The Battle of Midway was a large naval battle of World War II that took place in the Pacific Theater in 1942. The decisive victory of the U.S fleet over the United Japanese fleet appeared to be a turning point in the war in the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese fleet that lost 4 heavy aircraft carriers, 248 planes and best pilots became deprived of the opportunity to act efficiently outside the zone covered by shore based aircraft.
In the plans of its advance in 1942, Japan paid great attention to the complete defeat of the U.S. fleet. This attack on the important American base in Midway was expected to urge Americans to use their aircraft carries for the protection of this atoll. At the same time, the U.S. fleet got hit by the overwhelming Japanese forces and was suffering a crushing defeat.
The striking Japanese group encompassed 4 aircraft carriers, 23 cruisers and 11 battleships, which also included Yamato, the battleship that was considered the most powerful ship at that time. The total number of the Japanese ships exceeded 150 units. At the same time, the American forces were much weaker, comprising only 76 units. However, the primary intention of the Japanese command was based on a surprise attack, and here a major role was played by the American radio intelligence that managed to decipher the enemy's code and reveal its plans beforehand, which in aggregate enabled the U.S. forces to duly prepare for defense.
The first attacks of the U.S. planes were successfully repelled by the fighter cover. Particularly, the 8th torpedo squadron of John Waldron was completely destroyed. In total, the U.S. forces carried out nearly 8 unsuccessful run-ups. The U.S. forces were extremely exhausted, but managed to cause serious damage to Hiryū, one of the four Japanese carriers, which resulted in its sinkage on June 5th. Nevertheless, Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander of the Japanese navy, continued the battle. The U.S., however, by acting together with submarines, managed to skink Mikuma, another Japanese cruiser, which subsequently urged Yamomoto to give the order to retreat.
During the battle, the Japanese forces lost their best aircraft carriers, hundreds of planes, as well as many experienced pilots, which proved an irreplaceable loss. Furthermore, the Imperial Japan lost the initiative in the war and was forced to go on the defensive position, which also resulted in irrevocable changes in the strategy and tactics of war.
At the same time, the Battle of Midway is a naval battle in which enemy's ships did not even get closer for visual contact and artillery duel, which demonstrated that the aircraft became a dominant type of battleships on the Pacific theater, and eventually on the entire water area of the World Ocean. Furthermore, the U.S. forces drew far-reaching conclusions from the battle. Since the time of the Battle of Midway, the U.S. Navy always has combat-ready aircraft designed for multiple objectives, not to mention the construction of nuclear-power submarines.
Still, the decisive importance of the Battle of Midway consists in the fact that it was the first significant victory for the U.S. forces that established favorable conditions and correlation of forces in the War Theater.
Bibliography
Day, Trevor. Ecosystems: Oceans. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publ., 1999. 130-132.
Pike, Francis. Hirohito's War: The Pacific War, 1941-1945. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015. 379.
Rice, Earle. The Battle of Midway. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1996. 28.
Torres, John Albert. The Battle of Midway. Hockessin, DE: Mitchell Lane Publishers, 2012. 42.
