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On February 14, 1941, President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] issued [[Executive Order (United States)|Executive Order]] 8682 to create naval defense areas in the central Pacific territories. The proclamation established "Midway Island Naval Defensive Sea Area", which encompassed the territorial waters between the extreme high-water marks and the {{cvt|3|mi|km|adj=on|spell=in}} marine boundaries surrounding Midway. "Midway Island Naval Airspace Reservation" was also established to restrict access to the airspace over the naval defense sea area. Only U.S. government ships and aircraft were permitted to enter the naval defense areas at Midway Atoll unless authorized by the [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]].
Midway's importance to the U.S. was brought into focus on December{{nbsp}}7, 1941, when the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked Pearl Harbor]]. Midway was bombarded by two destroyers on the same day; this was the [[first Bombardment of Midway]].<ref name="preparing"/> A Pan-Am flying clipper stopped at Midway, which evacuated passengers and Pan-American employees from Wake island, which had also been attacked earlier that day. The Clipper was on its usual passenger route to Guam when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened, then it made a return journey going from Wake, to Midway, to Honolulu, and back to the USA.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clippers At War @ flyingclippers.com |url=http://www.flyingclippers.com/clippersatwar.html |access-date=2023-11-13 |website=www.flyingclippers.com |archive-date=September 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911111440/http://www.flyingclippers.com/clippersatwar.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
A Japanese submarine bombarded Midway on February{{nbsp}}10, 1942.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=30gRAGjXrIIC&q=midway+%22+feb.+10%22+1942&pg=PA14 |title=World War II: the Encyclopedia of the War Years, 1941–1945 |first1=Norman |last1=Polmar |first2=Thomas B. |last2=Allen |date=August 15, 2012 |publisher=Courier Corporation |access-date=September 16, 2016 |via=Google Books |isbn=9780486479620 |archive-date=August 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813234030/https://books.google.com/books?id=30gRAGjXrIIC&q=midway+%22+feb.+10%22+1942&pg=PA14 |url-status=live }}</ref> In total, Midway had been attacked 4 times between 7 December 1941 and the Japanese submarine attack of 10 February 1942.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=30gRAGjXrIIC&q=midway+%22+feb.+10%22+1942&pg=PA14 |title=World War II: the Encyclopedia of the War Years, 1941–1945 |first1=Norman |last1=Polmar |first2=Thomas B. |last2=Allen |date=August 15, 2012 |publisher=Courier Corporation |access-date=September 16, 2016 |via=Google Books |isbn=9780486479620 |archive-date=August 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813234030/https://books.google.com/books?id=30gRAGjXrIIC&q=midway+%22+feb.+10%22+1942&pg=PA14 |url-status=live }}</ref>
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