Information about an enemy force remains useful only while the circumstances it describes persist. Waiting for an ideal strike can consume the opportunity to attack. The criticism of Nagumo's 07:15 rearming order is that his scouts had not yet searched far enough to justify treating the sea approach as clear. The proposed alternative is to wait until at least about 08:00 before making that change. Any rearming decision also had to allow for the time to change weapons and launch, the return of the Midway strike, and possible enemy action during the interval. Once a carrier force was reported, launching the aircraft already available offered an immediate attack without waiting for the preferred composition.
Notable Point · 2:16:20-2:19:22
Rearming against the reconnaissance clock
Nagumo's rearming decision needed to account for scout coverage, weapon changes, returning aircraft, and the useful life of a sighting.