Battle of the Coral Sea Part 4

Ok time to wrap up the battle of the Coral Sea in June 1942 a much more crucial sea battle was to take place this was the battle of Midway. By mid-May Allied Intelligence had discovered that the Japanese intended to attack the U S territories of Midway Island in the Central Pacific and the Aleutians in the North Pacific.

This would give the Japanese a strategic superiority in the Pacific, and that wasn’t something the Allies wanted so the Americans sent the carriers USS Enterprise, USS Hornet and USS Yorktown to an are north of Midway.

                        A Japanese Carrier

The Japanese commander, Yamamoto ordered his four large carries, Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu and Soryu south from Japan to attack Midway Islan.

On the 3 June both sides saw each other, and the next day U S aircraft sunk all four Japanese carriers, the main lose for America was the Yorktown.

So, the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway put an end to Japan’s naval superiority.

Of course, these things didn’t stop the Japanese war machine from attacking the east coast of Australia. On the night of the 31 May-1 June Japanese midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour, two of the subs were sunk but not before they managed to hit the depot ship Kuttabul, killing 19. Townsville which had an important airfield was also attacked on the 26 July.

                       Troops at Guadalcanal 

The battle of the Solomons inn August 1942 was significant among the many sea battles in the Southwest Pacific Area. It was fought mainly by the US Naval forces as they attempted to land troops and supplies on Guadalcanal. Three Australian ships were part of the force supporting the US supply ships. It was during this operation that the HMAS Canberra was sunk, north of Guadalcanal.

The Battle of the Coral Sea prevented a seaborne invasion of Port Moresby and is thought by many that it also saved Australia.  

From 1946 to I don’t know when there was something called Coral Sea Week Celebrations with marches by servicemen from both countries and social functions to express our thanks to the USA for its part in the battles and support given to us from the Americans in World War 11.

Next week we move on to the Kokoda Trail.