Second World War at Sea: Midway

On the morning of 4 June 1942, fifteen TBD-1 Devastator bombers of Torpedo Squadron Eight took off from the USS Hornet to attack the Japanese carrier force operating off Midway Island. All fifteen of them were shot down as they pressed their attack, yet not a single pilot veered away. While Japanese fighters slaughtered the low-flying torpedo planes, American dive bombers passed overhead and began their screaming dives onto the Japanese carriers, sinking three of them and dooming the Japanese Empire.…