Battle of the Philippine Sea
June 19–20, 1944 · Philippine Sea
Result American victory
Major World War II naval battle of 19-20 June 1944 during the US reconquest of the Mariana Islands, pitting the US Fifth Fleet against Japan's Mobile Fleet in the largest carrier-to-carrier engagement in history. American pilots and anti-aircraft gunners inflicted a wildly disproportionate loss ratio on Japanese aircraft, dubbed the 'Great Marianas Turkey Shoot'. Japan lost the bulk of its carrier air strength and never recovered, ending large-scale Japanese carrier operations.
