us navy ship losses world war 2 south pacific islands

Because of the loss of carrier air cover, Inoue also recalled the Port Moresby invasion fleet.

fleet carrier Lexington critically damaged and later scuttled, and the fleet carrier Yorktown lightly damaged.īoth sides having suffered heavy aircraft losses and carriers sunk or damaged, the two forces disengaged and retired from the area. On 8 May, both sides finally located and attacked the other's fleet carriers, leaving the Japanese fleet carrier Shōkaku damaged, the U.S. sank the Japanese light carrier Shōhō, and the Japanese sank the Sims, a destroyer, and damaged the fleet oiler Neosho. The next day, both fleets launched airstrikes against what they thought was the enemy fleet carriers, but both sides actually attacked other targets. On the evening of 6 May, the two carrier fleets closed to within 70 nmi (81 mi 130 km) but did not detect each other in the darkness. Alerted to the presence of enemy aircraft carriers, the Japanese fleet carriers advanced towards the Coral Sea to locate and destroy the Allied naval forces. On 3–4 May, Japanese forces invaded and occupied Tulagi, although several supporting warships were sunk or damaged in a surprise attack by the U.S. Navy carrier task forces and a joint Australian-American cruiser force to oppose the offensive, under the overall command of U.S. learned of the Japanese plan through signals intelligence and sent two U.S. Two fleet carriers and a light carrier were assigned to provide air cover for the invasion forces, under the overall command of Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue. The plan, Operation Mo, involved several major units of Japan's Combined Fleet. To strengthen their defensive position in the South Pacific, the Japanese decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby (in New Guinea) and Tulagi (in the southeastern Solomon Islands). Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the battle was the first naval action in which the opposing fleets neither sighted nor fired upon one another, attacking over the horizon from aircraft carriers instead. The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia.

Us navy ship losses world war 2 south pacific islands