Battle of Midway

Battle of Midway
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
U.S. Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers from the USS Hornet about to attack the burning Japanese cruiser Mikuma for the third time on 6 June 1942.
Date 4–7 June 1942 Location Midway Atoll 28°12′N 177°21′W / 28.200°N 177.350°W / 28.200; -177.350 Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Nimitz Fletcher Spruance Buckmaster Murray	Yamamoto Isoroku Kondo Nagumo Yamaguchi † Yanagimoto †[1]
Strength
3 carriers ~25 support ships 233 carrier aircraft 127 land-based aircraft	4 carriers 2 battleships ~15 support ships (heavy and light cruisers, destroyers) 248[2]p90 carrier aircraft, 16 floatplanes Did not participate in battle: 2 light carriers 5 battleships ~41 support ships (Yamamoto "Main Body", Kondo "Strike Force" plus "Escort" and "Occupation Support Force")
Casualties and losses
1 carrier sunk 1 destroyer sunk 150 aircraft destroyed[3] 307 killed[4]	4 carriers sunk, 1 cruiser sunk 248 carrier aircraft destroyed[2]p524 3,057 killed[2]

The Battle of Midway was an important naval battle of World War II, between the United States and the Empire of Japan. It took place from 4 June 1942 to 7 June 1942. This was about a month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, and six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The United States Navy defeated a Japanese attack against Midway Atoll (northwest of Hawaii) and destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser.

The battle was a decisive victory for the Americans. It was the most important naval battle of the Pacific area in World War II.^[5] The battle weakened the Imperial Japanese Navy for the rest of the war.^[6] Japan could not build up its forces again. The United States replaced their lost ships and planes with better ones very quickly. Japan could only make a few poor quality replacements.

The Japanese planned to bring America's carriers into a trap and sink them.^[7] The Japanese also tried to take Midway Atoll to build defenses far from their homeland and prepare to invade Fiji, Samoa, and Hawaii.^[2]

The Midway operation, like the attack on Pearl Harbor, was made to destroy the American strength in the Pacific Ocean. This way, Japan could become the biggest power in the area and unify Asia under its control. It was also hoped that another defeat would force the U.S. to ask for peace soon.^[2]

After the defeat, Imperial Japanese Navy forces retired. Japan lost four out of their six carriers, and hundreds of their best air pilots. This stopped the expansion of the Japanese Empire in the Pacific, and the Americans began to slowly advance towards Japan.

1. ↑ Japanese names are traditionally listed as family name followed by personal name(s), for example, Yamamoto Isoroku. This convention is followed in Japanese publications and in many recent English and American publications; e.g.: Parshall and Tully Shattered Sword.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} Parshall, Jonathan B.; Tully, Anthony P. (2005). Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Potomac Books, Inc. ISBN 1-57488-923-0.
3. ↑ USN Overseas Aircraft Loss List June 1942 <http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/USN/LLJun42.htm> counts 135 airplanes of US Navy and USMCAF in 4–6 June (without USAAF losses). The Battle of Midway by OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE UNITED STATES NAVY <http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-CN-Midway/USN-CN-Midway-13.html#our> cites "About 150 lost in action or damaged beyond repair", etc.
4. ↑ "The Battle of Midway". Office of Naval Intelligence.
5. ↑ "A brief history of Aircraft Carriers: Battle of Midway". U.S. Navy. 2007. Archived from the original on 12 June 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
6. ↑ Dull, The Imperial Japanese Navy: a battle history, p. 166; Willmott, The Barrier and the Javelin, pp. 519-523; Prange, Miracle at Midway p. 395; Parshall & Tully, Shattered Sword, pp. 416-430
7. ↑ H.P. Willmott, Barrier and the Javelin; Lundstrom, First South Pacific Campaign; Parshall & Tully, Shattered Sword, pp. 19-38