The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place 4–7 June 1942, six months after the Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under Admirals Chester W. Nimitz, Frank J. Fletcher, and Raymond A. Spruance defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy under Admirals Isoroku Yamamoto, Chūichi Nagumo, and Nobutake Kondō north of Midway Atoll, inflicting devastating damage on the Japanese fleet. Military historian John Keegan called it "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare", while naval historian Craig Symonds called it "one of the most consequential naval engagements in world history, ranking alongside Salamis, Trafalgar, and Tsushima Strait, as both tactically decisive and strategically influential."
Master and Commander is a nautical historical novel by the English author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1969 in the US and 1970 in the UK. The book proved to be the start of the 20-novel Aubrey–Maturin series, set largely in the era of the Napoleonic Wars, on which O'Brian continued working until his death in 2000.
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact throughout the bomb run. This allows attacks on point targets and ships, which were difficult to attack with conventional level bombers, even en masse.
USS Yorktown (CV-5) was an aircraft carrier that served in the United States Navy during World War II. Named after the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, she was commissioned in 1937. Yorktown was the lead ship of the Yorktown class, which was designed on the basis of lessons learned from operations with the converted battlecruisers of the Lexington class and the smaller purpose-built USS Ranger.
The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/dive bomber from mid-1940 through mid-1944. The SBD was also flown by the United States Marine Corps, both from land air bases and aircraft carriers. The SBD is best remembered as the bomber that delivered the fatal blows to the Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. The type earned its nickname "Slow But Deadly" during this period, along with a rarely-used accompanying nickname of "Furious D."
Cicely Fox Smith was an English poet and writer. Born in Lymm, Cheshire and educated at Manchester High School for Girls, she briefly lived in Canada, before returning to the United Kingdom shortly before the outbreak of World War I. She settled in Hampshire and began writing poetry, often with a nautical theme. Smith wrote over 600 poems in her life, for a wide range of publications. In later life, she expanded her writing to a number of subjects, fiction and non-fiction. For her services to literature, the British Government awarded her a small pension.
The Long Island-class escort carrier was a two-ship class, originally listed as "AVG". They were converted from type C3-class merchant ships.
Henry Barrett Tillman is an American author who specializes in naval and aviation topics in addition to fiction and technical writing.
Miles Rutherford Browning was an officer in the United States Navy in the Atlantic during World War I and in the Pacific during World War II. An early test pilot in the development of carrier-based Navy aircraft and a pioneer in the development of aircraft carrier combat operations concepts, he is noted for his aggressive aerial warfare tactics as a Navy captain on the Admiral's staff aboard USS Enterprise and at Nouméa during World War II. His citation for the Distinguished Service Medal states: "His judicious planning and brilliant execution was largely responsible for the rout of the enemy Japanese fleet in the Battle of Midway." Naval historian Craig Symonds disagrees, however, writing that "the citation claim that Browning was 'largely responsible' for the American victory at Midway, an assertion that some historians have taken seriously. .. is manifestly untrue."
James Lennox Kerr was a Scottish socialist author noted for his children's stories written under the pseudonym of Peter Dawlish.
The USS Midway Museum is a historical naval aircraft carrier museum located in downtown San Diego, California at Navy Pier. The museum consists of the aircraft carrier Midway. The ship houses an extensive collection of aircraft, many of which were built in Southern California.
HMS Dauntless was a Danae-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company of Jarrow, launched on 10 April 1918 and commissioned on 22 November 1918.
The Lost Fleet is a military science fiction series written by John G. Hemry under the pen name Jack Campbell. The series is set one-hundred-plus years into an interstellar war between two different human cultures, the Alliance and the Syndicate. The protagonist of the story is discovered floating in a suspended animation escape pod one hundred years after he made an "heroic last stand" against an enemy fleet. In his absence, he has been made into a renowned hero in the Alliance, but his legend and actions are used to justify poor tactics and decisions. Awakened after being discovered during a secret mission that turns out to be an enemy trap, he is suddenly dropped into the role of fleet commander and expected to live up to the legend that has grown around him.
Richard C. Mangrum was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general who served as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1965 to 1967. Mangrum was a Marine Corps aviator who was awarded the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions during the Guadalcanal Campaign in World War II.
John Biggins is a British writer of historical fiction. He is best known for his Prohaska series of novels set in the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the early years of the 20th Century.
Lance Edward "Lem" Massey was a U.S. Navy pilot during World War II.
Norman Jack "Dusty" Kleiss was a dive-bomber pilot in the United States Navy during World War II. He was the only pilot to hit three Japanese ships with bombs during the Battle of Midway.
Jonah and Co. is a 1922 collection of comic short stories by the English author Dornford Yates, featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters.
Bruno Peter Gaido was an American sailor who served in the United States Navy as an Aviation Machinist's Mate during World War II. While flying as a gunner on a Douglas SBD Dauntless during the Battle of Midway, he was shot down and captured by Imperial Japanese Navy. Gaido, along with pilot Frank O'Flaherty, was tortured and then thrown overboard to drown by the Japanese.
Dauntless: The Battle of Midway is a 2019 action film based on a true story of United States Navy aviators at the Battle of Midway. The theme of the film combines war and aviation film genres. The film was written, directed and produced by Mike Phillips. The screenplay of Dauntless: The Battle of Midway was written by Adam Klein and based on an original story by Phillips.
