Artifact Friday: Aircraft Spotter Book

The months following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor consisted of various delaying

actions by the United States Pacific Fleet. The goal was regrouping, preserving ships, and

slowing the rapid expansion of the Japanese Empire. There was no decisive action until June 4th,

1942. On that day, the Battle of Midway began. As the first naval battle in history in which the

two belligerent’ ships never came into sight of one another, the entire battle was fought by

the aircraft carriers. The Japanese brought the dreaded Kido Butai, consisting of the fleet carriers IJN Kaga, Akagi, Heryu, and Soryu, against the Americans’ USS Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown. Despite being outnumbered, the US Navy carriers achieved a decisive victory at the cost of the Yorktown which had been severely damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea only a month prior. This one loss was balanced by the total destruction of all four Japanese aircraft carriers. By the 7th, the battle was over and the Japanese were

forced to retreat. The Japanese navy would remain on the back foot for the rest of the war.

So how did the United States achieve victory in the face of unfavorable odds? Well, to

put it plainly, intelligence. From the moment bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor, the United

States went to work ‘knowing thy enemy.’ The Japanese firmly believed the American aircraft

carriers would be in Hawaii, not the small island of Midway. An incredible feat of intelligence

gathering by Commander Joseph Rochefort broke the Japanese naval code and learned about

Japan’s planned attack. Because of this, the American carriers were moved to Midway, where

they could meet the Japanese navy in the first decisive battle of the Pacific Theatre.

Amidst our collection in a testament to that intelligence, a book created by the

Technical Identification and Analysis Center. This book, aptly named Japanese Aircraft, is a

collection of all known Japanese aircraft of the time. It describes their speed, operating altitude,

firepower, and even shows their silhouettes. This book was studied extensively by new

American pilots to further the policy of ‘knowing thy enemy.’ Earlier iterations of this book

were studied by the very pilots that fought in the Battle of Midway.