Documents  
Pre-battle Documents
Commander-in-Chief U.S. Pacific Fleet. Estimate of the Situation Commander-in-Chief U.S. Pacific Fleet. Operation Plan No. 29-42 Commander-in-Chief U.S. Pacific Fleet. Letter. May 28, 1942 Commander Patrol Wing 2. Memorandum. May 23, 1942 Commander Patrol Squadron 44. Operation Plan. June 1, 1942 Commanding Officer 6th Defense Btn. F.M.F. Instruction No. 3-42
Action Reports
Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet. June 28, 1942 Commander Task Force SIXTEEN. June 16, 1942 Commander Task Force SEVENTEEN. June 14, 1942 Commanding Officer U.S.S. YORKTOWN (CV-5). June 18, 1942 Commanding Officer U.S.S. ENTERPRISE (CV-6). June 8, 1942 Commanding Officer U.S.S. ENTERPRISE (CV-6). June 13, 1942 Commanding Officer U.S.S. HORNET (CV-8). June 13, 1942 Commander Bombing Squadron 3 (VB-3). June 10, 1942 Commander Scouting Squadron 5 (VS-5). June 7, 1942 Commander Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6). June 10, 1942 Commander Scouting Squadron 6 (VS-6). June 20, 1942 Commanding Officer Naval Air Station, Midway. June 18, 1942 Operative Officer Naval Air Station, Midway. June 15, 1942 Commanding Officer 6th Defense Bn., F.M.F. June 13, 1942 Commanding Officer Marine Aircraft Group 22. June 7, 1942 Executive Officer Marine Aircraft Group 22. June 7, 1942 Commanding Officer Marine Fighting Squadron 221. June 6, 1942 Commanding Officer Marine Scout-Bombing Sqd. 241. June 12, 1942
War Diaries, Logs
Naval Air Station, Midway Island. War Diary, May 1-29, 1942 Naval Air Station, Midway Island. War Diary, Battle of Midway U.S.S. ENTERPRISE (CV-6). War Diary, June 1942 U.S.S. HORNET (CV-8). Deck Logs, June 4 - June 6, 1942
Early Researches
ONI Combat Narratives: Battle of Midway, 1943 The Japanese Story of the Battle of Midway, 1947 Richard W. Bates, U. S. Naval War College, 1948
Documents

Even the most brilliant and thorough studies will only give you the facts that their authors think are important. The conclusions they draw will be based on those facts alone. At the same time, there is always the possibility that they have overlooked some important details, or simply ignored them as insignificant. There is only one way to get your own picture of what happened, and that is to study the primary sources yourself. To that end, I'm trying to collect as many of the primary sources relating to the Battle of Midway - war diaries, action reports, etc. - in one place. I hope that my growing collection of documents will help you as well.

The documents presented here have been converted to HTML text and formatted as closely as possible to the style of the original typescripts or prints. Please note, however, that this resource can only be used in the initial stages of research (text searches, etc.). When quoting in your publications, you should consult the original documents in the archives, or at least the scans of the original documents.

All classified (i.e. marked as Restricted, Confidential or Secret) documents re­pre­sen­ted here have been declassified by the appropriate authorized agencies. According to the U. S. copy­right law, works of the United States government (i.e. documents, photographs, etc. prepared by an officer or employee of the federal gov­ern­ment as part of that person's official duties) are not en­tit­led to domestic copyright pro­tec­tion and are therefore in the public domain.