Coral Sea 1942

Coral Sea 1942

After the devastating attack on Pearl Harbour, the Americans suffered setback after setback in the Pacific.<br /><br />In May 1942, the Japanese were poised to take Port Moresby in New Guinea. <br /><br />At all costs the Americans had to stop them. <br /><br />Admiral Frank Fletcher was dispatched with two aircraft carriers - Yorktown and Lexington - with orders to destroy the Japanese invasion force.<br /><br />The fate of the Pacific was in the balance. <br /><br />'Coral Sea 1942' tells the dramatic story of that conflict. <br /><br />The battle spread over five days as each side desperately searched for the other. At first, all Fletcher could find were side shows. He smashed a secondary invasion at Tulagi. He sank the light carrier Shōhō protecting the invasion fleet. But only on the fifth day did he find his real prey: the carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku. The Zuikaku fled to hide under thick cloud, while the Shōkaku was pounded by American bombers and torpedo planes. Crippled, she too fled.<br /><br />Meanwhile the Japanese carrier planes mounted attack after attack on the Yorktown and Lexington. The latter was mortally damaged by volcanic-sized explosions in her fuel tanks.<br /><br />But the great Coral Sea victory came at a price. Pilots died in dog-fights; crippled planes fell into the sea; damaged planes crashed onto carrier flight decks; and pilots found themselves stranded on remote islands.<br /><br />But the battle was an American triumph. Japan entered it as an aggressor at the peak of her imperial power. She left the battle with her dominance shattered.<br /><br />The tide had turned.<br /><br />'Coral Sea 1942' is a brilliantly concise and insightful guide to one of the greatest naval battles of the 20th-century. <br /><br />Richard Freeman graduated in mathematics before following a career in distance education. He now writes on naval history. His other books include ‘Britain’s Greatest Naval Battle’ and ‘A Close Run Thing: The Navy and the Falkland War’.<br /><br />Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.