the world war ii battle of midway took place from june 4, 1942 to june 7, 1942. it was a decisive victory for the united states navy over the japanese navy. it was the turning point in the war allowing the u.s. forces to go on the offensive against the japanese. the japanese fleet commander, admiral yamamoto isoroku, chose to attack midway island to draw out the few remaining u.s. aircraft carriers and ambush them. unknown to the japanese, the americans had been able to decypher their coded messages. reading the coded messages, they knew what the japanese plan was. the result was the complete destruction of the japanese carrier fleet (the akagi, kaga, soryu, and hiryu) with 322 aircraft and over five thousand sailors. the americans lost 147 aircraft and about three hundred sailors. while the battle did not directly end the war, it crippled japanese sea power and ended the japanese capability to stop the americans and their allies.