Battle of the Coral Sea

battle_name=Battle of the Coral Sea

Significance

In tactical terms, the Japanese had had a narrow victory: one small carrier lost and a large carrier damaged, against the loss of a large carrier and equivalent damage to another. But from the Allied point of view, after five months of continuous defeat, a battle that came out almost even was close enough to a victory as not to matter.

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The seaborne invasion of Port Moresby was averted. Moresby was vital to Allied strategy, and could not have been defended by the ground forces then stationed there. The loss of Port Moresby may well have meant the loss of Australia, and would certainly have been a dreadful blow to the Allied cause. Without a toehold in New Guinea, the subsequent Allied advance, difficult though it was, would have been much harder still. As a result of the Coral Sea battle, the Japanese were forced to attempt taking Moresby overland. The consequent delay was just long enough to permit the arrival of veteran AIF soldiers to fight the Kokoda Track campaign and the Battle of Milne Bay, which in turn relieved pressure on US forces at the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Related Topics:
AIF - Kokoda Track campaign - Battle of Milne Bay - Battle of Guadalcanal

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The US Navy learned a great deal from the Battle of the Coral Sea. From the loss of Lexington, the Navy learned better ways to contain aviation fuel, and control defensive fighter aircraft; from the attacks on the Japanese carriers, it learned more about coordination of dive-bombers and torpedo bombers to best effect (too late to help with Midway, but of value longer-term), and, perhaps most importantly of all, it learned that the Japanese could perhaps be beaten.

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The loss of Lexington was a severe blow, but in time, the US was able to replace the ship, aircraft, and trained crew with others, superior in all respects. The damage to Yorktown was estimated to require months in port, but in a miracle of improvisation, she was made more-or-less battle-worthy after just three days in Pearl, and was then able to play a vital part in the most important battle of the Pacific war: Midway.

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Although Zuikaku was only slightly damaged, with only 40 aircraft left, she was in no condition to fight, and had to return to Japan to replenish. Shokaku took six months to repair. Neither carrier was able to take part in the crucial battle of Midway—a very close-fought encounter that either carrier may have been able to have turned.

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Less directly but no less significantly, the loss of highly-trained aircrew from the Japanese carriers was never to be made up. Prior to the battles of the Coral Sea and (even more so) Midway, Japanese naval aviation was unchallengeable in two oceans. Long years of hard peace-time training, and real-life exercises against the hapless Chinese, and the scarcely less-hapless Western Allies, had honed an elite group of flyers. Japan could manufacture plenty of replacement aircraft, and at least a few replacement carriers, but could not replace the most skilled naval pilots in the world. From this point on, Japanese naval aviation began to decline.

Related Topics:
Midway - Chinese

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