Thread by @USMCMuseum

BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA

The Japanese military is still expanding in the Pacific. One of their main objectives was to cut off the US-Australia line. After wresting Rabaul from the Australians, they landed at Lae and Salamaua on 8 March. USS Lexington & USS Yorktown perform a strike on the landing force.

After the strike, the Lexington steamed to Pearl Harbor for a brief refit, but Yorktown stayed deployed near the Coral Sea. Admi Nimitz wants all his Pacific carriers to steam to the area, but the Hornet and Enterprise were still returning from the Doolittle Raid.

Next, the Japanese planned to take Port Moresby from which they would threaten Australia itself. Port Moresby’s defense forces were small, but by April, two American air groups reinforced Australian air assets to strike Japanese positions over the Owen Stanley Range.

The Japanese assembled a landing force at Rabaul. To support the operation, they started occupying Islands in the Solomons—Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanambogo—establishing seaplane bases for reconnaissance missions. The landing force included a light aircraft carrier.

They would leave Rabaul and try to slip through the Jomard Passage, a narrow gap in the reefs to the east of New Guinea. A carrier strike force, including 2 full-sized carriers, swung around the north of the Solomon Islands to enter the Coral Sea from the east.

Adm Fletcher ordered the Yorktown to strike the seaplane base on Tulagi on 4 May. The strike sank the Japanese destroyer Kikazuki, 4 landing barges & destroyed several seaplanes. The strike hampered Japan’s ability to collect intelligence on the US Fleet.

The same day, The USS Lexington entered the Coral Sea but needed fuel. Lexington’s Task Force 11 joined with Task Force 44, a group of 3 cruisers, 2 Australian and 1 American.

On 5 May, the Japanese carrier force hurried west and rounded the southwestern tip of the Solomon Islands looking for the carrier that raided Tulagi. Yorktown’s Task Force 17 rendezvous with Task Force 11 & Task Force 44 (combining into TF 17) & steam towards New Guinea.

6 May B-17 raid on the Carrier Shoho, but was unsuccessful. An American reconnaissance flight misses the Japanese fleet in the afternoon because of heavy cloud cover. Both the Allied and the Japanese Navies think the other is around, but they cannot locate each other.

The enemy carrier groups are only 70 miles away from one another. Unaware, the Allies begin refueling operations. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the remaining American forces under General Wainwright surrendered, including the 4th Marines.

Fletcher received intelligence that the Port Moresby invasion is planned for 10 May. On 7 May, Fletcher sends TF 44 (3 cruisers, 3 destroyers) west to await the arrival of the invasion group near the Jomard Passage under the command of Australian Adm John G. Crace.

On 7 May, the two carrier groups are still close, but neither knows where the other is. The Japanese believe the Americans are to their south. The Americans believe the Japanese are to their northwest. They are both wrong due to erroneous scouting reports.

Fletcher sent the oiler USS Neosho south with the destroyer USS Sims, believing they would be out of harm’s way. Japanese scouts see the ships where they expected the Lexington and Yorktown to be. American scouts mistakenly reported 2 aircraft carriers towards New Guinea.

Both launch attacks. Japanese airmen find the Sims and Neosho, but spend a long time looking for the carriers that aren’t there. They attack the two small ships. The Sims is destroyed, taking most of its crew. The Neosho is badly damaged and limps along for 4 more days.

The American strike finds the invasion group, along with the Japanese light carrier Shoho. The Americans focus on the carrier and hit it with so many bombs and torpedos that it sinks in minutes. American pilot CDR Robert Dixon famously reports “Scratch one flattop!”

The Shoho is the first Japanese carrier to sink in WWII. But there are still two more Japanese carriers lurking nearby. Both sides launch scouts early on May 8th The scouts discover each other’s carriers. Both sides launch strikes near simultaneously.

The American bombers arrived at the Japanese carrier group and attack the Shōkaku, scoring 3 bomb hits, damaging the carrier. The carrier Zuikaku is hidden in clouds, and the American strike force did not find it. The Shōkaku withdraws.

The Japanese strike force found the American carriers. Both carriers were hit. The Lexington suffered worsening secondary explosions. It was scuttled later that day. DC crew on the Yorktown pumped CO2 in the fuel lines which saved the ship, allowing it to fight at Midway.

The Japanese invasion force turned back. Both Shōkaku and Zuikaku’s air groups were so depleted that they did not participate in the Battle of Midway as planned, but the Yorktown was quickly repaired and returned to service.

Marines had only a small role in the battle, as they weren’t flying off of carriers at that point. Marine Detachments were on the ships and usually manned air defense guns, like these Marines on the Yorktown standing with their 20mm guns.

Cpl William Kuhl was part of Yorktown’s Marine Detachment and survived both the Battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, where the Yorktown sunk. He had his fellow Marines sign his seabag, which is now in the #USMCMuseum collection.

The Battle of Coral Sea was the first naval battle in history where the ships engaged did not directly engage each other. It was also regarded as the most “confused” naval battle in history too.

For the first time in the war, the Japanese advance was checked but not totally halted. The U.S. Army soon deployed ground forces to New Guinea, and the 1st Marine Division started planning to wrest the Solomon Islands away from the Japanese.

This Thread was adapted from NHHC’s site:
history.navy.mil/our-collection…

And CMH’s work “Victory in Papua” history.army.mil/html/books/005…

“Why We Fight” is a year-long series we will be collaborating on with our friends at @usacac @HQUSAFEAFAF and @LWC_UK in which we present our shared histories, focused mainly on the events of 1942 – that first year of American involvement in WWII.

⚡️ “Why We Fight: The Pacific Theater - 1942” by @USMCMuseum twitter.com/i/events/14842…