US engages Japanese carriers, sinking some at a cost of at least two of their own. The battleship fleet at Pearl Harbor is saved, and instead of relying on the carrier/submarine fleet that did exist, throws it's might behind the battleships (carriers have been demonstrated as rather ineffective at this point). The US fleet meets the Japanese fleet in a massive surface engagement and looses a large number of front-line ships. The war drags on in the Pacific as the US tries to rebuild it's devastated fleet, and fails to realize the potential of carrier airpower.
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