At 10:12, Fletcher received a report of an aircraft carrier, ten transports, and 16 warships 30nmi (35mi; 56km) south of Nielsen's sighting at 1035S 15236E / 10.583S 152.600E / -10.583; 152.600. On 5 April, the U.S. intercepted an IJN message directing a carrier and other large warships to proceed to Inoue's area of operations. Nimitz, after consultation with Admiral Ernest King, Commander in Chief of the United States Fleet, decided to contest the Japanese operation by sending all four of the Pacific Fleet's available aircraft carriers to the Coral Sea. Beginning in December 1941, the Japanese had devastated the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor, seized Hong Kong, conquered Southeast Asia, the Dutch East Indies and much of the Philippines, and terrorized the Indian Ocean with a naval sweep. Singapore had surrendered, and Bataan fell. Abe's ships departed Rabaul for the 840nmi (970mi; 1,560km) trip to Port Moresby on 4 May and were joined by Kajioka's force the next day. A third explosion occurred at 15:25 and at 15:38 the ship's crew reported the fires as uncontrollable. The rest of Lexington's dive bombers were unable to find the Japanese carriers in the heavy clouds. Bad weather during two attempts to make the delivery on 23 May compelled the aircraft to return to the carriers, stationed 240nmi (280mi; 440km) from Rabaul, and one of the Zeros was forced to ditch in the sea. [18], The Japanese Port Moresby Invasion Force, commanded by Rear Admiral Ks Abe, included 11 transport ships carrying about 5,000 soldiers from the IJA's South Seas Detachment plus approximately 500 troops from the 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF). Based on these reports, Takagi, who was still awaiting the return of all of his aircraft from attacking Neosho, turned his carriers due west at 13:30 and advised Inoue at 15:00 that the U.S. carriers were at least 430nmi (490mi; 800km) west of his location and that he would therefore be unable to attack them that day. Of these, three more Zeros, four dive bombers and five torpedo planes were judged damaged beyond repair and were immediately jettisoned into the sea. Operation Mo (MO, Mo Sakusen) or the Port Moresby Operation was a Japanese plan to take control of the Australian Territory of New Guinea during World War II as well as other locations in the South Pacific. Around 14:42, another large explosion occurred, starting a second severe fire. Director Paul Wendkos Writers Daniel B. Ullman (screenplay) Stephen Kandel (screenplay) Stars Cliff Robertson Gia Scala Teru Shimada See production, box office & company info At 11:00, Yorktown's air group attacked the burning and now almost stationary carrier, scoring with up to 11 more 1,000lb (450kg) bombs and at least two torpedoes. 8 April 1942 5 may 1956 8 may 1956 Question 2 30 seconds Q. The rest of Marumo's Cover Force then took station near the D'Entrecasteaux Islands to help screen Abe's oncoming convoy. [33], At 08:16 on 5 May, TF17 rendezvoused with TF11 and TF44 at a predetermined point 320nmi (370mi; 590km) south of Guadalcanal (15S 160E / 15S 160E / -15; 160). Although Zuikaku was undamaged, she had lost a large number of aircraft in the battle, and the Japanese apparently did not even consider trying to include Zuikaku in the forthcoming operation. Japan planned to use these conquered territories to establish a perimeter defense for its empire from which it expected to employ attritional tactics to defeat or exhaust any Allied counterattacks. [86], On 9 May, TF17 altered course to the east and proceeded out of the Coral Sea via a route south of New Caledonia. The Battle of Midway became one of the most important American naval victories of World War II. Lexington's TBDs missed Shkaku with all 11 of their torpedoes. 4-5 June 1942; Japanese plan to capture Midway and Aleutians, last 2 locations US could operate against Japan from and gain sea control by luring US carriers out to sea and destroying them; tactically, US victory, US lost 1/3 carriers, Japan lost 4/4; operationally, Japanese failed to achieve sea control in decisive sea battle; strategically, Japanese lost all large carriers, US industry . The eight scout aircraft reached the end of their 200nmi (230mi; 370km) search leg and turned back without seeing Fletcher's ships. In just over six weeks, German armed forces overran Belgium and the Netherlands, drove the British Expeditionary Force from the Continent, captured Paris, and forced the surrender of the French government. Meanwhile aerial conflicts in South-West Pacific area have been continuing, and yesterday further damage . Both groups found and attacked Crace's ships at 14:30 and claimed to have sunk a "California-type" battleship and damaged another battleship and cruiser. "[54], The U.S. aircraft returned and landed on their carriers by 13:38. Got's cruisers surrounded the carrier in a diamond formation, 3,0005,000yd (2,7004,600m) off each of Shh's corners. Escorting Zeros shielded Takahashi's aircraft from four Lexington CAP Wildcats which attempted to intervene, but two Wildcats circling above Yorktown were able to disrupt Ema's formation. At this time, Shkaku and Zuikaku were about 10,000yd (9,100m) apart, with Zuikaku hidden under a rain squall of low-hanging clouds. [56], At 12:40, a Deboyne-based seaplane sighted and reported Crace's detached cruiser and destroyer force on a bearing of 175, 78nmi (90mi; 144km) from Deboyne. Tulagi and Guadalcanal were four hours flying time from Rabaul, the nearest large Japanese base. Fletcher concluded that by the time his scout aircraft found the remaining carriers it would be too late in the day to mount a strike. It is the first battle in which enemy fleets never came within sight of one another. Takahashi's bombers damaged Lexington with two bomb hits and several near misses, causing fires which were contained by 12:33. [52], The U.S. strike aircraft sighted Shh a short distance northeast of Misima Island at 10:40 and deployed to attack. In 1942 submarine commander Jeff Conway secretly photographs Japanese aircraft carriers in the Coral Sea but his submarine is damaged and he's forced to surrender. Hidden by a rain squall, Zuikaku escaped detection, but Shkaku was hit three times by bombs and was unable to launch or recover her aircraft. By 27 April, further signals intelligence confirmed most of the details and targets of the MO and RY plans. 8 May 1942. [47] Takagi and Hara considered that the conflicting reports might mean that the U.S. carrier forces were operating in two separate groups. Two U.S. dive bombers and two CAP Zeros were shot down during the attack. answer choices 8 May 1942. Special Exhibit at The National WWII Museum, on view from April 18 - July 8, 2012. The battle would prove significant as the first aircraft carrier . answer choices Australia and Japan America and Japanese Imperial forces Japan and Germany Question 3 30 seconds Q. what was Americas Carrier dive - bomber answer choices SBD 4WD D32 Jeep Question 4 The Japanese did not know the location of the remaining carrier, but did not expect a U.S. carrier response to MO until the operation was well under way. On June 22, 1941, the German offensive was launched by three army groups under the same commanders as in the invasion of France in 1940: on the left (north), an army group under Leeb struck from East Prussia into the Baltic states toward Leningrad; on the right (south), another army group, under Rundstedt, with an armoured group under Kleist, On 34 May, Japanese forces successfully invaded and occupied Tulagi, although several supporting warships were sunk or damaged in a surprise attack by the U.S. carrier Yorktown. [100] Unlike the Japanese, the U.S. Navy was willing to put one aircraft carrier's air group on another ship. At 14:22, Fitch notified Fletcher that he had reports of two undamaged Japanese carriers and that this was supported by radio intercepts. Although the damage was estimated to take 90 days to repair, Nimitz gave the shipyard only three days, and only the most critical repairs were made to make the ship seaworthy. In reality, Crace's ships were undamaged and shot down four G4Ms. In early May 1942, the Japanese despatched an invasion fleet from Rabaul to take Port Moresby, Papua. The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. The skies over the U.S. carriers were mostly clear, with 17nmi (20mi; 31km) visibility. codebreakers. Although Got's force included the light carrier Shh, Nielsen thought that he saw two cruisers and four destroyers and thus the main fleet. Battle of the Coral Sea Courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command Dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan surrendered in August 1945 because the United States? Neosho with Japanese Aircraft on May 7, 1942; Subsequent Loss of U.S.S. The film ends with footage of the Battle of the Coral Sea (1942), which according to the film was made possible through the information brought back by the submariners. Both the U.S. and Japanese carrier warship forces turned to head directly for each other's location at high speed in order to shorten the distance their aircraft would have to fly on their return legs. [11], Unknown to the Japanese, the U.S. Navy, led by the Communication Security Section of the Office of Naval Communications, had for several years enjoyed increasing success with penetrating Japanese communication ciphers and codes. Port Moresby was vital to Allied strategy and its garrison could well have been overwhelmed by the experienced Japanese invasion troops. Fletcher understood that Crace would be operating without air cover since TF17's carriers would be busy trying to locate and attack the Japanese carriers. Takagi's staff assumed the aircraft was shadowing Fletcher's carriers and determined if the Allied ships held that course, they would be within striking range shortly before nightfall. The five I-class submarines supporting the MO operation were retasked to support an attack on Sydney Harbour three weeks later as part of a campaign to disrupt Allied supply lines. [27], On the morning of 1 May, TF17 and TF11 united about 300nmi (350mi; 560km) northwest of New Caledonia (.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}1616S 16220E / 16.267S 162.333E / -16.267; 162.333). Inoue believed the capture and control of these locations would provide greater security and defensive depth for the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain.