The returning aviators reported they heavily damaged one carrier, but that another had escaped damage. Japanese expansion in World War II warship force under MacArthur's command, led by Australian Rear Admiral John Crace and made up of the cruisers HMASAustralia, Hobart, and USSChicago, along with three destroyers. a 1942-1943 battle of World War II, in which German forces were defeated in their attempt to capture an industrial port city on the Volga River in the Soviet Union; one of the most deadly battles of wwii; crushing defeat for Germany significance of the Battle of Stalingrad Zuikaku and her escorts turned towards Rabaul while Shkaku headed for Japan. Neosho Detail: Engagement of U.S.S. A mushroom cloud rises after a heavy explosion on board USS Lexington, 8 May 1942.US Navy. The plan also included the seizure of Tulagi on 23 May, where the navy would establish a seaplane base for potential air operations against Allied territories and forces in the South Pacific and to provide a base for reconnaissance aircraft. To strengthen their defensive position in the South Pacific, the Japanese decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby (in New Guinea) and Tulagi (in the southeastern Solomon Islands). The U.S. sank the Japanese light carrier Shh, and the Japanese sank a U.S. destroyer and damaged the fleet oiler Neosho. [104], Because of the severe losses in carriers at Midway, the Japanese were unable to support another attempt to invade Port Moresby from the sea, forcing Japan to try to take Port Moresby by land. Operating from this base the Japanese would threaten the shipping supply routes to Australia. Takagi now realized the U.S. carriers were between him and the invasion convoy, placing the invasion forces in extreme danger. The Japanese aircraft all jettisoned their ordnance and reversed course to return to their carriers. In May of 1942, the Japanese fleet moved on Port Moresby, the last . Beginning on June 4, 1942, the U.S. fleet, under the command of Admiral Chester Nimitz, defended Midway from Imperial Japanese forces, while launching a withering attack upon the Japanese fleet -. At that time, Takagi's force was about 300nmi (350mi; 560km) north of Fletcher, near the maximum range for his carrier aircraft. How did the Americans find out. [94], From a strategic perspective, however, the battle was an Allied victory as it averted the seaborne invasion of Port Moresby, lessening the threat to the supply lines between the U.S. and Australia. Two minutes later, a Shkaku search plane commanded by Kenz Kanno sighted TF17 and notified Hara. [60], To try to confirm the location of the U.S. carriers, at 15:15 Hara sent a flight of eight torpedo bombers as scouts to sweep 200nmi (230mi; 370km) westward. Undetected, gasoline vapors spread into surrounding compartments. Midway Island is a fairly isolated atoll, so named because it is midway between North America and Asia in the North . Fletcher understood that Crace would be operating without air cover since TF17's carriers would be busy trying to locate and attack the Japanese carriers. Two hundred and sixteen of the carrier's 2,951-man crew went down with the ship, along with 36 aircraft. Yamamoto's decision meant Japanese naval forces were weakened just enough at both the Coral Sea and Midway battles to allow the Allies to defeat them in detail. In reality, Crace's ships were undamaged and shot down four G4Ms. "[54], The U.S. aircraft returned and landed on their carriers by 13:38. (Bibliography of Japanese-language sources), South West Pacific theatre of World War II, Pacific Theater aircraft carrier operations during World War II, U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey (Pacific) 1946, "A Stochastic Salvo Model Analysis of the Battle of the Coral Sea", "Chapter 16: To the Central Pacific and Tarawa, August 1943Background to Galvanic", History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific, Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area, United States Strategic Bombing Survey (Pacific), "Alternative Endings to the First Aircraft Carrier Battle", "HIJMS Furutaka: Tabular Record of Movement", "HIJMS Submarine I-28: Tabular Record of Movement", "HIJMS Submarine RO-33: Tabular Record of Movement", "HIJMS Submarine RO-34: Tabular Record of Movement", "IJN Seaplane Tender Kiyokawa Maru: Tabular Record of Movement", "IJN Kikuzuki: Tabular Record of Movement", U.S.S. [64], As nightfall ended aircraft operations for the day, Fletcher ordered TF17 to head west and prepared to launch a 360 search at first light. [31], On 4 May, from a position 100nmi (120mi; 190km) south of Guadalcanal (1110S 15849E / 11.167S 158.817E / -11.167; 158.817), a total of 60 aircraft from TF17 launched three consecutive strikes against Shima's forces off Tulagi. He was informed that Allied intelligence sources believed that up to four Japanese carriers might be supporting the MO operation. Four of the Japanese torpedo planes were shot down by anti-aircraft fire. The battle of the Coral Sea (3-8 May 1942) ended as the first major Japanese setback of the Second World War, and marked the end of the period of rapid Japanese expansion across the Pacific that began after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the meantime, Halsey's TF16 reached the South Pacific near Efate and, on 13 May, headed north to contest the Japanese approach to Nauru and Ocean Island. The film ends with footage of the Battle of the Coral Sea (1942), which according to the film was made possible through the information brought back by the submariners. Battle of the Coral Sea is a 1959 war film directed by Paul Wendkos. What did the Japanese want, in order to install a blockade. During the Battle of Coral Sea, what happened on May 7th, 1942? [10], Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Combined Fleet, was concurrently planning an operation for June that he hoped would lure the U.S. Navy's carriers, none of which had been damaged in the Pearl Harbor attack, into a decisive showdown in the central Pacific near Midway Atoll. for the first time, the Allies had stopped the Japanese advance.You just studied 10 terms! Yorktown's planes sank the Sry, located Hiry, and helped Enterprise planes sink Hiry. Dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan surrendered in August 1945 because the United States? US Navy Japanese was on the offensive in spring 1942, sweeping across the Pacific after attacking. Expecting the Japanese torpedo bombers to be at a much lower altitude than they actually were, six of the Wildcats were stationed too low, and thus missed the Japanese aircraft as they passed by overhead. In the words of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) Combined Fleet's "Secret Order Number One", dated 1 November 1941, the goals of the initial Japanese campaigns in the impending war were to "[eject] British and American strength from the Netherlands Indies and the Philippines, [and] to establish a policy of autonomous self-sufficiency and economic independence. However, the battles overall outcome would have been similar. For the first time ever opposing fleets used carrier-launched aircraft to fight each other. Battle of France, (May 10-June 25, 1940), during World War II, the German invasion of the Low Countries and France. Yorktown's aircraft surprised Shima's ships and sank the destroyer Kikuzuki (0907S 16012E / 9.117S 160.200E / -9.117; 160.200) and three of the minesweepers, damaged four other ships, and destroyed four seaplanes which were supporting the landings. Unlike the Japanese, the U.S. Navy put forth a maximum effort to make Yorktown available for the coming battle. The Battle of the Coral Sea, which lasted from May 4 to May 8, 1942, came at an unsettling time for the United States, Australia and their allies. By 20:00, TF17 and Takagi were about 100nmi (120mi; 190km) apart. Yorktown left Pearl Harbor with three of her boilers inoperative and a maximum speed of 27 knots. [114] Two studies used mathematical models to estimate the impact of various alternatives. The Japanese landed at Tulagi in the Solomons on 2 May. Taking the Japanese formation by surprise, the Wildcats shot down seven torpedo bombers and one dive bomber, and heavily damaged another torpedo bomber (which later crashed), at a cost of three Wildcats lost. The resulting explosion killed 25 men and started a large fire. On 14 May, Nimitz, having obtained intelligence concerning the Combined Fleet's upcoming operation against Midway, ordered Halsey to make sure that Japanese scout aircraft sighted his ships the next day, after which he was to return to Pearl Harbor immediately. in /nfs/c05/h04/mnt/113983/domains/toragrafix.com/html/wp-content . Once in the Coral Sea, the carriers were to provide air cover for the invasion forces, eliminate Allied air power at Port Moresby, and intercept and destroy any Allied naval forces which entered the Coral Sea in response. [35], In the meantime, Takagi's carrier force steamed down the east side of the Solomons throughout the day on 5 May, turned west to pass south of San Cristobal (Makira), and entered the Coral Sea after transiting between Guadalcanal and Rennell Island in the early morning hours of 6 May. After the carrier's survivors were rescued, including Admiral Fitch and the ship's captain, Frederick C. Sherman, at 19:15 the destroyer Phelps fired five torpedoes into the burning ship, which sank in 2,400fathoms at 19:52 (1515S 15535E / 15.250S 155.583E / -15.250; 155.583). Willmott adds, if either operation was important enough to commit fleet carriers, then all of the Japanese carriers should have been committed to each in order to ensure success. The Battle of the Coral Sea ushered a new era in sea warfare. World War Two 1931-1942 Pacific PPTX (71 SLIDES) & 10 Question Assessment W/Key. B. saw the United States forced to withdraw its naval forces. Unbeknownst to the two adversaries, their carriers were only 70nmi (130km) away from each other by 20:00 that night. Two U.S. dive bombers and two CAP Zeros were shot down during the attack. [84], Aboard Lexington, damage control parties put out the fires and restored her to operational condition, but at 12:47, sparks from unattended electric motors ignited gasoline fumes near the ship's central control station. The Japanese attack on the U.S. carriers on 8 May was better coordinated than the U.S. attack on the Japanese carriers. [75] Because of the heavy losses in aircraft suffered the night before, the Japanese could not execute a full torpedo attack on both carriers. Each side readied the rest of its carrier attack aircraft to launch immediately once the enemy was located. Nevertheless, Fletcher decided the risk was necessary to ensure the Japanese invasion forces could not slip through to Port Moresby while he engaged the carriers. The Japanese carrier was protected by four Zeros and two Mitsubishi A5M fighters flying combat air patrol (CAP), as the rest of the carrier's aircraft were being prepared below decks for a strike against the U.S. carriers. Thus, the respective commanders were participating in a new type of warfare, carrier-versus-carrier, with which neither had any experience. [67], At 06:15 on 8 May, from a position 100nmi (120mi; 190km) east of Rossel Island (1025S 1545E / 10.417S 154.083E / -10.417; 154.083), Hara launched seven torpedo bombers to search the area bearing 140230, out to 250nmi (290mi; 460km) from the Japanese carriers. [83], Around 14:30, Hara informed Takagi that only 24 Zeros, eight dive bombers, and four torpedo planes from the carriers were currently operational. Meanwhile aerial conflicts in South-West Pacific area have been continuing, and yesterday further damage . USS Wolverine (IX-64) USS Wolverine (IX-64), August 1943. Nimitz, after consultation with Admiral Ernest King, Commander in Chief of the United States Fleet, decided to contest the Japanese operation by sending all four of the Pacific Fleet's available aircraft carriers to the Coral Sea. 4-5 June 1942; Japanese plan to capture Midway and Aleutians, last 2 locations US could operate against Japan from and gain sea control by luring US carriers out to sea and destroying them; tactically, US victory, US lost 1/3 carriers, Japan lost 4/4; operationally, Japanese failed to achieve sea control in decisive sea battle; strategically, Japanese lost all large carriers, US industry . A separate Cover Force (sometimes referred to as the Support Group), commanded by Rear Admiral Kuninori Marumo and consisting of two light cruisers, the seaplane tender Kamikawa Maru and three gunboats, joined the Covering Group in providing distant protection for the Tulagi invasion. Yamamoto concurred with Takagi's decision and ordered Zuikaku to return to Japan to replenish her air groups. Unknown to Fletcher, TF11 completed refueling that morning ahead of schedule and was only 60nmi (69mi; 110km) east of TF17, but was unable to communicate its status because of Fletcher's orders to maintain radio silence. Operation Mo (MO, Mo Sakusen) or the Port Moresby Operation was a Japanese plan to take control of the Australian Territory of New Guinea during World War II as well as other locations in the South Pacific. Takagi was worried about his ships' fuel levels; his cruisers were at 50% and some of his destroyers were as low as 20%. The Battle of the Coral Sea, which took place between May 7 and 8, 1942, was one of the important aircraft carrier battles of World War Two's Pacific arena. [65], Both sides expected to find each other early the next day, and spent the night preparing their strike aircraft for the anticipated battle as their exhausted aircrews attempted to get a few hours' sleep. When was the battle of the coral sea? E. marked the first important victory by the United States against Japan. Singapore had surrendered, and Bataan fell. [57], Inoue's staff directed two groups of attack aircraft from Rabaul, already airborne since that morning, towards Crace's reported position. [70], At 09:15, the Japanese carriers launched a combined strike of 18 fighters, 33 dive bombers, and 18 torpedo planes, commanded by Takahashi, with Shimazaki again leading the torpedo bombers. [34], A message from Pearl Harbor notified Fletcher that radio intelligence deduced the Japanese planned to land their troops at Port Moresby on 10 May and their fleet carriers would likely be operating close to the invasion convoy. TF44 was a joint AustraliaU.S. The first group included 12 torpedo-armed G4M bombers and the second group comprised 19 Mitsubishi G3M land attack aircraft armed with bombs. What was the Japanese plan. In May 1942, the United States Navy thwarted a Japanese attack against Australia in the Battle of the Coral Sea. USS Lexington during the Battle of the Coral Sea, seen from USS Yorktown, May 8, 1942. In the meantime, having heard nothing from Fletcher, Crace deduced that TF17 had departed the area. Lieutenant Commander Shigekazu Shimazaki, commanding the Japanese torpedo planes, sent 14 to attack Lexington and four to attack Yorktown. By then, the Allies had reinforced New Guinea with additional troops (primarily Australian) starting with the Australian 14th Brigade which embarked at Townsville on 15 May. Japan's Naval General Staff estimated that it would take two to three months to repair Shkaku and replenish the carriers' air groups. [43], Believing Takagi's carrier force was somewhere north of him, in the vicinity of the Louisiades, beginning at 06:19, Fletcher directed Yorktown to send 10 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers as scouts to search that area. In a meeting held in late May, the Australian Advisory War Council described the battle's result as "rather disappointing" given that the Allies had advance notice of Japanese intentions. Takagi elected to take his carriers 120nmi (140mi; 220km) north during the night so he could concentrate his morning search to the west and south and ensure that his carriers could provide better protection for the invasion convoy. Japan began its land offensive towards Port Moresby along the Kokoda Track on 21 July from Buna and Gona. The results of the battle confirmed the low opinion held by the Japanese of U.S. fighting capability and supported their overconfident belief that future carrier operations against the U.S. were assured of success. [81], The strike forces, with many damaged aircraft, reached and landed on their respective carriers between 12:50 and 14:30. Supporting the Tulagi force was the Covering Group with the light carrier Shh, the IJN's four Furutaka /Aoba-class heavy cruisers, and one destroyer, commanded by Rear Admiral Aritomo Got. After recovering its aircraft late in the evening of 4 May, TF17 retired towards the south. On 8 May, both sides finally located and attacked the other's fleet carriers, with the Japanese fleet carrier Shkaku damaged, the U.S. fleet carrier Lexington critically damaged and later scuttled, and the fleet carrier Yorktown lightly damaged. The Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 was no exception. 1 smaller warship damaged, 1 transport damaged, 69 - 97 aircraft destroyed . TF17 completed refueling the next day, but TF11 reported that they would not be finished fueling until 4 May. SIMS (DD-409) by Japanese Bombers in the Coral Sea on May 7, 1942, U.S.S. Battle of the Coral Sea, 4-8 May 1942 Japanese intentions By April 1942 the Japanese had formed a defensive perimeter which stretched from the Kuriles southward through the Marshall Islands to New Britain, then westwards to Java, Sumatra, the Andaman Islands and Burma. At 01:00 on 10 May, hearing no further reports of Japanese ships advancing towards Port Moresby, Crace turned towards Australia and arrived at Cid Harbor, 130nmi (150mi; 240km) south of Townsville, on 11 May. The Japanese believed that they sank two carriers in the Coral Sea, but this still left at least two more U.S. Navy carriers, Enterprise and Hornet, to help defend Midway. Armed with this information, Fletcher directed TF17 to refuel from Neosho. The battle of the Coral Sea took place in May 1942 and was the first battle in history where aircraft carriers engaged each other directly with fighters.Loading Screen Tip Coral Sea is a map featured in Battlefield 1943 and is exclusive to the Air Superiority mode. Overview. [93] The Japanese public was informed of the victory with overstatement of the U.S. losses and understatement of their own. The second torpedo ruptured the port water main, reducing water pressure to the three forward firerooms and forcing the associated boilers to be shut down. [76] One of the survivors, Swede Vejtasa, claimed three Zeros during the onslaught (though none were lost). The aircraft carrier Yorktown's Bombing Squadron Five (SBD-3 Dauntless scout bombers) spotted forward on the flight deck during operations in the Coral Sea, April 1942. Takagi turned on his warships' searchlights to help guide the 18 surviving aircraft back and all were recovered by 22:00. Battle of the Coral Sea, (May 4-8, 1942) World War II naval and air engagement in which a U.S. fleet turned back a Japanese invasion force that had been heading for strategic Port Moresby in New Guinea. [115] For example, suppose the U.S. carriers had chosen to sail separately (though still nearby), rather than together. [63], In the meantime, at 15:18 and 17:18 Neosho was able to radio TF17 she was drifting northwest in a sinking condition. On 8 December 1941 (7 December U.S. time), Japan declared war on the U.S. and the British Empire, after Japanese forces attacked Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong as well as the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. [95], The battle marked the first time that a Japanese invasion force was turned back without achieving its objective, which greatly lifted the morale of the Allies after a series of defeats by the Japanese during the initial six months of the Pacific Theatre. The remaining torpedo planes successfully employed a pincer attack on Lexington, which had a much larger turning radius than Yorktown, and, at 11:20, hit her with two Type 91 torpedoes. By March 1942, the U.S. was able to decipher up to 15% of the IJN's Ro or Naval Codebook D code (called "JN-25B" by the U.S.), which was used by the IJN for approximately half of its communications. Both groups found and attacked Crace's ships at 14:30 and claimed to have sunk a "California-type" battleship and damaged another battleship and cruiser. In H. P. Willmot's words, the commanders "had to contend with uncertain and poor communications in situations in which the area of battle had grown far beyond that prescribed by past experience but in which speeds had increased to an even greater extent, thereby compressing decision-making time. TF17 changed course and proceeded at 27kn (31mph; 50km/h) towards Guadalcanal to launch airstrikes against the Japanese forces at Tulagi the next morning. US . The first torpedo buckled the port aviation gasoline stowage tanks. [42], At 06:25 on 7 May, TF17 was 115nmi (132mi; 213km) south of Rossel Island (1320S 15421E / 13.333S 154.350E / -13.333; 154.350). The sun set at 18:30. [30], At 17:00 on 3 May, Fletcher was notified that the Japanese Tulagi invasion force had been sighted the day before, approaching the southern Solomons. Fletcher turned TF17 southwest. On June 22, 1941, the German offensive was launched by three army groups under the same commanders as in the invasion of France in 1940: on the left (north), an army group under Leeb struck from East Prussia into the Baltic states toward Leningrad; on the right (south), another army group, under Rundstedt, with an armoured group under Kleist, Yorktown reached Pearl the following day. In 1972, U.S. Vice Admiral H. S. Duckworth, after reading Japanese records of the battle, commented, "Without a doubt, May7, 1942, vicinity of Coral Sea, was the most confused battle area in world history. In early May 1942, the Japanese despatched an invasion fleet from Rabaul to take Port Moresby, Papua. have adopted this kitten, June 19, 1942, born on a cruiser during the height of the Coral Sea battle. [100] Unlike the Japanese, the U.S. Navy was willing to put one aircraft carrier's air group on another ship. [13], Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the new commander of U.S. forces in the Central Pacific, and his staff discussed the deciphered messages and agreed that the Japanese were likely initiating a major operation in the Southwest Pacific in early May with Port Moresby as the probable target. Fletcher concluded that by the time his scout aircraft found the remaining carriers it would be too late in the day to mount a strike. The rest of Lexington's dive bombers were unable to find the Japanese carriers in the heavy clouds. The submarine took no damage and apparently did not realize that it had been attacked by carrier aircraft. Description. They also sent a carrier force to patrol into the Coral Sea to intercept any American carriers sent to thwart their planned attack. Capable of carrying up to 6,000 passengers and 1,500 tons of cargo, her typical route saw her travel between Cleveland . The submarines investigated Rossel Island and the Deboyne Group anchorage in the Louisiade Archipelago, Jomard Channel, and the route to Port Moresby from the east. Battle of the Coral Sea Courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command No effort appears to have been made to combine the surviving Shkaku aircrews with Zuikaku's air groups or to quickly provide Zuikaku with replacement aircraft. WWII carrier-versus-carrier engagements between American and Japanese naval forces: This page was last edited on 3 February 2023, at 22:09. At 13:15, an aircraft from Rabaul sighted Crace's force but submitted an erroneous report, stating the force contained two carriers and was located, bearing 205, 115nmi (213km) from Deboyne. At 10:12, Fletcher received a report of an aircraft carrier, ten transports, and 16 warships 30nmi (35mi; 56km) south of Nielsen's sighting at 1035S 15236E / 10.583S 152.600E / -10.583; 152.600. The eight scout aircraft reached the end of their 200nmi (230mi; 370km) search leg and turned back without seeing Fletcher's ships. [110], The delay in the advance of Japanese forces also allowed the Marine Corps to land on Funafuti on 2 October 1942, with a Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees) building airfields on three of the atolls of Tuvalu from which USAAF B-24 Liberator bombers of the Seventh Air Force operated. In 1942 submarine commander Jeff Conway secretly photographs Japanese aircraft carriers in the Coral Sea but his submarine is damaged and he's forced to surr. Acting on signals intelligence, the U.S. placed eight submarines along the projected route of the carriers' return paths to Japan, but the submarines were not able to make any attacks. Lexington represented, at that time, 25% of U.S. carrier strength in the Pacific. While not originally part of the game, it was later added to each platform when their community reached a collective count of . [25], En route to the Coral Sea, Takagi's carriers were to deliver nine Zero fighter aircraft to Rabaul. 60 Million Historians estimate that the number of people killed in World War II including civilians may be as high as? On 5 April, the U.S. intercepted an IJN message directing a carrier and other large warships to proceed to Inoue's area of operations. Believing that he had located the U.S. carriers, Hara, with Takagi's concurrence, immediately launched all of his available aircraft. [111], The battle was the first naval engagement in history in which the participating ships never sighted or fired directly at each other. To prevent this from occurring, the U.S. chose Tulagi and nearby Guadalcanal as the target of their first offensive. Neither submarine engaged any ships during the battle. General MacArthur provided Australian Prime Minister John Curtin with his assessment of the battle, stating that "all the elements that have produced disaster in the Western Pacific since the beginning of the war" were still present as Japanese forces could strike anywhere if supported by major elements of the IJN. Upon the completion of Mo, the navy planned to initiate Operation RY, using ships released from Mo, to seize Nauru and Ocean Island for their phosphate deposits on 15 May. [41], Late on 6 May or early on 7 May, Kamikawa Maru set up a seaplane base in the Deboyne Islands in order to help provide air support for the invasion forces as they approached Port Moresby. By 14:20, the aircraft were rearmed and ready to launch against the Port Moresby Invasion Force or Got's cruisers. Because of a damaging air attack by Allied land- and carrier-based aircraft on Japanese naval forces invading the Lae-Salamaua area in New Guinea in March, Inoue requested Japan's Combined Fleet send carriers to provide air cover for Mo. [33], At 08:16 on 5 May, TF17 rendezvoused with TF11 and TF44 at a predetermined point 320nmi (370mi; 590km) south of Guadalcanal (15S 160E / 15S 160E / -15; 160). answer choices 8 May 1942. Based on these reports, Takagi, who was still awaiting the return of all of his aircraft from attacking Neosho, turned his carriers due west at 13:30 and advised Inoue at 15:00 that the U.S. carriers were at least 430nmi (490mi; 800km) west of his location and that he would therefore be unable to attack them that day. 8, USSBS No. Reconnaissance patrols conducted from the U.S. carriers throughout the day failed to locate any of the Japanese naval forces, because they were located just beyond scouting range. 1. [118], Japanese and U.S. carriers faced off against each other again in the battles of Midway, the Eastern Solomons, and the Santa Cruz Islands in 1942; and the Philippine Sea in 1944. Inoue believed the capture and control of these locations would provide greater security and defensive depth for the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. At 12:10, Shkaku, accompanied by two destroyers, retired to the northeast. Detaching Crace reduced the anti-aircraft defenses for Fletcher's carriers. Japan moves southerly hoping to take control of Southern nations 2. [61], At 17:47, TF17 operating under thick overcast 200nmi (230mi; 370km) west of Takagi detected the Japanese strike on radar heading in their direction, turned southeast into the wind, and vectored 11 CAP Wildcats, led by Lieutenant Commanders Paul H. Ramsey and James H. Flatley, to intercept. Instead, manned aircraft acted as the offensive artillery for the ships involved. The U.S. destroyer Henley responded and rescued 109 Neosho and 14 Sims survivors later that day, then scuttled the tanker with gunfire. The plan called for Port Moresby to be invaded from the sea and secured by 10 May.