both the americans and japanese launched air attacks. even though the fighting went on until 7 june, by the end of 4 june the result had been decided. the battle of midway began on the morning of 4 june 1942, when four japanese carriers attacked on midway island. the japanese did not know that the u.s. navy was in the area. just three hours after the first bomb hit midway, planes from the u.s. carriers attacked. "enterprise" launched an attack using torpedo bombers, but this failed. soon after this, "enterprise" dive bombers attacked and sank the japanese carriers and . later in the afternoon, bombers from "enterprise" and uss "yorktown" sank (aircraft from "yorktown" also sank ). "yorktown" and uss "hammann" were the only american ships sunk, but 113 planes were lost. 61 of these were lost during the attacks. japanese losses were much bigger. they lost four carriers, one cruiser and 272 planes. even though she lost many planes, "enterprise" returned to pearl harbor on 13 june 1942 undamaged.