The Battle of Midway

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2022

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On the 4th of June 1942, the US Navy took on the might of Japan's Imperial Navy in the battle of Midway. It was America's Trafalgar! At the end of the fighting devastating losses had been inflicted on the Japanese and the entire strategic position in the Pacific was upended in favour of the Allies. Never again would Japan be able to project power across the ocean as it had done at Pearl Harbour. In this explainer episode, Dan takes you through this key turning point in the Pacific War. He examines the key intelligence that allowed the American Navy to turn the tables on the Japanese fleet, a blow by blow account of the battle itself, the terrible human cost of the fighting and the aftermath of this decisive American victory.

Mixed and Mastered by Dougal Patmore

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Dan Snow's History Hit Folks. This is the big one. This is the story of a battle that took place 80 years ago.
0:11.0	On the 4th of June 1942, it is the story of America's Trafalgar. But actually, it's more than Trafalgar.
0:21.0	Trafalgar confirmed British naval domination of the World's Ocean, confirmed that the British Navy was superior to the French and Spanish fleets.
0:29.0	What this battle does is it upends the existing strategic balance in the space of 10 minutes.
0:37.0	In those 10 minutes, the entire military situation in the Pacific was transformed.
0:44.0	This is more a Salamis, a Tsushima, the great Japanese victory, ironically, over the Russians.
0:51.0	This, I think, is the most extraordinary, the most decisive naval battle in modern history. This is a podcast about the battle of Midway.
1:02.0	I'm going to be talking to you throughout. I'm going to be giving you a blow-by-blow account of this extraordinary battle.
1:06.0	It's the single most remarkable story you will ever have heard in history. So, stay tuned, folks.
1:11.0	For a little Pacific War news, please head to History Hit TV.
1:14.0	We've got an additional online history channel, which has got all sorts of apps. You can watch on your smart TV on your tablet device, on your phones.
1:20.0	You can watch wherever you want, on your projector, on their as well.
1:24.0	The link is in the notes of this podcast. If you click on the link, you get two weeks free. Sign up to the world's best history channel.
1:29.0	It's the Netflix history works ever in the world. But in the meantime, gang, here's me on Midway.
1:35.0	So the story of Midway starts on the evening of the 7th of December, 1941.
1:44.0	You'll have heard the podcast that I released on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. We've talked some veterans of Pearl Harbor.
1:50.0	I gave a description of a day that will live in infamy.
1:53.0	And by the evening of that day, the 7th of December, 1941, the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii and Hawaii,
1:58.0	there was a vision of hell. The superstructure of mighty battleships,
2:03.0	poked out from the oil-steroon sea. Their hulls penetrated by bombs and torpedoes lay below in the seabed.
2:10.0	Other mighty castles of steel had driven themselves towards the shore, beach themselves to avoid them sinking as well.
2:17.0	Black smoke belched from twisted gashes in the hulls of ships.
	...

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