USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Battle of Midway, (June 3–6, 1942), World War II naval battle, fought almost entirely with aircraft, in which the United States destroyed Japan’s first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots.

Detailed explanation-2: -The Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu were hit, set ablaze, and abandoned. Hiryu, the only surviving Japanese carrier, responded with two waves of attacks-both times bombing the USS Yorktown, leaving it severely damaged but still afloat. (A Japanese submarine later sank the Yorktown on June 7.)

Detailed explanation-3: -The four Japanese fleet carriers-Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, and Hiryū, part of the six-carrier force that had attacked Pearl Harbor six months earlier-were sunk, as was the heavy cruiser Mikuma.

Detailed explanation-4: -At the Battle of Midway, Japan lost four carriers, a cruiser, and 292 aircraft, and suffered 2, 500 casualties.

Detailed explanation-5: -Though the June 1942 Battle of Midway is often seen as the turning point of the war in the Pacific, the Solomon Islands campaign, including the Battle of Guadalcanal, was equally pivotal.