At this point the Americans were losing the war. The US Asiatic squadron was a shadow of its former self, and the Japanese had both the numbers and the initiative to dictate the course of the war. It would take time for the superior American industry to kick into high gear and change the balance, but what if it was too late by then?
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Navy Admiral Cheseter Nimtiz tried to exert confidence back into the American navy. The Japanese losts its strategic surprise, and so Nimtiz transfered avalibale carriers Yorktown, Enterprise and Hornet, to the command of Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. Carriers waited in ambush 300 miles north to anticipate Japanese attacks, waiting for the attack of Midway to begin.