The Battle of Midway, 4-6 June 1942, was the turning point of the Pacific War. The US Pacific fleet sank four Japanese aircraft carriers for the loss of only one US carrier, the Yorktown, and destroyed nearly 250 Japanese aircraft. After Midway, the Imperial Japanese Navy, which had suffered its first major defeat since the 16th century, was obliged to go on the defensive in the Second World War (1939-45), steadily losing territory until Japan's home islands were themselves attacked from late 1944.
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