Yeah I feel like the overwhelming naval victory at Midway and in the overall war kind of masked the flaws and mistakes of the WWII US navy in the public percept

Yeah I feel like the overwhelming naval victory at Midway and in the overall war kind of masked the flaws and mistakes of the WWII US navy in the public perception. The WWII US navy made many operational and tactical mistakes. For example, even with the major intelligence advantage, the Battle of Midway was pretty dicey and a lot of luck was required to achieve the unthinkable result of sinking 4 carriers. Don't get me wrong, the US probably would have won the naval war regardless due to the materiel advantage. I think a big part of the "fighting spirit" the OOP mentioned came from the Pearl Harbor attack. It galvanized everyone into action and lessons were learnt and mistakes were fixed very quickly, at all level of the military. For example, after the lost of Lexington, fuel lines were drained and filled with inert gas and that lesson was propagated quickly through the fleet. The fast turnaround between mistakes and lessons learnt probably also came hand in hand with how individuals were empowered to make decisions and took responsibility. On other side of the coin, I think the IJN incompetence got highlighted and not enough credits were given. Their carrier divisions were very very highly trained and operated at a much higher tempo than the US at the start of war. The IJN night battle tactics were also very deadly. Even after Midway, they still went toe to toe with the USN during the attritional Guadalcanal campaigns. Despite their doctrine and culture giving them plenty of weaknesses and blind spots, it also gave them many strengths. I dare say during the preparation for the war, the "fighting spirit" and the effectiveness of the IJN was just as high. In my opinion, the myths surrounding the Pacific naval war obscure very interesting stories from both sides with plenty of lessons that are still applicable today.