Battle of Midway

A decisive naval battle fought near Midway Atoll from June 4 to 7, 1942, in which U.S. forces defeated a Japanese carrier fleet and halted Japan’s Pacific expansion.

Aircraft carrier: A warship that carries, launches, and recovers aircraft at sea. Carrier fleets made air power, rather than battleship gunfire, the battle’s decisive force.
Attack on Pearl Harbor: Japan’s surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The attack began the Pacific War and left U.S. leaders seeking a way to check Japan’s advance.
Chester W. Nimitz: U.S. Navy admiral who commanded Allied naval forces in the Pacific during much of World War II. Nimitz committed his carriers to defend Midway using intelligence about Japan’s plans.
USS Yorktown (CV-5): A U.S. aircraft carrier that was damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea and sunk after Midway. Yorktown’s repair and return to battle gave the U.S. a third carrier at Midway.
Imperial Japanese Navy: Japan’s naval service from 1868 until its dissolution in 1945. The fleet lost four carriers and many experienced aircrew, weakening its offensive capacity.
Carrier warfare: Naval combat in which aircraft carriers and their aircraft are the main offensive forces. Midway demonstrated how carrier groups could strike an enemy fleet beyond battleship gun range.
Pacific War: The theater of World War II fought across the Pacific Ocean and East Asia from 1941 to 1945. Midway was a turning point within the wider war between Japan and the Allied powers.
Isoroku Yamamoto: Japanese admiral who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor and commanded the Combined Fleet. Yamamoto designed the operation to capture Midway and draw out the American carriers.
Akagi: A Japanese aircraft carrier that served as the flagship of the First Air Fleet in 1942. Akagi was one of the carriers struck and abandoned after the U.S. dive-bomber attack.
United States Pacific Fleet: The U.S. Navy fleet responsible for operations across the Pacific Ocean. Its surviving carriers and intelligence advantage enabled a major victory despite numerical disadvantages.

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