210 cav,

i appreciate your comments and yes i agree it would be a good follow on subject matter, however just because we know the military history not everyone will understand the strategy as this can be a complex item to deal with, hell i don't even fully understand it othe than the basics, but it would be interesting all the same i feel.

Hi guys, I read all your posts with interest. I would like to nominate the Batttle of Midway. My reason is that it was won by the American navy when they were probably at their weakest against the Japanese when they were probably at their strongest. After that the Americans would expand their strength whilst the Japanese would become comparitively weaker.
I would have nominated the Battle of Britain for similar reasons but it wasn't really a victory as such, more the avoidance of defeat.

Hi 210cav, I suppose you could add to the lucky events the fact that the American carriers were not at Pearl Harbour when the Japanese disabled and sank so many of the major units of the pacific fleet. If they had been then the pacific war could have taken so much longer to win.

210Cav,

Come now. If the USN had lost the Battle of Midway we would have been in deep pooh? What would have been the worst case scenario? Development of Fat Man and Little Boy would have continued on schedule unless the hypothetical loss at Midway would have enabled the Japanese to invade New Mexico. I would submit that the war in the Pacific, hell, the whole war, was over as soon as the first bomb dropped on Pearl. No one had the manufacturing capability to lick the US. Just a thought.

The loss of the three carriers would have been a bad blow, but there were still a few others in service and the keels for the first Essex class carriers had already been laid. The US would still have won, it just would have taken longer.

Between 22 and 29 June 1942, Saratoga ferried Marine and Army aircraft to the garrison on Midway. On 7 July, she sailed for the southwest Pacific; and, from 28 to 30 July, she provided air cover for landing rehearsals in the Fiji Islands in preparation for landings on Guadalcanal. As flagship of Real Admiral F. J. Fletcher, Saratoga opened the Guadalcanal assault early on 7 August when she turned into the wind to launch aircraft. She provided air cover for the landings for the next two days. On the first day, a Japanese air attack was repelled before it reached the carriers, but since further attacks were expected, the carrier force withdrew on the afternoon of 8 August towards a fueling rendezvous. As a result, it was too far away to retaliate after four Allied cruisers were sunk that night in the Battle of Savo Island. The carrier force continued to operate east of the Solomons, protecting the sea lanes to the beachhead and awaiting a Japanese naval counterattack.

great site M1, thanks, I'm fascinated by carrier operations WW2 to present day, they're the ultimate form of power projection
Martin

DJ:
You mentioned victories in the Korean war. I would say just to throw this out. Inchon. Due to the fact that McArther was right. This then started the ego war between him and Truman. Eventually leading to his resignation. Maybe the battle itself wasn't very decisive, but was the riff itself decisive enough to effect the way the war was run??? Just a thought..