PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Battle Of Midway - Turn Of The Tide
Japan would attempt to establish naval and air superiority in the Western Pacific.
This map shows the territory that Japan would attempt to claim in order to gain additional natural resources and military resources which they would use as bribery in World War II.
The United States had many advantages, such as aircraft supply, highly trained airmen, and cryptanalysts.
The United States remained neutral throughout much of World War II until the Imperial Japanese Navy’s successful airstrike at Pearl Harbor.
“Japan regarded the successful air strike at Pearl Harbor as justified retaliation for America’s existential attacks on Japan’s economy beginning in July 1941. Those actions—freezing Japanese assets and embargoing the sale of oil to Japan—had been imposed by the United States as punishment for Japan’s occupation of southern Indochina as a staging area for its campaign to seize oil.” (Burtness and Ober 92)
As a result of the invasion on Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan. This led to the Battle of the Coral Sea in an attempt by Japan to seize a territory that had everything they were looking for.
This is a view of the underside of the flight deck structure of USS Yorktown showing the impact hole made by the Japanese bomb that struck the ship during the Battle of Coral Sea, 8 May 1942.
Admiral Yamamoto’s ultimate goal was to destroy the United States’ carrier forces and fleet because he saw them as a threat to his overall campaign.
The biggest advantage the United States had over Japan was breaking the Japanese code which allowed them to determine details such as when, where and how the Japanese would attack. This also gave the United States a head start and allowed them to launch a surprise attack on the Japanese fleet.
In addition to being able to premeditate the attacks that were to come, the United States’
supply of aircraft carriers and air crafts were far superior to Japan’s.
Japan’s carrier force had suffered from previous losses during the Battle of the Coral Sea, therefore, as Mark Peattie would say in his book Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power, 1909-1941, “it could throw a punch but couldn’t take one.” (Peattie 106)
In total, Japan had four
aircraft carriers. In contrast, the United States had three aircraft carriers, however they had additional benefits such as radar, allowing them to detect approaching aircrafts and aircraft carrier tactics.
In addition to the equipment differences, Japan could not produce enough trained
pilots or crewmen to replace those lost in the previous battles at Coral Sea and Solomon Islands.
The United States Navy successfully won the Battle of Midway, “Although the performance of the three American carrier air groups would later be considered uneven, their pilots and crews had won the day through courage, determination, and heroic sacrifice” (Naval History).
The United States forced Japan into a defensive position for the remainder of World War II and three years later, Japan surrendered to the Allies which brought World War II to an end.
