The battle of Coral Sea was a four day
skirmish that spanned from May 04th, 1942 until May 08th
1942. The battle was marked as the first air and sea
battle in the history of warfare.
The Japanese were seeking to take control of the Coral
Sea by capturing the Port Moresby in southeast New
Guinea. Luckily for the Allies, these plans were
intercepted.
The Japanese began landing in the area on May 4th but
came under attack from fighter planes that were
launched off near by aircraft carriers. Air strikes from
both sides were fired but most missed their targets.
When the main forces traded air strikes, the Americans
lost the carrier Lexington and the Yorktown was
damaged. The Japanese suffered damage to their
carrier, Shokaku.
Although both sides suffered damages to their carriers,
the battle left the Japanese without enough air support
to cover the ground attack resulting in an Allied victory.
In the end, the Allies lost 656 seaman while the
Japanese lost 966 seamen.
The aftermath had an important impact on the battle of
Midway a month later, reducing the Japanese forces
availability.
