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Old September 17th 15, 04:49 PM posted to rec.aviation.military.naval
Airyx[_2_]
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Default Recall original news stories about Midway

On Saturday, August 29, 2015 at 1:15:50 AM UTC-5, jonathan wrote:

When I was looking up my dad's war history one
article about his unit had several mistakes
that seemed deliberate to prevent the enemy
from gleaning anything. From reading the article
below I get the impression the military releases
what it wants the enemy to hear.

The only high altitude heavy bomber attack
against a Japanese fleet that I know about
didn't go well at all for our side.


If I remember correctly, there were two attempts at using B-17s to bomb the Japanese fleet as they approached Midway, and neither achieved a single hit. The pilots reported several hits, but in reality there was only one near-miss on a destroyer.

However, after the their carriers were smashed, a small group of cruisers were sent to shell Midway during the night. They were then called back, and were attacked by a submarine. The sub didn't hit anything, but two light cruisers collided.

As they were limping away, B-17s took a run at them. I'm pretty sure one of the escorting destroyers took a direct hit from a B-17 dropped bomb (that was intended for the Mogami). I remember because the two destroyers that were escorting the Mogami had almost identical names...and there is a picture of it taken from the B-17.