The Great Turkey Shoot: After their defeat at the Battle of Midway the Japanese lost the elite of their carrier forces, and were facing a new threat... the loss of the Philippines. When Admiral Spruance laid siege to the islands of Guam, Rota and Saipan, the Japanese high command had to commit its remaining carriers in a vain effort to stop him. So, as powerful as the Japanese Navy was, it was unknowingly about to engage a vastly superior American Carrier Fleet in the Battle Of Midway, nicknamed "The Great Turkey Shoot," for reasons about to be made apparent.