USS LEXINGTON on fire
Sixty-eight years ago, two carrier task groups (LEXINGTON and YORKTOWN) took on a powerful Japanese invasion force with two heavy carriers and one light carrier in the Coral Sea. Although the battle was considered a tactical victory for the Japanese (mostly because of the loss of a fleet carrier by the Americans, while the Japanese lost a light carrier (Shoho)), the fight turned out to be a strategic loss. YORKTOWN, although damaged, was repaired in time for the Battle of Midway. The two Japanese fleet carriers, Shokaku and Zuikaku, had to return to Japan and could not get to Midway in time for the battle (Shokaku was badly damaged, and Zuikaku had lost too many aircraft at Coral Sea to be effective).
As a result, the American Navy won a stunning victory a month after Coral Sea, and Japan never recovered. Although few people realized it at the time, Coral Sea marked the beginning of the end of Japanese expansion and imperialistic designs.
Ironically, three years after Coral Sea, the world marked Victory in Europe, allowing Allied forces to concentrate their full efforts on the war in the Pacific.
Coral Sea would set the stage for defeat by Japan; VE Day accelerated it.
