Midway Atoll is a 2.4 sq mi (6.2 km2) atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an unorganized and unincorporated territory. The largest island is Sand Island, which has housing and an airstrip. Immediately to the east of Sand Island across the narrow Brooks Channel is Eastern Island, which is uninhabited and no longer has any facilities. Forming a rough, incomplete circle around the two main islands and creating Midway Lagoon is Spit Island, a narrow reef.
USS Maryland (BB-46), also known as "Old Mary" or "Fighting Mary" to her crewmates, was a Colorado-class battleship. She was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the seventh state. She was commissioned in 1921, and serving as the flagship of the fleet, cruised to Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil.
USS Pensacola (CL/CA-24) was a cruiser of the United States Navy that was in service from 1929 to 1945. She was the lead ship of the Pensacola class, which the navy classified from 1931 as heavy cruisers. The third Navy ship to be named after the city of Pensacola, Florida, she was nicknamed the "Grey Ghost" by Tokyo Rose. She received 13 battle stars for her service.
USS Louisville (CL/CA-28), a Northampton-class cruiser, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city of Louisville, Kentucky. She was active throughout the Pacific War. USS Louisville was the first large warship to be built in a drydock.
Mahan-class destroyers of the United States Navy were a series of 18 destroyers of which the first 16 were laid down in 1934. The last two of the 18, Dunlap and Fanning, are sometimes considered a separate ship class. All 18 were commissioned in 1936 and 1937. Mahan was the lead ship, named for Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, an influential historian and theorist on sea power.
Ushio was the twentieth of twenty-four Fubuki-class destroyers that were built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. When introduced into service, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, and remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War. Ushio was one of only two of the 24 ships in its class to survive World War II, and it was also the only survivor out of the 22 combat ships involved in the Pearl Harbor assault force.
The Battle of Wake Island was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on Wake Island. The assault began simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor naval and air bases in Hawaii on the morning of 8 December 1941, and ended on 23 December, with the surrender of American forces to the Empire of Japan. It was fought on and around the atoll formed by Wake Island and its minor islets of Peale and Wilkes Islands by the air, land, and naval forces of the Japanese Empire against those of the United States, with Marines playing a prominent role on both sides.
USS Schroeder (DD-501), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy, named for Rear Admiral Seaton Schroeder (1849–1922). Entering service in 1943, the ship saw action during World War II, participating in the Battle of Tarawa. Following the war the destroyer was placed in reserve, remaining in this state until 1972. She was sold for scrap in 1974.
USS Gwin (DD-433), a Gleaves-class destroyer, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lieutenant Commander William Gwin, an American Civil War officer who commanded river boats against Confederate forces in Alabama.
I-68, later renumbered I-168, was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaidai–type cruiser submarine of the KD6 sub-class commissioned in 1934. She served in World War II, operating in support of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and taking part in the Battle of Midway, the Guadalcanal campaign, and the Aleutian Islands campaign before she was sunk in 1943. She is best known for her achievements during the Battle of Midway when, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Yahachi Tanabe, she sank the only United States Navy warships lost in the battle: the already badly damaged aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) and the destroyer USS Hammann (DD-412).
USS Mahan (DD-364) was the lead ship of the United States Navy's Mahan-class destroyers. The ship was named for Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, a 19th-century naval historian and strategic theorist. Her design ushered in major advances over traditional destroyers. Among them were a third set of quadruple torpedo tubes, protective gun shelters, and emergency diesel generators, along with a steam propulsion system that was simpler and more efficient to operate.
USS Edwards (DD-619) was a Gleaves-class destroyer of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship named "Edwards", and the first named for Lieutenant Commander Walter A. Edwards (1886–1926), who as commander of Bainbridge in 1922 rescued nearly five hundred people from the burning French transport Vinh-Long. For his heroism Edwards was awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor, the French Légion d'honneur, and the British Distinguished Service Order.
USS Stoddard (DD-566) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named for Master's Mate James Stoddard, who was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Civil War. She was the last Fletcher to be stricken from the U.S. Navy, in 1975.
First Lieutenant George Ham Cannon, USMC, was the first U.S. Marine in World War II to receive the nation's highest military award—the Medal of Honor.
Sazanami was the nineteenth of twenty-four Fubuki-class destroyers, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. When introduced into service, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, and remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War.
USS Whitman (DE-24) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. It was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. By the end of the war, when she returned to the United States, she had accumulated four battle stars.
Henderson Field on East Midway Island is a former World War II airfield in the Central Pacific. The airfield was abandoned after the war.
Johnston and Palmyra are two atolls in the Pacific Ocean. Johnston was claimed for the US in 1858 and Palmyra in 1859 under the Guano Islands Act. Following the 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese navy forces attacked Allied possessions across the Pacific, including Johnston and Palmyra.
1st Light Antiaircraft Missile Battalion was a United States Marine Corps air defense unit equipped with the medium range surface-to-air MIM-23 HAWK Missile System. The battalion was the lineal descendant of the 1st Defense Battalion which gained fame during World War II for its defense of Wake Island early in the war. 1st LAAM also deployed to Vietnam in 1965 providing air defense for the Marine Corps in the I Corps sector. The battalion was last based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona and fell under the command of Marine Air Control Group 38 (MACG-38) and the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
The Marine Barracks, Naval Air Station Midway was a United States Marine Corps detachment responsible for security at Naval Air Station Midway following World War II. The unit was originally formed in March 1941 as the 6th Defense Battalion with the mission of providing air and coastal defense for advanced naval bases. During the war the battalion is most noted for defending Midway Atoll against Japanses air raids during the Battle of Midway. The 6th Defense Battalion garrisoned Midway for the remainder of the war and was later re-designated as the Marine Barracks, Naval Air Station Midway on 1 February 1946. Marine Barracks Midway was decommissioned on 31 October 1949
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Captain Ohishi Kaname 
