Battle of Midway

Battle of Midway
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
U.S. Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers from 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; -177.350Coordinates: 28°12′N 177°21′W / 28.200°N 177.350°W / 28.200; -177.350 Result Decisive American victory
Belligerents
United States	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Chester W. Nimitz Frank Jack Fletcher Raymond Spruance	Isoroku Yamamoto Nobutake Kondō Chūichi Nagumo
Strength
3 carriers 7 heavy cruisers 1 light cruiser 15 destroyers 233 carrier-based aircraft 127 land-based aircraft 16 submarines	4 carriers 2 battleships 2 heavy cruisers 1 light cruiser 12 destroyers 248 carrier-based aircraft 16 floatplanes Did not participate in battle: 2 light carriers 5 battleships 4 heavy cruisers 2 light cruisers ~35 support ships
Casualties and losses
1 carrier sunk 1 destroyer sunk ~150 aircraft destroyed 307 killed	4 carriers sunk 1 heavy cruiser sunk 1 heavy cruiser damaged 248 aircraft destroyed 3,057 killed 37 captured

The Battle of Midway was a decisive naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United States Navy under Admirals Chester Nimitz, Frank Jack Fletcher, and Raymond A. Spruance decisively defeated an attacking fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy under Admirals Isoroku Yamamoto, Chuichi Nagumo, and Nobutake Kondo near Midway Atoll, inflicting devastating damage on the Japanese fleet that proved irreparable. Military historian John Keegan called it "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare."

The Japanese operation, like the earlier attack on Pearl Harbor, sought to eliminate the United States as a strategic power in the Pacific, thereby giving Japan a free hand in establishing its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Japanese hoped another demoralizing defeat would force the U.S. to capitulate in the Pacific War and thus ensure Japanese dominance in the Pacific. Luring the American aircraft carriers into a trap and occupying Midway was part of an overall "barrier" strategy to extend Japan's defensive perimeter, in response to the Doolittle air raid on Tokyo. This operation was also considered preparatory for further attacks against Fiji, Samoa, and Hawaii itself.

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