What led up to the turning point of the pacific war?

Answer 1

While many advance the proposition that the Battle of Midway was the high-water mark (and thus, the turning point) for the Japanese, there are several key battles in 1942 which each contribute uniquely to the change of Japanese fortune.

The Battle of Midway (June 4-7) obviously severely hurt the Japanese Navy, costing them about 25% of their total carrier forces. However, it was even more critical in that it cost them almost half of their remaining experienced flight crews and trained carrier deck crews. The Japanese flight crew training system was never able to produce sufficient numbers of new pilots (less than 500 per year), and the loss of so many existing veteran crews hampered Japanese operations even more than the loss of the carriers. Midway forced the Japanese Navy over onto the defensive.

The Kokoda Track campaign (July to November) in eastern New Guinea was another major change in Japanese fortunes, and a very significant strategic defeat. Not well noted in WW2 History classes, the Kokoda Track was a fight for control of Port Morseby, and, by proxy, a fight for control of Australia. Defeated here in the hideous jungle terrain of New Guinea by a poorly-equipped, insufficiently-trained Australian reservist force meant that Japan was unable to stop the resupply of Australia by US forces, and that Australia itself remained available for use as a giant staging grounds for Allied attacks on the southern sections of the Japanese Empire. The Kokoda Track campaign victory is of similar importance to the Pacific war as the Battle of Britain was to the European Theater.

Finally, the various land and naval battles around Guadacanal (the beginnings of the Solomon Islands campaign) from August 1942 to Feburary 1943 provide the third leg of the Allied effort to turn the Pacific war against Japan. Guadacanal vindicated the "southern route" choice of counter-invasion planning by the US, and also showed that the US could win an island-hopping style of invasion. The various naval battles around Guadacanal (including the Battle of Santa Cruz) were extremely costly to the Japanese Navy; while quite costly to the Allied navies, the Allied ships and men were replaceable, while the Japanese losses weren't.

Combined, these land and sea battles forced the Japanese to turn from an expansionist, aggressive strategic posture to one of protection, reaction, and defense.

Answer 2

The turning point of the Pacific Campaign of World War II was the naval Battle of Midway, which occurred between June 4 and June 7, 1942.

Just one month prior to the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Coral Sea occurred between May 4 and May 8, 1942, which was barely six months after the Japanese surprise attack on the U. S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese won battle after battle, capturing numerous islands in the South Seas, particularly going after those with economically important Natural Resources. The Japanese controlled both the waves and the air. The next goal of the Japanese was to capture and control both Port Moresby and Midway Atoll which, with the other islands it intended to capture, would give the Imperial Japanese Navy virtual control of the South Seas. In pursuit of these operations, the Japanese intended to completely destroy the U. S. Navy.

The Japanese Admiral Yamamoto had divided his naval forces in an attempt to support both the invasion of Port Moresby and Midway Atoll at the same time. That crucial mistake left the Japanese Navy just weak enough to suffer a strategic defeat at the hands of the U. S. Navy in the Battle of the Coral Sea, where the Japanese lost a light aircraft carrier, a destroyer, and several small warships. The U. S. Navy lost the carrier Lexington, which was one of only four aircraft carriers possessed by the Navy, an oiler, and a destroyer.

A month later, that same division of ships would once again cause the Japanese to suffer defeat at the Battle of Midway, in which the Japanese lost four carriers and its air superiority. The Japanese fleet was so heavily damaged at the Battle of Midway that Japan not only lost the battle, it effectively lost the war, even though additional strategic naval battles were fought later during the war.

Answer 3

The defeat of the Japanese at the battle of midway

Answer 4

I consider the US naval victory at Battle of Midway to be the turning point.

Answer 5

The Battle of Midway.

Answer 6

The Battle of Midway