1 Bomba, 5 Minutos, 36.500 Toneladas — Cómo Una Sola Bomba Hundió al Akagi en Midway

1 Bomb, 5 Minutes, 36,500 Tons — How a Single Bomb Sank the Akagi at Midway At 10:25 a.m. on June 4, 1942, in the Pacific Ocean 155 miles north of Midway Atoll, a single 1,000-pound bomb dropped from a lone American dive bomber struck the upper flight deck of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s largest aircraft carrier. The bomb pierced the steel plating, fell into the upper hangar, and exploded among 30 fueled and partially rearmed aircraft. Five minutes later, the flagship of the Pearl Harbor strike force—the largest aircraft carrier built by Japan up to that time and the most prestigious ship in the entire Imperial Navy—was engulfed in flames from midship to stern. Commander Taijiro Aoki ordered damage control. Within five minutes, teams discovered that the water needed to extinguish the fire had vanished. At 10:43, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo left the flagship, transferring his ensign to the light cruiser Nagara. The mathematical symmetry of this story is what historians like Mitsuo Fuchida in 1955 and Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully in 2005 still debate. One bomb. Five minutes. 36,500 tons lost. If pilot Richard Best's bomb had hit five minutes earlier or later, the Battle of Midway would have been different. Subscribe for the next Pacific story. #IJNAkagi #BattleOfMidway #akagi #RichardBest #MilitaryHistory #PearlHarbor