After the battle at Midway Atoll, there was an operational pause in the fighting in the Pacific Ocean: the balance of forces changed significantly, and both sides began to adjust their plans. Japanese aircraft carriers - two squadron carriers (Shokaku and Zuikaku), four light carriers (Ryujo, Hiyo, Zuiho and Junyo) and one training carrier (Hose) - were now opposed by three squadron carriers (Enterprise ”, “Saratoga”, “Hornet”) and one US light aircraft carrier “Wasp”. The consequence of the approximate equality of aircraft carrier forces was the forced limitation of the scale of operations by the imperial fleet.