The mystery then became, where is the main wreck of the carrier? At first glance, it would seem that finding the 812-foot long hull of Kaga wouldn’t be all that difficult. About the size of a house, it lies on the bottom, some 17,000 feet down in the chilly Pacific.įinding “The Chunk” was a big step forward, proving the validity of Nauticos’ re-navigation approach. Though the main wreck of Kaga was not found, a large piece of wreckage (referred to as “The Chunk” by Nauticos) was located and positively identified as having been an inverted section of Kaga’s starboard aft anti-aircraft gun mounts. Image courtesy of Nauticos and Jonathan Parshall. Landing light array (assists pilots in lining up their approach). submarine Nautilus (which had attacked the Kaga after she had been set afire by American divebombers), Nauticos was able to deduce a more probable resting place for the vessel. Just a year later, the Nauticos Corporation employed an innovative new search technique called re-navigation to look for Kaga. However, though he attempted to locate the Japanese carriers, he was unsuccessful in his efforts. Robert Ballard located and documented the wreck of the Yorktown. And one of the great mysteries of this battlefield remains where, exactly, are the resting places of the four Japanese carriers lost there? Interest in the battle has not waned in the intervening 74 years since it was fought. Thus, Midway marks the high tide of the Japanese offensive. Just two months later, they would land troops on Guadalcanal, which initiated what was to become the decisive campaign of the entire war. This victory restored the balance of carrier power in the Pacific at a crucial time in the war and allowed the Americans to begin considering counter-offensive activities of their own. In return, the Americans lost the carrier Yorktown, and around 300 men. Occurring just six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the resounding American victory at Midway checked what had been an almost unbroken string of Japanese victories during the opening phase of the Pacific War.ĭuring a battle that stretched from June 4-7, 1942, the Japanese lost their four finest aircraft carriers- Akagi, Kaga, Hiryū and Sōryū-along with nearly 250 aircraft and over 3,000 sailors killed. The Battle of Midway was the single most important naval engagement of World War II.