Many stories recount that the Japanese dive bombers first spotted the US carriers. In reality, the Kido Buto had been fighting off repeated uncoordinated attacks from Midway and the US carriers all morning.To provide fighter cover for the fleet, the fighters assigned to protect the torpedo and dive bombers attacking the US fleet were used to augment the Japanese combat air patrol. Fighters were constantly being launched, rearmed/refueled, and launched again to counter the US strikes. This hampered the rearming of the second wave, and the Japanese military doctrine to properly store weapons was not followed. No planes were spotted as the Japanese were not ready to launch their attack on the US fleet.

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