 Despite their failure to score any hits , the American torpedo attacks indirectly achieved three important results . First , they kept the Japanese carriers off balance and unable to prepare and launch their own counterstrike . Second , they pulled the Japanese combat air patrol ( CAP ) out of position . Third , many of the Zeros ran low on ammunition and fuel . The appearance of a third torpedo plane attack from the southeast by Torpedo Squadron 3 ( VT @-@ 3 from Yorktown ) at 10 : 00 very quickly drew the majority of the Japanese CAP to the southeast quadrant of the fleet . Better discipline , and the employment of a greater number of Zeroes for the CAP might have enabled Nagumo to prevent ( or at least mitigate the damage caused by ) the coming American attacks . 
