If Coral Sea had not happened and Japan sent all its carriers to Midway, would the US carriers still have fought?
Short answerProbably, if American commanders still believed codebreaking had given them strategic surprise.
NotesEven if Coral Sea had not occurred and Japan brought more carriers to Midway, the Americans still might have committed their available carriers. The decision would not rest on a simple ship-count comparison. Codebreaking gave commanders confidence that they understood the Japanese plan and could arrange strategic surprise. The choice therefore depended on the intelligence advantage and the chance to strike first, not on parity in carrier numbers.