On this day of May 7 1942...

Battle of the Coral Sea, 7-8 May 1942 --
The Events of 7 May 1942
The first day of the carrier battle of Coral Sea, 7 May 1942, saw the Americans searching for carriers they knew were present and the Japanese looking for ones they feared might be in the area. The opposing commanders, U.S. Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher and Japanese Vice Admiral Takeo Takagi and Rear Admiral Tadaichi Hara, endeavored to "get in the first blow", a presumed prerequisite to victory (and to survival) in a battle between heavily-armed and lightly-protected aircraft carriers. However, both sides suffered from inadequate work by their scouts and launched massive air strikes against greatly inferior secondary targets, which were duly sunk, leaving the most important enemy forces unhit.

Japanese scouting planes spotted the U.S. oiler Neosho (AO-23) and her escort, the destroyer USS Sims (DD-409), before 8AM, in a southerly position well away from Admiral Fletcher's carriers. Reported as a "carrier and a cruiser", these two ships received two high-level bombing attacks during the morning that, as would become typical of such tactics, missed. However, about noon a large force of dive bombers appeared. As was normal for that type of attack, these did not miss. Sims sank with very heavy casualties and Neosho was reduced to a drifting wreck whose survivors were not rescued for days.


Photographed circa the later 1930s.

Meanwhile, a scout plane from USS Yorktown (CV-5) found the Japanese Covering Group, the light carrier Shoho and four heavy cruisers, which faulty message coding transformed into "two carriers and four heavy cruisers". Yorktown and USS Lexington (CV-2) sent out a huge strike: fifty-three scout-bombers, twenty-two torpedo planes and eighteen fighters. In well-delivered attacks before noon, these simply overwhelmed the Shoho, which received so many bomb and torpedo hits that she sank in minutes. Her passing was marked by some of the War's most dramatic photography.

Adding to the confusion, if not to the score, Japanese land-based torpedo planes and bombers struck an advanced force of Australian and U.S. Navy cruisers, far to the west of Admiral Fletcher's carriers. Skillful ship-handling prevented any damage. Australia-based U.S. Army B-17s also arrived and dropped their bombs, fortunately without hitting anything.

All this had one beneficial effect: the Japanese ordered their Port Moresby invasion force to turn back to await developments. Late in the day, they also sent out nearly thirty carrier planes to search for Fletcher's ships. Most of these were shot down or lost in night landing attempts, significantly reducing Japanese striking power. The opposing carrier forces, quite close together by the standards of air warfare, prepared to resume battle in the morning.


Shoho


Japanese aircraft carrier Shoho is torpedoed, during attacks by U.S. Navy carrier aircraft in the late morning of 7 May 1942.




Japanese aircraft carrier Shoho under attack by U.S. Navy carrier aircraft in the late morning of 7 May 1942. Photographed from a USS Lexington (CV-2) plane. A TBD-1 torpedo plane is visible at right, beyond the large splash.


Japanese aircraft carrier Shoho under attack by U.S. Navy carrier aircraft in the late morning of 7 May 1942. Photographed from a USS Lexington (CV-2) plane.
A TBD-1 torpedo plane is visible against the smoke in the center of the view.


Japanese aircraft carrier Shoho under attack by U.S. Navy carrier aircraft in the late morning of 7 May 1942. A TBD "Devastator" is visible in the lower right center, and another plane can be seen in the top center.


USS Neosho (AO-23), 1939-1942

USS Neosho, a 7470-ton Cimarron class oiler built at Kearny, New Jersey, was commissioned in August 1939. In the months before the United States entered World War II, she was employed transporting fuel to Hawaii. When the Japanese raided Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Neosho was docked in the "Battleship Row" attack area, but escaped with slight damage. During the following months, she actively supported U.S. Navy forces as they attempted to disrupt the Japanese offensive and establish a stable defensive perimeter in the Southern Pacific. On 7 May 1942, after supplying fuel to USS Yorktown (CV-5) immediately before the Battle of Coral Sea, Neosho was attacked by Japanese carrier aircraft. She was badly damaged and her escort, USS Sims (DD-409), was sunk. For four days, her crew kept the crippled oiler afloat, but she was beyond saving. Neosho was sunk by USS Henley (DD-391) on 11 May 1942, after her surviving crewmen were rescued.


Left: This is, most likely, the last picture taken of the U.S.S. Neosho (the bow is to the left). It was taken from a Japanese plane about 1 p.m. on May 7, 1942, after a large squadron of Japanese torpedo planes and dive bombers attacked the Neosho and its escort, the destroyer U.S.S. Sims.


USS Sims (DD-409), 1939-1942

USS Sims, lead ship of a class of 1570-ton destroyers, was built at Bath Maine. Commissioned in August 1939, she served in the Atlantic for the next two-and-a-half years, taking part in fleet training exercises, neutrality patrols and "short of war" operations. She transited to the Pacific in December 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

As a unit of Task Force 17, built around USS Yorktown (CV-5), Sims operated in the Central and Southern Pacific during the first part of 1942. In early May, she was assigned to escort the oiler USS Neosho (AO-23) as the U.S. carriers maneuvered to confront a Japanese force advancing to attack Port Moresby, New Guinea. On 7 May 1942, in the early phases of the Battle of the Coral Sea, enemy carrier planes found the destroyer and oiler. In an overwhelming air attack, USS Sims was sunk and Neosho so badly damaged she had to be scuttled.

The U.S.S. Neosho at Coral Sea

May 7, 1942: The Attack

Note: This is the first of several pages that describe the ordeal of the tanker U.S.S. Neosho during the Battle of the Coral Sea. This page and the ones that follow include excerpts from the book, "Blue Skies and Blood" (1975) by Edwin Hoyt, which I've edited and notated where appropriate.

On the evening of May 6, Admiral Fletcher and his staff tried to sort out the various items of intelligence they had been receiving all day long from Pearl Harbor and other sources. They knew that somewhere around them was a large number of Japanese ships, but the reports were conflicting and confusing; virtually everything from submarines to fleet carriers had been reported.

Finally Fletcher decided that at least three carriers were in the area and that the Japanese advance was going to come through Jomard passage, up north of them. Admiral Fletcher had hoped to top off his fuel tanks before going into action, but with the seas as they were, it would have meant heading away from the enemy to do so. He had to run north during the night to be in position to launch search planes to confirm all the intelligence reports early in the morning.

Radar contacts and one visual sighting of an unidentified plane had suggested that the Japanese knew Fletcher was in the area and more or less what he had to work with. So reluctantly, that evening, Fletcher detached the tanker Neosho, giving her destroyer Sims as an escort, and sent them off to be out of the way, but available in case of need.

The Japanese Find the “Carrier” Neosho

One hour after dawn, Neosho and Sims were precisely where they were supposed to be – at 16°S, 158°E. At dawn, also Admiral Takagi had a suggestion from Admiral Hara, the carrier division commander. Let Hara send Zuikaku's planes out to search one area behind the carrier force, and Shokaku's planes to search another -- just to make sure that the Americans had not circled around and come up in the rear of the Japanese covering force. Takagi approved. The Zeros and the medium bombers revved up and took off from the Japanese carriers, circled and set out at 0600.

At 0736 the Japanese searchers in the eastern section of the zone spotted ships on the water. The observers radioed back to the carriers that they had come upon the American carrier force. Below, said the Japanese observer, were a carrier and a cruiser. Admiral Hara directed the bombers to the location and the Japanese began to close in. But the ships on which they were moving were not the American carriers, but destroyer Sims and oiler Neosho.

Just after eight o'clock that morning, lookouts on the Neosho spotted two planes, but assumed they were American planes checking on the safety of the oiler and her escort. Shortly after nine o'clock in the morning, Chief Petty Officer Robert James Dicken of the USS Sims was sitting in the chiefs' quarters, when he heard a loud explosion. From Neosho's bridge, Captain John S. Phillips could see that a single plane moving over Sims dropped that bomb, which exploded about a hundred yards off the starboard quarter of the destroyer.

From the bridge of the Sims, Lieutenant Commander Willford Milton Hyman, the captain of the little one-pipe destroyer, passed the order: General Quarters. The ship was under attack. At the moment, some aboard the destroyer thought it was all a dreadful mistake, that one of their own planes had failed to identify the ship and bombed them by mistake. Frantically, chief Signalman Dicken on the bridge began blinking his light, sending recognition signals. There was no response. The single medium bomber disappeared off to the north.

Captain Hyman ordered full speed. The ship's guns opened up on the retreating bomber, but the plane quickly disappeared into the clouds. Neosho changed course to starboard, and Sims, the little bulldog, kept out ahead of her, Neosho traveling at 18 knots, and Sims racing back and forth in front, from port to starboard, the sea swirling in her excited wake.

Fifteen minutes went by, and then twenty. The ships moved on, the lookouts craning around the horizon, squinting into the sun and waiting, sure now that it was no mistake and that there would be more bombs to come. On the bridge Captain Hyman's orders were quiet and terse; it was an eerie time, the whine of the engines driving the propellers, the swish of the sea alongside the ship, the clang of metal on metal -- and still it seemed very, very quiet. Sun and sky and sea had never been more peaceful.

The Attack Continues

Then, about half an hour after the first attack, little specks, ten of them, appeared in the sky in the north, before the noises of their engines could be heard. The lookouts on Sims saw them coming. Captain Hyman called up Captain Phillips to warn Neosho; the lookouts of the oiler had not seen the planes. The ships changed course, swung around in a wide arc to throw off the approaching enemy, for now every man on the destroyer and the oiler knew what he must face.

The Japanese pilots saw, and with no effort at all, it seemed, adjusted and came moving in. Still they were very high, paralleling the course of the American ships on their port side. The bombers were so high that although Sims began firing rapidly, they were hopelessly out of range.

Sims was an efficient little ship, and her captain had high marks in the service for his gunnery in particular. It was his specialty, dating back to his boyhood when he became an expert rifle shot. In three months' time, Captain Hyman would be forty-one years old. More than half that life had been spent in the service of his country, and nearly all the time he had been among the leaders of the battle-ready. He had served for a long time aboard the USS New Mexico and had been instrumental in that ship's proud victory over USS Maryland for the fleet's Battle Efficiency pennant in 1930. Now, in the face of the enemy, such commendations seemed small turkey indeed, but in the peacetime navy in which he had grown up, such matters had been the making of a career, and Lieutenant Commander Hyman had gone on with a reputation as a potential fighter of the first rank. Service with the staff in Washington had come and gone, then two years at the Naval Powder Factory, followed by two big jobs as a gunnery officer of cruisers, the Minneapolis and the San Francisco, and the destroyer Quincy. Seven months earlier he finally got his own ship, the Sims.

The Japanese planes were dropping down as they moved away from the ships, and circled to come back at bombing level. Meanwhile other bombers came up, and the Japanese flight leader split the attack in two. Ten planes dove down to make horizontal runs over Sims, while another handful moved in on Neosho, which was about a mile astern of the destroyer.

To get the range and to give his gunners a feel for their job, Captain Hyman had loaded his ammunition supply so that every tenth shell was star-shell. The gunners were trying to draw a bead on the approaching aircraft. From the Sims it seemed very satisfactory. Chief Petty Officer Dicken saw from the bridge that the Japanese were staying high and giving the ship's guns plenty of care. All the bombs missed by a wide margin.

Neosho was also under attack. Her captain kept changing course to confuse the planes, and her guns fired as seven bombers came in. The tension grew on the bridge, as the war diary shows:

1006: Changed course to 237°T. Planes paralleled course at high altitude on port side, out of gun range and crossed bow to northeastward; Sims firing. No bursts were observed. Observed what were believed to be white flares dropped by planes. (These were Sim's star-shells).

1017: Changed course to 187°T.

1023: Sighted approximately seven enemy planes bearing 010°T. Sims commenced firing.

1024: Changed course to 242°T.

1025: Changed course to 207°T; commenced firing with 3”/50 caliber guns. Again observed what were assumed to be white flares from planes.

1033: Changed course to 243°T.

1034: Group of 10 planes approached from 140°T, of which three planes (twin-engined bombers) broke off and commenced horizontal bombing attack, others proceeded to northeastward.

Captain Phillips watched the planes as they came in on the oiler; waiting, waiting until he saw the bombs begin to fall. Only then did he move, and ordered the ship put hard aport.

Down came the screaming missiles into the sea, sending geysers of water splashing the air. One bomb hit a hundred yards off the starboard beam, two more were much closer, only 25 yards off target. Had the captain not taken evasive action, they almost certainly would have smashed Neosho.

When the attack began, Lieutenant Commander F. J. Firth, the executive officer of Neosho, was in the messhall. He was checking on the Abandon-Ship and General-Quarters stations of several seamen from the Yorktown and the cruiser Portland who had come aboard the ship during the refueling period, and had been stuck there when Neosho was ordered away from the main force during the excitement of the night of May 6.

Commander Firth ran to his action station forward of No. 4 gun on the port side of the stack deck. From that vantage point, he watched the attack progress as he waited for reports of damage. When the three bombs fell so close, it was a bad moment. A quick check revealed that there had been no casualties, and no material damage except in the engine room, where those near misses had jarred loose some electrical fittings. Three minutes after the Japanese planes moved away Captain Phillips changed course again, and ordered the steam smothering system turned on, just in case of fire from a bomb hit.

Sims meanwhile, had beaten off an attack. Captain Hyman turned hard right just as ten bombers dropped their explosives. Only one bomb came anywhere near; the Sims moved so quickly, and that one sent a piece of shrapnel slashing through the shoulder of one man on the ship's number 2 gun. Luckily the metal missed bone and arteries, and after the attack the pharmacist's mate bound him up and in a few minutes he was back at his post.

Sims did have one casualty early in the battle, and it shortened her defenses; one of the 20mm guns jammed, which cut down the 20's by a quarter.

The Third Wave

For nearly an hour and a half, the quiet of the sea returned. From time to time, Sims's radarman reported blips on the screen. The Japanese were moving around them, but not a single plane appeared within the glasses of Captain Hyman or Captain Phillips. They watched, and they waited for a renewed attack that must certainly come.

Aboard Neosho Captain Phillips instructed his communications officer, a young naval reserve Lieutenant to send out contact reports, first getting the positions right by asking the ship's navigator. But the young officer was badly rattled and failed to do his job properly. Admiral Fletcher would have given a good deal at this moment to know that the planes attacking Sims and Neosho were carrier planes – he had no idea of the presence of the two big Japanese fleet carriers to the north of him. Actually, at one point during the night, Admiral Takagi had been less than seventy miles away from Task Force 17, but neither commander knew it. As of this morning, they had managed so far to miss one another completely. The young radio officer bollixed up his reports, left most of the detail to an overworked radioman, and the vital word did not get through. Admiral Fletcher, who had been seeing evidences of Japanese land-based air power for days, was not warned.

As the radar contacts came in aboard Sims, destroyer and oiler kept changing course, hoping to thwart the enemy. But Admiral Hara was not to be denied. The reports coming back from his carrier pilots only renewed his intention to sink those two American ships, and any others they might find in the vicinity. He sent out a much larger force, and around noon some three dozen Japanese bombers were approaching the two ships.

At 1155, chief Signalman Dicken was on the bridge when some of those bombers came in sight. As was standard procedure he began blinking, to try to secure recognition. But he knew, and so did everyone else on the bridge, that there would be no response. The silhouettes were familiar now; these were not friendly planes, but the enemy in great force.

Sims opened up with her five-inch guns, and the three unjammed 20mm antiaircraft guns as well. The boom of the five-inch and the staccato barking of the 20mm's dominated all sounds; only dimly could the roar of the approaching planes be heard. This time the planes were dive-bombers, not horizontal bombers, and that note should certainly have been passed on by Neosho, whose captain was senior officer of the unit. But again, the communications officer failed, and Fletcher did not get the word.

The major attack now was against the "carrier” – Neosho – and the Japanese planes came in from astern in three waves. Both ships maneuvered furiously, trying to change the course so quickly and so drastically as to throw off the bombers. Bombs began dropping around Neosho, sending up their frightening geysers. They came from bow to quarter, port and starboard, but for a few minutes it seemed the oiler bore a charmed life. Then at 1205 one bomb struck very close by, rattling the plates and knocking out the ship's gyro compass. Captain Phillips ordered the shift to steering by the magnetic compass.

The Loss of the Sims

The Sims took her first direct hit at 1209. From the bridge of Neosho it was a terrible sight, a bomb landed amidships and the section erupted in smoke and flame. Aboard Sims, as the smoke cleared, Captain Hyman could see that the bomb had hit near the after torpedo tubes, pierced through the deck, and exploded in the after engine room. The whole deck forward of the after-deck house was buckled and torn, tortured black metal sticking crazily up into the air. The number of casualties was not known. The chief engineer, Ensign Tachna, was badly wounded but he stuck to his post, and tried to keep Sims going.

In rapid succession two more five-hundred-pound bombs struck Sims squarely, and the radar mast fell, dropping squarely across the gig, and immobilizing it. One bomb also smashed the after deck house, and the other struck on Number 4 gun mount, putting that gun out of action.

By this time only two of the ship's five-inch guns were still firing, Number One gun was in bad shape, the heat was so intense at that point that the paint was burning on the gun, and yet the crew stood by and fired it steadily by local control. The fire control system was long gone. Soon the ship began to list heavily, and Captain Hyman summoned Ensign Tachna and the firemen and other engine room personnel out of the wreckage. On deck, Ensign Tachna moved forward, trying to fire the forward torpedo tubes and thus eliminate the danger of an internal explosion. The torpedo deck-house was aflame, which meant more danger from the deadly stores within. Tachna led men in putting out that fire, then moved aft for further orders.

In half an hour it was obvious that Sims was sinking and that she could not be saved. The job now was to get as many of the men off as possible. Captain Hyman stayed on his bridge, but he ordered all others off. Chief Signalman Dicken went aft to try to flood the after magazines and prevent a dreadful explosion that might cost every life. Dicken could not get aft – the deck between bridge and after deck-house was ablaze from starboard rail to port. Ensign Tachna was attempting to put the whale boat into the water. The men from the "black gang" in the engine room, more of them uninjured than among the deck crew, came up to help. They took off their shoes and shoved until the boat went over, in spite of the tangled rigging. Two men were aboard, but they were firemen, and not at all skilled in small boat handling. Chief Dicken jumped overboard, swam to the boat, clambered in and took the tiller, then began picking men out of the water as they jumped clear of the foundering destroyer.

At this point the deck between the after deck-house and the machine shop was awash, and Captain Hyman ordered Dicken to move back in the whale boat and try to put out that fire in the after deck-house. He tried. But he could not get back aboard the Sims – she was already settling aft, and the men in the boat could sense that she was going to go. They pulled clear; just after they got away from the side the boilers blew, and then came a smaller explosion, perhaps a torpedo going off. The ship began to break in two.

Last man off the after section was Machinist's Mate 2c E. F. Munch. Just before he jumped, he stopped and secured a depth charge to the deck so it would not go over the side and kill any men who might be swimming.

Almost immediately the two parts of the Sims separated. The captain was still standing on his bridge in the last moment as the explosion destroyed that section of the ship and both halves sank.

Chief Dicken found himself senior officer of those in Sims's whaleboat, and he directed rescue operations for the next hour and a half. Two life rafts had been shoved over the side in the last few minutes of the destroyer's existence. As soon as the men in the water who were still alive were picked up, he began searching for them. Others in the boat told him they thought there were perhaps twenty other survivors on the life rafts. But Dicken could not find the rafts; they had drifted away somewhere. Counting noses, including his own, he found that he had fifteen survivors, two of them badly wounded. He began pulling for the Neosho.

The Attack on the Neosho

The big oiler, known familiarly to her friends in the fleet as "The Fat Lady," was having her own troubles, and they were nearly as desperate as those of Sims.

The real trouble began when the gunners of Sims or Neosho brought down one of the Japanese dive bombers in flames. Determined not to let the "carrier" escape, and true to the spirit of Bushido, the pilot dove his plane for the deck, and it crashed in the No. 4 gun enclosure, starting a flash fire that spread across the starboard side, aft, knocking out five life rafts. No men of the gun crew were killed, for they had machine guns. But Lieutenant Commander Firth, the ship's executive officer, was at his action station on the port side, just forward of the gun mount, and the explosion knocked him unconscious. The fire got to him before he regained his wits. Badly burned, particularly about the face and arms, he stumbled away from the wreckage, and immediately dispatched a messenger to the bridge to ascertain the captain's orders.

By the time the messenger arrived on the bridge, Neosho had taken seven direct bomb hits. The first bomb smashed into the port side of the main deck, tearing a hole fifteen feet long in the port side of the ship. The second bomb penetrated the stack deck, starboard, plunged down into the after center bunker tank, smashing through the ship's store on the way down. It blew the pump room apart, blew an oil tank that let go and caused oil to run all over the forward part of the engine room, and flooded it with six feet of fuel oil. Then the oil caught fire.

The third bomb exploded in the fireroom, killing every man there, knocked out the steam system and the ship's electric power. The fourth blew another huge hole in the ship's port side and caused the main deck to buckle badly. The fifth and sixth bombs blew huge holes in the ship's oil tanks, and so did the seventh, and a near miss – one of eight – did almost as much damage. The other seven bombs were armor piercing, but the near miss was a fragmentation bomb and shrapnel smashed across the bridge, decapitated a machine gunner, killed the rangefinder on the flying bridge, and knocked out the starboard searchlight.

So when Lieutenant Commander Firth's messenger arrived, on the bridge, Captain Phillips knew his ship was in anguish, and wondered how long she might survive. His gunners had stood fast. They had shot down three planes, and thought they had destroyed a fourth, although no one had seen it fall, and three more were seen to falter badly as they swept away after attacking.

"Prepare to Abandon Ship!"

The condition of the oiler was so grave, power out, listing badly, taking water, and with fires burning in several places, that Captain Phillips sent back the word to Lieutenant Commander Firth: "Make preparations for abandoning ship and stand by."

The messenger retreated aft, where the message was duly delivered. But by this time, the men had seen Sims blow up, and some of those aft panicked, Seaman W. D. Boynton, the messenger, reported quite correctly to the executive officer, who was supporting himself unsteadily on the superstructure deck, while several men stood around. Firth gave the orders, and then he collapsed from pain and the shock of his burns. Boynton then repeated the orders, but the men were not listening. Some jumped over the side and began floundering in the water.

On the bridge, Captain Phillips was getting ready for the terrible moment when he would have to abandon his sinking command. He called the communications officer to him, and ordered him to destroy all classified material – which included the ship's code books. Seeing this, men on the bridge began to panic and deserted the bridge, shouting that it was every man for himself. The officer of the deck, who was also the navigation officer, was among those who panicked – he left the bridge after he heard the captain give the order to flood the ship's magazines.

Forward, men were throwing the life rafts overboard, and leaping after them. The navigation officer warned them that they ran the danger of losing the rafts. Other men were trying to launch the Number 1 whale boat, and he ordered a life raft moved so it could be swung out. Thinking twice about his actions, he then headed back for the bridge, but as he moved up, he heard more men coming down, crying "every man for himself" and rushing to throw themselves into the water. The navigator then leaped into the water, along with the enlisted men, as the radio officer and several others tried desperately to launch another boat.

Seeing officers abandoning ship, the men lost all discipline. In a few minutes the water and the rafts were filled with escaping seamen, who were certain the Neosho's end had come.

On the bridge, Captain Phillips watched as so many of his men panicked. He saw that unless he did something, they would drown or be lost on the rafts. Lieutenant Commander Thomas M. Brown, the gunnery officer, had come down to the bridge to help, after seeing all his people clear of the control tower and the flying bridge from which he had been directing the fire against the Japanese planes. The Japanese were long gone now. Brown addressed himself to the problems of the ship. He helped destroy classified material, called back men who were moving toward the boats, and got the two motor whale boats over the side. The executive officer was unconscious aft, and Lieutenant Commander Brown took over his duties.

Below, Lieutenant Louis Verbrugge, the engineering officer, stayed in the main engine room, until the fire from the bunker tank drove him out. All power was lost. He could sense from the heavy list that there was definite danger the ship might capsize at any moment but he stayed below assessing the damage, and then he went on deck, to report to the captain and supervise the launching of the port motor launch from its skids. With all power gone it was a dreadful job; the starboard boats could not be launched at all, because the seas were breaking over that side of the ship, so deep was her list.

Slowly, through the efforts of the captain, the gunnery officer, and the chief engineer, it became apparent that conditions were not quite as desperate as they had appeared. But most of the men were out of control.

The bomb explosion in the fireroom had terrified many of the survivors. Machinist's Mate First Class Harold Bratt was in charge of the battle station in the after engine room. That compartment was located underneath the fireroom, which was full of live steam, and Bratt advised the four men with him that there was no chance of escaping at the moment, since the only hatch led into the fireroom. But two of the men panicked, they knocked him down and into the bilges, snatched the emergency hand lantern and gas mask he was carrying, and ran up into the fireroom. Bratt and the two others were left below, in darkness, with the compartment slowly filling with cold sea water.

For three-quarters of an hour, Bratt waited there in the gloom, not knowing whether or not the ship would sink beneath him. Finally, feeling that enough steam had escaped from the fireroom above to make their chances almost even, he told his two men to put on gas masks and wrap rags around their arms and hands. When they had done so, he led them up the after escape hatch, and into the fireroom. There they passed the bodies of the two men who had overpowered Bratt and disregarded his orders, and then moved on up to the main deck and comparative safety.

Chaos On A Burning Ship

For every coward there were twenty heroes this day. Even among those who panicked, the main reason seemed to be the dreadful shock of seeing Sims explode before their eyes.

Machinist's Mate Second Class Wayne Simmons was in the engineroom when one bomb exploded nearby, covering the others with oil from head to toe, and blinding them so they could not see. He helped them out of the engineroom, then manned valves that kept the ship going during the dreadful moments before all power was cut off.

Chief Watertender Oscar Vernon Peterson was standing behind the watertight door that led from the fireroom to the mess compartment, when an explosion blew the door open and knocked him down. Most of Peterson's repair party was killed, and the others were so seriously injured they were out of action. He crawled into the fireroom in spite of his own burns and gashes, and turned off the steam valves – but was terribly scalded in the process, before he could escape the room.

On deck, Chief Pharmacist's Mate Robert W. Hoag and Pharmacist's Mate First Class William J. Ward went to search for the ships medical officer, but he had been killed by one of the bomb blasts, and they did not even find his body. They set to work, then, to succor the wounded.

But on deck the confusion persisted. The assistant gunnery officer had failed to pass the word when the captain ordered the men to prepare to abandon ship but stand by. And he failed to stop the men from throwing over life rafts and jumping into the water after them. Instead he went to the Number 2 motor whale boat and began lowering it into the water. He was stopped by Lieutenant Brown, who ordered him to take the boat out, pick up all life rafts and tow them back to the ship and pick up survivors before they drowned.

The sea was running briskly, four-and-five-foot waves slapping up against the sides of the Neosho, and some men were thrown against the side of the ship with enough force to injure or knock them out. Others were pulled away by wind and current and still others drowned as the spume and froth of waves choked them and the caps swept down over their heads. Captain Phillips watched in dismay as the assistant gunnery officer made only token efforts to save the struggling men in the water, and did not bring back a single life raft.

Those rafts were scarcely visible from the bridge in the undulating sea for they were dun colored. Against the water even men swimming a few yards from them could not see them over the rising waves. So more men drowned within a few feet of help.

Captain Phillips watched in more dismay as the rafts began to move out beyond his range of vision. The boats went out, to search, but the seas were not any easier, and they were getting nowhere. The captain could spare only part of his attention to the problem. His main task was to try to restore order to his ship as long as she was afloat.

When the bombs began to fall, nearly all the men of Neosho were concentrated in the after section and the bridge. Two gun crews were forward and ammunition and repair parties were stationed near them, but the rest of the ship's company was aft, and the bombs struck aft and in the bridge area. All seven rafts still inflatable had been set afloat, and no one knew how many men had leaped after them. The captain had to find out, and save every man possible. That was the matter at hand.

Attack Aftermath

Captain Phillips's basic concern was to get his ship back under control, for even if she sank, he would have to try to save the lives of all those he could, and without the taut discipline of the navy, there was little chance of saving anything. The chief engineer made a trip below to see if there was any chance of raising steam, but the whole power plant of the ship had been wrecked by the bombs, and there was no way at all it could be repaired. So the captain had to resign himself to drifting and waiting for help.

At 1445 Chief Signalman Dicken of the Sims appeared alongside Neosho in the one living boat of that ship, and with his fourteen men – all that remained of the whole ship's complement of a destroyer. He and others believed there were more survivors on the two rafts they had seen drifting away from the side of Sims before she blew up, but they had not found them, nor had they seen any sign of the rafts after Dicken had finished picking survivors out of the water. Now Dicken placed himself and his men under the orders of Captain Phillips and asked what he could do.

Captain Phillips took the Sims's wounded aboard and turned them over to Pharmacists Hoag and Ward, who were giving morphine, bandaging wounds, and swabbing out bloody holes in the flesh of the survivors and trying to comfort the burned men. The captain then instructed Dicken to circle Neosho and pick up any swimmers in the water. Sims's complement joined the Neosho survivors at the port rail, where Captain Phillips had kept them for the past hour in anticipation that the ship might founder, and they would have to leap for their lives.

As the sun sank in the sky, Neosho continued to settle in the water and her list became more profound. Captain Phillips was very worried. He ordered the radio officer to get the fix from the navigator that had been made during a lull in the fighting, and to send out a call for help. It would have to be in the clear, since he had destroyed the code books. That meant running the danger of being rescued by the Japanese, but the ship was in extremis, and there was no alternative. So the radio officer got the information from the navigator and sent off a message.

The navigator had plotted their position as Latitude 16°, 25' South and longitude 157°, 31' East. With that information, even accepting the vagaries that would be caused by their drifting without any power at all, Admiral Fletcher's task force should be able to find them within twenty-four hours. All they had to do was hold on.

Neosho's two whale boats and the Sims boat ranged wide out from the ship, searching and picking up men until 1800. As dusk began to fall, they came in, all of them badly overloaded, moving gingerly in the rough sea, until they reached the ship's side. Only then did Captain Phillips learn that Sims's boat had so great a gash in the hull that it was kept afloat only because Dicken had stuffed it with a mattress, and his men bailed constantly.

Five of the men of Neosho who were in best condition had been ordered into the water off the port side, to keep a minimum of personnel aboard the sinking hulk, and now they were picked up by the Sims's boat. There were so many injured that they could not all be moved back to the shrinking deck of Neosho and Captain Phillips ordered the whale boats to fend off, and remain not closer than fifty yards off the port side of the ship during the night.

The First Evening

As darkness fell the able-bodied men of Neosho got ready for what might come. They tore all the standing rigging and extra gear out of the two motor launches that were pinioned to the ship by the fall of debris and the lack of power, in the hope that if Neosho sank during the night, they would float clear and could be used. They gathered mess tables and benches, and the objects they could find that would float, and brought them to the port side, where they would float clear as the ship sank and give the men some kind of chance, waiting for dawn when Fletcher's rescue party would surely be there at their side.

Lieutenant Verbrugge, the engineer, went below again, to see what he could salvage, but there was very little, and once again he came back to report mournfully that there was no chance of getting up steam.

The captain sent men to repair the transmitting antenna, which was found to be broken, so the messages to the task force would get through. The radio men manned the auxiliary gasoline generator to send the word.

Captain Phillips took a muster of survivors. He found that of 21 officers and 267 men aboard Neosho that morning before the attack, there were now 16 officers and 94 men aboard, plus the fifteen survivors of Sims. One officer was known to have been killed (the medical officer) and nineteen men were dead; but four officers and one hundred and fifty-four men were missing, the result of the panic and misunderstanding of orders that had sent them scrambling over the side of the ship during the Japanese attack. Captain Phillips was concerned, but he knew that most of these people had made it to the safety of the life rafts, and he was certain that next day the search planes of the two big carriers would locate the men and they would be rescued, perhaps even more quickly than the men of Neosho itself.

There was a good deal to be done to save the ship, if such was possible. The captain kept a close watch on the inclinometer, which showed the relative stability of the vessel. The list was 30 degrees. It would have grown worse except that Captain Phillips opened the valves to the starboard wing tanks, which filled them with sea water, and tended to counteract the port weight.

There was one big worry. The main-deck plating was continuing to buckle under the conflicting pressures, and this gave the captain much cause for concern. Lt. Verbrugge reported that the engine room and fireroom were taking more water in the evening than they had been in the daylight hours, and it was quite noticeable.

As darkness fell, the captain issued his orders: there were to be absolutely no lights shown – flashlights or lamps of any others. There was to be quiet, and the men were to get as much rest as they could during the night, while they waited for the rescuers. They would need their strength in the morning to climb aboard the rescue vessels.

So the hulk of Neosho settled down, the horribly cramped men in the whaleboats, adjusting themselves as best they could, and riding the heavy sea, part of the crew constantly on watch, lest they drift away from the side of Neosho. On the port rail, the pharmacists did what they could to make the seriously wounded men comfortable, and shook their heads over Construction Mechanic Second Class Leon Brooks, whose wounds were very severe. They hoped he would make it through the night. For that matter, they hoped they would all make it through the night, until rescue came.

RAAF Beaufighters, Hudsons, Bostons and Kittyhawks also participated in the Coral Sea Battle

HotelBushranger... Which Units and on what day or day's?

These Coral Sea posts are GREAT woofiedog! I can't wait for the rest of the story. What amazing feats of self-sacrifice. It is truly inspiring and makes playing this sim that much more rewarding. I'm sure there are similar stories from the "enemy" side. If anyone has any, please feel free to post them here.

7 May

1940
In Britain... There is a major debate in the House of Commons on the conduct of the war and especially of the Norwegian campaign. At the vote Chamberlain's government has a majority of 281-200 but when compared to former support this is not sufficient to allow the government to continue to claim to be representative. Neville Chamberlain resigns. In fact the errors of the Norwegian campaign have been at least as much Churchill's as any others. However, in a wider sense the responsibility is Chamberlain's for failing to to establish a coherent decision-making structure to see that plans were properly coordinated and that subordinates worked sensibly and efficiently.

Neville Chamberlain after the resignation

1941
In the Mediterranean... Part of Cunningham's Mediterranean Fleet shells the harbor at Benghazi sinking two ships.

Results of the bombing of Benghazi harbour

In the North Atlantic... In a special operation mounted for the purpose the German trawler Munchen , a weather ship, is captured northeast of Iceland and secret papers relating to the Enigma coding machine are taken.

In Iraq... General Quinan takes command of the British forces in Iraq.

1942
In the Philippines... General Wainwright broadcasts the news of the American surrender at Corregidor from Japanese custody. He invites the remainder of the American forces in the Philippines to surrender. Despite the American surrender, the opposition faced by Japanese forces has been effective in disrupting their plans. General Homma was allocated 50 days to take the Philippines, the actual conquest took five months. The continuing resistance of the Filipino forces has prevented the release of his troops for other campaigns.

General Wainwright broadcasting after his surrender

In the Coral Sea... American Admiral Fletcher sends Task Force 44 to attack Japanese troop transports bound for Port Moresby. The Japanese retaliate with attacks from land based aircraft. The Japanese also sight the American tanker Neosho and the Sims, they send aircraft after the ships and the Neosho is sunk. The Americans find Japanese Admiral Goto's close support force and they proceed to sink the carrier Shoho. Meanwhile, Japanese Admiral Takagi sends planes out in an attempt to find the American fleet. Twenty-one of the Japanese planes are lost without engaging the enemy, including a small group which attempt to land on the American aircraft carrier Yorktown. The Japanese troop transports return to Rabaul to await the outcome of the battle.
Be sure to read woofiedog's excellent post on the Coral Sea

In Madagascar... The Vichy commanders at Diego Suarez surrender to the British Admiral Syfret and General Sturges.

1943
In Tunisia... Tunis and Bizerta are both captured in the afternoon by British and American forces, respectively. The Axis defenses can no longer contain the Allied pressure.

A destroyed German column

In the Solomon Islands... Americans lay mines in the waters around New Georgia to prevent Japanese supplies reaching the island.

In Burma... The Japanese force the British to withdraw from Buthidaung. The city is occupied by the Japanese.

1944
Over Romania... The US 15th Air Force and British Bomber Command attack railway yards in Bucharest during the day and night, leaving the city in flames.

Over Germany... The US 8th Air Force conducts a massive raid on Berlin with 1500 aircraft.

Over Occupied France... The US 9th Air Force attacks the railway yards at Mezieres-Charleville with Marauders and P-38 Lightnings.

In the Bismark Archipelago... Elements of the US 46th Division occupy Cape Hopkins Airfield. There is no Japanese resistance encountered.

1945

In Rheims... At 0141, German military representatives, General Jodl and Admiral Freideburg, sign the unconditional surrender at the headquarters of General Eisenhower (SHAEF). British, French, Soviet and American representatives are all present. Operations are to end at 2301 on May 8th.

The surrender. SHAEF Headquarters, Rhiems, France. General Jodl signs while Admiral von Friedburg, Commander-in-Chief of the German Kriegsmarine (right), and an aide (left) look on.

On the Western Front... Allied military operations come to an end almost immediately after the surrender is signed.

On the Eastern Front... Soviet troops of the 1st Belorussian Front reach the Elbe river north and southeast of Magdeburg. In Silesia, the German garrison of Breslau surrenders to the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front after an 82 day siege. In Czechoslovakia, fighting continues north of Olmutz and in the town itself. On the Frische Nehring, in East Prussia, the remaining German forces continue to hold out near the village of Vogelsang.

In the North Atlantic... Two merchant ships sunk by U-2336 in the Firth of Forth are the last vessels sunk by German submarines during World War II.

In the Philippines... On Luzon, the US 43rd Division advances about 5 miles toward Ipo. American troops attacking towards a ridge near Guagua are repulsed by Japanese defenders.

In the Ryukyu Islands... On Okinawa, the US 7th Division completes the elimination of Japanese units that infiltrated into the Tanabaru area. Fruitless attacks on the Japanese held Shuri Line continue.

On this day of May 8 1942...

The Battle of the Coral Sea

Action on May 8, 1942

By the end of May 7, the American and Japanese navies had been skirmishing in the Coral Sea for three days. Although the Americans clearly had the edge so far, after three days of searching, neither carrier fleet had found the other and both sides were poised for what would be the climactic battle in the Coral Sea.

The two sides, itching for a fight, were evenly balanced. Each had two carriers, the Americans with the Yorktown and Lexington, commanded by Admiral Fletcher, and the Japanese with the Shokaku and Zuikaku, commanded by Admiral Takagi. The Americans had 122 planes and the Japanese had 121. The Japanese task force had been operating together much longer as a group than the Americans, but the Americans, unlike the Japanese, had radar.


USS Lexington (CV-2) during the action, seen from USS Yorktown (CV-5), 8 May 1942. Large number of planes on deck and low sun indicate that the photo was taken early in the morning, prior to launching the strike against the Japanese carrier force. Yorktown has several SBDs and F4Fs on deck with engines running, apparently preparing to take off. Lexington, whose silhouette has been altered by the earlier removal of her 8-inch gun turrets, has planes parked fore and aft, and may be respotting her deck in preparation for launching aircraft.



Zuikaku


Shokaku

Before dawn on 8 May, both the Japanese and the American carriers sent out scouts to locate their opponents. These made contact a few hours later, by which time the Japanese already had their strike planes in the air. The U.S. carriers launched theirs' soon after 9AM, and task force commander Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher turned over tactical command to Rear Admiral Aubrey W. Fitch, who had more carrier experience. Each side's planes attacked the other's ships at about 11AM. At that time the Japanese were partially concealed by thick weather, while the Americans were operating under clear skies.


Ready for takeoff from a Japanese aircraft carrier, 1942.


Bombs burst near the Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku as she was attacked by USS Yorktown (CV-5) planes in the morning of 8 May 1942.

Planes from USS Yorktown hit the Shokaku, followed somewhat later by part of USS Lexington's air group. These attacks left Shokaku unable to launch planes, and she left the area soon after to return to Japan for repairs. Her sister ship, Zuikaku, was steaming nearby under low clouds and was not molested.


Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku attacked by USS Yorktown (CV-5) planes, during the morning of 8 May 1942. Flames from a bomb hit on her forecastle are visible, as are smoke and splashes from dive bombers' near misses off her starboard side.

The Japanese struck the American carriers shortly after Eleven, and, in a fast and violent action, scored with torpedoes on Lexington and with bombs on both carriers. For about an hour, Lexington seemed to have shrugged off her damages, but the situation then deteriorated as fires spread through the ship. She was abandoned later in the day and scuttled. Yorktown was also badly damaged by a bomb and several near misses, but remained in operational condition.


Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku under attack by USS Yorktown (CV-5) planes, during the morning of 8 May 1942. Flames are visible from a bomb hit on her forecastle.

By the end of the day, both sides had retired from the immediate battle area. The Japanese sent Zuikaku back for a few days, even though her aircraft complement was badly depleted, but they had already called off their Port Moresby amphibious operation and withdrew the carrier on May 11th. At about the same time USS Yorktown was recalled to Pearl Harbor. After receiving quick repairs, she would play a vital role in the Battle of Midway in early June.


USS Lexington burning and sinking after her crew abandoned ship during the Battle of Coral Sea, 8 May 1942.


During the Battle of the Coral Sea, a heavy explosion on board USS Lexington (CV-2) blows an aircraft over her side, 8 May 1942. This is probably the "great explosion" from the detonation of torpedo warheads stowed in the starboard side of the hangar, aft, that took place just after the ship's Commanding Officer, Captain Frederick C. Sherman, left Lexington.

Shokaku...
A 29800-ton aircraft carrier, was built at Yokosuka Dockyard, Japan. Completed in August 1941, she participated in Japan's early wartime offensives, including the attack on Pearl Harbor, the raid into the Indian Ocean and the Battle of Coral Sea. In the latter action, on 8 May 1942, Shokaku was seriously damaged by dive bombers from USS Yorktown (CV-5) and had to return to Japan for repairs.

Later in 1942, Shokaku took part in the August Battle of the Eastern Solomons and the October Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. She was again badly damaged by bombs in the latter action. In 1943-44, she continued operations as one of the Japanese Navy's most important fleet carriers. Shokaku was sunk by the U.S. submarine Cavalla (SS-244) on 19 June 1944, during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

Zuikaku...
Sister ship of the 29,800-ton aircraft carrier Shokaku, was built at Kobe, Japan. She was commissioned in September 1941 and took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor the following December. During the great Japanese Pacific offensive of late 1941 and early 1942, Zuikaku was a participant in attacks on Rabaul, the East Indies, and the Indian Ocean. While covering an intended invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea, in early May 1942, Zuikaku and Shokaku formed the Japanese side of the World's first significant battle between aircraft carriers, the Battle of the Coral Sea. On 8 May, her planes helped disable USS Lexington (CV-2) and damage USS Yorktown (CV-5). In return, Shokaku was seriously damaged, and Zuikaku's air group was greatly depleted, ensuring that both ships were unavailable for the pivotal Battle of Midway in June.

During the rest of 1942, Zuikaku was an important component of the Japanese forces involved in the Guadalcanal campaign, taking part in the carrier battles of the Eastern Solomons in August and Santa Cruz Islands in October. After the long lull in carrier actions that covered all of 1943 and the first part of 1944, Zuikaku again engaged her American opposite numbers in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, on 19-20 June 1944. That action, which cost Japan three more carriers, hundreds of planes and most of the rest of her trained carrier pilots, reduced her once-irresistable aircraft carrier fleet to a state of virtual impotence. Zuikaku was damaged in the battle, but was soon repaired.

In October 1944, Zuikaku led the remaining Japanese carriers in the role of "bait" to divert U.S. carrier planes away from the surface forces that were attempting to attack U.S. ships off Leyte, in the Philippines. This mission was successful, though it did not lead to Japanese victory in any component of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and it came at great cost to Zuikaku and her consorts, who had few planes embarked to defend themselves. In the resulting Battle off Cape Engano, on 25 October 1944, the four Japanese aircraft carriers were repeatedly hit by U.S. carrier planes' bombs and torpedoes. All of them, including Zuikaku, were sunk.

Coral Sea, May 8 1942...

8 May 1942
The climax of the battle on the 8th finds the IJN invasion fleet has retired to let the carrier forces battle it out. The opposing forces are fairly evenly matched with two carriers and approximately 20 aircraft each. Scout planes from both forces discover the enemy at about 0820 local time and approximately 200 miles apart.

American Attack

At 1057, American dive and torpedo bombers attack the Shokaku finding twin problems in defending Zero's and bad weather. After numerous near misses, the Dauntless dive bombers score a hit with a 1000 pound bomb. VB-5 pilot, Lieutenant John Powers, with his plane on fire, hits the Shokaku with another 1000 pound bomb causing extensive damage and fires. Powers does not recover from his dive and is awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor for his bravery.

A third SBD from the Lexington hits the Shokaku with a 1000 pound bomb. At this point the badly damaged Shokaku transfers her aircraft to the Zuikaku and retires to the north. The Zuikaku safely hides in a rainstorm throughout the action and is not touched by the American attack.

Japanese Attack

A search plane from the Shokaku, hiding in the clouds, shadows the Americans and later guides the IJN strike group to within sight of the Lexington. Fourteen IJN torpedo planes execute an attack on Lexington. Demonstrating their seasoned tactics, the IJN torpedo bombers attack with two simultaneous thrusts from 45 degrees either side of the bow. Lexington tries to dodge the torpedoes, but at 1120 she receives two hits. Attacks on the Yorktown by four torpedo planes come close, but she receives no hits.

Japanese dive bombers push over in steep attack formations a few minutes after the torpedo attack. The F4F Wildcat's of the Combat Air Patrol (CAP) fight to stop them, but find themselves engaged in furious dogfights with the escorting Zeros. The Lexington suffers two bomb hits and numerous near misses.

Dive bombers from the Zuikaku attack the Yorktown at 1142. They are harassed all the way down by two F4F's from VF-42. As the Yorktown is steaming crosswind at full speed and skillfully avoids all but one direct hit. This 250 kg bomb strikes the center of Yorktown's flight deck forward of the middle elevator. Several near misses cause underwater damage. Throughout all the action there are numerous dogfights.

Once the IJN attackers retire, the U.S. carriers are still able to steam at 24 knots and recover aircraft despite their damage. But trouble is developing aboard the Lexington. Leaking gasoline results in a tremendous explosion at 1247, killing 25 men. She is able to recover her strike group, but is wracked by two more explosions. The situation rapidly deteriorates. In short order Lexington experiences crippled communications, loss of helm control from the bridge, smoke drawn in by blowers putting out her boiler fires and forcing the boiler room personnel to evacuate, low fire main pressure, more fires and explosions until she is dead in the water and helpless.

Consideration is given to towing the Lexington with one of the cruisers, but in view of her severe damage and the possibility of another air attack, the decision is made to abandon ship at 1707. This is done in nearly ideal conditions and 92% of Lexington's complement is picked up by friendly ships.

Later, with the Lexington burning furiously, the destroyer Phelps sends five torpedoes into the "Lady Lex" and she sinks at 1952 with final tremendous underwater explosions.

After this day's battles, both fleets retire. The Japanese postpone their invasion of Port Moresby and suffer the first major strategic setback of the war.

IV. Results and Conclusions

At first glance it would appear that the battle was a Japanese victory or a draw at best, since they lost but a small carrier and the U.S. a large one. But strategically, the outcome was unquestionable an American Navy victory.

Most importantly, it stops the Japanese advance southward, and possibly saves Australia from invasion. Secondly, Japan's newest large carriers, the Shokaku and the Zuikaku are prevented from participating in the Battle of Midway. Shokaku is heavily damaged and has to return to Japan for major repairs remaining out of service for three months. The Zuikaku, although undamaged, has suffered major losses to her air group and also returns to Japan. She is out of action for two months while replacement pilots are trained. Thus both these new carriers are unavailable for the Battle of Midway. It is conceivable that their presence at Midway would have spared the IJN from their staggering defeat with the loss of four carriers.

U.S. Navy lessons learned:
(1) F4F's could defeat Zeros if they would attack with altitude advantage, not try to out turn the more maneuverable Zeros, and stay together for mutual protection.
(2) Torpedo planes and bombers had to be escorted.
(3) Fighters needed belly tanks for more range.
(4) Better CAP (carrier air patrol) and fighter direction procedures were essential.
(5) Communications equipment improvements were desperately needed.
(6) Fire fighting training and equipment improvements were necessary to save ships.
(6) IFF (identification friend or foe) gear on all friendly aircraft was greatly needed to identify themselves to one another.

The list is long and the Battle of Midway would be in less than a month, long before many of the lessons could be implemented.

The Battle of Coral Sea marks the first time in the history of naval warfare that opposing ships are never in sight of each other, and no shots are exchanged, and the battle is fought entirely by carrier planes. It ushers in a new era in the history of naval warfare - the supremacy of the aircraft carrier.

Re: Coral Sea posts: Great job woofiedog!

8 May

1940
In Britain... For a while it seems that Lord Halifax will be the next prime minister. Most of the Conservative majority in Parliament would prefer to have Halifax, and the Labour minority are also ready to support him. The problem is that as a peer he sits in the House of Lords and this is not ideal for a national leader. At the meeting of senior Conservatives Halifax's own worries about this leave Churchill as the only alternative.

Churchill with the King on the day of his appointment.

1941
In the Indian Ocean... The British heavy cruiser Cornwall finds and sinks the German raider Pinguin near the Seychelles. The Pinguin has sunk 28 ships of 136,550 tons during its cruise.

The German raider: Pinguin

In the Mediterranean... There are air attacks on the eastward and westward bound British convoys. The carrier with each convoy engages the attacking Italian planes.

In East Africa... The Amba Alagi fighting continues. Indian forces take the the Falagi Pass and three small peaks south of Amba Alagi itself.

In Moscow... Timoshenko replaces Voroshilov as commissar for defense. Training programs are soon introduced to correct some of the defects which have appeared during the Winter War.

1942
In the Coral Sea... Both the Japanese and the American fleets become aware of each others positions due to aerial reconnaissance. In the battle that follows, the USS Lexington is badly damaged and abandoned. (She will late be sunk by an American destroyer) The USS Yorktown is also hit. On the Japanese side, the Shokaku is seriously damaged. Of major importance is the loss of trained pilots on the Japanese side, as they take severe aerial losses. The battle is noteworthy for several reasons. The Japanese are forced to abandon their attack on Port Moresby, the first real stumbling block in their expansion. It is also the first time that a naval battle has taken place without visual contact between the main combatants. The damage done to the ships was achieved by aircraft launched from carriers and not by naval guns.

Japanese recon photo of the US fleet engaged.
see woofiedog's excellent posts above

On the Eastern Front... The German springtime offensives begins with the 22nd Panzer Division of the 11th Army attacking the Kerch Peninsula in the Crimea.

1943
In Tunisia... Axis forces are attempting to withdraw to the Cape Bon Peninsula. During the night (May 8-9), however, the British 6th Armored Division drives from Hammam Lif toward Hammamet, disrupting the retreating Axis columns.

A British column in Tunisia

In the Solomon Islands... Three Japanese destroyers are sunk by the American mines surrounding New Georgia Island.

1944
On the Eastern Front... In the Crimea, the Soviet offensive toward Sevastopol continues. The defending German and Romanian forces are now being evacuated. There are at least 45,000 Axis troops isolated there.

Wounded soldier evacuated by plane

From Berlin... Hitler gives his permission for a full-scale evacuation of the German and Romanian forces in the Crimea. Meanwhile, Eichmann proposes to release Hungarian Jews in return for 10,000 trucks, 2 million cases of soap and other goods. The offer is transmitted to the western Allies by Joel Brand, a member of the Vaadat Ezra v'Hazalah (Jewish Assistance and Rescue Committee) and it is rejected.

In Washington... The US Senate extends the term of Lend-Lease aid to June 1945.

In London... General Eisenhower selects June 5th as D-Day for the Normandy invasion.

1945
VE Day

In Britain... Victory in Europe -- VE Day -- is celebrated. Churchill and King George VI make special broadcasts to mark the occasion.

In France... VE Day is celebrated in Paris with fireworks and extra rations of wine.

In Canada... In the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, VE Day celebrations turn into a riot as Canadian sailors loot shops.

In the United States... President Truman warns Americans that the war is only half won.

In Berlin... The German surrender is ratified. For Germany, Keitel, Freideburg and Stumpf sign, and for the Allies, Spaatz, Tedder, Zhukov and de Lattre. Hostilities officially end at one minute past midnight.

On the Eastern Front... The units of Army Group Kurland, long cut off in Latvia, surrender to Soviet forces. Most of the German pockets, which have been holding out in eastern Germany, have also given in.

In Occupied Czechoslovakia... In Prague, the German forces officially surrender. Some Waffen SS units continue to resist, nonetheless.

In Yugoslavia... German forces continue to resist. The Yugoslavian partisan army, under Tito, liberates Zagreb.

In Norway... Crown Prince Olaf lands with British and Norwegian troops.

In the Philippines... On Luzon, the US 145th Infantry Regiment captures the ridge near Guagua, southeast of Mount Pacawagan and blocks a track along the Mariquina river. On Mindanao, units of the US 24th Division establish a bridgehead over the Talomo river, north of Mintal. The US 31st Division clears the Colgan woods, reaching the Maramag airfield. American units land on Samar. On Negros, American forces in the south continue to progress against strong Japanese resistance.

In the Ryukyu Islands... On Okinawa, torrential rain restricts military operations. The US 1st Marine Division eliminates several Japanese held cave positions on Nan Hill, with explosives.

-HH- Beebop... Glad you and other's enjoyed reading the story of the Coral Sea Battle.
Thank's