The tiny atoll of Midway was the most westerly of U.S. bases in the Central Pacific. Only 1,500 miles from Oahu, it was a perfect starting point for aconquest of Hawaii. If the base was threatened by Japan, Yamamoto reasoned, the U.S. Fleet would have to meet the challenge and could be lured into a hopeless battle with superior Japanese forces.
Yamamoto planned the mother of naval battles. Some 200 ships would participate, burning more oil in this mission than the entire peacetime navy used in a year. First, an invasion of the Aleutian Islands, 1,200 miles north of Midway. Next, planes fr…
