Midway Islands
MIDWAY ISLANDS
MIDWAY ISLANDS, located 1,200 miles northwest of Honolulu, are part of a coral atoll containing two islands (Sand and Eastern), with a total area of about two square miles. Discovered in 1859, they were annexed by the United States in 1867.Attacked by the Japanese in World War II, Midway was the scene of a naval aircraft battle (June 1942) that resulted in a severe defeat for Japan. By checking the Japanese advance toward Hawaii, the battle proved to be one of the decisive American victories of the war. Since World War II, the islands have served as a naval and air base and as a stopover point for commercial transpacific flights.
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See alsoAircraft Carriers and Naval Aircraft ; Midway, Battle of ; Navy, Department of the ; World War II, Navy in .
