Editing Battle of Midway (section)

==Aftermath==
[[File:Midway survivor on PBY.jpg|thumb|A rescued U.S. aviator on Midway]]

After winning a clear victory, and as pursuit became too hazardous near [[Wake Island]],<ref name=Blair247>{{Harvnb|Blair|1975|p=247}}</ref> American forces retired. Spruance again withdrew to the east to refuel his destroyers and rendezvous with the carrier ''Saratoga'', which was ferrying much-needed replacement aircraft. Fletcher transferred his flag to ''Saratoga'' on the afternoon of 8 June and resumed command of the carrier force. For the remainder of that day and the next, Fletcher continued to launch search missions from the three carriers to ensure the Japanese were no longer advancing on Midway. Late on 10 June a decision was made to leave the area, and the American carriers returned to Pearl Harbor.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lundstrom|2006|pp=293–296}}</ref>

Historian [[Samuel Eliot Morison|Samuel E. Morison]] noted in 1949 that Spruance was criticized for not pursuing the retreating Japanese, allowing their surface fleet to escape.<ref>{{Harvnb|Morison|1949|pp=142–143}}</ref> [[Clay Blair]] argued in 1975 that had Spruance pressed on, he would have been unable to launch his aircraft after nightfall, and his cruisers would have been overwhelmed by Yamamoto's powerful surface units, including ''Yamato''.<ref name=Blair247/> Furthermore, the American air groups had suffered considerable losses, including most of their torpedo bombers. This made it unlikely that they would be effective in an airstrike against the Japanese battleships, even if they had managed to catch them during the daytime.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|p=330}}</ref> Also, Spruance's destroyers were critically low on fuel.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|p=382}}</ref><ref name=Toll>{{Harvnb|Toll|2012|p=471}}</ref>

On 10 June the Imperial Japanese Navy conveyed to the military liaison conference an incomplete picture of the results of the battle. Nagumo's detailed battle report was submitted to the high command on 15 June. It was intended only for the highest echelons in the Japanese Navy and government and was guarded closely throughout the war. In it, one of the more striking revelations is the comment on Mobile Force Commander Nagumo's estimates: "The enemy is not aware of our plans (we were not discovered until early in the morning of the 5th at the earliest)."<ref>{{cite report |publication-date=June 1947 |title=The Japanese Story of the Battle of Midway (a Translation) |journal=The ONI Review |volume=2 |number=5 |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/j/japanese-story-of-the-battle-of-midway.html |access-date=11 December 2020 |last=Nagumo |first=Chūichi |others=Foreword by [[Ralph A. Ofstie]] |date=15 June 1942 |publisher=[[Office of Naval Intelligence]] |via=[[Naval History and Heritage Command]] |archive-date=19 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219231714/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/j/japanese-story-of-the-battle-of-midway.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In reality, the whole operation had been compromised from the beginning by American code-breaking efforts.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|pp=92–93}}</ref>

The Japanese public and much of the military command structure were kept in the dark about the extent of the defeat: Japanese news announced a great victory. Only Emperor [[Hirohito]] and the highest Navy command staff were accurately informed of the carrier and personnel losses. Consequently, even the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] continued to believe, for at least a short time, that the fleet was in good condition.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bix|2001|p=449}}</ref>

On the return of the Japanese fleet to [[Hashirajima]] on 14 June the wounded were immediately transferred to naval hospitals; most were classified as "secret patients", placed in isolation wards and quarantined from other patients and their own families to keep this major defeat secret.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|p=386}}</ref> The remaining officers and men were quickly dispersed to other units of the fleet and, without being allowed to see family or friends, were shipped to units in the South Pacific, where the majority died in battle.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|pp=386–387}}</ref> None of the flag officers or staff of the Combined Fleet were penalized, and Nagumo was later placed in command of the rebuilt carrier force.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|p=388}}</ref> A possible reason Nagumo was not relieved of command was that he reported two American carriers had been sunk; not one actually sunk.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan/IJN/rep/Midway/Nagumo |page=59 |title=HyperWar: The Japanese Story of the Battle of Midway |access-date=4 September 2022 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002153723/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan/IJN/rep/Midway/Nagumo/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Still from 1942 film Battle of Midway shot by John Ford 02.jpg|thumb|In this still from the 1942 U.S. Navy film ''[[The Battle of Midway (film)|The Battle of Midway]]'', shot by [[John Ford]], soldiers and civilians inspect the wreckage of a plane while black smoke billows in the distance]]
As a result of the defeat, new procedures were adopted whereby more Japanese aircraft were refueled and re-armed on the flight deck rather than in the hangars, and the practice of draining all unused fuel lines was adopted. The new carriers being built were redesigned to incorporate only two flight deck elevators and new firefighting equipment. More carrier crew members were trained in damage-control and firefighting techniques, although the losses of the ''Shōkaku'', ''{{Ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Hiyō||2}}'', and especially ''{{Ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Taihō||2}}'' later in the war suggest that there were still problems in this area.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|pp=388–389}}</ref>

Japanese replacement pilots were pushed through an abbreviated training regimen to meet the short-term needs of the fleet, leading to a sharp decline in the quality of the aviators produced. These inexperienced pilots were fed into front-line units, while the veterans who remained after Midway and the [[Solomon Islands campaign|Solomons campaign]] were forced to share an increased workload as conditions grew more desperate, with few being given a chance to rest in rear areas or in the home islands. As a result, Japanese naval air groups as a whole progressively deteriorated during the war while their American adversaries continued to improve.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|pp=390–391}}</ref>

===American prisoners===<!--Frank Woodrow O'Flaherty redirects here.-->
Three U.S. aviators were captured during the battle: Ensign Wesley Osmus,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=436566 |title=Osmus, Wesley, ENS |website=Navy.TogetherWeServed.com |access-date=27 November 2019 |archive-date=26 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726174039/https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=436566 |url-status=live}}</ref> a pilot from ''Yorktown''; Ensign Frank O'Flaherty,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=398258 |title=O'Flaherty, Frank Woodrow, ENS |website=Navy.TogetherWeServed.com |access-date=27 November 2019 |archive-date=26 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726154551/https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=398258 |url-status=live}}</ref> a pilot from ''Enterprise''; and [[Aviation Machinist's Mate]] [[Bruno Peter Gaido]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=557720 |title=Gaido, Bruno Peter, PO1 |website=Navy.TogetherWeServed.com |access-date=27 November 2019 |archive-date=26 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726180949/https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=557720 |url-status=live}}</ref> O'Flaherty's radioman-gunner.<ref name="pacwar Japanese War Crimes">{{cite web |url=https://www.pacificwar.org.au/JapWarCrimes/TenWarCrimes/WarCrimes_Jap_Navy.html |title=War crimes of the Imperial Japanese Navy |last=Bowen |first=James |access-date=11 March 2021 |archive-date=7 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307092639/http://pacificwar.org.au/JapWarCrimes/TenWarCrimes/WarCrimes_Jap_Navy.html |url-status=live}}{{Self-published source|date=March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Shepherd|2006|at=[http://www.cv6.org/company/pow.htm Prisoners of War]}}</ref> Osmus was held on ''Arashi''; O'Flaherty and Gaido on the cruiser ''Nagara'' (or destroyer ''Makigumo'', sources vary); O'Flaherty and Gaido were interrogated and then tied to water-filled kerosene cans and thrown overboard to drown.<ref>{{Harvnb|Barde|1983|pp=188–192}}</ref> Osmus was slated for the same fate; however, he resisted and was murdered on the ''Arashi'' with a fire axe, and his body was thrown overboard.<ref name="pacwar Japanese War Crimes"/> The report filed by Nagumo tersely states that Osmus, "died on 6 June and was buried at sea";<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|p=583}}</ref> O'Flaherty and Gaido's fates were not mentioned.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|p=566}}</ref> The execution of Osmus in this manner was apparently ordered by ''Arashi''{{'}}s captain, Watanabe Yasumasa. Yasumasa died when the destroyer {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Numakaze||2}} sank in December 1943; had he survived the war he would have likely been tried as a [[Japanese war crimes|war criminal]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|p=584}}</ref>

===Japanese prisoners===

Two enlisted men from ''Mikuma'' were rescued from a life raft on 9 June by {{USS|Trout|SS-202|6}} and taken to Pearl Harbor. After receiving medical care, at least one of these sailors cooperated during interrogation and provided intelligence.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/archives/digital-exhibits-highlights/action-reports/wwii-battle-of-midway/interrogation-of-japanese-prisoners.html |title=Interrogation of Japanese Prisoners Taken After Midway Action, 9 June 1942 |last=Nimitz |first=Chester W. |author-link=Chester W. Nimitz |date=21 June 1942 |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |location=College Park, Maryland |via=[[Naval History and Heritage Command]] |access-date=11 March 2021 |archive-date=21 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321063948/https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/archives/digital-exhibits-highlights/action-reports/wwii-battle-of-midway/interrogation-of-japanese-prisoners.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Another 35 crewmen from ''Hiryū'' were taken from a lifeboat by {{USS|Ballard|DD-267|6}} on 19 June after being spotted by an American search plane. They were taken to Midway and then transferred to Pearl Harbor on {{USS|Sirius|AK-15|6}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/b/battle-of-midway-4-7-june-1942.html |title=Battle of Midway: 4-7 June 1942 |date=8 October 2020 |publisher=[[Naval History and Heritage Command]] |access-date=8 August 2015 |archive-date=6 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906125606/http://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/b/battle-of-midway-4-7-june-1942.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media notes |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/world-war-ii/midway/80-G-79982-24.html |title=Battle of Midway, June 1942 |date=23 June 1942 |type=photograph metadata |id=80-G-79982-24 |publisher=[[Naval History and Heritage Command]] |access-date=8 August 2015 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924140434/http://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/world-war-ii/midway/80-G-79982-24.html |url-status=live}}</ref>