframe of WWII with the most kills was almost certainly 42.5 kills on the Finnish Buffalo with fuselage ID of BW364. Admittedly, pilot skill and Finnish doctrine was extremely important, but they also did modifications on it to make it a competent fighter.

Great Episode - lots of insights and good discussion.

If they would have let Ching Lee shoot the “fishing “boats we would have saved a lot of ammunition. Love the channel guys!!!

There's an interesting parallel between Admiral Yamamoto and General Grant, who Yamamoto studied. They both got policy changed by threatening their resignations.

Just found this and love it listened to several. Ajaki-battle cruiser as Saratoga and Lexington. On MacArthur-well done. Will you cover King and his infidelities and professional faults? Halsey made grievous errors not just at Leyte but was best at the start of the war.

Again, I'm impressed.

Interestingly, both the TBD and Kate entered service in 1937. The TBD's max speed was ~30 mph slower. Its engine was 100 HP less, and its empty weight was ~600 lbs. greater. The Kate's rate of climb was almost double the TBD's. Did the Kate trade ruggedness for speed and rate of climb? The second sad aspect of the TBD was that the torpedo it carried was a POS, just like those of submarines and destroyers.

What a conversation! I come away so impressed with the expertise and effort it took to win that victory. I imagine it is so difficult to train incoming sailors to understand what it takes today.

Great information. Thanks.

Love these guys

Very, very informative. So thanks a lot!

Thank-you.. Excellent.

REQUEST:. Would luv a Podcast to analyze the conflict (and hate) between the the Japanese Imperial Army and the Imperial Navy QUESTION: Could Japan had 'won' the Battle of the Pacific had the Japanese Army and Navy closely worked together ❓

This may well be the best discussion I have viewed. Editting to include that I have observed at least a dozen appearances by Paschall.

I really enjoyed this 'pre Midway' video. The back stories of such events so are often ignored or lost in thick, regrettably unread, history books. Your early in the video comments about the first actions the US made in the Pacific after Pearl Harbor were interesting especially to their motivation. They did some hit and run raids and of course the Dolittle Raid before more serious affairs began to occur like Coral Sea and then Midway. I think we need to remember that the US forces in general had only began a lack luster refurbishment starting around 1940 and then into 1941. Even in late 1941, perhaps some thought the US would get into it and perhaps some wanted to, but FDR was pretty reluctant to commit active duty forces to offensive action. The Japanese may have miscalculated at PH because it is quite possible that they could have had their empire and consolidated it to some extent before the US finally got involved. Without PH, I am not sure that Nazi Germany would have declared war and so there would have been delays of some type before, if ever, the US got involved. As such, in '40 and '41 I think there was still a great general reluctance of the citizenry to get involved in these 'foreign wars' 1941 was Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio far more than Barbarossa or the Battle of the Atlantic. So, it is no surprise to me that the Army and the Navy, so quickly enlarged, had thousands of troops who were still very, very green. I think that one of the responsibilities of commanders is make sure as best they can that young lives are not wasted on stupid attacks for 'PR' or so some General or Admiral can look good. These are sons and fathers and I fervently hope that whatever action troops are sent into, the reason is sufficiently good for the commander (at whatever level) to explain it to the families of the casualties. I'm not so sure it always was. So, if it were me, I can see some of the early hit and run tactics, but I think they would be far more useful in training the flyers and the carriers crews under battle conditions, but then you can get out and away without a strategic loss. The Doolittle Raid was a stunt, but involved only a few voluntary troops and planes. I can see the need to attend the Battle of the Coral Sea as Australian access was in jeopardy. However, as was mentioned in this video, the USN's tactics were pell-mell compared to those of the comparatively seasoned IJN. So, maybe CS was a battle we were not ready for, but given the stakes they probably had to do it. I am not sure why Yamamoto was so hot to take Midway (or Pearl Harbor for that matter ...). I realize the main point is to lure the remainder of the USN into battle and destroy it. However, even though the USN were pretty new at this, their planes could sting and the IJN got very unlucky at Midway. It could easily have gone differently (as is true for many battles) and given the weight and experience of the forces it probably should have. You suggest that Midway was important, but not a turning point etc. I beg to disagree. While I submit that it was not THE turning point. The IJN lost hundreds of irreplaceable pilots AND perhaps even more importantly, I am told, they lost most of their best airplane mechanics when the Kaga exploded. No matter the desire, you cannot replace skilled technicians be they pilots or mechanics in a few months. I think the Kido Butai was irreparably damaged after Midway, not just in the loss of 4 Capital ships, but also in these ancillary losses of skilled crew. It was just an awful day for the IJN. While there were many naval maneuvers I don't think the IJN ever operated like the striking force it had been up until then. THAT is a pretty big deal I think. Again, a great video topic and thanks for spending the time on it. Perhaps, you might talk about who was behind the awesome production of naval ships in the US and all the new ideas that came to the fore in 1944 and beyond.

Nimitz had balls the size of bowling balls. God bless Texas

I wish I could sit in one of these

On Yorktown there was a fuel bowser on the deck and it was full I was told at a reunion.Without being told a chief ordered it pushed over the stern.

Jonathan Parshall suggested that if you want the full story on Midway you have to read the books equivalent to "Shattered Sword" but which cover the American side. Can you suggest one or two that are as comprehensive, detailed and scholarly as "Shattered Sword"? Thanks

Thank you.

I will forever be impressed by Nimitz decision to confer with Halsey to name his replacement. Giving command of Task Force 16 to a cruiser skipper!!!! OMG, the decision to elevate Ray Spruance must have raised some eyebrows all the way to Washington! This must have really wrinkled Adm. Pete Mitscher panty hose since he was a qualified aviator who had just commanded Hornet during the Doolittle Raid. He had to have felt being ''Passed over'' so to speak and led to his faulty decision to send Stanley Ring off on course 265 leading his flight in Parade formation that burns more fuel, especially for first time squadrons in actual combat. Between Adm. Fletchers decision to hold back a squadron of SBD to hit the ''imaginary second group'' of two carriers that Mitscher was supposedly after (to save his rep) and ''Petes'' decision to improvise his own course to send his ships' flight groups on, really highlights to me having Spruance in charge was a battle winning decision. It was Halseys staff (Cpt. Miles Browning) who put course 240 together and Mitscher must have been signaled that!!!!! What a difference Hornets flight group would have made with a coordinated attack and the second SBD squadron from Yorktown following up the strike on Soryu to sink Hiryu would have saved the Yorktown from any damage....Great shows!!

The comparison between the air group on Midway tactics and the carrier group tactics of the SBD's and their success rate. It becomes a comparison of dive bombing versus glide bombing. Is the SBD the last of the single purpose Aircraft? Was that a part of the decision to use glide bombing?

awesome...

I had read that the Aleutian campaign was not a diversion but another operation apparently the Japanese did this with out a problem, because the enough assets

What was the purpose of surgical tale on the Wind Indicators? Identification?

@29:15 talking about the reinforcements for Midway Island in the month before the battle, I presume the 7" guns came with the Marine Defense Battalions much earlier in the year, but when exactly was that?

It was not really discussed, but Nimitz was risking his command and his stars. Fair or not, American history is littered with Admirals and Generals that failed and were relieved. He was willing to gamble, and he won, but it could have easily gone the other way. It was mentioned that Nimitz would have gone ahead even if only two carriers were available. This is very like General US Grant. No moping or complaining about the material situation. Instead, Nimitz did the best he could with what he had. US Grant did the same in the Civil War. The 1976 movie describes it best where the acting playing Nimitz says we have a chance to push the enemy back 3000 miles. Nimitz was willing to take that chance.

I have that exact edition of Shattered Sword. :)

The Midway movies (both I think) stressed that in the Japanese wargames of the battle the premise is that the American Carriers will be at Pearl Harbor when the Midway attack begins. The Japanese carriers will be lying in wait for the American carriers once the air attacks on Midway are completed. In one scene Nagumo is chastising some officers because they had surprised the fleet with American carrier attacks and inflicted heavy damage. Yamamoto came in and directs that the American Carriers be based in Pearl when the attach happens, and the wargame should proceed with that assumption. Did this happen? Also, presumably, once the anticipated reaction by the Americans occurs, the Japanese fleet would beef up their air reconnaissance well beyond what they had on the first day of the battle.

I'll drink to that!!!

At the 40 min mark Parshall is saying that Point Luck is 360 nm from where the IJN will be sighted. And this means it will take until mid pm to steam closer to get in plane strike range. He doesn't say it, but our CVs will be spotted well before they reach strike range, unless the IJN is asleep. So, given that Nimitz ordered the CV to move closer a day or 2 earlier, IMHO, Parshall is wrong there. Nimitz put Point Luck there to be able to decide to run away and not fight at all, and let the Marines hold Midway by themselves, rather than fight a losing battle. If Yorktown isn't there, or if Zuikaku is there, or the 2 CV from the northern force are there, Nimitz intended to not commit 2 CV to fight 5 to 7 IJN CVs. Especially, if the ambush is off because the 2 US CV are too far away to make the ambush possible.

Can you imagine the incredulity that Ernest King felt that his intelligence office HYPO asserted that Yamamoto would want to strand that much combat power in the middle of nowhere on Gooney Bird Island? At minute 54:00, `Fleet boats´, does not define the models of submarines or this age. I assume these predated the Gato, Balao, and Tench Classes of submarines as the first Gato entered service in 1941. What were these pre-war submarines besides slow and dangerous? The 1927-designed Narwhale Class could steam at 17 knots downhill, dive down to 320 feet, had two 6" deck guns (technically a cruiser), and 96 crew. Nautilus was of the Type Narwhale, other subs of this class were the USS Barracuda, USS Bass, USS Bonita, USS Argonaut, USS Dolphin, USS Cachalot, and USS Cuttlefish (source: Wikipedia.de). At the beginning of the war, there were 29 US subs in the Philipines alone. What other classes of US subs were used in WW2? The Nautilus was highly successful for its ancient development.

Curious: When did the U.S. start using 'proximity fuses' for their fleet AA guns?

At some juncture, the Japanese are said to have conducted a staff exercise (sometimes called a "war game" in the movies) in which a group of junior officers, who were operating the American carriers. deviated from the plan laid out by Yamamoto. They put 3 US carriers to the northeast (near where those carriers actually were). The MOVIE result was that three Japanese carriers were sunk at that site. In the movie, Adm. Nzgumo gave those officers a chewing out , then Adm.Yamamoto showed up and put the exercise on track. Did any such exercise occur? Was the Northeast positioning actually gamed? If so, how in the world could those supposedly smart Japanese Admirals not realize that NE positioning was a viable and advantageous tactical option and at a minimum CONSIDER that option?

NYT editorial - okay, we won Midway but they'll be back. Echoes of the US Civil War - Gettysburg was not seen as decisive by either side.

Does Jon have his own books or TV (other than ww2 in color, which was awesome

Where do we find the podcast for those of us old folk not usually into those. I do like the KZfaq videos.

The Brewster Buffalo catches a lot of criticism, but it has almost identical power, weight, and only slightly lower top speed (330 vs 320 mph) compared to the Wildcat. It also did quite well in Finnish hands, though it was no match for the Zero.

Did we ever do B-25 Bombers, again, from a Carrier?