The IJN’s most significant material losses were there pilots and planes, they lost significantly more than us and that helped to balance out our losses in ships.
They also lost an oiler. Poor sucker was misidentified by a scout plane as a carrier and the USN blew it out if the water with a full coordinated air-strike (a major mistake for us).
“They also lost an oiler. Poor sucker was misidentified by a scout plane as a carrier and the USN blew it out if the water with a full coordinated air-strike (a major mistake for us).”
It was IJN aircraft that misidentified and sank the oiler USS Neosho and destroyer USS Sims.
what was more significant was the IJN carriers Zuikaku and Shokaku were damaged by our aircraft. The Japanese determined that the damage to the ships was to significant to be done locally. They ordered the ships back to Japan for repairs.
These ships were struck from the Midway operation because they were still being repaired. Had this not happened, The IJN would have been able to commit 6 carriers to the Midway battle instead 4.