Although a victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory for the Allies in several ways. The battle marked the first time since the start of the war that a major Japanese advance had been checked by the Allies. More importantly, the Japanese fleet carriers "Shōkaku" and , the former damaged and the latter with a depleted aircraft complement, were unable to participate in the Battle of Midway the following month, but "Yorktown" participated on the Allied side, which made for rough parity in aircraft between the adversaries and contributed significantly to the U.S. victory. The severe losses in carriers at Midway prevented the Japanese from reattempting to invade Port Moresby by sea and helped prompt their ill-fated land offensive over the Kokoda Track. Two months later, the Allies took advantage of Japan's resulting strategic vulnerability in the South Pacific and launched the Guadalcanal Campaign. That and the New Guinea Campaign eventually broke Japanese defenses in the South Pacific and were significant contributors to Japan's ultimate surrender, marking the end of World War II.