LEGACY: Turning the Tides
Japan's fortunes changed at Midway. On 4 June 1942, the Japanese fleet retreated from the Battle of Midway against the Americans.
With the surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945, known as V-E Day, America continued to work on the Manhattan Project: the development of the atomic bomb. On 6 August 1945, B-29 Bomber Enola Gay dropped the bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, eventually killing tens of thousands of people. Three days later, B-29 Bomber Bockscar dropped “Fat Man” on Nagasaki, killing approximately 40,000 people. Yamamoto's prophecy was coming true.
“I expect to die in battle aboard the Nagato . . . By that time I imagine, Tokyo will have been set on fire at least three times, and Japan reduced to a pitiful state . . . but there’s no going back now . . .” (qtd. in Hoyt 11).
- Yamamoto,
1940