The Pilot Who Bet 33 Bombers on One Guess | Midway 1942

At 9:55 on June 4, 1942, Wade McClusky had 33 dive bombers, an empty ocean below him and fuel he could not afford to spend. Then he saw one Japanese destroyer running northeast. This episode stops the clock at that minute and puts his three options on the table: turn back to Enterprise, land at Midway, or follow the ship. Decide what you would have ordered before the reveal. Chapters 0:00 9:55, north of Midway 0:54 Six months earlier 3:12 The interception point is empty 4:32 The other clock: Nagumo 6:05 What McClusky knew 7:20 Option A: turn back to Enterprise 9:06 Option B: land at Midway 10:23 Option C: follow the ship 12:17 The order 15:03 The price 17:13 Right, or lucky? Sources Samuel J. Cox, "H-006-4: The Victory," Naval History and Heritage Command: https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us... USS Enterprise Action Report, Battle of Midway, NHHC: https://www.history.navy.mil/research... USS Enterprise CV-6 Association, Battle of Midway, June 4-6, 1942 (archived): https://web.archive.org/web/202412040... Wikipedia, Battle of Midway: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_... Wikipedia, C. Wade McClusky: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Wade... Wikipedia, Raymond A. Spruance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond... Times are Midway local time. Map positions are approximate, built from the action reports. Photos: U.S. Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command and National Archives (public domain). Maps: elevation and seafloor data from Mapzen Terrain Tiles (AWS Open Data). Music: YouTube Audio Library.