Battle of Midway

In May 1942, the Japanese army tried to overwhelm the US fleet, which was now deep in the Pacific, with a huge invasion of some islands. Midway Island, an island near Hawaii, was going to be seized by the Japanese first. As a result of its location, the Japanese could use the island as a base to attack Hawaii. When the Japanese were planning the attack, their radio signal was intercepted which gave the US a warning. On June 4th, 1942, aircraft coming from the USS Enterprise, USS Hornet, and USS Yorktown attacked and sank 4 Japanese carrier ships, which led to the withdrawal of the rest of the Imperial fleet. After the battle, some action still occurred, such as a US submarine sinking the Mikuma, and the Imperial Navy sinking the then disabled Yorktown. This battle was a turning point because it showed that even though the Japanese had a larger navy, the decoded messages saved the US Navy from collapsing.