United States Navy in World War II was "sunk" at Pearl Harbor. It is correct to say that American industrial might was a deciding factor in World War II, and Admiral Yamamoto knew that a prolonged war for Japan was a losing war. The Battle of Midway, together with the Guadalcanal campaign, marked the turning point in the Pacific. Between June 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,
Battle of the Philippine Sea time, the Japanese high command believed they could fight the U.S. Navy in a single, decisive engagement, known as the "Kantai Kessen", which would allow them to defeat the Americans. However, their ability to fight and win such a battle was slipping away. Imperial Navy aircrew losses suffered over the course of the earlier carrier battles at Coral Sea and Midway, and the long Solomon Islands campaign of 1942-43, had greatly weakened the Japanese Navy's ability to project force with its carriers. As the Solomon Islands campaign was largely fought by the Imperial Navy, losses suffered there drastically reduced the