l fell short. Sweeney targeted Kaga, bracketing her stern with, he believed, "one bomb hit causing heavy smoke" (Robertson 22). Three Zeros ganged up on Captain Cecil Faulkener's bomber, riddling its fuselage and wounding the tail gunner. Another Zero dueled with Captain Paul Payne's Fortress but never closed in. "The Zeros barely touched the B-17s," Captain Paul Gregory reported. "Enemy pursuit appeared to have no desire to close on B-17E modified"(Young 25). The B-17s finished their attack by 8:20 and returned to Midway. Sweeney believed his B-17s had hit at least one of the Japanese carriers. In reality, they had not. Shortly after the B-17s left, Major Benjamin Norris' 11 Vindicators arrived and Zeros swarmed over them(Miracle 45). Norris, with no illusions about his old "Vibrators," decided not to press on toward the carriers. He led his men into some clouds. Coming out of the cloud cover, Norris discovered a battleship below. It was Haruna, supposedly sunk in December 1941. "Attack target below," Norris radioed, and he led the Vindicators into a high-speed glide. Anti-aircraft guns on Haruna opened fire with an "extremely heavy and troublesome but inaccurate barrage"(Stevens 121). Only two of Major Norris' Vindicators were lost during the attack. Three ditched at sea near Midway because of battle damage. Despite reports that they had scored two direct hits and three near-misses, the Vindicator pilots had not even scratched Haruna. If the Battle of Midway had ended with the return of VMSB-241's Vindicators, it would have been another victory for the Japanese. Midway had sent 52 aircraft against the Japanese and lost 19 without scoring a single hit. "From the time of the attack and the known position of the enemy carriers, we estimated they would be back in three or four hours," Kimes wrote (Stevens 54). Only six Dauntlesses, seven Vindicators, one Buffalo and a single Wildcat were left to oppose the Japanese. The defenders of Midwa...
