<p>About mid-May, the AAF went on alert, expecting enemy action against Midway Island. The Seventh, formerly the Hawaiian Air Force, sent 16 B-17s to Midway, and with them went four Martin B-26s of the Fifth Air Force. On 2 June, with nothing happening, six of the B-17s returned to Oahu. They just missed the start of a good fight.
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<p>The next day, nine of the Midway-based B-17s struck five Japanese ships close to 600 miles (966 km) offshore, in a warm-up for the main event. On 4 June, the four B-26s sortied with an accompanying force of six Navy Grumman TBF-1 torpedo planes, some Marine Douglas SBD-3s, and 14 B-17s, all led by a formation of Navy Consolidated PBY Catalina patrol bombers. The Marauders were on an unusual mission; each carried a standard Navy torpedo slung under its belly, and they were going to attack with the Navy's TBFs in low-level drops. They came in as low and as fast as they could, but Japanese anti-aircraft and fighters got two of the B-26s and five of the TBF-1s. Not one torpedo scored a hit.
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<p>The B-17s bombed a Japanese task force about 150 miles (241 km) off Midway, claiming hits on some carriers. Other B-17s claimed hits on ships that day, and six B-17s that were headed to Midway from Oahu dropped on the <hi format=ital>Hirya</hi>, a Japanese carrier, and claimed hits.
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<p>The Japanese fleet turned during the night, and began a retreat. During the following day, the B-17s made 19 sorties, and claimed hits on two heavy warships and two cruisers. Midway Island was safe.
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<p>USAAF activity was only peripheral to the main body of that battle, which was the US Navy's victory. It was a major and decisive defeat for the Japanese, psychologically as much as in reality. Yamamoto would not leave his cabin after the battle, hiding there until his flagship, the giant battleship <hi format=ital>Yamato</hi>, had docked. He realized the result of that battle. The Imperial Navy was on the road to defeat.
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<p>The Battle of Midway reopened the old arguments about bombers and battleships. The USAAF heavy bombers had dropped more than 150,000 lb (68040 kg) of bombs on the Japanese from altitudes between a few thousand feet and the normal operational ceiling. Their total claims included 22 direct hits on heavy ships, one destroyer sunk, three torpedo strikes on two carriers, and 10 Japanese fighters downed.
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<p>These claims were greatly exaggerated, when checked later against Japanese records. That factor aside, Midway proved that battleships, steaming in tight maneuvers at flank speed and defended by anti-aircraft and fighter cover, could be sunk by bombing. But the bombers that did the sinking were Navy dive bombers, swooping to within a few hundred feet of their targets before loosing their weapons.
