What was special about Battle of Midway?

Answer 1

When WWII began the Japanese had a bigger Navy, with more capital ships, in the Pacific than the US did. There had been an Arms Limitation Treaty, the Washington Naval Treaty of 1923. This established the ratio of 5:5:3. Meaning for every five US or British battleships or carriers, the Japanese could have three. But the US has two oceans to worry about, and the Japanese have only the Pacific. Nations stopped abiding by the Treaty in the mid 30s. When the War began Japan had about eight carriers, and the US had only three in the Pacific, and only six or seven total.

At Midway, the US sank four Japanese aircraft carriers. I can't think of another battle at any time in history where more than one carrier was lost to a navy. So overnight, the US went from inferiority to parity. And the Japanese had absolutely no hope of being able to replace these carriers, while US shipyards were already working on dozens of new ones. In essence, the Japanese lost the war at Midway, or at least any chance of winning it. It took them three more horribly bloody, stubborn years to admit it though.