Six months after Pearl Harbor, Admiral Yamamoto's Operation MI aimed to lure and destroy the remaining American carriers by attacking Midway Atoll. His plan scattered battle groups across hundreds of miles of ocean, built on the assumption that American morale was shattered. Meanwhile Commander Joseph Rochefort's team at Station HYPO had partially broken the JN-25B code and suspected the target designated AF was Midway. A fake uncoded broadcast about a broken water purification plant confirmed it within 24 hours, giving Admiral Nimitz the date, target and order of battle.

This episode follows the 72-hour repair of the battered USS Yorktown by 1,400 workers, the failure of Japanese reconnaissance at French Frigate Shoals and the late picket submarines, and the design flaws of the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu: enclosed hangars, wood floors, f ...