Table of Contents
Why was it so important for the US to defeat the Japanese at Midway?
The Battle of Midway became one of the most important American naval victories of World War II. Code-breakers were able to decipher Japanese naval code, allowing American leaders to anticipate Japanese maneuvers. The U.S. Navy was then able to launch a surprise attack on the larger Japanese fleet in the area.
Where did American ships destroy most of the Japanese fleet?
Battle of Midway, (June 3–6, 1942), World War II naval battle, fought almost entirely with aircraft, in which the United States destroyed Japan’s first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots.
How good were the Japanese aircraft carriers?
The Japanese aircraft carriers were manned by 1,500 highly trained and dedicated aviators, who had honed their fighting skills since 1937 in Japan’s unprovoked and brutal war against China. Japanese naval fighters, and torpedo and dive bombers, were equal to and mostly better than those of other countries in the Pacific region.
Who had the most powerful aircraft carrier force in the world?
At the beginning of the Pacific War in December 1941, Japan possessed the most powerful aircraft carrier force in the world. The Japanese Imperial Navy had ten front-line aircraft carriers.
Ignoring the fact that the Royal Navy had no carriers with armored flight decks when the war started and only started armoring their aircraft carrier decks in 1940. They did this when the biggest bomb their Skua dive-bombers could carry was 500-lb and they gave them 3″ armored flight decks to resist a 500-lb bomb.
Why did the IJN have aircraft carriers?
IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY. In the early 1930s, the IJN understood that aircraft carriers, which were at first built to provide air cover, reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrols to the main battle fleet, were, in fact, viable striking platforms in their own right.