Posted on 05/08/2018 4:22:18 PM PDT by Jacquerie
World War II was less than six months old when the American public, already stunned by the debacles at Pearl Harbor and Guam, faced one of its darkest moments. Thousands of miles across the Pacific, the American commander in the Philippines, Maj. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, surrendered to the Japanese.
But the tides of war often turn dramatically. Within 72 hours, American ships, planes, and sheer guts would turn gloom and despair into optimism and hope in a little-known portion of the South Pacific. The naval encounter in the Coral Sea, the lustrous waters bordering Australia’s northeast coast, would knock the Japanese back on their heels and give both the American public and its military cause to celebrate.
The Japanese steamed into the Coral Sea with every reason to believe that another success lay before them. They had triumphed everywhere in the Pacific since December 7, 1941, when they had administered a crushing blow to ill-prepared American naval units at Pearl Harbor. What could possibly halt them now?
“Call Coral Sea what you will,” wrote Samuel Elliot Morison, “it was an indispensable preliminary to the great victory of Midway.” That in itself made the Battle of the Coral Sea a signal chapter in American military history.
(Excerpt) Read more at warfarehistorynetwork.com ...
https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/people/chiefs-of-naval-operations/fleet-admiral-ernest-j--king.html
God only help us if we ever need to fight a war like this again because we’ll be fighting the enemy abroad and the liberals at home.
Took 48 hrs. She arrived at Pearl Harbor 27 May, sailed out on 30 May and performed a crucial role at Midway starting 4 June.
We could do things back then.
At the time, we were fighting the same conservative isolationists we have right here on Free Republic now
An alternative was proposed to cut Australia off from America, American protection and supplies.
These troop transports were to implement a plan eventually to occupy New Caledonia, Samoa and Fiji. Coral Sea put paid to that plan. A bonus was saving the Australian toe hold on New Guinea at Port Moresby. That would later be the base from which MacArthur and the Aussies would retake the island.
A very important battle.
Ping
I think the most important result of Coral Sea was that it was the first time anyone had gone toe to toe with the Japanese Navy and done OK. We knew we could win.
It was a slight tactical victory for the Japanese but it did stop them.
I think King chastised Nimitz for not having the cruiser force chase after the retreating IJN at Coral Sea.
Yorktown was heavily damaged and the frontline carrier Lexington (the Lady Lex) was lost. The japanese lost an auxillary carrier and slight damage to some other small time vessels. The biggest thing they lost was their nerve and momentum. Until this battle they thought the US was a push over. This gave them pause and turned them back toward home. Enter Midway and the attempt to lure the rest of our carriers to their destruction. Yorktown getting in the fight and the Japanese screw ups during the battle was a God given miracle, that and the fighting will of the US armed forces involved in both battles. I believe Coral Sea was where the expression”scratch one flattop” came from If this kind of heroism interest you read the book “Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors”.
Last of the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard workers left her on one of the tugs that escorted her out of the harbor.
Included rolling blackouts in Honolulu to keep the arc-welders going.
I’m not sure if Lt. Cmdr. Joseph J. Rochefort ever received the Congressional Medal of Honor, but if there was anyone who deserved it, it was Rochefort.
Both sides showed great bravery at Coral Sea and especially Midway.
I saw a program about Midway a few months ago on one of the History type channels. The thing which surprised me was they said that of all the pilots who fought at Midway on both sides, most of them died.
That is an incredibly vicious battle.
Besides the sinking of the light carrier Shoho. The Fleet Carriers Zuikaku and Shokaku were heavily damaged. The Japanese engineers did not think that they could be repaired in theater, so both carriers were ordered back to Japan for repairs. The repairs were not completed in time to sail the Carrier Task Force bound for the Midway operation.
That is why the Odds at Midway were 3 to 4 instead of 3 to 6.
Another thing the show I just mentioned stated was about Japanese casualties.
I have never seen or attempted to look them up but they said the Japanese losses at Coral Sea were particularly bad for pilots, and air crew.
Adding those plus mechanics they lost at Midway, the Japanese Navy never fully recovered from those losses. At Midway they actually had brought in instructor pilots to replace those lost at Coral Sea.
You're right, many Americans opposed the waste of foreign interventionism and foresaw it would spell the end of the Republic and birth of an Empire. Over 20 trillion in debt and hundreds of thousands of dead Americans later we have the Empire, but the Republic is gone.
Congrats.
I forgot about those carriers being damaged that badly. They maybe the carriers Halsey was chasing north during the battle for Leyette Gulf. The Japanese gave the shipyard personnel all the motivation they needed at Pearl Harbor to turn Yorktown around for Midway. Another good book about our pilots at Midway. Is the book “ A Dawn Like Thunder”. Fiction is a waste of time when the real deal is stuff no one could make up.
So true.
"Japanese aircraft aboard Kuikaku prepare for a morning sortie on May 5, 1942." Should read "Zuikaku", not "Kuikaku".
"Bypassing an American destroyer, a Japanese dive-bomber heads straight for the carrier Lexington." The reference to a "dive-bomber" should read "torpedo-bomber". The aircraft is a Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpeod-bomber.
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