Remembering those who served at the Battle of the Coral Sea

On this day, we remember the Battle of the Coral Sea during the Second World War. 

This engagement was significant for Australia because it prevented the Japanese from seizing Port Moresby by sea, forcing them to try to take it by land via the Kokoda Track – an attempt which ultimately failed. Establishing bases at Port Moresby and various Pacific islands in the area would have enabled the Japanese to more easily bomb our northern towns and cities.

While the US Navy was the major Allied combatant at the Battle of the Coral Sea, the Royal Australian Navy played an important role. 

The battle was the first in which enemy ships did not fire a single shot at or even sight one another. It was fought entirely by planes launched from aircraft carriers.

The 4-day battle began on 4 May 1942 when US aircraft attacked the Japanese at Tulagi in the Solomon Islands, due east of Port Moresby. They sank a Japanese destroyer, five float planes and several landing barges, and damaged a cruiser and a minelayer.

Two days later, the Allies discovered that the Japanese were sailing from Rabaul on New Britain towards Port Moresby, while their aircraft carriers were entering the Coral Sea to protect the invasion force. The Americans learned of this because they, with Australian assistance, had cracked the Japanese naval codes. 

The following morning, the cruisers HMAS Australia (II) and HMAS Hobart, along with 4 US warships, separated from the main Allied fleet and made for the Jomard Passage off the south-eastern tip of Papua (now Papua New Guinea) to intercept the Japanese fleet. This task force was under the command of Australian Rear Admiral John Crace. His objective was to prevent the Japanese invasion fleet from reaching Port Moresby.

Crace’s task force soon came under attack from Japanese torpedo-bombers, and even by 3 American bombers whose crews mistook them for Japanese warships. Fortunately, no ships were sunk. In fact, no Australians were reported to be killed during the battle itself, though Australian airmen were killed during reconnaissance operations beforehand. 

Meanwhile, the main Allied fleet went in search of the Japanese fleet, which it encountered on 7 May. While US naval aircraft inflicted significant damage on the Japanese, sinking a destroyer and an aircraft carrier, the Japanese in turn damaged the US carrier fleet, sinking one aircraft carrier and badly damaging another. Nearly 70 US and almost 100 Japanese aircraft were shot down and more than 500 US and more than 900 Japanese personnel were killed. While this was a tactical victory for the Japanese it was a strategic win for the Allies in that the Japanese were forced to call off their operation. It was the first time a Japanese amphibious offensive had failed. Their seemingly unstoppable expansion across the Pacific had received a serious setback, and Port Moresby remained in Allied hands. 

The battle was also important because it destroyed one of Japan’s few aircraft carriers and badly damaged another. That left the Japanese with only 4 carriers going into the decisive Battle of Midway a month later where the US Navy sank all 4, losing only one of their own. Unable to make up for the losses of these aircraft carriers, the pilots and their crew, Japan’s defeats at Coral Sea and Midway were turning points in the Pacific War.

We honour the service of all those who fought at the Battle of the Coral Sea.

To find out more about the battle, visit The Battle of the Coral Sea - Anzac Portal.

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The light cruiser HMAS Hobart in June 1943. Australian War Memorial, 300770.