Midway: The Shocking Turning Point That Changed WWII Forever

The Battle of Midway began on June 4, 1942, just six months after the attack

on Pearl Harbor. The Imperial Japanese Navy launched a massive offensive intending to eliminate

the United States as a strategic power in the Pacific. Their plan: lure American aircraft

carriers into a trap near a remote atoll called Midway, then destroy them, paving the way for

Japanese dominance. However, American cryptographers had broken the Japanese code and knew exactly

where and when the attack would come.​ At dawn on June 4th, Japanese planes

bombarded Midway Island, hoping to cripple American defenses. In response,

waves of American aircraft launched from the carriers USS Enterprise, Hornet,