Little is known of the individual experiences of the Japanese fighter pilots in their Zeros during the Battle of Midway. The Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero was the fighter type stationed aboard all four Japanese carriers in the battle. It flew as escort in the attack force that struck Midway on the morning of June 4 — nine aircraft from each carrier, making a total of 36 fighters — and wreaked havoc on the defending forces as described in the previous chapter. But half of the fighter strength was held back for Combat Air Patrol (CAP) to protect the carriers themselves.
The CAP flew continuously throughout the day, parrying the constant attacks described in the preceding chapters. They were highly effective — together with the ships’ AA batteries they managed to shoot down the great majority of the attackers. The first real resistance they encountered came when Jimmy Thach applied his weave, as described in the next chapter.
But then the CAP made their fatal mistake. In their eagerness to shoot down the attacking torpedo planes they all descended to sea level, leaving the skies above completely empty. The consequences are described in the chapter on the SBD-3 Dauntless.
Many Zeros were left without a home carrier after the Dauntless attack. A number were recovered by Hiryū during the afternoon and took part in the subsequent strikes on USS Yorktown, where some were shot down. Then came the attack that set Hiryū ablaze, leaving all airborne Zeros with nowhere to land. They continued flying CAP over what remained of the fleet, but towards 19:00 they began ditching alongside the surviving ships. Most of the pilots were rescued, but for them the battle was over.
