Battle of the Coral Sea (Read 992 times)

:salute
On 4 May 1942, just shy of 5 months since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Coral Sea began. The Imperial Japanese Navy had invaded Tulagi, in the Solomon Islands, the previous day and the United States Naval Air Forces responded with an attack by dive bombers and torpedo bombers on the Japanese fleet. The first U.S. Naval planes flew from the deck of the USS Yorktown. There were losses of ships from both sides before the battle was done. The greatest American loss was the USS Lexington.
The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first major naval battle in history in which the two navies ships never saw each other. It was the first major battle that was fought strictly with aircraft.
It was a technical victory for Japan, but a moral and situational victory for the U.S. It became a prelude to the Battle of Midway and further battles that saw more and more victories for American air-power.
I have read a couple of books over the years that are about the Battle of the Coral Sea. It is a fascinating piece of the history of our Navy and it's aircraft carriers. There were many brave men who fought this battle, on both sides, flying some pretty primitive planes by our current standards. But, fight they did. Many gave the full-measure of their devotion to their countries and many planes were shot down.
A salute to the brave men who faught the first decisive battle of WW2 by the U.S. forces. The war in Europe and North Africa tended to get the major part of the reporting, but the war in the Pacific was won, at least the victory was started, over the blue waters surrounding the Solomon Islands this week in 1942.
:patriotic-flagwaver