Q&A ยท 1:44:13-1:44:53

A second Japanese Indian Ocean raid instead of Midway

A second raid could have drawn the Japanese carrier force into converging British and American carrier groups.

Question

What if Japan launched a second Indian Ocean raid instead of attacking Midway?

Short answer

Allied intelligence and reorganized carrier forces might have trapped the Japanese between British and American task forces.

Notes

A second Indian Ocean raid would meet a different Allied situation from the first operation. Improved intelligence would make Japanese movements harder to conceal, while British and American carrier forces had been reorganized. Separate Allied task forces could converge on the Japanese carriers. The result might be a pincer by American and British flight decks instead of another one-sided Japanese sweep.