The Battle of Midway

Choose an answer from the three choices and True or False offered after each question and then "Check Your Answers" at the end of the quiz.

1. Isoroku Yamamoto was the commander of the Japanese fleet on the attack of the Midway Atoll. Who commanded the American forces?

• Douglas McArthur
• William Halsey
• Chester W. Nimitz

2. USS Enterprise and USS Hornet were Navy aircraft carriers used during the Battle of Midway. What was the Navy’s third carrier?

• USS Saratoga
• USS Lexington
• USS Yorktown

3. What help did the American commander have before the battle?

• Secret agent with Yamamota
• Battle plan left in bathroom in Philippines
• Broke the JN-25 Naval Code

4. For the Battle of Midway, the Japanese planned a diversion with an invasion. Where was the invasion?

• Aleutian Islands
• Vancouver Island
• Port Moresby

5. What day did the battle begin with B-17 operating from Midway bomb the Japanese transport group?

• June 4, 1942
• July 4, 1942
• July 8, 1942

6. At 06:20, Japanese carrier aircraft bombed and heavily damaged the U.S. base on Midway. Most were downed in the first few minutes, and only two remained flyable. American anti-aircraft fire was accurate and intense, damaging many Japanese aircraft and claiming a third of the Japanese planes destroyed.

• True or False?

7. How many aircraft carriers did the Japanese Navy loss during the battle?

• 2
• 4
• 6

8. How many American Navy aircraft carriers were lost during the Battle of Midway?

• 0
• 1
• 3

9. The first film about the battle was a documentary directed by a Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve at the time, and on temporary duty at Midway Island during the battle as a photographic and intelligence officer. While shooting 16mm color motion picture footage from atop the island's power plant, he was exposed to enemy fire by attacking aircraft and wounded in the arm by shrapnel. He received a Purple Heart and later, the Legion of Merit for his actions. The film he shot during the actual battle is included in his 1942 Academy Award winning documentary, The Battle of Midway. Who was the director?

• Jack Smight
• John Ford
• Horace Mann

10. The battle has often been called "the turning point of the Pacific".

• True or False?

Check Your Answers

• 1. Chester W. Nimitz
• 2. USS Yorktown
• 3. Broke the JN-25 Naval Code
• 4. Aleutian Islands
• 5. June 4, 1942
• 6. True
• 7. 4
• 8. 1
• 9. John Ford
• 10. False. Thus, Midway was not "decisive" in the same sense as Salamis or Trafalgar. However, victory at Midway first gave the U.S. the strategic initiative, inflicted irreparable damage on the Japanese carrier force, and shortened the war in the Pacific.

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