Japan Invades Tulagi: Coral Sea Battle Begins
Japanese naval troops seized Tulagi in the Solomon Islands on May 3, 1942, as part of Operation Mo, the plan to capture Port Moresby in New Guinea and isolate Australia from American supply lines. American codebreakers at Station Hypo in Hawaii had decrypted enough Japanese naval communications to anticipate the operation. Admiral Chester Nimitz dispatched the carriers Lexington and Yorktown to intercept. The resulting Battle of the Coral Sea on May 4-8 was the first naval battle in history where the opposing ships never came within visual range of each other, fighting entirely through carrier aircraft. The US lost the Lexington but damaged the carrier Shokaku and depleted Zuikaku's air group, preventing both from participating in the crucial Battle of Midway a month later.
May 3, 1942
84 years ago
Key Figures & Places
United States
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Australia
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World War II
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Empire of Japan
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Invasion of Tulagi (May 1942)
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Solomon Islands
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Operation Mo
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Battle of the Coral Sea
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1942
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World War II
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Japanese
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Invasion of Tulagi (May 1942)
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Solomon Islands
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Operation Mo
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Battle of the Coral Sea
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Extermination camp
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SS Cap Arcona
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SS Thielbek (1940)
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Neustädter Bucht
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SS Deutschland (1923)
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Bay of Lübeck
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Pacific War
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Tulagi
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Germany
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Royal Air Force
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