Battle Of The Coral Sea Essay

Battle of the Coral Sea Research Paper The Battle of the Coral Sea is a significant four-day World War II skirmish that took place in May 1942 II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. Occurring only five months after the surprise Japanese attack on American forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and a month before the decisive battle at Midway, it was one of the first naval battles fought in the Pacific during World War II. It also marks the first air-sea battle in history. Neither side could see each other. Instead, they relied on planes launched from their aircraft carriers. Conflict in the Coral Sea began early in 1942, when Japan decided to block the Allies from setting up bases in Australia. Japan did this in order to strengthen their growing empire in the South Pacific. Under Operation MO, the Japanese
In the morning, the main carrier fleets found each other almost simultaneously. Yorktown’s SBD dive bombers arrived first, sighting Zuikaku and Shokaku at 10:32 a.m.. Surprisingly, the carriers had no air cover. Instead of attacking immediately, the dive bombers hovered for 20 minutes, as it was instructed, to wait for the slower Yorktown torpedo bombers to arrive for a coordinated strike. During this time, the Japanese carriers were covered by a storm. Eventually, the clouds parted long enough to reveal Shokaku. Hampered by the poor weather, the Yorktown dive bombers were only albe to hit the Shokaku with only two bombs. A few minutes later, Lexington dive bombers found Shokaku and hit with a third bomb. Shokaku’s flight deck was wrecked, but Zuikaku was not hit. Still, both carriers had both their air groups diminished to only 39 percent of its original size. Both the Japanese carriers limped home for repairs and were take taken out of service for two months. This effectively prevented them from taking part in the Battle of