Plus, the Japanese had lost an opportunity to eliminate the U.S. naval forces in the area, a result which would have taken even the comparatively resource-rich U.S. some time to recover from.
Hertil kom, at japanerne havde mistet en mulighed for at eliminere de amerikanske flådestyrker i området, et resultat, som ville have taget selv de forholdsvis ressourcerstærke amerikaner nogen tid at overvinde.