Battle widely regarded as turning point in the Pacific for the U.S. Navy?

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Midway is the turning point because it flips the balance of naval power in the Pacific from Japanese initiative to Allied momentum. After Pearl Harbor, Japan believed it could press its advantage with carrier-based strikes. At Midway, American codebreakers and reconnaissance allowed the U.S. to set a trap and ambush the Japanese fleet. The battle resulted in the loss of four Japanese aircraft carriers, a heavy blow to their striking power and to their ability to wage large carrier battles. With those carriers gone, Japan’s naval supremacy dissipated and the United States could begin its island-hopping campaign, moving from base to base toward Japan and taking the offensive for the rest of the war. Iwo Jima and Okinawa were important, fierce battles later in the war, but they did not represent the same decisive shift in naval power. The Atlantic is a different theater entirely and not the turning point in the Pacific.