06/04/08 Battle of Midway begins (1942) Battle of Midway--one of the most decisive U.S. victories against Japan during World War II--begins. Japanese Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto sought to destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet before it was large enough to outmatch his own. If successful, his surprise attack at Midway would eliminate the U.S. Pacific Fleet and provide a forward outpost from which the Japanese could eliminate any future American threat in the Central Pacific. U.S. intelligence broke the Japanese naval code, however, and the Americans anticipated the surprise attack.   On This Day Archives...