In my years studying all things WWII, I've often wondered about the disastrous losses of VT-6 and VT-8 at Midway at the hands of the Japanese fighter patrols protecting their carrier strike forces. I just never could wrap my head around the appearance that they were sent into the jaws of death as TOTALLY UNPROTECTED lambs to the slaughter - no escorting fighters of VF-6 or VF-8 within miles. We've talked a lot about the exploits and the ordeal of sole survivor Ensign Gay/VT-8, but how exactly did he and his comrades come to such a terrible fate despite prevailing USN strike package doctrine that insisted on maintaining air group integrity for mutual support, survivability and maximum effect on target?
Well, I recently found this investigate review of the subject - some of you may have seen or heard it already - that seems to shed a great deal of light on the Navy's ugly Snafu's of that fateful day that put the two torpedo squadrons in such jeopardy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgd7Jdh6iYc
p.s. don't want to lay this entirely at the feet of naval command, as it appears that it was simply a case of friction between flight leaders mostly that command just glossed over in the aftermath.
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