Milice Franỗaise was taken under tow; the wounded ship was sighted and sunk by a Japanese submarine the next day In the meantime, the “Hiryu” was attacked by a second wave of American bombers, flying from the carriers rather than Midway Island Mortally damaged, the “Hiryu” was scuttled by its crew Nagumo canceled the invasion and pulled back Yamamoto, still speeding to the scene aboard IJN Yamato, reversed the order He sent the undamaged battleships and cruisers forward at flank speed to find and sink the two remaining U.S carriers known to be in the area It was too late: the American admirals understood that they had been lucky as well as good, and had already withdrawn The victory turned the direction of the Pacific War Before Midway, Japan’s carrier force was the largest in the world, outnumbering the U.S fleet in the Pacific 10:3 Midway evened the military balance, especially once the repaired USS Saratoga rejoined the U.S Pacific Fleet Midway was an irreversible defeat for Japan It forced the Japanese onto the strategic and operational defensive within just six months of their vaunted successes at Pearl Harbor, Singapore, Hong Kong, and elsewhere That permitted the truly decisive fact in the outcome of the naval war, American productivity, to come to the fore more quickly: over the rest of the war the United States outbuilt Japan in all classes of carriers and naval aircraft By 1945 the IJN added just 14 carriers of all types, including seaplane carriers, while the USN added 104 carriers of all types, including fast escort carriers, and tens of thousands of naval aircraft and pilots This extraordinary naval air arm carried the fight all the way to the Japanese home islands, even as the full extent of the Japanese Navy’s losses at Midway were kept hidden from the Japanese Army: top Army officers only learned the truth a year later, others not until 1945 Suggested Reading: Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully, Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway (2005) MIGS See fighters ´, DRAZA (1893–1946) MIHAILOVIC See Chetniks; Tito; Yugoslavia MILCH, ERHARD (1892–1972) See Luftwaffe MILCHKÜHE (“Milk Cows.”) See Replenishment-at-Sea; U-boats MILICE FRANÇAISE The paramilitary police of the Vichy regime in France They were notorious thugs and anti-Semites, operating more often in night terror raids against Jewish families or ideological opponents of the Vichy regime 727