The Battle of Midway, fought June 4–7, 1942, was the decisive turning point of the Pacific War. Admiral Chester Nimitz, forewarned of Japanese intentions through codebreaking, concentrated three carriers — Enterprise, Hornet, and the hastily repaired Yorktown — to ambush the Japanese Striking Force under Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. American dive bombers found the Japanese carriers refueling and rearming their aircraft on deck and sank all four fleet carriers — Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu — in a battle that reversed Japan's six-month offensive in a matter of hours. The Yorktown was lost to submarine and air attack during the battle, but the balance of carrier power in the Pacific shifted permanently to the United States. The August 1942 Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin — soon to be renamed All Hands — published eleven pages on the battle drawn from initial after-action reports and the first accounts cleared for publication.
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