Midway, Battle Of

(June 3–6, 1942) Major World War II naval battle between the U.S. and Japan. Japanese naval forces under Yamamoto Isoroku sought to seize Midway Island by engaging the numerically inferior U.S. Pacific fleet. U.S.

intelligence had broken the Japanese naval code, and the U.S. prepared for the assault by mobilizing about 115 land-based aircraft as well as three aircraft carriers. On June 3 its bombers began striking Japan's carrier force. Japan was unable to match the U.S. air power and, after heavy losses, abandoned efforts to land on Midway. The battle brought the Pacific naval forces of Japan and the U.S. to approximate parity and marked the turning point of the war between the two countries.