page_title: Battle of Midway
section_title: Japanese casualties
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Midway / Japanese casualties
caption_attribution_description: English: An injured or exhausted rescued U.S. Navy flight crew man is taken on a stretcher out of a Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina on Midway Islands, after the Battle of Midway in June 1942.
context_page_description: The Battle of Midway was an important naval battle of World War II, between the United States and the Empire of Japan. It took place from 4 June 1942 to 7 June 1942. This was about a month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, and six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
  The United States Navy defeated a Japanese attack against Midway Atoll and destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser.
  The battle was a decisive victory for the Americans. It was the most important naval battle of the Pacific area in World War II. The battle weakened the Imperial Japanese Navy for the rest of the war. Japan could not build up its forces again. The United States replaced their lost ships and planes with better ones very quickly. Japan could only make a few poor quality replacements.
  The Japanese planned to bring America's carriers into a trap and sink them. The Japanese also tried to take Midway Atoll to build defenses far from their homeland and prepare to invade Fiji, Samoa, and Hawaii.
  The Midway operation, like the attack on Pearl Harbor, was made to destroy the American strength in the Pacific Ocean.
context_section_description: By the time the battle ended, 3,057 Japanese had died. Casualties aboard the four carriers were:
  Akagi: 267; Kaga: 811; Hiryu: 392; Soryu: 711; a total of 2,181. The heavy cruisers Mikuma (sunk; 700 casualties) and Mogami (badly damaged; 92) accounted for another 792 deaths.
  In addition, the destroyers Arashio (bombed; 35) and Asashio (strafed by aircraft; 21) were both damaged during the air attacks which sank Mikuma and caused further damage to Mogami. Floatplanes were lost from the cruisers Chikuma (3) and Tone (2). Dead aboard the destroyers Tanikaze (11), Arashi (1), Kazagumo (1) and the fleet oiler Akebono Maru (10) made up the remaining 23 casualties.
caption: A rescued airman on Midway.
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