 McClusky 's decision to continue the search and his judgment , in the opinion of Admiral Chester Nimitz , " decided the fate of our carrier task force and our forces at Midway ... " All three American dive @-@ bomber squadrons ( VB @-@ 6 , VS @-@ 6 and VB @-@ 3 ) arrived almost simultaneously at the perfect time , locations and altitudes to attack . Most of the Japanese CAP was focusing on the torpedo planes of VT @-@ 3 and were out of position , armed Japanese strike aircraft filled the hangar decks , fuel hoses snaked across the decks as refueling operations were hastily being completed , and the repeated change of ordnance meant that bombs and torpedoes were stacked around the hangars , rather than stowed safely in the magazines , making the Japanese carriers extraordinarily vulnerable . 
