The First Bombardment of Midway, or the First Bombardment of Sand Island, or Attack on Midway, was a small land and sea engagement of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It occurred on the very first day of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

, 7 December 1941, not long after the major

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

. Two Imperial Japanese

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

s bombarded Sand Island of

Midway Atoll Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; haw, Kauihelani, translation=the backbone of heaven; haw, Pihemanu, translation=the loud din of birds, label=none) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the Unit ...

. The Japanese successfully damaged the

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

base before being engaged by American shore batteries and forced to flee.

Background

Before the beginning of the Pacific War, American marines were stationed on Midway and had established a small base with the ability to service land, sea and air forces. The marines also constructed all of the bases'

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere ...

s; civilian contractors constructed the buildings. They used 5 inch (127 mm) guns, built in 1916, and 3 inch (76 mm) guns of 1921 to defend the islands. Fortifications had been manned since 1905. Not only were

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of T ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

attacked in the opening phase of the conflict, but Midway was shelled as well by two Japanese destroyers, and .

Bombardment

The two destroyers were part of the Japanese fleet that had just attacked Pearl Harbor. Overall, the unit was under the command of Captain Ohishi Kaname, though

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Yoshitake Uesugi skippered ''Ushio'' and Lieutenant Commander Hiroshi Uwa skippered the other destroyer. The engagement began at 09:31 and lasted 54 minutes. The American command, communications and power plant building was damaged by a shell, which deflected off an adjacent laundromat. Battery "H" commander—

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

George H. Cannon—was hit by shrapnel in the

pelvis The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

while inside the command building. By this time, the communications were down from enemy fire, so Lieutenant Cannon refused medical attention until he was assured that the communications were restored to the post and the wounded marines around him were evacuated. Ushio

By the time Cannon received aid from a medic, it was too late; he perished due to blood loss. For Cannon's "distinguished conduct in the line of his profession, extraordinary courage, and disregard of his own condition", he received the first

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

issued to a U.S. Marine for actions in the Second World War. A street on Sand Island was named after Cannon and continues to be known by that name, a 1943

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

——was also named after him. Six Japanese rounds struck and entered the main

PBY Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served w ...

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

and destroyed a PBY inside; the Pilot and Fireman were killed (see next paragraph), while other civilians inside survived without injury. The hospital was hit also and burned. All of the damaged buildings were quickly rebuilt by the civilian contractors. Shell craters littered the ground all around the buildings of Sand Island. The Marines did not use aircraft against the attacking Japanese. They did use their

artillery batteries In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to facil ...

and managed to damage one of the destroyers when they came within range. The other destroyer quickly laid a smokescreen and the two vessels retired. Four men died on Midway that morning: Navy

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

Donald J. Kraker and Fireman Second Class Ralph E. Tuttle and Marines Lieutenant Cannon and

Private First Class Private first class (french: Soldat de 1 classe; es, Soldado de primera) is a military rank held by junior enlisted personnel in a number of armed forces. French speaking countries In France and other French speaking countries, the rank (; ...

Elmer R. Morrell. Several others were injured. Navy Chief mechanics engineer John J. Szajkowski survived with another sailor by jumping in the water when they saw the planes coming for the hangar. Japanese casualties are unknown. ''Ushio'' fired 109 rounds and ''Sazanami'' fired 193.

Aftermath

In February 1942, a Japanese submarine bombarded the atoll. In June 1942, the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under ...

was won by American forces. The Marines by that time had received reinforcements, both personnel and some newer and bigger guns, all of which were used by the Marine garrison when they engaged attacking Japanese A6M2 Zeros in June 1942.

References

''The Battle of Midway: Turning the Tide in the Pacific,'' a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
{{DEFAULTSORT:First Bombardment Of Midway Midway Midway Midway Midway Mid Battle of Midway December 1941 events

Background

Bombardment

Aftermath

See also

References