Battle of Midway

4–7 June 1942, North-west of Midway Atoll

Decisive American victory

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto planned to take Midway Atoll and draw out the American carriers to be destroyed. But US Navy codebreakers at Pearl Harbor had read enough of the plan to know where and when, and Admiral Chester Nimitz put Enterprise, Hornet and the hastily repaired Yorktown north-east of Midway to wait. On the morning of 4 June Nagumo's four carriers struck Midway, and beat off attacks by land-based aircraft. While he was rearming his planes, wave after wave of American torpedo bombers attacked; almost all were shot down, Torpedo Squadron 8 from Hornet to the last aircraft, and none hit. But they had pulled the Japanese fighters down low, and at about 10:25 dive bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown arrived together overhead. In about five minutes Akagi, Kaga and Sōryū were set ablaze among their own fuelled and armed aircraft. Hiryū struck back twice and crippled Yorktown, before Enterprise's dive bombers found her that afternoon. All four Japanese carriers sank or were scuttled. Yamamoto's battleships, far behind, could not bring the Americans to action, and he called off the invasion. On 6 June dive bombers sank the cruiser Mikuma; the next day I-168's torpedoes finished Yorktown. Japan lost four carriers, over 3,000 men and 248 aircraft; America lost Yorktown, Hammann, 307 men and about 150 aircraft. The Japanese navy never again had the upper hand in the Pacific.