Deliberate mistake: In the film, American aircraft carriers carry no fighter planes. It was a weird choice...pilots who were naval fighter pilots were edited out of the story, and Wade McClusky, who in reality was previously a fighter pilot but moved into dive bombers had his story changed for the film to have him previously had been a torpedo plane pilot instead.
Suggested correction: Nowhere does it imply he was a torpedo plane pilot.
Factual error: When we see the scene at Coral Sea, with the carrier Lexington sinking in the background. The filmmakers showed a Yorktown-class carrier sinking instead of the very different Lexington-class.
Suggested correction: This not true, the Yorktown class had a much different island than the Lexington class and you can see it's a Lexington class shown from the starboard side, at an angle, with 2 separate towers (funnel and bridge) instead of 1 like on the Yorktown.
There are 3 Yorktown class carriers in the scene whereas the Lexington and Yorktown were the only American carriers to participate in the battle. Also, the sinking carrier is a Yorktown Class Carrier. The island is not split between the funnel and control tower, the hanger is an open style hanger and the bow is open under the flight deck. The Lexington had a closed hanger and a closed bow.
The USS Enterprise under Halsey arrived after the battle for assistance. That's why you see 3 carriers. You see the ship sink at an angle so you can't tell if the funnel and control tower are split. I do agree about the open bow though. There are some differences, but both ships looked very similar.
Factual error: Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance is the tactical commander during the Battle of Midway in the film when in reality it was Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher who was in charge.
Suggested correction: While true it's not a mistake, as the movie deliberately focuses on Spruance because of his greater role in the actual battle. Spruance was on scene approximately 36 hours before Fletcher. He had two carriers to Fletcher's one. After Yorktown was torpedoed, Fletcher evacuated to a nearby cruiser. When Spruance asked if Fletcher had additional orders, Fletcher replied "will conform to your movements", effectively turning command over to Spruance.
They didn't 'focus' on Spruance. They deleted Fletcher.
Semantics. If Fletcher is deleted, the only USN Task Force Commander left for the movie to focus on is Spruance.
Other mistake: At the end, it states "Clarence Dickinson became a 'Real' Admiral..." instead of Rear Admiral. (02:04:17)
Suggested correction: I just had the chance to watch the movie again. It says "Rear" not "Real" as alleged in this entry.
I watched just now and my version also shows "Real" rather than "Rear." Perhaps this was fixed only in some releases.
What version did you watch? I see "Rear." Perhaps a screenshot is needed.
