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Conflict4 – 7 June 1942

Battle of Midway

Having broken Japan’s codes, the US Navy ambushed the Japanese fleet bound for Midway and sank four carriers, turning the tide of the Pacific War.

US SBD Dauntless dive-bombers approach the burning Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma, 6 June 1942
US SBD Dauntless dive-bombers approach the burning Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma, 6 June 1942

Scouting Squadron 8 (VS-8), U.S. Navy; The original uploader was Palm dogg at English Wikipedia ., 2006-01-30 (first version); 2006-02-14 (last version) · Public domain · Source

In the six months after Pearl Harbor Japan swept across Southeast Asia and the western Pacific. Yamamoto Isoroku planned to attack Midway to draw out and destroy the remaining American carriers, but US codebreakers learned of the plan and laid an ambush.

On 4 June American dive-bombers set three Japanese carriers ablaze within minutes as they were rearming, and the fourth was sunk later that day. Having lost carriers and experienced pilots, Japan was on the defensive in the Pacific from then on.

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States and rulers at the time
United States · victor — President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Japan · defeated — Emperor Shōwa
Places
Midway Atoll

People

  • Chester W. Nimitz1885 – 1966

    commander · Commander of the US Pacific Fleet who directed the Battle of Midway and signed Japan’s instrument of surrender for the United States

  • Yamamoto Isoroku1884 – 1943

    commander · Commander of Japan’s Combined Fleet who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Midway operation; shot down over the South Pacific in 1943

Before and after

Earlier
1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor
Later
1942 Battle of Stalingrad

Themes that include this event

  • World War II1939 – 1945

    From the invasion of Poland to the surrender of Japan — the largest war in human history, across Europe, Asia and the Pacific