Naval history of World War II 4–7, 1942, the United States Navy decisively defeated a Japanese naval force that had sought to lure the U.S. carrier fleet into a trap at Midway Atoll. The Japanese fleet lost four aircraft carriers to the U.S. Navy's one American carrier and a destroyer. After Midway, and the exhausting attrition of the Solomon Islands campaign, Japan's shipbuilding and pilot training programs were unable to keep pace in replacing their losses while the U.S. steadily increased its output in both areas. Military historian John Keegan called the Battle of Midway "the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval
Task Force 57 was little publicised. From 1995, it has been part of the United States Fifth Fleet. It appears to be now the Fleet's Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force, under the operational control of Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Force, Fifth Fleet. Task Force 57 has had Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft stationed at Masirah Island, Oman, and Diego Garcia. Through Naval Forces Central Command's Combined Maritime Forces, Japanese, German, Australian, and New Zealand aircraft have also formed part of the task force. According to the Task Force's official website, it normally comprises five squadrons or detachments of Lockheed P-3C Orion and