The battle lasted through June 7. In the end seven ships sunk and 3, men died. According to history. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. Over the next two days, the US troops at sea and on Midway continued their attacks, forcing the Japanese to abandon the battle and retreat. The Japanese lost approximately 3, men, four carriers, one cruiser, and hundreds of aircraft, while the United States lost approximately men, one carrier, one destroyer, and aircraft.
This critical US victory stopped the growth of Japan in the Pacific and put the United States in a position to begin shrinking the Japanese empire through a years-long series of island-hopping invasions and several even larger naval battles. As the American military desperately tried to protect Pearl Harbor, US anti-aircraft shells fell everywhere—and the Japanese got the blame.
In July , the fourth and fifth atomic bombs to explode tore into a fleet of 84 ships anchored at Bikini Atoll in the name of science. The Museum highlights educational resources for teachers and students that can be used to explore Japanese American incarceration. Following victory, the Allies turned to the legal system to hold Axis leaders accountable.
First, the fact that the U. Navy lost just one carrier at Midway meant that four carriers Enterprise , Hornet , Saratoga , and Wasp were available when the U. Navy went on the offensive during the Guadalcanal campaign that began the first week of August Second, the march of the Imperial Japanese Navy across the Pacific was halted at Midway and never restarted. After Midway, the Japanese would react to the Americans, and not the other way around. Third, the victory at Midway aided allied strategy worldwide.
That last point needs some explaining. To understand it, begin by putting yourself in the shoes of President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the beginning of May The military outlook across the world appears very bad for the Allies. If the Japanese and the Germans do link up, they will cut the British and American supply line through Iran to the Soviet Union, and they may pull the British and French colonies in the Middle East into the Axis orbit. If that happens, Britain may lose control of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Soviet Union may negotiate an armistice with Germany.
Even worse, the Chinese, cut off from aid from the United States, may also negotiate a cease-fire with the Japanese. For Churchill, there is the added and dreaded prospect that the Japanese may spark a revolt that will take India from Britain. The Battle of Midway was an epic clash between the U. The U. Despite the setback, Admiral Isaroku Yamamoto , commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy, was convinced his forces enjoyed a numerical advantage over the Americans.
Hoping to replicate the success of the Pearl Harbor attack, Yamamoto decided to seek out and crush the rest of the U. Pacific fleet with a surprise attack aimed at the Allied base at Midway Island. After a diversionary attack by a smaller Japanese force on the Aleutian Islands, off the coast of Alaska, Yamamoto planned a three-pronged approach toward Midway.
First, an air attack on the island launched from four first-line Japanese aircraft carriers, the Akagi , Kaga , Hiryu and Soryu , commanded by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. Second, an invasion force of ships and soldiers led by Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo. And finally, once expected U. With this information, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz , commander in chief of the U. Pacific Fleet, could develop a plan to combat the invasion. The Japanese assumed that the U.
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