Dr. Robert Ballard was recently named to the 2024 class of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans for his work in locating notable sunk ships from history.
When the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) was located in 1998, it put a headstone on the Battle of Midway. Navy reports recorded the location of the ship when she sank on June 7, 1942, but it was Ballard and his team — who also located the RMS Titanic in 1985, and John F. Kennedy’s boat, PT-109 — who found the wreckage.
Ballard was also recognized for his discoveries in hydrothermal vents and “black smokers” in the oceans in 1977 and 1979, as well as for his assistance in developing the remotely operated vehicles (ROV), which were instrumental in his discoveries.
A Life in the Water
Ballard grew up in San Diego, California, not far from the beach. He was born June 30, 1942 — about three weeks after the Battle of Midway. Ballard spent his free time walking the San Diego beaches, learning to swim and scuba dive.
Ballard’s father helped him get in touch with oceanographers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and he went on his first oceanographic cruise at age 17. The ocean bug bit, and he went on to earn degrees in geology and chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Ballard was called to active duty in 1967 and entered the United States Navy as an oceanographer. After joining the Naval Reserve in 1970, he went to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass. He spent the next 30 years there, while also attending the University of Rhode Island, where he earned his Ph.D. in geophysics and marine geology.
Midway — The Turning Point
Why was Ballard interested in locating Yorktown, except as an academic exercise? Perhaps because the aircraft carrier was part of a sea battle fought almost entirely in the air, and that turned the tide for the United States in the Pacific Theater of World War II.
The Battle of Midway should have been a demoralizing defeat for the U.S., but instead, it was a historic success. It’s considered to be one of the greatest naval battles ever fought by any nation — on a par with England’s rout of the Spanish Armada. Two theatrical movies have been made about the battle — one in 1976 and the second in 2019.
Even more interesting, Yorktown shouldn’t have been in that fight. She was heavily damaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea on May 4 and had limped back to Pearl Harbor, with her engineers estimating a three-month stay in the Navy Yard for repairs. However, Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific (CINCPAC), knew about the Japanese Navy’s impending attack on the Midway atoll and ordered her to be fit to fight in 48 hours.
To make bad matters worse, Yorktown’s task force admiral, Bill Halsey, was beached in a Honolulu hospital with a skin condition, so Admiral Frank “Jack” Fletcher was assigned to command Task Force 16. Yorktown entered drydock on May 27, 1942, and left on May 30.
The Tojo Cabinet of Japan, in consultation with Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto, targeted the tiny Midway Island in April 1942. They were still riding the crest of the wave of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Midway was a likely place to establish a base to launch more attacks on Pearl, as well as the West Coast.
It would also keep the U.S. Navy from attempting to launch more attacks on Japan, as in the April Doolittle Raid. According to Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC), the intelligence division in Honolulu, with Commander Joseph J. Rochefort in charge, positively identified Midway as a target on May 19, thanks to the clever work of female codebreakers.
When the U.S. task forces sortied at “Point Luck,” there were three carriers: Yorktown, Enterprise (CV-6), and Hornet (CV-8). Their air groups weren’t at full strength, and their planes were older. The Japanese Navy mustered four carriers: Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu. Hiryu was one of the newest ships in the fleet. All had top-notch pilots, the lightning-fast Mitsubishi “Zero” fighters, and armor-plated confidence.
The battle started on June 4, 1942, and the last shots were fired sometime on June 7. When the smoke cleared, the Imperial Japanese Navy had lost all four of its carriers, more than 100 pilots, and innumerable crew members from the four carriers. They also lost the heavy cruiser Mikuma and saw their cruiser, Mogamo, and destroyers Arashio and Asashio go home with significant damage. Incidentally, all four of the lost Japanese carriers participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In turn, the U.S. lost Yorktown to an air and submarine attack, many pilots, the destroyer USS Hammann, and numerous sailors. However, Midway remained in U.S. hands, and the Japanese Navy played defense for the rest of the war. NHHC reports the Japanese had to postpone their plans to invade New Caledonia, Fiji, and Samoa, and the tide started to turn toward the U.S. forces.
Overcoming Obstacles
One of the criteria for the Horatio Alger Award is that honorees must have dedicated themselves to “pursuing higher education despite significant obstacles throughout their lives.” Ballard knew he had a different way of learning and perceiving the world around him, but he had no idea this stemmed from dyslexia. He was formally diagnosed with the learning disorder when he was 72.
Ballard credits his dyslexia for pushing him to acquire skills that helped him in his discovery adventures. He’s now an advocate for students with dyslexia and helps them understand they can pursue their dreams, just as he did, even though they’re challenged by a learning disorder.
“Becoming a Horatio Alger Member alongside such a brilliant roster of Americans is a true honor,” says Ballard. “I look forward to furthering the Association’s important mission and encouraging the Scholars to fiercely pursue their passions even if they must overcome challenges in the process — a lesson that I’ve learned many times in my life.”
Perhaps Ballard was attracted to Yorktown because the ship — and the 1942 U.S. Pacific Fleet — told a story about overcoming obstacles to achieve success.
