BATTLE OF MIDWAY HERO
The Battle of Midway is considered by many naval historians to be the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign during World War II. The battle occurred between June 4th and 7th, 1942. Both the U.S. and Japanese navies suffered significant losses but the damage inflicted to the Japanese fleet was so great that it would not recover during the remainder of the war. The Japanese sought to eliminate the U.S. fleet by luring their aircraft carriers into a trap but unknown to the Japanese, the Americans were intercepting and decoding their messages giving the U.S. knowledge of the Japanese plans. Although one U.S. aircraft carrier and one destroyer were sunk during the battle, the Japanese lost four carriers and a heavy cruiser. More importantly, they lost a reported 248 carrier aircraft, and more than 100 trained and experienced naval pilots. Perhaps more devastating was the loss of trained mechanics and aircraft ground crews who went down with the ships. The defeat at Midway derailed the Japanese offensive in the Pacific, preventing them from following their plans to invade significant areas in the Pacific. Scouts found the Japanese fleet early in the morning of June 4. At 0630, the Japanese launched a large number of carrier bombers and torpedo planes supported by fighters to attack Midway Island unaware of the presence of U.S. naval forces. Despite the strength of the attack, there was little significant damage on Midway. Then, between 0930 and 1030, American Douglas torpedo bombers attacked the Japanese carriers. This attack failed. Although they were almost all shot down, by pulling fighters away from the main Japanese fleet, other American dive bombers were able to fatally damage two of the Japanese carriers. Later in the afternoon a mixed squadron of American bombers destroyed a third carrier. Bombers from the USS Yorktown were then able to bomb and totally wreck a fourth carrier.
On the fateful morning of June 4, 1942, LT Charles Rollins Ware, a squadron leader, was the pilot of a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber of Scouting Squadron 6 (VS-6) that flew from the USS Yorktown. The planes launched at an extreme distance from the Japanese and not all details of the launch went smoothly. A command decision was made that it was not practical for all elements of the strike force to assemble fully and as American squadrons were launched piecemeal they proceeded toward the target in several different groups. Some flights had difficulty locating their target as some planes proceeded at wrong headings. Upon arrival of LT Ware’s flight over the Japanese, their carriers were being attacked by American torpedo bombers. Unfortunately, only one plane from VS-6 returned from the battle. Years later, in an interview of the surviving pilot, he described the VS-6 attack and the following are excerpts from the interview:
“We anticipated a Japanese combat air patrol at 12,000 but we found they were concentrating their efforts between 0-500 feet when we made our bombing dive. When I finished I was very alone but soon saw LT Ware’s division was starting to form, his first section already together and defending. The second section, consisting of myself and two SBDs joining on me, slid to the outside of Ware’s evasive turns. We then had six SBDs in formation. When a Japanese fighter committed himself to an attack, twelve .30 caliber free gun mounts in our aft cockpits were able to fire on each fighter as he came within range. The tracer display was very impressive as well as effective in Zero casualties. The fighter attacks remained singular, varying from right to left. I have often wondered what our luck would have been if the Japs had made simultaneous attacks at our limited air speed (115 kts). I truly believe that the situation would have been reversed. Fuel and ammunition became critical. Our new tactic of staying close to the water denied the Zero his deadly capability of pressing his attack under the unprotected belly of the SBD. The Zero’s were breaking off their runs much earlier and their shot pattern was dropping in the water underneath us. The word was passed, ‘Conserve Fuel, Conserve Ammo’ but this was perhaps ridiculous as some had already run out of both. One thing was certain, that not all were going to make it back. The Zero attacks finally became intermittent and we climbed to 1200 feet, reduced power settings and throwing things overboard to reduce our weight, including guns that were out of ammo. Then came another Zero attack so we went back to our old evasive tactics, turning into the attack with a delayed slideover of the second section, now at 95-100 kts. Within a few minutes one of our flight ran out of fuel and had to make a beautiful water landing. The second Zero attack lasted about 20-30 minutes and all of a sudden there were no Japs. Leading his division against two long fighter attacks after a major bombing engagement took a good 4.5 hours from launch and was well beyond the expectancies of the capabilities of the SBD and, more important, the people trained in them. LT Ware, on his last encounter and his last flight, did one of the most remarkable jobs of flying under all known combat problems. He accomplished some very venerate tasks in the last flight of his life, which were graciously relayed many times back throughout the training squadrons to benefit the new pilots coming up. His flight smoothness as a division leader allowed airplanes and crews to fly and fire as a group, his consideration of the fuel problem let the group hang together longer and, most important, the classic agility he would instinctively fall into with a turn at precisely the right time set up his six planes for a grandstand shot at an attacking fighter, one of the greatest effectiveness. After our last engagement LT Ware took a heading that I thought was wrong. I hand signaled to him that I was changing course but all the others stayed with Lt Ware and I was the only one to find our fleet. The rest flew off into the vast Pacific and were not heard from again.”
LT Charles Rollins Ware was born on March 11, 1911, in Knoxville, Tennessee, and joined the Navy in 1929. In 1930 he was appointed to the Naval Academy, graduating in 1934. After service at sea he became a naval aviator. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism in pressing home his attack on the Japanese fleet. In 1945 the USS CHARLES R. WARE (DD-865) was commissioned in his honor and she served from 1945 to 1974.
Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)
