Coral Sea

The first of the Pacific War’s six fights between opposing aircraft carrier forces was the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Battle of Coral Sea occurred from May 4-8, 1942. The Japanese decided to extend their defensive boundary outwards from their main forward base of Rabaul in New Britain, since they were so victorious in the Indian Ocean. Coral Sea was fought in the waters southwest of the Solomon Islands and eastward from New Guinea. This battle was an equipped and planned defeat for the Japanese, the first major check on the great offensive they had started five months previously at Pearl Harbor. The diversion of Japanese resources represented by the Coral Sea battle also had huge consequences just one month later at the Battle of Midway.
A Japanese operation planned to capture Port Moresby, located on New Guinea’s southeastern coast, essentially caused the Coral Sea action. There was a Japanese air base that threatened northeastern Australia and supported plans ...