Isoroku Yamamoto

Recorded sideEmpire of Japan

Recorded resultDecisive defeat

U.S. carrier aircraft sank all four Japanese fleet carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu) for the loss of the carrier Yorktown.

U.S. signals intelligence revealed Japanese plans, allowing Nimitz to ambush the carrier force; well-timed dive-bomber strikes caught Japanese carriers while rearming with fueled, armed aircraft on deck.

What followed

A decisive turning point in the Pacific War that crippled Japanese carrier strength and shifted the strategic initiative to the United States.

Recorded sideEmpire of Japan

Recorded resultdefeat and evacuation

After six months of grinding land, sea, and air battles the Japanese evacuated Guadalcanal; the first major Allied offensive in the Pacific and the first strategic land defeat inflicted on Japan.

Rather than a single decisive blow this was an attrition and logistics contest that the U.S. industrial base and shipping capacity won; the Allies could replace ships, aircraft, and men faster than Japan, while Japanese troops were ground down by combat, starvation, and tropical disease over the long campaign.

What followed

The strategic turning point of the Pacific War on land and at sea, ending Japanese expansion and passing the initiative permanently to the Allies.