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Japanese made a sneak attack on the US.
Left thousands of US sailors dead. -
Aircraft carriers engaged with other nation's aircraft carriers.
Ships were stranded at sea. -
The United States Navy defeated a Japanese attack against Midway Atoll.
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The first major offensive and a decisive victory for the Allies in the Pacific theater.
Japanese troops stayed at the Solomon Islands, while U.S. marines launched a surprise attack. -
The fight at Tarawa was the first large-scale encounter between US Marines and Japan's Special Naval Landing Forces.
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Loss of Saipan was a political crisis to Tokyo, it brought about the fall of the Tojo Cabinet.
The Japanese sallied forth to offer battle to the U.S. Pacific Fleet. -
The largest naval battle ever fought.
It ended in the eclipse of the Imperial Japanese Navy. -
Two airfields on the island were under Japan's control.
They could be used by Japanese fighter planes to attack American bombers on their flights to Japan. -
An 82-day-long battle was the largest in the Pacific Theater.
Japan lost 100,000 men and thousands of civilians, while the Americans lost over 50,000 troops. -
The Little Boy and the Fat Man dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed thousands instantly and left dead from radiation poisoning and cancer caused by the radiation.