Something new for an old game...

Since we had the "What if?" game recently concerning when, exactly, the war in Europe turned against the Nazis, I thought I'd throw one out there from the other side of the world.

When, exactly, did the war in the Pacific begin to go against the Japanese?

Think on this before you answer, though...

I recently read a fascinating book about the SECOND Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and since I didn't know it ever happened, I am going to safely assume none of you did either. It seems that on 4 March 1942, the Japanese mounted ANOTHER bombing attack of the Naval base at Pearl. It seems they recognized their previous mistakes of A) not destroying the carrier fleet and B) not doing enough damage to the facilities themselves (i.e. airfields, dry docks, mooring areas, rail and road interdiction points, etc). So, they sent two flights of medium bombers from their secret fueling station at French Frigate Shoals (almost exactly half-way between Midway and Oahu islands) with four 880 lbs bombs each and the intention of destroying or disrupting salvage and repair operations at the facility.

Unfortunately for the Japs, they over-shot the harbor in some early fog. One flight dropped its bombs on Honolulu proper (causing some fires and window damage, but no casualties), while the second flight dropped its loads on the side of Mount Tantalus, doing no harm whatsoever.

This "charlie foxtrot" (to coin an old Gurski term... hehe) did only one thing, definitively... it told the US Navy EXACTLY where they Japs were staging and refueling their reconnaissance flights that were telling them what was going into and OUT OF the harbor at Pearl. In short, they couldn't spy on the Pacific Navy anymore... and THAT is when I think the war turned against the Japs.