The underdog United States Navy, heavily outnumbered and still reeling from the devastating sneak attack at Pearl Harbor, dealt a stunning blow to the Imperial Japanese Navy at Midway Island in early June, 1942. Talisman Coins and the Perth Mint are extremely pleased to present the new Famous Naval Battles Series. Following on the heels of the tremendously well received Famous Battles of History program, the Famous Naval Battles Series offers pure silver dollars commemorating five important naval conflicts that have shaped the course of history. All are remembered for their landmark contributions to the annals of naval warfare. The fifth and final bomb (if you will) is the Battle of Midway, described by British military historian John Keegan as the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) fleet carrier Akagi burning after being hit by American Douglas SBD Dauntless Dive Bombers at the World War II Battle of Midway”The Most Stunning and Decisive Blow”. The Battle of Midway was a huge engagement between aircraft carriers. The Japanese Combined Feet, led by Admirals Isoroku Yamamoto and Chuichi Nagumo, clashed with the numerically inferior United States Pacific Fleet, commanded from Pearl Harbor by Admiral Chester Nimitz, and at sea by Admirals Raymond Spruance and Frank Fletcher. So many of the details have entered legend: The miraculous repair of USS Yorktownat Pearl Harbor in 72 hours, after being damaged at the Battle of Coral Sea. The code breaking and deception by Navy cryptanalysts, which laid bare Japanese plans and set the stage for an American ambush. The indecisiveness of Admiral Nagumo as he changed his planes’ armament. The incredible timing of the arrival of the American dive bombers, able to press home the attack unharmed, as the Japanese fighters had been drawn low by the attacks of the torpedo bombers. By battle’s end, four Japanese fleet carriers had been sunk, with a near-total loss of their experienced and irreplaceable aircrews, at the cost of one American carrier, USS Yorktown. This coin portrays Yorktown’s sister, USS Enterprise (sporting her signature pennant number 6 on her flight deck), as she launches planes into the wind. Above her fly two Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers. The color vignette depicts the Japanese carrier Akagi (a converted battlecruiser) aflame and about to explode, while another Dauntless flies overhead, having just released its deadly payload. The Battle of Midway. The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated an Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) attack against Midway Atoll, inflicting irreparable damage on the Japanese fleet. British military historian John Keegan has called it the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare. The Japanese operation, like the earlier attack on Pearl Harbor, aimed to eliminate the United States as a strategic power in the Pacific, thereby giving Japan a free hand in establishing its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The Japanese hoped that another demoralizing defeat would force the U. To capitulate in the Pacific War. After the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor wreaked total destruction on the U. Battleship fleet, the only force in the entire Pacific able effectively to oppose Japanese aggression was the American aircraft carriers. The Japanese plan was to lure the United States’ outnumbered flattops into a trap. The Japanese also intended to occupy Midway Atoll as part of an overall plan to extend their defensive perimeter in response to the Doolittle Raid. This operation was considered preparatory for further attacks against Fiji and Samoa. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) fleet aircraft carrier Akagi, shortly before her destruction at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 during World War II. The plan was handicapped by faulty Japanese assumptions of American reaction and poor initial dispositions. Most significantly, American code breakers were able to determine the date and location of the attack, enabling the forewarned U. Navy to set up an ambush of its own. After Midway, and the exhausting attrition of the Solomon Islands campaign, Japan’s shipbuilding and pilot training programs were unable to keep pace in replacing their losses while the U. Steadily increased output in both areas. In 1976 Hollywood made a major (and historically inaccurate) major motion picture. The film features an international cast of stars including Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshir? Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, James Shigeta, Pat Morita, and a young Tom Selleck, among others. USS Enterprise – CV-6 – The Big E. An American World War II Douglas SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber of the type that sank four Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) fleet aircraft carriers in June 1942 at the Battle of Midway. USS Enterprise (CV-6), colloquially referred to as the “Big E”, was the sixth aircraft carrier built for the United States Navy, as well as and seventh U. She participated in more major actions of the war against Japan than any other US warship. These actions included the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, various other air-sea engagements during the Guadalcanal campaign, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, as well as the “Doolittle Raid” on Tokyo. On three separate occasions during the Pacific War, the Japanese announced that she had been sunk in battle, leading to her other nickname, the “Grey Ghost”. Enterprise earned 20 battle stars, the most for any U. Warship in World War II. The Battle of Midway Pure Silver Proof is the fifth and final silver dollar in the Famous Naval Battles series, to be released by the Perth Mint. The complete program comprises. Salamis – 480 BC – Ancient triremes. Trafalgar – 1805 AD – Nelson and Victory vs. Hampton Roads – 1862 AD – The duel between ironclads USS Monitor andCSS Virginia (Merrimack). Jutland – 1916 AD – Clash of the Dreadnoughts. Midway – 1942 AD – Carrier vs. The item “Cook Islands 2011 $1 Famous Naval Battles Midway 1 Oz Silver Proof Coin” is in sale since Saturday, September 29, 2018. This item is in the category “Coins\Coins\World\Oceania/Australasia”. The seller is “silverarcheryuk” and is located in london, London. This item can be shipped worldwide.

• Year of Issue: 2011
• Country: Cook Islands
• Country/Region of Manufacture: Australia