Battle of Midway

Winston Lin

Modern World History

Mr. Adams
5/24/2023
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The Battle of Midway was an epic naval warfare between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial

Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. The US successfully defended the major Midway

island base, destroyed Japanese first-line carriers, and eliminated most of its trained/ skilled

pilots. The war persisted for five days (June 3~6, 1942), resulting in a devastating victory for US

Navy. What led to the battle of Midway can mainly be split into two reasons, first is the attack of

Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; the Japanese hoped to prevent the US from interfering with

its planned military actions in the Pacific and Southeast Asia, ultimately to prevent them from

entering the war. During the operation, the Japanese sent 6 of its first-line carriers with a total of

420 aircraft to perform a surprise attack on the US Naval base Pearl Harbor. They damaged all 8

US battleships present and sank four of them; the attack killed 2,403 U.S. personnel.1 Following

the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US was furious and officially joined WW2 instead of backing

down from the war. The outrage of U.S. citizens following the attack marked the end of

isolationism in the country. The second reason was that Japan wanted to claim Midway and use it

as a base to attack Pearl Harbor further, taking absolute control of the Pacific. However, things

did not go as planned; the U.S. Navy cryptanalysts broke the Japanese communication code,

which knew for weeks ahead of time that Japan was planning another surprise attack on

Midway.2 The US successfully intercepted them and caught the Japanese off guard and resulted

in absolute victory. Despite every battle fought during the Pacific War having its own

significance, the Battle of Midway is the most significant of all due to the termination of

Japanese growth in the Pacific and the substantial difference between the loss of the two nations;

1
“A pearl harbor fact sheet,” census.gov, Accessed May 22, 2023,
https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/pearl-harbor-fact-sheet-1.pdf.
2
“Battle of Midway,” History, A&E Television network, Revision December 17, 2019, Accessed May 23,
2023,https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway
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therefore, The Battle of Midway is considered as the most significant battle in the pacific that

turn the tides of the war.

Before the Battle of Midway, since the 1940s, the Japanese Imperial Fleet was the most

experienced, advanced, and deadliest Navy on Earth; the Battle of Midway is what terminated

the Japanese Navy's growth. One of the main reasons that make the Battle of Midway the most

significant battle during the Pacific War is that the outcome of the war completely eliminated the

Japanese chance to control or advance further into the Pacific; in other words, it reversed the

tides against the previously invincible Japanese Navy. Following the victory, the US initiated its

island-hopping campaign, ultimately defeating Japan in 1945. Supposed Japan successfully won

the battle and claimed Midway, according to Yamamoto Isoroku, the Imperial Japanese Navy

Marshal Admiral, and the Combined Fleet commander-in-chief, he's often considered Japan's

most prominent naval officer during World War II.3 He planned to replicate the victory in Pearl

Harbor and crush the rest of the U.S. Pacific fleet with a surprise attack on Midway. According

to George Friedman, who is an internationally recognized geopolitical forecaster and strategist

on international affairs and the founder and chairman of Geopolitical Futures, also a New York

Times bestselling author, the program was found in 2015 which describes the possible future that

may happen if a certain event does not happen or the outcome was changed. George believes that

if the plan of Yamamoto came out triumphant, the Japanese would solidify its position as the

most powerful Navy in the Pacific, there could be three possible hardship that the Allies must

face, First is that Japan would likely to either advance toward Pearl Harbor or focused on

building defenses on Pacific islands to counter US's island-hopping campaign (island-to-island

3
“From the Nisshin to the Musashi: The Military Career of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku,” Association for
Asian Studies, Accessed May 24, 2023,
https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/from-the-nisshin-to-the-musashi-the-military-caree
r-of-admiral-yamamoto-isoroku/
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fighting), minimizing the threats of US even further. Second, a victory for Japan at Midway

might cause the Soviet Union to Lose Serbia. Since the beginning of the war, Japan always had

an interest in invading Serbia, the possibility of striking Serbia is always there; once Serbia is

occupied, the Japanese would dominate the entire Western Pacific; with a win in the Pacific, they

might turn their focus on against the Soviets. The third hardship is the lack of resources for other

nations, with a defeat in Midway. The Japanese force would take control of almost every

transport route, that'll cause great difficulties for the US to transfer resources to countries like

Australia. Without sufficient resources and exchanges, the Allies in the Western Pacific are

scattered, waiting for the Japanese to claim them individually.4

People often argue that the battle of the Philippine Sea should be considered the most

significant battle during the Pacific War; the battle took place between June 19, 1944, to June 20,

1944; The result came out with a complete US victory, which eliminated the Imperial Japanese

Navy's possibility of ever conducting another large-scale carrier action. This battle may seem

extremely significant since it also marks a major victory for the US and is one step closer to

ending the war. However, it was the momentum and outcome of the Battle of Midway that led to

this victorious war; without the triumph in Midway, there was no chance for the US Navy to

defeat the IJN. Without the success of Midway, the United States would not be able to compete

and or defeat the Japanese Navy. Hence, If the US were to lose in Midway, none of these

warfares (Ex. Battle of Okinawa, Coral Reef, Leyte Gulf) would ever happen.5

The next reason that emphasized how the Battle of Midway was the most important battle

during the Pacific War is the amount of losses (resources) and casualties between the two nations
4
George Friedman, “Midway: The battle that almost lost the war,” Geopolitical Futures, accessed May 23,
2023, https://geopoliticalfutures.com/midway-battle-almost-lost-war/#:~:text=With%20a%20victory%20at
20Midway,to%20challenge%20the%20landing%20party.
5
Adrian O. Van Wyen, “The Battle of Philippine Sea,” U.S. Naval Institute, Accessed May 24, 2023,
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1951/february/battle-philippine-sea
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were far more significant than any other warfare fought during the Pacific War. This ultimately

caused the Japanese to struggle to reform their military strength. According to Kevin Welker,

who is the Assistant Relief Commander and Assistant Sergeant of the Guard. Throughout the

course of the battle, the United States lost approximately 340 men, while the Japanese lost

approximately 3,057 men only, almost ten times the number of casualties from the US. During

the battle, the Japanese mobilized 4 of its first-line carriers in action, which were Akagi, Kaga,

Soryu, and Hiryu; unfortunately, all four carriers were sunk ( three of them (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu)

were sunk on the second day)alongside with loss of 320 aircrafts. On the other hand, the US

mobilized three Carriers, which are the USS Hornet, Enterprise, and USS Yorktown; only one

was sunk (USS Yorktown), along with 145 aircraft loss only.6 This shows the significant

difference between the casualties and losses of each nation.

However, the number of ships they lost is not the key to why the Japanese couldn't regain

their strength after the battle; in fact, it is the pilot they lost that cost them the most. All four

carriers that participated in the Battle of Midway were also in charge of the bombing of Pearl

Harbor. In other words, the pilots on these ships were the most trained/ skilled/ experienced

pilots the Japanese had. The loss of these pilots it's a fatal damage to the IJN, it is possible to

rebuild ships in a short amount of time, but it takes a much longer time to train a skilled pilot.

That said, the substantial difference between the loss of the two nations serves as a key factor in

how the Battle of Midway is the most significant battle in the Pacific. It destroyed not only most

of the Japanese first-line carriers but also most of its well-trained pilots; this greatly decreased

the IJN's power and ultimately struggled to fight back.

6
Kevin Welker, “Remembering the Battle of Midway,” Society of the honor guard Tomb of the unknown
soldier, accessed May 24, 2023, https://tombguard.org/news/article/remembering-the-battle-of-midway
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The Pacific War lasted four years between 1942 to 1945; it was the Battle of Midway of

1942 that laid the foundation for the US to slowly advance through the Pacific. The US victory

of Midway successfully restricted Japanese Navy military action from the Pacific as well as the

growth of the Navy, and the impairment was too massive for the IJN at a point it was not

possible to fully recover from the damage. This ultimately led to the defeat of the Empire of

Japan on September 2, 1945. That being said, the Battle of Midway was unquestionably the most

significant during the Pacific War.

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Bibliography

Census.gov. “A pearl harbor fact sheet.” Accessed May 22, 2023.

https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/pearl-harbor-fact-sheet-1.pdf.

This articles talks about the details and background information of the bombing of

pearl harbor, including the amount of casualties from both sides, the cause and

effect, why would the Japanese launched the attack, what’s the consequences

behind it.

History, A&E Television network. “Battle of Midway.” Revision December 17, 2019.

Accessed May 23, 2023

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway

This articles talks about the details of the battle of Midway, what led to it, what

sparks the war, as well as how victory was emerged, for instance, the Navy

Codebreaker and information warfare pays a key aspect for the war. It was the

reason that the US is able to stop the japanese.

Association for Asian Studies. “From the Nisshin to the Musashi: The Military Career of

Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku.” Accessed May 24, 2023.

https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/from-the-nisshin-to-the-m

usashi-the-military-career-of-admiral-yamamoto-isoroku/

The website talks about the entire life of one of the most amazing navy admiral in

history, Yamamoto Isoroku, the article talks about his entire life, his
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accomplishments, what he contributed to the country, the process of him

planning the attack on Pearl Harbor, etc.

Friedman George. Geopolitical Futures. “Midway: The battle that almost lost the war.”

accessed May 23,2023.

https://geopoliticalfutures.com/midway-battle-almost-lost-war/#:~:text=With%20a

%20victory%20at%20Midway,to%20challenge%20the%20landing%20party.

The article talks about all the aspects of consequences of prediction history, the

history/ event that would have happened if Japan were to win the battle of

Midway, what will that change the course of history, what countries would be

affected, how will the relationship between countries change.

Adrian O. Van Wyen. U.S. Naval Institute. “The Battle of Philippine Sea.” Accessed
May 24, 2023,
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1951/february/battle-philippine-sea

The article talks about how the entire process and purpose as well as

significance of the battle of Philippines Sea, it states how the US gain a

domination victory on Japan and how does the battle influenced the course of the

war later on.

Welker Kevin. Society of the honor guard Tomb of the unknown soldier. “Remembering

the Battle of Midway.” accessed May 24, 2023.

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https://tombguard.org/news/article/remembering-the-battle-of-midway

This website discuss the casualties of the battle of Midway, the planes lost, the

men that have died, as well as the list of ships that both sides have lost.