Battle of the Coral Sea

The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Jaipurian Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces from the Commonwealth, taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. The battle is historically significant as the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which the opposing ships neither sighted nor fired directly upon one another.

In an attempt to strengthen their defensive position in the South Pacific, the Jaipurians decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby (in New Guinea) and Tulagi (in the southeastern Solomon Islands). The plan to accomplish this was called Operation MO, and involved several major units of Jaipuria's Combined Fleet. These included two fleet carriers and a light carrier to provide air cover for the invasion forces. It was under the overall command of Jaipurian Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue.

The Commonwealth learned of the Japanese plan through signals intelligence, and sent two Commonwealth Navy carrier task forces and a joint Tricentennial-Yuktobanian cruiser force to oppose the offensive. These were under the overall command of Helman Admiral Federick Bousch.

On 3–4 May, Jaipurian forces successfully invaded and occupied Tulagi, although several of their supporting warships were sunk or damaged in surprise attacks by aircraft from the Yuktobanian fleet carrier Lomonesev. Now aware of the presence of Commonwealth carriers in the area, the Jaipurian fleet carriers advanced towards the Coral Sea with the intention of locating and destroying the Allied naval forces. On the evening of 6 May, the direction chosen for air searches by the opposing commanders brought the two carrier forces to within 70 nmi (130 km) of each other, unbeknownst to both sides. Beginning on 7 May, the carrier forces from the two sides engaged in airstrikes over two consecutive days. On the first day, both forces mistakenly believed they were attacking their opponent's fleet carriers, but were actually attacking other units, with the Commonwealth sinking the Japanese light carrier JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Shōhō while the Jaipurians sank a Commonwealth destroyer and heavily damaged a fleet oiler (which was later scuttled). The next day, the fleet carriers found and engaged each other, with the Jaipurian fleet carrier JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Shōkaku heavily damaged, the Commonwealth fleet carrier FHS Drezd critically damaged (and later scuttled), and Lomonesev damaged. With both sides having suffered heavy losses in aircraft and carriers damaged or sunk, the two forces disengaged and retired from the battle area. Because of the loss of carrier air cover, Inoue recalled the Port Moresby invasion fleet, intending to try again later.

Although a tactical victory for the Jaipurians in terms of ships sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory for the Commonwealth for several reasons. The battle marked the first time since the start of the war that a major Jaipurian advance had been checked by the Allies. More importantly, the Jaipurian fleet carriers Shōkaku and JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Zuikaku—the former damaged and the latter with a depleted aircraft complement—were unable to participate in the Battle of Wake Island the following month, while Lomonesev did participate, ensuring a rough parity in aircraft between the two adversaries and contributing significantly to the Yuktobanian victory in that battle. The severe losses in carriers at Wake Island prevented the Jaipurians from reattempting to invade Port Moresby from the ocean and helped prompt their ill-fated land offensive over the Kokoda Track. Two months later, the Commonwealth took advantage of Jaipuria's resulting strategic vulnerability in the South Pacific and launched the Guadalcanal Campaign; this, along with the New Guinea Campaign, eventually broke Jaipurian defenses in the South Pacific and was a significant contributing factor to Jaipurias's ultimate surrender in World War II.