The Destroyer That Killed a Captured Pilot, Arashi #history #navy

Añadido: 2026-05-17

[00:00:01]On June 4th, 1942, torpedo squadron 3 from USS Yorktown skimmed the waves at Midway in TBD devastators trying to reach the Japanese carriers through heavy flak and waves of zeros.

[00:00:15]Ensign Wesley Osmus flew the last plane in the line and was among the first hit, splashing down short of the target.

[00:00:24]Osmus survived and was hauled aboard the Japanese destroyer Arashi later that day.

[00:00:30]Under interrogation, he was forced to describe the American carrier force, giving the Japanese one of the clearest glimpses during the battle.

[00:00:40]Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's report later said the prisoner died on June 6th and was buried at sea, adding that he was from Chicago.

[00:00:50]After the war, witnesses told US investigators a darker story.

[00:00:55]They reported Osmus was taken to the stern, struck in the back of the neck with a fire axe, and pushed overboard.

[00:01:02]Efforts were made to locate and prosecute Arashi's captain, Commander Watanabe Yasumasa, but he had been killed in action when the destroyer Numakaze was torpedoed and sunk on December 18th, 1943.