Coral Ocean Warfare Research Paper

Prior to the upcoming Coral Sea battle, a number of Japanese military messages had been intercepted by the U.S. Navy signals intelligence unit. The first, dated March 28, 1942, was encoded as stating “The objective of MO will be first to restrict the enemy fleet movements and will be accomplished by means of attacks on the north coast of Australia.” (“Battle of the Coral Sea”) Subsequent messages were intercepted that provided allied forces with updated details concerning IJN fleet progress, as well as elements of IJN plans that included battleship and carrier logistics. This resulted in the U.S. Navy’s deployment of a cotillion of numerous warships and support craft, and also the carriers Lexington and Yorktown (“Battle of the Coral Seas”). In the upcoming battle, these ships would do battle against a superior IJN force comprised of far more battleships, submarines and support craft, as well as aircraft carriers.

On December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter pilots attacked the U.S. naval base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Just over 2,000 men lost their lives during the attack. Just a few days later, the United States declared war on Japan. Five months after the attacks in May 1942, The Battle of the Coral Sea took place, which featured a victory for the Japanese. This battle happened to bo the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other. Though the battle ended in a victory for the Japanese, it turned out to be a strategic victory for the Allies. Several Japanese carriers were damaged during Coral Sea, and were used again in the Battle of Midway. This

In the beginning of war, Japanese victory in Pacific terrified West Cost Americans. Partial victory for Americans appeared when Japanese capital Tokyo was bombed. It was less of a material loss but huge in terms of psychological attack. It was followed by the Battle of Coral Sea in May 1942 and after that the decisive Battle of Midway Island took place. U.S. aircraft carriers destroyed three out of four Japanese carriers that sabotaged their further plans of invasion and they adopted a defensive strategy.

The Battle of Coral Sea took place in the Pacific Theater on May 4th -8th in 1942 and was fought between the Japanese Imperial Navy and the United States navy and naval air forces during the Second World War. The Battle of Coral Sea was the first air- sea battle in history, meaning that this was the first battle where the two opponents used a combination of the navy, which were the boats, and the naval air force, which were the fighter jets that belonged to the navy. In the Battle of Coral Sea, “the lead role was played by aircraft launched from ships at sea” (Battle of Coral Sea, History.com Staff). The battle began when Japan wanted to capture Port Moresby in New Guinea to allow them to target Northern Australia and cut the ties between

There were many battles that occurred in the Pacific during World War II, the most significant ones being the Battles of Midway, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. The Battle of Midway, an American naval victory in June 1942 is considered a significant point in the Pacific war with the Japanese fleet sustaining heavy losses and having to retreat. The Battle of Midway is significant as it firstly, “only lost one carrier… and it meant that four carriers (Enterprise, Hornet, Saratoga, and Wasp) were available when the U.S navy went on the offensive during the battle of Guadalcanal.” Secondly, subsequent to this battle, the Japanese would react to the Americans, and not the other way around, this meant that the “operational initiative” had passed

Wednesday evening June 3, aboard the carrier Hornet, Lieutenant Commander John Waldron gathered the members of Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8) for a briefing. VT-8 was flying the obsolete 1930’s vintage Douglas Devastators torpedo planes. They had not received a lot of flight training in their ten months in the navy. Most members had never taken off of a carrier carrying a torpedo but just six weeks earlier they had watch Doolittle’s B-25 bombers take off the Hornet for the raid on Tokyo. If Doolittle’s pilots could take off in a bomber, the members of VT-8 could handle taking off with a torpedo. A Japanese task force was threatening Midway Island and a battle to stop them was expected to occur tomorrow. Waldron told them not to worry about navigation but to just follow him. Waldron finished his briefing by

the obsolete and under gunned Douglas Devastators torpedo planes. They had not received a lot of flight training in their ten months in the navy. Most members had never taken off of a carrier carrying a torpedo but just six weeks earlier they had watch Doolittle’s B-25 bombers take off the Hornet for the raid on Tokyo. If Doolittle’s pilots could take off in a bomber, the members of VT-8 could handle taking off with a torpedo. A Japanese task force was threatening Midway Island and a battle to stop them was expected to occur tomorrow. Waldron told them not to worry about navigation but to just follow him. Waldron finished his briefing by handing out a mimeographed message which concluded with "If there is only one plane left to make a final run-in, I want that man to go in and get a hit.”

Have you ever experienced a non-stop fight for more than a day?Or even an hour of your life?The soldiers of The Battle of the Coral Sea did!On May 4,1942 The Americans and Australians held back the Japanese because if they hadn’t the Japanese would have won the way open for the Japanese to have captured New Guinea,and leave Australia isolated from Allied help and more open to a Japanese attack.

In the spring of 1942, a few months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Empire of Japan planned to attack southern New Guinea, to knock Australia and New Zealand. The Allies, including the United States, and Australia, assembled a large fleet in the Coral Sea to block the Empire of Japan. After several days of searching and fighting, the Japanese and Allied fleets found each other on May 8 and sent aircraft to attack the

On April 18, 1942, the Americans lunched their first attack on the Japanese inland area. The Japanese didn’t want their homeland to get destroyed so they pushed the American forces in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This is where the Japanese forces attacked back on the American aircraft and where the actual battle took place. As a result, the Japan had some devastating losses after losing 4 aircraft carriers at the end of the battle and the American only one aircraft carrier which was the Yorktown. They also lost over 3000 soldiers, 248 aircraft and number of other ship in the battle. This was the turning point of the war in pacific between the United States and Japan and it was one of the major wins for the Allies in the

Due to the significant changes the aircraft carrier caused in naval warfare, many commanders began to change their tactics. The Battle of Midway was one of the first battles to show these changes in tactics. During the battle, the cruisers and battleships provided additional anti-aircraft support,

The Battle of the Coral Sea, in early May 1942, was one of the major turning points of the Pacific War, The battle saved Australia, it impacted on the battle of Midway and it marked the beginning of the end for the Japanese.

The Pacific Theater of World War II ended on September 2, 1945, known as Victory over Japan Day or V-J Day, less than a month after the United States dropped an atomic bomb Hiroshima. The two atomic bombs dropped on Japan are widely seen as the events that eventually broke the enemy’s will to resist and caused Japan to surrender; however this outcome could not have taken place without numerous innovations that took place in the interwar period. Without one of these innovations, it is likely that the other may not have occurred; the innovations had to line up like the holes in slices of Swiss cheese. The United States Marine Corps developed doctrine that allowed successful amphibious operations throughout the Pacific, but ultimately it was the LVT amphibian tractor (AMTRAC) that won World War II in the Pacific Theater for the Allies by allowing US Marines to traverse shallow coral reefs—the natural defensive barriers of Pacific islands—to capture islands that were essential airfields that launched bombers which compelled Japan’s surrender.

On May 4,1942, through May 8, 1942, the battle of the Coral Sea took place. General Douglas MacAuthor was in charge of this battle under President Franklin Roosevelt. President Roosevelt ordered General MacAuthor to protect Australia. He decided to set up a defensive just North of the continent of Australia, in the town of Port Moresbyan, New Guinea. The Japanese military had been trying to take the Port by land but New Guinea’s treacherous mountains made it almost impassible. So the Japanese decided to attack by water. Japan sent a huge invasion fleet down past the Saloman Islands and into the Coral Sea. The Japanese were met with two large aircraft carriers, the USS YorkTown and USS Lexington. Until now aircraft carriers were new to war. These were first used in World War II. Now that the United States was utilizing aircraft carriers,

The crew used special techniques and ammunition, but the most common weapons that were used were guns. They had large guns and filled the ship with as many as it could carry. The needed armament powerful enough to win before the enemy caused too much damage (Dougherty 6).