Return to Midway

The great events of history usually take place in the span of a few minutes or a few hours. The luxury liner Titanic was sunk only a few hours after she struck an iceberg, for example. But that event has been the focus of historians for decades. Another event, that took only 20 minutes to occur, is the subject of today’s Family Site.

Return to Midway is the of Dr. Robert Ballard’s pursuits of the modern sunken vessels of this century. He found the Titanic in 1985. He has also found the German battleship Bismarck, and the sunken ships in Iron Bottom Sound near the island of Guadacanal. He has also journeyed to the deepest treasures yet, the carriers from the Battle of Midway. At this site, you can follow his team’s mission to discover where the resting place of the USS Yorktown is, as well as understand the significance of the battle and the history that surrounds it. It is the most definite turning point of the Second World War, one which occurred in 20 minutes, the length of time it took American pilots to sink three of the Japanese carriers in the battle (the fourth was sunk later in the day). It was a blow that the Japanese Navy never recovered from.

This is a site full of the excitement of the search, and the richness of oceanography and geology. Have a wonderful stop here.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/98/midway/