The naval battles that would ensue in the Pacific would involve thousands of ships on both sides with an enormous loss of life. The predominant might of the American industries to manufacture the tools of war would eventually lead to victory.
By mid-1942, the Japanese Combined Fleet found itself holding a vast area, even though it lacked the aircraft carriers, aircraft, and aircrew to defend it, and the freighters, tankers, and destroyers necessary to sustain it. Moreover, Fleet doctrine was incompetent to execute the proposed "barrier" defence.Instead, they decided on additional attacks in both the south and central Pacific. While Yamamoto had used the element of surprise at Pearl Harbor, Allied code breakers now turned the tables.
