In June of 1942 one of the most consequential naval battles in all of military history was fought in the waters of the central Pacific. The opponents facing off in this hard-fought battle near the atoll of Midway were the carrier air groups of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States Pacific Fleet, supplemented by Marine Corps aircraft based on the islands. This huge battle was the Japanese Empire's best chance of forcing a decision in thier favor before the Americans' enormous industrial potential was brought to bear against them. The SBD Dauntless, a relatively untested carrier bomber, which had proved its potential against the Japanese in the early actions of 1942 and the Battle of the Coral Sea, now faced its first, and most important, large-scale action. Their success or failure in these vital actions would determine the fate of the Pacific for the next three years.
