Japan Invades Tulagi: Coral Sea Battle Begins

Japanese naval infantry waded ashore at Tulagi in the Solomon Islands on May 3, 1942, seizing the small island and its harbor as part of Operation Mo, a complex plan to capture Port Moresby in New Guinea and extend Japan's defensive perimeter deep into the South Pacific. The landing triggered a sequence of naval engagements that became the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval battle in history where opposing ships never saw or fired directly at each other. Tulagi's seizure was a supporting operation. The main Japanese force, built around the light carrier Shoho and the fleet carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku, was tasked with covering an amphibious invasion of Port Moresby, which would have given Japan air superiority over northern Australia and threatened Allied supply lines across the Pacific. Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue coordinated the operation from Rabaul. American codebreakers at Station Hypo in Hawaii had partially decrypted Japanese naval communications and knew the general outlines of Operation Mo. Admiral Chester Nimitz dispatched the carriers Lexington and Yorktown, under Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, to intercept. Fletcher's aircraft struck the Tulagi landing force on May 4, sinking a destroyer and several smaller vessels, but the main carrier engagement did not develop until May 7-8. The two-day carrier battle produced mixed tactical results. American aircraft sank the Shoho on May 7, the first Japanese carrier lost in the war. The next day, both sides launched full strikes against each other's fleet carriers. Shokaku was heavily damaged, and the Lexington, hit by torpedoes and bombs, was abandoned and scuttled after uncontrollable aviation fuel fires. Yorktown was damaged but survived. The strategic consequences far outweighed the tactical ambiguity. The Port Moresby invasion was abandoned, marking the first time a Japanese offensive had been turned back. Both Shokaku and Zuikaku were unavailable for the Battle of Midway a month later, a factor that contributed to Japan's decisive defeat there.