Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

During the Washington Conference of 1920, the Americans took a hard look at their Navy. They had a Navy second only to the British, and like the Royal Navy, they had to protect interests in two oceans. Yet voluntarily they gave up building several ships and scrapped others.

In April 1940, obsolescent British Swordfish biplanes, nicknamed "stringbags" for their flimsy construction, struck the Italian fleet at Taranto. Within minutes significant damage was done to Italy's Mediterranean Fleet. To get around the inability to operate torpedoes in the shallow waters of the harbor, the British attached fins to the tail.

When General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia after evacuating Bataan, he was a General in search of an offensive army. The Americans did not yet have a fighting force in the Pacific, and the Australians were committed in North Africa, en route to Pacific stations, or in training or garrison in Australia.

Midway Atoll is 600 miles away from Hawaii. Almost immediately upon taking command, Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC) Chester W. Nimitz asked the island commander what he would need to defend the island against attack. "More of everything," the commander replied. Nimitz responded with more men, planes, barbed wire and guns.

In July 1942, the combatants in the Pacific were in a stalemate. The Japanese advance had been slowed at Midway, but they held a temporary numerical and tactical advantage. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz knew that he could not sustain an advance for at least another year.