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Originally Posted by FireGilbert
Good one Cap. I definitely enjoy some WWII pacific theatre discussion and it reminds me I need to visit the MacArthur museum in Brisbane ASAP.
You could also add in the Battle of the Coral Sea to the set up of Midway. Despite being a Japanese tactical victory it was a strategic failure that stopped their momentum and really led to the decisive battle to come. At Coral Sea the Japanese had two carriers damaged that could not fight in Midway while the Americans, despite losing a carrier, were able to surprisingly repair the Yorktown in 48 hours. Instead of a 6-2 carrier advantage it was 4-3 and with the American planes based in Midway the Japanese no longer had air superiority.
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The repair work on the Yorktown to get her to sea in 48 hours was amazing. She was a ship that almost refused to die, taking major damage at Coral Sea, and then being hammered and set ablaze at Midway, repairing her damage between strikes and then relighting her boilers. But she took two torpedo hits from a sub, which lead to a greater list and the ship was abandened. The actual story of the capsizing sounds like the Yorkton kept struggling not to tip over, it was nearly the ship that wouldn't die.