70th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway

Very interesting article in the Washington Times today talking about the role of an intelligence cell on the Battle of Midway:

It was during the spring of 1942 that the tide of the Pacific War  began to shift — not in a battle at sea, it turned out, but in the  depths of "the dungeon."

That was the nickname for the cramped basement space in the Pearl Harbor  Naval Shipyard, conceived as a storage room before being converted to  an office for Capt. Joseph Rochefort's "Station Hypo" code-breaking team  during World War II.

Rendered cold and damp by the installation of an overzealous air  conditioner, the dungeon, as its moniker would suggest, didn't offer the  most luxurious of working environments. While the shadow of Japan's  control over the Pacific grew, the American code-breakers worked day and  night in their dark, dank accommodations, desperately hoping to find an  advantage against a force of naval precision unlike any they had seen  before.

And that's exactly what they did. Late that April, they cracked the  empire's naval code. On June 4, 1942, a Japanese fleet featuring four  aircraft carriers set its sights on Midway, a small coral outpost used  by U.S. forces in Hawaii. When they arrived, the forewarned Americans  were ready.

You should go read the whole thing as it is incredibly interesting.  I did find a video that talks a little about the role of the INTEL guys:

 ADDED: AW1TIM has a great piece up today about VT-8 and their role in the battle that deserves a close read.

And, if you have an hour or so, this BBC special on the battle is a good way to spend some time: