The Zero could out-turn any US fighter throughout the war. In the early years of the war, it was up against the P40 (no superchargers = no climb rate), the P39 (samo samo), and the F4 Wildcat (couldn't turn with the zero, but could outrun it). Those planes saved Guadalcanal (and my uncle with the Raiders on Bloody Ridge). The Hellcat and the P38 are what ate up the rest of the zeros. And the coup de grace was from the P61 Black Widow night fighter, build along the same lines as the P38, but much bigger and heavier, and MORE maneuverable than the Zero with those great big Fowler flaps sliding out in the turns.

The Japanese were dead after Pearl Harbor. It just took time for them to notice...