1942 Midway

Today is June 4. On this date in history nominated by Samuel Eliot Morrison as "The Glorious Fourth of June," in 1942, we witness the Battle of Midway between the Japanese Empire and the USA. This was an overwhelming USA victory.

This struggle was the decisive battle in the Pacific War, and one of the decisive battles in history. Of course we didn't know it at the time. The USA lost another carrier, the Yorktown, and most of three squadrons of torpedo bomber crews.

The Japanese lost four carriers but still had the USA outnumbered by two to one in front line carriers. The verdict of history with the valuable hindsight shows us now how great was this victory.

The Allies had many grim struggles ahead, but the USA was able to take the offensive starting with the Guadalcanal invasion. This battle was the "hinge of fate" in the Pacific War that started the door closing on Japanese expansion.

Again, the surface ships never saw each other. This battle finally convinced the naysayers in the U. S. Navy that the era of the battleship was over. Pearl Harbor didn't really loom so large a disaster as about all the major ships that the Japanese sunk were the battleships--floating white elephants.

Midway was the first decisive defeat suffered by the Japanese Navy in over 350 years. The Japanese strategy was to hold the Pacific by means of defensive "hedgehogs" that could be reinforced and defended by fast carrier fleets. The loss of so many carriers knocked the bottom out of this strategy.

Without a doubt this is in my opinion is the one battle that put the US navy on the map!!! Being ex-navy myself  (British.) I would have to say that this battle was not only important to the USA but also vitally important for the rest of the world to know that they could fight with the best of them. Japan had a very discipline navy that executed most things with precision and firepower!! This battle was a good platform for the US Navy to grow and be known as a navy that can do the job very well!!!

The war against Japan was over with this battle.

Important from a number of perspectives, this battle, in my opinion is the decisive battle of the Pacific Theatre in WW2. It forever ended the Japanese ability to mount an effective offensive campaign, and changed the momentum of the theatre to the U.S.