Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I taua wā, i tino kitea e te rēhitatanga a te US Naval Intelligence kei te whakamahere nga Hapanihi ki te whakaeke i te motu o Midway i waenganui o te Moananui a Kiwa. Ko Admiral Chester Nimitz, Kaihautū Matua, U.S. Pacific Fleet, i whakatau kia whai wāhi ki te whakaeke i a rātau. Ko te ngaro o Midway he tino whakawehi nui na te mea ka taea e nga Hapanihi te tango i Hawaii me te whakawehi i te takutai hauauru o te United States. Ko te ngaronga o tana rangatira kaipuke tino kaha, me te wheako whawhai, ko Halsey, i te ahiahi o tenei raru, he wero nui ki a Nimitz. I tutaki a Nimitz ki a Halsey, nana nei i taunaki tana rangatira o te wehenga cruiser, a Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance, kia riro i a ia te whakahau mo te mahi a Midway e haere ake nei. I whakaarohia e Nimitz te nekehanga, engari ko te tikanga ka neke atu i te Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher o Task Force 17, ko ia te kaumatua o nga tangata e rua. I muri i te uiuinga a Fletcher me te arotake i ana pūrongo mai i te
I te whakaekenga o te Moana Coral, i whakapono a Nimitz he pai te mahi a Fletcher, a i whakawhiwhia ki a ia te kawenga mo te tiaki i Midway. I runga i nga taunakitanga a Halsey, ka whakatauhia e Nimitz a Rear Admiral Spruance hei rangatira mo te roopu mahi a Halsey 16, kei roto ko nga kaikawe "Enterprise" me te "Hornet". Hei awhina i a Spruance, kaore ia i whai wheako hei rangatira mo te ope kaipuke, ka tukuna e Halsey tana rangatira o te kaimahi, a Kapene Miles Browning.