Summaries

Synopsis

In 1937, A few years before the start of World War II the US Naval attache in Tokyo and his counterpart discuss the US and Japanese positions in the Pacific Ocean during a state function. Isoroku Yamamoto (Etsushi Toyokawa, Commander-in-chief Combined Fleet) quietly informs intelligence officer Edwin T. Layton (Patrick Wilson, Intelligence officer US Pacific Fleet) that they will take action if their oil supplies are threatened. On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese use their carrier fleet to strike at Pearl Harbor. The attack leads the US to enter World War II. Shortly thereafter, a command shake-up occurs at Pearl Harbor as Admiral Chester Nimitz (Woody Harrelson, Commander-in-chief US Pacific Fleet) assumes command of the badly damaged US Pacific Fleet. Layton speaks with Nimitz over his failure to convince Washington of the impending attack on Pearl Harbor. Nimitz instructs him to stick to his guns in the next battle with Washington so as to avoid a repeat of the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor.

Lieutenant Commander Wade McClusky (Luke Evans, Air group commander, USS Enterprise) is on his ship 170 miles from pearl Harbor on Dec 7th 1941. Due to this, the US carrier fleet is spared the attack from the Japanese and prevent them from completing a major strike objective (get the US carriers). Aviation Machinist's Mate Bruno Gaido (Nick Jonas, USS Enterprise), Lieutenant Clarence Earle Dickinson Pilot, Scouting Squadron 6 (Luke Kleintank, USS Enterprise),Ensign Willie West Pilot, Torpedo Squadron 6 (Jake Manley, USS Enterprise), Captain Miles Browning Halsey's chief of staff (Eric Davis, USS Enterprise),Ensign Frank Woodrow O'Flaherty Pilot, Scouting Squadron 6 (Russell Dennis Lewis, USS Enterprise), Lieutenant Junior Grade Edwin Kroeger Pilot, Bombing Squadron Six (James Hicks, USS Enterprise) are on the ship as well.

Lieutenant Roy Pearce (Alexander Ludwig) is the Watch officer, USS Arizona when the Jap attacked Pearl Harbor. He goes down with the ship. Vice Admiral William "Bull" Halsey (Dennis Quaid) Commander, Carrier Division Two gets news of the attack on Pearl Harbor and starts tracking Jap carrier movements but are unable to pin down their locations. Intelligence says that Japanese attacked with all of their carriers.Meanwhile Yamamoto is angry that Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo (Jun Kunimura) Commander, 1st Air Fleet (Kido Butai), refused to destroy the oil tankers at Pearl Harbor, which would have meant that US operations would have been stopped at Pearl Harbor for over a year. The Japanese turn their attention to occupying the lands which have the resources they need to fuel their war effort. The role of the navy is sidelined.Meanwhile the US are focused on destroying the Japanese carrier fleet.

On Feb 1st, Nimitz commits Halsey's battle group to an attack on the Jap positions at Marshall Islands. But the US ammunition fails, and their forces are badly outnumbered. But their pilots fight bravely and inflict damage on Jap forces. The Japanese attack the carrier group with their bombers and one of the machinists Bruno Gaido uses his fighter's guns on the carrier to starve off a kamikaze attack from a Jap bomber to save the day.

In April 1942, following the Doolittle Raid (army bombers on a carrier used to attack the Jap mainland) Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle (Aaron Eckhart) USAAF flight commander USS Hornet, the Japanese turn their attention to the Coral Sea (as the Japanese believe that US carriers are the only way for the US forces to attack Japan). The Jap fleet destroys one of the US carriers at Coral Sea, and so there are now only 2 left USS Hornet and USS Enterprise.

Meanwhile, Joseph Rochefort (Brennan Brown, Chief Cryptanalyst, Fleet Radio Unit Pacific) and his Cryptology team begin intercepting messages concerning a location the Japanese identify as "AF". Layton speaks with Nimitz, who informs him that Washington believes "AF" to be a target in the Aleutians. Layton disagrees, believing the intended target to be Midway Atoll. After meeting with Rochefort, Nimitz instructs the team to find a way to definitively prove that "AF" is Midway. After Layton instructs Midway to telegraph in the clear (unencrypted) that they are suffering a water shortage, Cryptologists working for Rochefort intercept Japanese communications concerning water shortages on "AF" - thus confirming that "AF" is Midway. In preparation for an ambush of the Japanese fleet, Nimitz orders carriers Hornet and Enterprise recalled from the Coral Sea and demands that the damaged Yorktown be made ready for combat operations within 72 hours. It is May 28th, 1942.

On June 4, the Japanese launch an air attack against Midway. Initial attempts by US land-based aircraft to strike at the Japanese fleet carriers fails, and no aircraft succeeds in striking a carrier. Nautilus, a US submarine, successfully locates and attacks an enemy carrier but the torpedo misses its target. Admiral Chuichi Nagumo orders Arashi to keep the submarine pinned down so that the carriers can escape. Meanwhile, US carrier planes are launched in an effort to destroy the Japanese carriers. After reaching the last known location of the Japanese fleet the US forces discover the carriers have moved. Upon spotting Arashi, the Commander of the Air Group (CAG) of the Enterprise, C. Wade McClusky, correctly infers the Japanese destroyer is rushing back to the main Japanese fleet and leads his planes to follow its course.

Meanwhile, Admiral Nagumo learns of the presence of the US fleet and orders his men to rearm his planes for anti-ship attack. As his personnel switch out the aircraft ordnance, the US carrier planes abruptly appear. Anti-aircraft fire from ships and Japanese planes combined with evasive maneuvers initially keeps the carriers safe, however Enterprise squadron commanders C. Wade McClusky and Richard Halsey Best successfully lead their planes through the anti-aircraft fire and destroy the Japanese carriers Kaga and Akagi, and squadrons from the Yorktown destroy the Soryu. Attempting to salvage the battle, Hiryu commanded by Tamon Yamaguchi attempts to rally the remaining Japanese aircraft for an assault against the US carriers. Locating Yorktown, the Japanese bomb and disable the carrier.

Upon returning to Enterprise, Lieutenant Richard "Dick" Best (Ed Skrein) Executive officer, Bombing Squadron Six, USS Enterprise, receives word that about half of his squadron is either missing or destroyed. Informed that there is a surviving Japanese carrier, Best rallies what pilots he can and sets off to attack Hiryu. Japanese anti-aircraft fire fails to stop the attack, and Best scores a critical hit that destroys Hiryu. Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance (Jake Weber) Commander, Task Force 16, informed of the destruction of the last Japanese carrier, decides to withdraw for the night rather than press his luck.

Informed of the loss of his carriers in battle, Admiral Yamamoto orders his fleet to withdraw from the battle rather than risk his battleships without sufficient air cover, thus bringing the Battle of Midway to a close. In Pearl Harbor, Rochefort intercepts the Japanese order to withdraw and passes it to Layton, who then informs Nimitz and his staff of Yamamoto's decision to withdraw, and by extension the US victory in the Battle of Midway, followed by a coda depicting the fate of the various participants as well as Japanese reprisals after the battle.

Nimitz sailed into Tokyo Bay on Sep 2nd, 1945 to accept the Japanese surrender. Halsey recovered from his injuries and went on to become Fleet commander in the US Navy. Yamamoto's plane was shot down in 1943 when the US figures out his travel plans. Japanese army killed 250,000 Chinese for helping Dolittle to escape from China (which was under Jap occupation). McClusky commanded his own aircraft carrier. Layton stayed with Nimitz through the end of the war.Best remained only 1 of 2 pilots in US history to strike 2 carriers in one day. He never flew again as he got diagnosed with TB.