The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 had dealt a catastrophic blow to the US Navy, but it had not knocked out all of the US carriers. That was an omission that Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Japan’s fleet commander, intended to rectify by invading a site close to Pearl Harbor. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor had worked out well for the Japanese - why not try another one on Midway Island?

The plan was to destroy the Americans when they launched a counterattack. Japan, then, would rule the Pacific and continue the expansion of its empire. What Yamamoto didn’t know was that Japanese fleet codes had been broken and that Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Chester Nimitz, privy to what the Japanese planned to do, was able to place the American carriers where they would catch the Japanese off guard as they prepared to launch air strikes on Midway Island.

Inside, you will hear about:

• Not ready for war
• The crucial codebreaker
• Nimitz, commander in chief
• Preparing for battle
• The battle that changed the tide of war
• The legacy of the Battle of Midway
• And much more!

After the Battle of Midway, the Japanese were forced into the position of trying to defend the territory they had previously taken; their dreams of expanding their acquisitions and becoming the dominant power in the Pacific were gone. The tide of war in the Pacific had shifted.