Before World War II, naval battle was a face-to-face confrontation between ships with heavy artillery. It was not until the appearance of the aircraft carrier that the "no encounter" combat mode of the two fleets followed.
During World War II, in order to control the southwest Pacific Ocean,1May 942, the Japanese fleet arrived in the Coral Sea. At that time, the number of American ships was at a disadvantage, but because they deciphered the Japanese code, they mastered the enemy's action plan. On May 7, the US reconnaissance plane found the Japanese aircraft carrier "Xiangfeng" acting alone with four cruisers, immediately assembled two aircraft carriers, sent 76 planes to attack the "Xiangfeng" quickly, and sank it in only 15 minutes.
At the same time, the Japanese fleet received false information and attacked several transport fleets regarded as aircraft carriers. In the process of continuing the search, Japanese and American planes met and fought in the air. By the early morning of May 8, the reconnaissance planes of both sides found each other almost at the same time, so they both sent planes to attack each other in formation. Both aircraft carriers were injured to varying degrees in the bombing, and the Lexington aircraft carrier sank, which was considered as a draw.
This naval battle is completely a carrier-based battle, and the two fleets decide the outcome from a long distance, creating a precedent for carrier-based warfare in the history of naval warfare. Therefore, it is highly valued by military scholars.
Introduction to the Battle of Coral Sea
The Battle of Coral Sea was a maritime battle in the Coral Sea from May 4th to May 8th, 1942. It was an important battle in the Pacific War. This is the first naval battle involving aircraft carriers, the first naval battle in which both fleets have disappeared, and the first naval battle in which neither side's warships fired at enemy ships. This confrontation did not have much impact on the combat effectiveness of both sides, but even so, both sides gained valuable experience from this battle and prepared for the naval battle of midway a month later.
Prewar background
At the beginning of 1942, the Japanese army occupied the whole southeast Asia in just a few months. At this time, Japan's military strength can be said to be in full swing. On the contrary, the United States and its allies have repeatedly fought and lost. At this time, our allies are actively learning the lessons of failure, hoarding armaments and preparing to fight back against Japan at an appropriate time. At this time, the strategy of the Coalition forces is to increase the strength of the US Army and Marine Corps in New Caledonia as soon as possible, and also increase the strength of the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force in southern and eastern New Guinea.
On March 12, Japanese Prime Minister and Minister of the Army tojo hideki said:
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Australia and New Zealand are being threatened by the Japanese. They should know that any resistance is futile. If the Australian government insists on not changing its attitude towards Japan, she will suffer the same fate as the Dutch East India.
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-Battle of the Coral Sea-4-8 May, 1942
1in April, 942, the Japanese fleet left the rabaul base in New Britain and landed in port moresby in the southeast of New Guinea and Tulaji Island in the south of Solomon Islands. The Japanese attack on both sides has three main purposes: one is to control Solomon Islands and its surrounding waters, where there is a seaplane base. Second, conquer port moresby. Third, I hope that after the first and second goals are achieved, the US aircraft carrier formation can be forced to participate in the war and be wiped out.
Historians are divided on the long-term intentions of the Japanese. The problem is that Japan plans to greatly strengthen the Solomon Islands, insisting on using it as a fortress against any future American counterattack, and then may try to occupy other islands in the South Pacific to isolate Australia and the United States. But there was no plan to invade Australia at that time. In fact, Japan's military planning structure is complex, and the division of regional responsibilities is unclear, which is dragged down by the constant fierce quarrel between the army and the navy. At present, there is only one credible inference about the long-term plan of the Japanese army in the South Pacific: it is a challenge for the army to formulate the future prospects of the navy regardless of its strategy.
The three Japanese fleets, which mainly invaded Solomon Islands and port moresby, consisted of two newly-built large aircraft carriers, a small aircraft carrier "Xiangfeng", two heavy cruisers and support ships. The allied forces learned through the intercepted radio that the Japanese land-based fighter had moved south and a battle was about to start. At the same time, the American Yorktown has entered the Coral Sea under the command of Major General Jack Fletcher, the aircraft carrier Lexington is still on its way, and another allied joint surface fleet has also come to participate in the war. Although Bumblebee and Enterprise rushed south after Du Lide bombed Tokyo, they arrived too late to take part in the battle.
Start a war.
On may 1, Lexington joined the battle sequence of Yorktown. On May 3rd, the Japanese army occupied Tulaji Island without any accident, and began to build a seaplane base. After refueling, the Yorktown approached tulagi on May 4th, and made three successful attacks on Japanese ships and fighter planes. This also let the Japanese know the emergence of the American aircraft carrier. However, before the American aircraft carrier retreated south to join Lexington and the newly joined cruisers, they sank at least one destroyer, destroyed the seaplane base and damaged many ships. At the same time, two large Japanese aircraft carriers approached from the south of Solomon Islands, just surrounding the allied fleet.
On May 6th, the land-based bomber B- 17 attacked the invading fleet approaching port moresby, and the success rate was extremely low. Although the reconnaissance planes of both sides expanded their search scope, the cloudy weather made it impossible for both sides to find each other. The two fleets spent the whole night searching for each other, but they were only 70 miles apart.
That night, Fletcher thought that his first task was to defend port moresby, so he had to make a difficult decision: split the main allied surface fleet in two, and the fleet led by Australian Major General John Keres blocked the possible invasion fleet. Couriss's fleet consists of cruisers Ossie, Chicago and Hobart, and destroyers Perkins, Waikiki and Ferrakat. Fletcher and Couriss knew that exposing surface ships to land-based fighters without air cover would only repeat the tragedy of the Prince of Wales and the lost enemy five months ago. However, what they were afraid of was that on the afternoon of May 7, a squadron of Japanese torpedo bombers locked the cruiser, followed by intensive air strikes. Fortunately or technically, the allied fleet actually escaped the intensive air strikes by the Japanese, with few casualties. However, a few minutes after fleeing the Japanese attack, Keres's fleet was bombed by friendly forces B- 17 at high altitude, and Perkins and Ferrakat escaped the friendly bombing again.
battle map
On May 7th, the carrier aircraft of the two fleets took off, but neither of them found each other, and they also attacked the ships attached to each other: the Japanese carrier aircraft found the fuel supply ships "Neo Shaw" and "Sims" of the American fleet, mistaking them for aircraft carriers and cruisers. After the attack, the USS Sims was sunk, and the USS Neosho was sunk. At the same time, the US carrier aircraft did not hit the two aircraft carriers "Shoukaku" and "Ruihe", but found the invading fleet escorted by the light aircraft carrier "Xiangfeng". Under the attack of American carrier aircraft, Xiangfeng sank quickly. In the past five months, the allied forces have lost more than a dozen warships, but none of them can sink a major target of Japan. Xiangfeng is a light aircraft carrier, but the concise radio message "Catch up with an aircraft carrier" sent back to Lexington represents the first victory of the allied fleet in the Pacific War.
At dawn on May 8, the two main carrier fleets finally found each other, and both sides tried their best to surprise each other. The carrier aircraft of both sides passed by in the air. Crane escaped detection because of the cover of rain, but Shoukaku was hit by a bomb three times, and the hull tilted and caught fire, so he could not take off and land the carrier aircraft, and actually quit the battle.
The burning of the aircraft carrier Lexington.
Two American aircraft carriers were also attacked by Japan: the Yorktown was hit by a bomb, and the Lexington, a larger but less powerful aircraft, was hit by bombs and torpedoes. Although Lexington survived the direct damage and could be repaired, the leaked aviation oil exploded an hour later, causing people to abandon the ship. The Lexington was also sunk by American torpedoes to avoid being captured by Japan.
Couriss's fleet continued to be blocked between the Japanese invasion fleet and mosby Port, while Inoue was misled by the strength of allied cruisers and destroyers pointed out in the report of returning carrier aircraft and ordered the invasion fleet to return. Due to Shoukaku's serious injury and the lack of carrier-based aircraft, Ruihe was unable to join the Japanese battle sequence in the Battle of Midway, which played a decisive role in the Pacific War a month later. The damaged Yorktown returned to Pearl Harbor for repair and maintenance.
Post-war results
Tactically, the Japanese army won a weak victory: sinking a small aircraft carrier and injuring a large aircraft carrier in exchange for sinking a large aircraft carrier and injuring an equally large aircraft carrier. But from the allied point of view, after five months of defeat, the result of this campaign is very close to victory.
Port moresby's maritime invasion was avoided, and port moresby's strategy to the allied forces was very important. It's impossible to be defended by ground troops and still be stationed there. Due to the lack of advantages in New Guinea, the allied forces' next progress is still very difficult. As a result of the Battle of Coral Sea, the Japanese were forced to try to capture port moresby by land, so the delay caused by this was enough for the experienced Royal Australian Army to arrive and fight in the Battle of Kokoda Trail and the Battle of milne bay, which also eased the pressure of the US military in the Battle of Guadalcanal.
The US Navy learned several important things in the Battle of Coral Sea: With the loss of Lexington, the US Navy learned to better protect jet fuel and how to control and defend carrier aircraft; From the attack on Japanese ships, the US military learned how to cooperate with dive bombers and torpedo bombers to achieve the best results.
The loss of Lexington sounded the alarm for the US military in the Pacific Ocean, but at that time, the US military could change its ships, fighter planes and trained personnel to another ship or fighter plane, which was the most important thing. It is estimated that the damage of York City needs to be repaired in Hong Kong for several months, but she miraculously recovered most of her combat capability three days after entering Pearl Harbor, and played an important role in the next key battle-the naval battle of Midway Island.
Although the "Ruihe" aircraft carrier was slightly damaged and there were 40 carrier-based aircraft, she still couldn't fight and had to go back to Japan for repair, while the "Xianghe" needed six months for repair, and neither of the two large aircraft carriers could participate in the naval battle of midway.
In the long run, the loss of well-trained pilots on Japanese ships is irreversible. Before the Battle of Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway Island, Japanese navy pilots and fighters were invincible in the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean. Long-term operations have enabled the Japanese army to train a number of elite pilots. Japan can produce many alternative fighters and a few alternative ships, but it is difficult to train highly skilled naval pilots, and the quality of Japanese naval pilots has since declined. From this perspective, the Japanese navy suffered a strategic failure in this battle.