Imperial Japanese Navy

When Guadalcanal was secured, the Solomons were still largely held in Japanese hands or deserted. To the north, the major Japanese base on New Britain, Rabaul, could control the entire area with its large complement of aircraft and its excellent naval anchorage.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea in the Marianas in June 1944 was marked by the destruction of huge numbers of Japanese aircraft with low losses to the United States Navy.

In April 1940, obsolescent British Swordfish biplanes, nicknamed "stringbags" for their flimsy construction, struck the Italian fleet at Taranto. Within minutes significant damage was done to Italy's Mediterranean Fleet. To get around the inability to operate torpedoes in the shallow waters of the harbor, the British attached fins to the tail.

The Imperial Japanese Navy (Nihon Kaigun) in 1941 was unquestionably a world power. With the help of the British, who trained the Japanese to the point that all bridge orders were issued in English, a Japanese fleet was built in the early twentieth century.

Allied planners had seriously underestimated the strength and effectiveness of Japanese Forces. Allied opinion held that they could not shoot straight, since many Japanese were nearsighted.