The Battle of the Coral Sea, May 1 to May 11 Inclusive, 1942. Strategical and Tactical Analysis

Setting a precedent in naval history, the Battle of the Coral Sea was the first major naval engagement in which the outcome was determined by air operations only; there was no gun action between surface ships. The Japanese and Allied forces attempted to destroy each other simultaneously by means of carrier-based air attacks. Allied and Japanese data are the basis of this record wherein the deployment and dispositions of the forces and the important weather factors are addressed and the three phases of the battle operations are recounted. Plates and diagrams clarify the course of the action, and battle lessons are drawn from the encounter. While the loss of the carrier Lexington represented a serious blow to the U.S. Navy, nevertheless this battle was an Allied success and laid the groundwork for misapprehensions by the Japanese command, resulting in their thorough defeat at Midway.