June 4 1942. Midway.
Notable for many reasons;
The US breaking of the Japanese Naval codes that allowed Nimitz to plan the greatest ambush in military history.
The “coming out” of Raymond Ames Spruance. He joined the list of formidable American Naval Battle Captains when he out thought and out fought Nagumo and Yamamoto. I have often thought that very few men were so deserving of (but never got) a fifth star. There is some information and evidence that this was personal.
The miraculous return and repair of Yorktown from the Coral Sea battle.
The sinking of four Japanese carriers, three of them in five minutes. This loss contributed to the American victory at Guadalcanal later in the summer of 1942.
The irreparable loss of many elite Japanese Naval fliers which hurt them severely for the rest of the war.
There is an excellent review of this battle from the Japanese side in the book:
Midway. The battle that doomed Japan by Mitsuo Fuchida and Masatake Okumiya. The authors were part of that elite group of Japanese naval fliers. They give an excellent summary of Japanese mistakes (planning and execution) including those by Yamamoto and well deserved praise for Spruance.
