transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] So you're saying with Hilton Honors, I can use points for a free night stay anywhere?

Speaker 2:
[00:04] Anywhere.

Speaker 1:
[00:05] What about fancy places like the Canopy in Paris?

Speaker 3:
[00:08] Yeah, Hilton Honors, baby.

Speaker 1:
[00:10] Or relaxing sanctuaries like the Conrad and Tulum?

Speaker 3:
[00:13] Hilton Honors, baby.

Speaker 1:
[00:15] What about the five-star Waldorf Astoria in the Maldives? Are you gonna do this for all 9,000 properties?

Speaker 4:
[00:22] When you want points that can take you anywhere, anytime, it matters where you stay. Hilton, for the stay. Book your spring break now.

Speaker 5:
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Speaker 6:
[01:09] And thank you for listening to The History of WWII Podcast, episode 319, The Flight to Nowhere. Last time, dauntless dive bombers from the Lexington and Enterprise had just delivered a deadly attack on the carriers Akagi, Soru and Kaga. As for the Hiro, it was still a viable threat. But had one man made a different decision, this fourth Japanese carrier may have suffered the same fate as her sisters. We've seen how the staggered, imperfect and frustrating launches off the Enterprise in Yorktown actually helped set up the dauntless dive bombers to deliver such a killing blow to the Kido Butai. Though many Devastator and other pilots were lost as they attacked first, separately, unescorted. But the air group from the Hornet would be heading out in a different direction than the other two carriers. And the reason why is anything but clear as the records from her and her captain were altered after the battle. As the various units were taking off and flying around, waiting for the remainder to join them so they could all attack together at 7:40 a.m., Lieutenant Gilvin M. Sloan, the radio intelligence officer aboard Enterprise, informed Spruance Task Force 16's commander, thus over the Enterprise and the Hornet, that the Japanese had just sent out a plane message contact report of the strength and location of Task Force 16. Hearing this, Spruance took very little time to order all aircraft already in the air to head out, now. The attack then would be staggered, not coordinated, which is when, for example, C. Wade McCluskey, Enterprise's strike leader, departed with his 33 Dauntless's without the escorting Wildcats, as they were still on deck. But here's where things go pear shaped. When the order to head out was given, Commander Stan Hope Cotton Ring, Commander of Hornet's Air Group 8, led his fighters, torpedo bombers and dive bombers, practically due west on a heading of 265. Whereas the other air groups flew on a heading of 239, so more of a heading to the southwest. Meaning Ring and his were about to go to a point about 80 nautical miles north of where the two known Japanese carriers were located. But why? First, though he was required to, Commander Ring would never write an after action report explaining his altered path. Second, a report from the Hornet after the Battle of Midway would state, the objective enemy carriers was calculated to be 155 miles distance, bearing 239, which is not the same thing as saying, and that's the bearing Ring and most of his flight took because they didn't. It's what was not said that has left and generated so many questions. The point is and the outcome was, Ring and the majority of Hornet's strike group would miss out on the opportunity to inflict their damage on to the Kido Butai. Again, the question why? Before digging into the scant information, one possibility is that Ring, for all of his dedication and clean record up to this point, was a moderately talented pilot, but not great at navigation. But even before heading out more north to attack what had been spotted of the enemy, Ring had his Air Group 8 assemble in a parade double V formation, which put the fighters above and a bit behind the dive bombers, versus leading them into combat. This wasted time and fuel, something that would directly affect many of his pilot's lives in the near future. But back to Ring taking his group more north than anyone else. His superior, Captain Mark Mitchell, Commander of the Hornet, had been told with the other senior staff that the Japanese, per their communications, would have their carriers operating in groups of two. One group of two would strike in midway, while the other group of two would offer cover, to shield against anything midway might throw at them. So, when Captain Miles Browning, Halsey's Chief of Staff, who Fletcher had replaced due to his dermatitis, wrote up the orders for the attack, he did not put the exact route the attacking American aircraft should take. He probably assumed that everyone knew to fly towards the known enemy carriers. But, Mitchner did not interpret the orders that way, which is as much as can be said for sure, for after midway, Mitcher filed a false report. The Hornet's captain assumed, like everyone else, that the Japanese covering force was to the north of the Japanese strike group. How much further north was anyone's guess, as it had not been spotted. Again, between the false report and the non-explanation of Mitcher after midway, one can only surmise the following. One, Mitcher was already up for promotion to rear admiral and was the most senior aviator in either task force. Second, he knew that both task forces were being led by non-aviators, though both commanders relied on their flight group commanders who were aviators, or Browning himself, Halsey's chief of staff, who was an aviator. Lastly, Mitcher assuming that only two Japanese carriers would be found by the Enterprises group, which was enough to sink them, would instead allow him to fly further north with his group. If the covering force could be spied out and sunk as well, well, the victory at Midway would be complete. And again, assuming this, Mitcher must have only told Commander Ring this, as the squadron commanders flying with him were more than surprised when Ring flew to the north of where the enemy was supposed to be. Now, back at the moment that the dive bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown were raining bombs down on the three Japanese carriers, the Hornets' dive bombers were nowhere to be seen. Only Hornets' devastators of VT-8 had joined in on the attack, which had brought down Nagumo's cap fighters, thus exposing the Japanese carriers to the now approaching American dive bombers. If only Ring, or more correctly Mitcher, had followed suit, then Ring and his 34 Dauntlesses, 15 from VS-8 and 17 from VB-8, might have given the remaining undamaged carrier, Hero, a most unpleasant surprise. This did not happen, of course, which left the Hero to launch two counterattacks that day against the American carriers, which would affect the fate of the Yorktown and her crew. So when Commander Ring led his group out, the other pilots figured out very quickly that they were heading due west on a heading of 265 and not like everyone else, 239. There is no concrete proof that Mitcher told Ring to do this, but it's hard to imagine Ring doing this on his own, given the punishment that would be waiting for him when he returned. And again, Mitcher altered the reports after Midway, which even Admiral Spruance knew, as he wrote in his report, where discrepancies exist between Enterprise and Hornet reports, the Enterprise report should be taken as most accurate. Which is another way of saying, my naval brother is lying, but I'm not saying that directly, as in being a rat is not our tradition.

Speaker 7:
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Speaker 3:
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Speaker 6:
[10:04] Ring and his air group departed at 7:55 a.m. on a heading of 265, confirmed by the records of the ship's radar operator. A part of Ring's group was Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron, leader of VT-8. He had drilled his men hard and believed that they were ready for whatever was to come. Further, he had plotted the course himself, believing he and his could not be too prepared. So right away, Waldron could tell that something was off. This was not the bearing that led to the known enemy position. And even before this, Waldron had told fellow pilot Ensign George Gay that 265 was not the correct course. After Ring's group had been flying for about 15 minutes, Waldron snapped by breaking the rules and radioing Ring, questioning their bearing. Their exchange quickly became heated because both men knew they were right. After their argument, Waldron stayed with Ring, that is until 8:25 a.m., which is when he broke left with VT8 following him. And yet, those devastators who turned with Waldron did so without his fighter escort, a VF8, which is why, in the not too distant future, Waldron and most of VT8 would be dead, all except Gay, who would be plucked from the waters after Midway. Part of his report would read then that after Waldron turned, we went just as straight to the Japanese fleet as if he had a string tied to them. Just to finish with Waldron's story, at 9:15 a.m., VT8 spotted smoke on the horizon. This led them to Nagumo. Before heading in, though, Waldron sent a contact report back, but Hornet never received this. As he and company approached, Waldron ordered the 2nd Division to break away so they could attack Anvil-style, but they quickly came under attack, though they were right above the waves, so Waldron kept his group together. As we have seen, what was coming was a massacre. VT-8's 15 aircraft were only going 100 miles an hour. What with the torpedoes slowing them down, and 21 Zeroes soon dove down on them, and these pilots were highly experienced and professional. This is besides the AA fire. All but 4 Devastators were shot out of the sky before they got close to the carriers, and those that survived forced the Suru to turn yet again. Only Ensign George Gay got within 800 yards and released his torpedo, but he missed, which is when he was shot down, landing in the middle of Nagumo's formation. He quickly hid his surfaced head under a seat cushion, thus remaining unspotted by the ships as they went by. Now, Nagumo was free to launch his attack as we saw, but first he had to turn into the wind, and then he had to clear the deck. But by the time this was all done, the dauntless dive bombers appeared overhead, and then the Battle of the Pacific would be changed forever. Back to Commander Ring, he and his continued west, but they only saw more ocean. The first aircraft to worry about fuel was the Wildcats, but Ring kept on. Then the Wildcats had less than half of their fuel remaining, but Ring kept on. Of the ten fighters, two turned to head back to Task Force 16. Then seven more turned for home, hoping to make it. The last Wildcat was VF's commander, Lieutenant Commander Samuel Mitchell, but around 9 a.m., he too turned back to the east. Ring did not know immediately that the fighters had left, but even when he became aware, he kept on, heading westward. At 920, some of the dive bombers picked up Waldron's contact report that he was about to engage the enemy, but if Ring heard this as well, he never let on. Closing in on 200 nautical miles covered, now the Dauntless's of VB-8 turned around. Led by Lieutenant Commander Robert Johnson. If Ring had said anything to him, Johnson could have counted with, me and mine have 1,000-pound bombs, so our fuel is being consumed faster than the dive bombers with only 500-pound bombs. Besides, they were all well past the point that the enemy should have been come upon. Ring ordered him to stay in position, but Johnson defied this and turned to head to the southeast. And yet, Ring kept on. Once past the 225 nautical mile mark, Lieutenant Commander Walter Rodey, commander of VS-8, turned around, taking the rest of the Daulesses with him. Ring was now alone, flying west. But even he eventually turned for home. Ring returned and landed on the carrier at 1118 AM But instead of reporting to Mitchell, he went straight to his stateroom and closed the door. Only when Rodey landed a few minutes later and reported to the captain, did Mitchell know that his gamble had completely failed. Thus, none of Hornet's dive bombers were involved in the fight that morning. But that's where the bad news only starts. As we've seen, Waldron and his 15 Devastators were lost, with only George Gay surviving to be picked up the next morning by a Catalina. VF8 suffered as well as their leader Mitchell could not pick up Hornet's homing signal. So another pilot did, so most of them followed him. But when they saw the ships wake to the north, they thought those belonged to the Japanese, so kept flying right past Task Force 16. In time, they were all forced to ditch and spend four or five days in the water to be rescued by Catalinas from Midway. That is, eight of the ten pilots were found. Next, Johnson, who had turned to the southeast with his squadron, looked for the Japanese, but finding nothing, they then turned to the northeast to find Hornet. Fortunately, they came across a Catalina that gave them the correct course to Midway as it was closer. Still, three of them ran out of fuel and crashed into the Atoll's Lagoon. But Johnson and a few others managed to reach the Hornet. In all, because of Mitcher's, the term hunch is being generous, of Hornet's 59 aircraft that went out that day, only 31 landed back aboard. Next time, we'll see that Fletcher nor Nagumo were done with seeking out the other. The Battle of Midway wasn't over. Greetings, everyone, from Central Virginia. So I've got a lot to share with you. So let me just jump into this. First of all, donations. I would like to thank Adam Parkinson from Manchester, UK. Thank you very much, Adam. I hear y'all have a football club there. Anyway, good luck with that. Let's see. I'm just joking. Let's see here. There's Peter R. Now, Peter R. I have to be careful. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to use his last name, but I can tell you this right now. Peter R has the greatest wife in the world, and I hope he knows this because I do. She chided him for listening to my podcast and never donating. Shame on you, sir. Anyways, madam, I bow before you. Thank you very much. Then there is Mark Foldy, who has donated before. Mark, thank you very much. I love repeat customers. Bruce Caldwell is also another repeat customer, but he had the cheek, if you will, to write, I hope I'm around when you finish. Well, Bruce, I hope I'm around when I finish. So that there's at least two of us. Then let's see here, Steve Woods, he has a lot of driving than he does, so he caught up with the episodes. Now, because of him encouraging me, that's the word I choose to use, I am more motivated than ever to keep these episodes coming out. So let's see here, as far as mugs, let's see here. Well, first of all, there's a gentleman who bought a mug, a Churchill mug, for another gentleman. And I don't know if it's a surprise, is it a birthday, whatever, so I can't give any names yet. I'll do those names next week. But they make excellent gifts, and I've just ordered some more Churchill mugs, so think about that. Let's see here. Then there's this. What if I told you there was a man that listened to all 600 plus episodes in two and a half months? Well, that man's name is Lester Oberholzer, working at a hardware store. I think it's a family store. He listened to a lot of the shifts. Now, when I tell you that, first, you might question his sanity. I certainly did, but obviously he has good taste. No, my concern is that now when he hears anything or reads anything, it will be in my voice, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. So again, for you also, Lester, I'm putting out the next episode as fast as I can because I can deal with the pressure. Anyways, so let's see here. So I finally got the link. If you want to join myself, Tony Lupo and Ryan Fairfield on a live show on YouTube, where we want you to come and join us, it's June 6th from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Join us and tell us about some of your family's World War II stories. We'll randomly select people that show up and you have like five minutes to tell your story and then we can all talk about it or contribute background information. That link is in the notes of this episode and I'll also be putting it in all my social media. So just know that myself, Tony Lupo and Ryan Fairfield are looking forward to having you tell us some stories of your heroes, your family heroes, and we very much look forward to hearing it. And again, the link will be in the show notes and you'll see it in other places as well. And I hope a lot of you join us because it could be a lot of fun. You've written to us because we were talking about this the other day before we recorded. The three of us have gotten so many emails about, oh, my father, my grandfather, you know, and they're amazing, incredible stories. Mothers, spies, working for the Resistance. We've heard it all, but we'd like to hear it on here. And if we can keep it, you know, because they do the record for Congress, we'd love to have that included as well. So please strongly consider joining us June 6th, obviously this year, from 7 to 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. We would love to hear your stories. And I'm looking forward to it a lot. So that's that. And I will see you later on this week with the next story of the Battle of Midway. Take care, everyone.

Speaker 8:
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