DECLASSIFIED 6 SECRETARY OF THE NAVY OFFICE RELATIONS COR-13 39 June 15 1942 From Lieutenant Commander R D HillGilfond Attorney General's Office Fifth Floor De artment of Justice it lgg w d Subject Information issued officially by the Navy Departmen relative to the composition of the Naval forces which attacked Midway early this month Enclosure A Copy of communiques issued by Commander-in Chief Pacific Fleet from Honolulu 1 Enclosure A includes four communiques issued by the Commander in 0hief of the Pacific Fleet relative to the action between our forces and those of the Japanese in the vicinity of Midway early this month 2 On Sunday 7 June at 5 o'clock Admiral E J King granted an interview to the press relative to various current matters concerning Naval action During this interview Admiral King made no mention of actual composition or disposition of enemy forces 3 No evidence can be found in the Navy Department to indi- cate that the facts and figures appearing in an article headlined S Navy knew in advance all about Jap fleet which appeared in the Washington Times-Herald on Sunday 7 June could have been obtained De artment DECLASSIFIED Authority Car a ISSUE BY PACIFIC FLEET ADMIRAL GHETER W NMITZ HONOLULU June 1 AP - A cmunique issued by Admiral Cheater We Nimitz At 6 35 am today Midway time that island was heavily raided by Japanese carrier-booed planes The attack was repulsed by local defenders in which all armed services are represented A heavy toll of attacking plane was taken Damage to material and installations on Midway was reported minor No reports of personnel casualties were 1'8691V0do - The Japanese carriers were accompanied by battleships and cruisers One battleship and one carrier definitely were damaged and other vessels Ire believed to have been hit Out attacks on the enemy are continuing HONOLULU June 5 AP - A roomunique issued by Admiral Chester W Mtl The Janene have not followed up their initial air attack on Midway Island except for a few ineffectual theta rm 3 eumrine during last night As more reports come in it appears that the enemy damage is very heavy indeed involving several ships in each of the carrier battleship cruiser and transport classes This damage is far wt of proportion to that which we have received The brunt of the defense to date has fallen upon aviation personnel in which the Amy New and Marine Corps all were represented They have added another shining page to their record of achievements One carrier already damaged by air attack was hit by three torpedoes fired by I submarine On every occasion when we have met the enemy our officers and men have been superlative in their offensive spirit and complete lack of fear Our country can feel secure with personnel such as this There were reported several instances of enemy planes machine- gunning our aviation personnel who bailed out in parachutes or were adrift in rubber boats While it is too early to claim a major Japanese disaster it may be conservatively stated that United States control remains firm in the Midway area The enemy appears to be withdrawing but ref are contimzing the 7 battle a DECLASSIFIED AuthorityW M ISSUED BY PACIFIC FLEET ADMIRAL GHEBTER W m2 HONOLULU June 1 AP - A cmuniqne issued by Admiral Chester W Nimitz At 6 35 am today Midway time that island was heavily raided by Japanese carrierubased planes The attack was repulsed by local defenders in which all armed services are represented A heavy toll of attacking planes was taken Damage to material and installations on Midway was reported minor No reports of personnel casualties were received The Japanese carriers were accompanied by battleships and cruisers One battleship and one carrier definitely were damaged and other vessels are believed to have been hit Out attacks on the enemy are continuing HONOLULU June 5 AP - A commicpie issued by Admiral Chester n Nimitz The Japanese have not followed up their initial air attack on Midway Island except for a few ineffectual slots from a submarine during As more reports come in it appears that the snow damage is very heavy ir eed involving several ships in each of the carrier battleship cruiser and transport classes This damage is far out of proportion to that which we have received The brunt of the defense to date has fallen upon aviation personnel in which the Army Navy and Marine Corps all were represented They have added another shining page to their record of achievements One carrier already damaged by air attack was hit by three torpedoes fired by a submarine On every occasion when we have met the enemy our officers and men have been superlative in their offensive spirit and complete lack of fear Our can feel secure with personnel such as this There were reported several instances of enemy planes machine- gunning our aviation personnel who bailed out in parachutes or were adrift in rubber boats While it is too early to claim a major Japanese disaster it may be conservatively stated that United States control remains firm in the Midway area The enmy appears to be withdrawing but wef are continuing the battle as it DECLASSIFIED Authority 1 I PEERL HARBOR Honolulu June 6 - The complete text of Admiral Chester wg Nimits's communique so 3 issued today follows Through the skill and devotion to duty by the armed forces of all branches in the Midway area our citizens can now rejoice that a momentous victory is in the making It was on Sunday just six months ago that the Japanese made their peace-time attack on our fleet and Army activities at Oahu At that time they created hoary dosage it is true but their act aroused that grim determination of our citizenry to avenge such treachery and it raised not lowered the morale of our fighting men Pearl Harbor now has been partially avenged Vengeance will not be complete until Japanese sea power has been reduced_tc impotence as have made substantial progress in that direction Perhaps we will be fergiven if we claim we are about midway to our objective The battle is not over All returns have not yet been received It is with full confidence however that for this phase of action the following enemy losses are claimed Two or three carriers and all their aircraft destroyed In addition one or two carriers badly damaged most of their aircraft lost Three battleships damaged at least one badly Four cruisers damaged two heavily Three transports damaged It is possible some of these wounded ships will not be able to reach their bases One mmericau carrier was hit Some American planes were lost American casualties were light This is the balance sheet that Army Navy and marine Corps forces in this area offer their country this morning 1-2 DECLASSIFIED I Authority ng 2g 1 I6 PEKRL HARBOR Hagnii June 7 AP - A cammunique from Admiral Chester'w Nimitz Commander of the Pacific Fleet The enemy appears to be withdraming Contact was lost during last night Additional damage was inflicted on two enemy cruiaers Until all reports can be chacked it is impossible ta state whether these cruisers are in additien to those reparted in communique Nb 3 or whethar they were damaged cruisers included in previous reports One enemy destroyer was sunk One United States destroyer was sunk by a submarine but near by ships rescusd the personnel with small loss of life Except for minor submarine activity in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Island chain this section of the Pacific is quiet                     National Security Archive    Suite 701  Gelman Library  The George Washington University    2130 H Street  NW  Washington  D C  20037    Phone  202 994‐7000  Fax  202 994‐7005  nsarchiv@gwu edu