I know Lady Lex has a special place in the hearts of Australians. Even though she was lost, the Battle set the stage for the Allies. I don't think she will ever be forgotten. Great video!
Because the Aussies knew that the Americans 🇺🇸 and Navy had saved Australia from what would have been a dreadful invasion of their homeland. And till this very day the Australian people remember and are still grateful for our stopping the Japanese.
@@jnstonbely5215 Japs were never going to invade Australia. Way too hard. To invade from the North was impossible. The country up there is very harsh and if you don't know the area, very easy to get lost and not much water around either. They would have stayed on the Solomon Islands and used that to stop America getting to Australia to use as a base.
@@BatMan-oe2gh The Australian official history states that all the Japanese had to do was cut Australia off from America, and they could take Australia over "at their leisure". The Americans built a massive airfield at Tocumwul, in southern Australia, the largest airfield in the southern hemisphere at the time. But after Coral Sea, it was no longer seen as being needed, an invasion in southern Australia was no longer expected, and air assets were moved north.
for anyone thats wondering: "Lexington's wreck was located on 4 March 2018 by research vessel Petrel during an expedition funded by philanthropist Paul Allen. A remotely operated underwater vehicle confirmed the ship's identity by the nameplate on its stern. It lies at a depth of 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) and at a distance of more than 800 kilometers (500 mi) east off the coast of Queensland. The wreck lies on the seabed separated into multiple sections. The main section sits upright on the seabed; the bow rests flat with the stern sitting upright across from it, both approximately one nautical mile (1,900 m; 6,100 ft) west of the main section. The bridge rests by itself in between these sections. Seven TBD Devastators, three SBD Dauntlesses, and a single F4F Wildcat were also located farther to the west-all in a good state of preservation." - wikipedia
My father was working at the Quincy (MA) shipyard on an Essex class carrier when news of the Lexington’s sinking reached the US. The carrier he was working on was renamed Lexington (can’t recall what the planned name was). In the early 70s (I think) he was with a group that went to Pensacola and got a ride in the Lexington (Naval Air school was using it to train carrier pilots). He had a great time talking to the crew and pointing out the electrical work he had done on the elevators. As a gift, the crew gave him a fantastic aerial photo of the Lex banking a tight turn.
The planned name of the carrier under construction at the Fore River shipyard was to be "Cabot." After news of the loss of Lexington at the Battle of the Coral Sea, the shipyard workers requested that the ship they were building be renamed "Lexington." This wish was granted and I was lucky enough to serve aboard that vessel from 1980 to 1983 when she operated out of Pensacola training future carrier pilots. Even then, that ship could still make 33 knots of speed at age 40. She is, today, the only Essex-class carrier left that was built at Fore River shipyard. After the war Tojo blamed Japan's loss on three factors...Island hopping strategy, American submarines, and fast carrier task forces. Thanks for your comment.
I am constantly in awe of all the people who contributed to the war effort. I'll bet your dad and his coworkers put in extra effort to get the new Lexington into the fight even sooner.
@@7thsealord888 The fact the attack on Pearl Harbor went off without a hitch was fairly miraculousness. If it hadn't been nearly unopposed it very well might have gone very, very badly for them as soon as any one thing stopped being as their plan assumed. It's odd that while the IJN always overcomplicated everything the IJA always seemed to default to banzai charges until finally adopting devilishly layerd defenses after losing the initiative in the Pacific.
@@johnassal5838 No it didn't. Main targets were not in port (carriers), second priority targets (modern heavy cruisers) were mostly ignored in favor of the old battleships for BS reasons, and the dud/miss rate was insane, against STATIONARY targets. The attack on Pearl Harbor went "well", with just a few losses, but in terms of mission targets, it was a failure.
@@NahuCommNS The fact they ever launched the attack was a strategic failure. Even Yamamoto seemed to miss that the public reaction would be just as vengeful even if that declaration of war arrived just before the attack as intended instead of after. Catching the carriers might've gained them another six months before the momentum shifted and ignoring the entire Pacific fleet's fuel reserve in those tank farms might've cost as much again but they'd still be too committed in China to invade the west coast or Australia and the longer the Pacific campaign went the more atom bombs would've been available by the end... With a functional radar in place they really should've flown into defending aircraft instead of catching all them all on the ground on top of those missed opportunities.
@@johnassal5838 I agree. Though to be honest, it was inevitable at that point. Japanese government weren't going to back down and lose prestige for cultural and political reasons, and the US fuel embargo left them with either that which they wouldn't do, or go to war to secure the oil resources they needed. Also, fighting a two front war as well. Strategically, was an absolutely stupid and irrational decision, and they couldn't have screwed up worse even if they tried to. Cheers.
The Lexington held a special place in the hearts of the naval flyers and her loss hit them hard. Congratulations on this excellent video as you showed the correct aircraft with their correct markings, that’s something I rarely see in documentaries unfortunately.
My great uncle reported to Neosho the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. She was berthed in Battleship Row, but the skipper skillfully extricated her without damage. At Coral Sea, Neosho and Sims fought a desperate and impossible battle against 70 Japanese aircraft. My uncle was among the casualties that day, and his body was never recovered. His brother, my grandfather, was serving on USS Argonne at the time, which supported this battle. Grandpa later served on USS Niagra, which was sunk in the Solomon Islands campaign. In 1944, he was on Kalinin Bay during the Battle off Samar. God bless those heroes of the Pacific!
Your Grandpa did great service on the USS Niagra supporting their PT boat division. And the same for his duty on the USS Kalinin Bay. I honor him and hope he shared his memories with you.
My Dad was an 18 yr old sailor on the USS Lexington during the battle of the Coral Sea and managed to make it off. Then a few yrs ago, I found out that my ex wifes father also served on Lady Lex at the same time. It then occurred to me, in an amazing twist of fate, that my daughter had both grandfather's together on 8 May 1942 and made it back home .... mostly intact. My Dad went directly from the Navy to the newly formed Army Air Corp (later becoming the Air Force) and served an additional 25 yrs in the military. He passed in 1999 and although I told him how proud I was of him, I regret that I never truly knew the significance of his service while he was alive. I honor him here along with all of those men and women from the greatest generation. THANK YOU FOR SAVING US FROM IMPERIALISM, COMMUNISM, SOCIALISM, AND FASCISM!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! FJB
And said generation fucked us over with social "security", medicaid, medicare, so called campaign finance "reform" which meant only super rich people can run for political office or be slaves to the federal DNC/RNC chairs... implementing socialism/fascism at home... We were the losers.
Thank you for saving us from what? Bro everyone is propagating their own ideal and denying anything else. Same with the US. Why can't we just preach a single thing combining the good parts of what you wrote in capitals
While the loss of the actual aircraft was significant, the more critical loss was of aviators. Even before the actual battle between the TFs, Japanese aircraft and airmen had been frittered away on various risky searches and the attack on Neosho. Consequently, the attack force that hit Lex and York was much smaller than it might have been. Due to IJN carrier doctrine of the time, the air group survivors of Sho and Zui were not combined so as to enable Zuikaku to be present at Midway. Shoho was not bait. She was part of a force whose task was to support the then upcoming landing. As the video said and was repeated in a comment below, the operation plan was complicated.
You really should have talked more about the effect the damage to the two Japanese carriers had on the following operation at Midway. One carrier was damaged and required repair, while the other lost most of its pilots. Japanese doctrine would not allow the transfer of pilots to the working carrier, so BOTH were absent for the battle of Midway. Had even ONE more additional carrier been available for MI, it likely would have been a Japanese victory. Simply put, the engagement at the Solomons gave the Americans a chance to win at Midway.
A lose at Midway would only delay the inevitable. They were never gonna out Build the United States. And likely still have suffered similar loses as the American Surprise Attack still happens. Japan wasn’t even able to replace the ships they lost. By the end of 1942 America was building 5 carriers, while Japan could barely start building 1.
@@gorilladisco9108 Japan was super strict with its doctrines. It was the same reason Nagumo waited till his planes returned, to launch an attack on the US Carriers, so by the time the US bombers arrived they were just now getting ready to launch, so dozens of fully fueled and armed planes were all sitting on the flight decks and lower hangers.
@@onefadedgunner3281 I know they are super strict. But what kind of moron ordered their troop to stick on their disabled ship? Who wrote that guidebook? 😅
Lexington and Yorktown are well known in Australia. There's a suburb of Adelaide called Elizabeth that was established in the 1950's. A large section has streets and roads name after the planes, ships and officers from the Battle of Midway. Midway Road and Yorktown Road are the two main ones. Nimitz Court is tiny, but is named after the Admiral Chester Nimitz. There's Spruance, Kittyhawk, and many more. I often think about the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Lexington when I drive my car along there.
Well, Adelaide got it wrong. Nimitz should never have been a "court." What the hell is that about? "Nimitz Boulevard" shoulda been the MAIN DRAG through town. Nimitz was America's great admiral in WW2, responsible for the daring actions at both Coral Sea and Midway. And many others.
I'd argue that the defective American Torpedoes had a larger effect in my opinion, than the possibility of the possibility of 6 carriers being present at midway instead of the 4 that were present. That's simply how terrible those Torpedoes were, there were numerous hits and near misses, that did not work because of the defective America Torpedoes. If they were not defective, the increase of carriers would not have a made much of a difference, due to the earlier American raids on the Japanese fleet would have been more effective. Atleast 2 Japanese Carriers would have been unable to be used in the battle, making the addition of 2 extra carriers not have much of a impact on the outcome of the battle.
Actually, had Yamamoto wished, he could’ve had six carriers but he chose to bring only four. Remember the diversion carrier attack on the Aleutian Islands? It was worse than pointless in that the USA ended up with an intact ZERO.
@@rwarren58 and that was because the Japanese brass were scared about the potential of another bombing raid on the home islands. Doolittle's bomber raid did almost no actual damage to the Japanese war effort but it had an outsized impact psychologically.
@@noticedruid4985 Man that's one of the worst parts of the war. They sent a bunch of mostly obsolete torpedo bombers to get shot down while trying to drop defective torpedoes. Military brass knew the torpedoes were defective but they covered it up. Very few of the torpedo bomber crew survived the battle.
My great grandfather served aboard the British auxiliary tug Amethyst, it had to be scuttled off the coast of Borneo after striking a reef. My great grandfather survived with the rest of the crew on a deserted beach for 2 weeks eating coconuts and periwinkle. They were befriended by natives and brought to their village where a Dutch missionary pointed their approximate location on a map. They walked inland through thick jungle with a native guide until they found the secret allied location hidden amongst the trees. It was a radio station with only a few huts and a transmitter disguised as a tree. The radio operator and several others were there and sent a message to a nearby base to pick up the shipwrecked crew. It was decided not to spare resources to pick up my great grandfather and his mates so the natives brought them to sea in canoes and they safely rowed many miles to the allied base.
My son and were watching a few of your posts about the pacific theater. ( My Dad served in the Pacific)... all of a sudden he says " Could you imagine if Japan had half the industrial capacity of the US ? Thank you for this channel , he learns more from you than school , and l just plain enjoy it.
Great video. The Battle of Coral Sea deserves more attention. Of course Midway has captured much of the attention but without Coral Sea, Midway doesn’t play out the same.
I had a feeling this was going to be a battle of the Coral Sea. However, I disagree with the title. Most historians don't agree that the battle was a clear cut victory for the Japanese. Both sides claimed victory at the time. You could argue that the battle was a slight Japanese tactical victory even though they lost more men and precious elite aviators (which they couldn't replace), but it was a clear strategic victory for the Americans, it turned back the invasion of Port Moresby and lessened the threat to the supply lines of Australia. It also was the first time a Japanese invasion had been turned back, and "shattered" the "myth" of Japanese "invincibility". I think a "draw" is a better conclusion, or perhaps a Japanese tactical victory, and an American strategic victory.
My ex-father in law was on Lady Lex in the boiler room when she was hit. He survived but was emotionally scared. Before his death he recounted his battle of the Coral Sea with me. Maybe because I am a Vietnam vet. His perspective was interesting to say the least.
@@SILOPshuvambanerjee It's been awhile since I seen a friendly Indian. It's refreshing and really lightens my heart to see something other then bitter politics from it
This WAS NOT a solely American action. The "surface action group" detailed to cover the Jomard Passage was Task Force 44 comprised of two Australian ships, the heavy cruiser Australia and the light cruiser Hobart, the US cruiser Chicago, and the US destroyers Perkins, Walke, and Farragut. The group was commanded Rear Admiral John Crace of the Royal Australian Navy.
You just have to accept the fact that history written by Americans is telling their story, not yours. I'm from the Great White North and am pretty much used to it.
Some of those career deck shots were from Enterprise at the Marshall Islands where my dad (ensign) was in charge of a 1.1 battery shown in the footage. He received a commendation from Admiral Halsey and went on to become a Corsair pilot. So much respect for that generation.
My grandfather was on Lexington during this time. He made it out alive and was recovered. USS Phelps was the ship that dealt the final blows to Lexington
Very well done. Would have been better if the Royal Australian Navy & Air Force were mentioned. My Father & Grandfather witnessed our contribution from Cairns. They never forgot our American friends & their sacrifice. (& neither have I.)
And no one from the US should forget the sacrifice that the Aussie forces made in all the bloody battles in NG and the sailors that died fighting the Japanese but many of them do not know anything about that and it is a shame.
I remember that during the war we kids used to use that phrase "scratch one flattop". I think two of the most used phrases were "Kilroy was here" and "don`t you know there`s a war on?".
When these "Dark Seas" episodes are good, they are VERY good. This is one of them. The narrator's style brings an urgency to the naval movements. Great drama.
The truth is that Japan never stood a chance. By the end of the war she was launching more carriers every month than she had started the war with. Her pilots were trained safely at home, with plenty of fuel, and by experienced combat pilots. As the war went on, every encounter got to be more and more one-sided. Japan never stood a chance, Yamamoto knew this, but the Japanese military never understood it.
Yes they did , it was drown out and be subject to european / anglo whims , like the rest of asia , or fight and try to be a power like them , no other choice give the ongoin massive war in china.
@@cseijifja Feels like someone is underestimating the US again... They didn't, they may have had more powerful forces at the start but the US industry got to work way before Japan could shut it down, as an example, in the Atlantic front, Liberty class freighters were built as fast as 42 days, one even being built in 4. Soon their industrial capability made it so that their air and naval capability near the end was almost overwhelming for their Japanese counterparts to deal with.
@@thecappeningchannel515 They could NOT. They started invasion because they had to acquire the resources from China. They had not better choice. And even if they had withdrown from China, there would be MANY MILLIONS of Chinese and Korean troopers waiting to revenge.
Yamamoto knew that Japan had a very short window of time (6 months is usually quoted) after Pearl Habor to secure a victory in the Pacific. The Japanese leadership knew that coukd not win a sustained war with the US. The US had cut off oil exports to Japan over her continued invasion of China plus aligning themselves with Germany. Japan didn't have it's own oil and couldn't maintain its economy without US oil.
Jump into 40k warhammer lore...if you're really looking for uncertainty! (Baldremort, Arch, A Border Prince, Luetin) (For real, give it a go...a truly fantastic "universe" ... anyway...)
The only ship in this battle that fought at Midway was the Yorktown. Her combat experienced pilots (from this battle) were decisive in the Midway combat. When she reached port after the battle the drydock workers proudly promised to get her shipshape in 90 days. The Admiral gave them 3. Workers stayed on board while the ship steamed to Midway to continue repairs and were offloaded just before the battle. While the Yorktown sunk in that battle, it is possible the Japanese would have won at Midway without her.
I just finished Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle f Midway by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully. It covered Coral Sea as the lead up to Midway from the Japanese perspective. Very interesting how infighting in the Navy and with the army helped the US. Yamamoto's plan depended on to many things to go as he wished them to rather than take into account what his enemy might do. Added to the US accounts, how things turned out makes a lot of sense.
Yamamoto was right about carriers and that's about it. As an admiral he was an imbecile. He sent their whole fleet in blind with no intelligence. The Americans made a lot of mistakes that day and still wound up w/ a resounding victory. With luck the best hope for Japan was to just lose badly and not get annihilated. Its a shame we shot him out of the sky, if he was still in charge the Pacific war might have ended sooner. Nagumo gets all the blame but he was set up to fail.
@@rook1196 He was very dumb, frittered away his numerical superiority and when others wanted to take into account other possibilities he ordered them not to. All for an island he couldn't defend and couldn't reasonably use offensively.
This is something people don't consider when reviewing aftermath facts and the decisions that lead to them. Even today, in Japanese culture, when someone is the leader be it in business or otherwise and they decide something it is not only the expectation this decision is followed but the structure of the decision and those around the leader are such that no thought is given, or at least spoken or acted on, that the decision could be wrong. Once the decision is made. Prior there may be discussion or requests for opinions but the leader decides, and then it is followed with fervor. Yamamoto wrote he disagreed with the attack on Pearl harbor. But he followed the decision to attack, and committed completely to it. Once that happened, it was on him to try to fight a war with a foe that should never have been provoked. The war in the Pacific is simply a series of Japanese commanders making the wrong decision over and over and over again. I don't know if anyone really can fully understand why. People will say the commanders were fools, but on the other hand they did not know the US knew all their plans because of the code break. Imagine creating a plan only for the enemy to somehow appear at just the right place to counteract. How do you respond? I think this is why the plans became so elaborate. Japan worked under assumption they were in secret and must have thought the US either had much better intel, spies, or a bigger navy then they thought, so japan made things harder on themselves trying to "trick" the seemingly impossible to deceive enemy. None of this takes into account Japan's unwillingness to commit gunships to battle. Even in this Coral sea, if they had steamed out with some gunships to engage the enemy things may have changed. The same can be said at Midway, there was a significant force accompanying the carrier force, they were held in reserve and then retreated without firing a shot as the carriers exploded. It seems Japan was concerned with conserving resources in every regard EXCEPT pilots.
Japan planned to attack Midway with six carriers. Like they did at Pearl harbor but because of the Coral sea battle they only had four carriers capable of participating. As they say the rest is history.
Nimitz was willing to lose two carriers at Midway, if they could simply take out two Japanese ones. Declassified records show he was willing to go 2 on 5. Nobody was planning on an outright victory at Midway. Nimitz knew that the US would always win a war of attrition.
@@rogerknights857 The what-ifs for the US had a lot more impact to them; the war might well have been won by 1944 if the Bureau of Ordnance had given the navy a working Mk. 14 torpedo from day 1.
@@maconescotland8996 I’m positive only one went to the Aleutians. Two of the Japanese carriers sent to the Coral Sea, and that Yamamoto wanted to go to Midway, were held back, one because it was so damaged, and the other because it had lost so many aircraft. There were sufficient plane and pilots on the damaged craft to make up the shortage, but the Japanese were too rigid to allow that. A big mistake!
Dude I am loving the fact that you have slowed down your narration. Your style was always good but now your not bombarding us with info at breakneck speed. Much much gooder.
My grandfather served aboard the USS Saratoga aircraft carrier but not during WW2 or Vietnam 🇻🇳 war either He was also stationed in Japan 🇯🇵 after WW2 My grandfather was also aboard the USS independence aircraft carrier I salute 🫡 all those who fought in WW2 Glad we’re friends with Japan 🇯🇵 after all these years after WW2 why because wouldn’t have Sony inc Or Honda or Nissan or Mitsubishi etc Dove 🕊️ of peace ☮️
Japanese cars are great. What fine engineers! Dad fought in the Solomons but loved his Honda Accord. (All his kids drive Japanese vehicles - my sister-in-law's brother helps build Toyotas in Japan). Japan is our ally now - and I'm glad about that - I have Japanese friends. The Coral Sea is just across the ditch (from New Zealand) and up a bit. Its not that far away.
The Doolittle raid meant that Enterprise was unavailable for Coral Sea, as she was still returning from the raid, and Enterprise had by far the most experienced crew and aircrews at the time. On the other hand, the Doolittle raid was actually very important in cracking the Japanese naval code. In the immediate aftermath of the raid, radio intercepts increased 10-fold.
@@peternewman7940 "The morale is to the physical as three is to one," Napoleon once said. I have seen this borne out in my life, with well equipped teams being stopped by malaise and bad morale.
@@Luked0g440 yeah, the Hornet was on the raid. Plus it was at Midway where it had exactly zero impact on the battle due to a flight commander that was too arrogant and inexperienced and lead all the plane on a flight to nowhere.
I think you better have a look at the conflict in Somalia. Why did the US struggle to try defeating the malitia? POOR TACTICS, & THEY WERE PINNED DOWN!! As for the Coral Sea battle, HMAS Australia (Australian battleship) was NOT sunk, though she did receive minor damage. As for having the best leaders during WW2, what a fucking load of bullshit mate. You need to fucking learn the BRITISH had to deal with Germany pretty much ON THEIR OWN!!! Once the Brits change tactics, the Germans were shocked. The USA had help from other countries, including Australia.
Thank you for this fantastic piece of work. It is one of your best. Operation Mo was postponed and modified. Japanese eventually landed at Milne Bay seeking to take Moresby overland route rather than amphibious invasion.
I would hesitate to call Coral Sea an Allied loss, either tacticly or strategically. Sure the US lost more tonnage, but in the end they controled the battlefield, or at least the Japanese were kept out of Port Mosby . In many ways the battle was simillar to Jutland, sure the High Seas Fleet sunk more of the Grand Fleet, but it isn't really considered a German Victory. Also, the battle that won the war was Pearl Harbor, the only way Japan was going to win the war was if the US gave up.
@Retired Bore Love your handle. Exactly, The US replaced the Lexington in December of 1942, The Japanese didn't replace Shoho until 1944. In no way shape or form was Coral Sea any kind of a loss.
Yes. Invincible Japanese were stopped for the first time. Moresby saved. Put Milne Bay and Kokoda disasters as serious Plan Bs for Japanese. Laid the groundwork for massive victories at Midway, New Guinea and Guadalcanal after which Japan was a dead man walking.
I’d actually argue there’s a stronger argument for calling Jutland a German victory than for calling CS a Japanese victory. See, the German goal at Jutland was NOT, in fact, to beat the British in a single decisive battle and break out. The Germans did want to break the blockade, but that was the goal for the naval theatre as a whole, NOT for any one operation. The Germans never wanted a decisive battle because they’d lose in such a battle; they instead tried to opt for a lot of smaller piecemeal engagements to whittle down the British capital ship engagement a few ships at a time, and only bother with any sort of breakout once the numerical advantage had shifted. What happened at Jutland was that the Germans set up one of those piecemeal engagements, trying to go after the British battlecruisers (and ONLY the British battlecruisers), then get the hell out of there before the entire Grand Fleet showed up. The Grand Fleet showed up much sooner than the Germans expected, but even if that hadn’t happened, the Germans wouldn’t have tried to break out: that just wasn’t part of their plans for that day. They’d have gone home as they wanted to do, albeit in significantly better shape. So the Germans actually did accomplish their objective at Jutland (since they weren’t, in fact, trying to break out right there and then and were merely trying to lay the foundations for a breakout much later down the line), even though they took much heavier losses than expected. That’s not really the same as in Coral Sea where the Japanese outright failed in their objective.
@Retired Bore I mean….just about every scholarly work that looks at German naval doctrine in the leadup to/during WWI (even those that incorrectly assume Jutland was a breakout attempt) will point out that the Germans wanted an attritional strategy instead of a “single decisive battle” strategy, which the British countered by either not showing up to the piecemeal engagements the Germans set up, or (as at Jutland) showing up with a much larger force than the Germans planned to deal with. Also, the High Seas Fleet actually did attempt to set up more piecemeal engagements they wanted after Jutland (as well as trying to deal with the Imperial Russian Navy). The British just refused to cooperate with their attempts, which is why these attempts didn’t work out for the Germans, and the inability of the Germans to get in as many of these these small-scale piecemeal engagements as they needed was the main reason behind the HSF’s failure and eventual defeat in WWI. If the Battle of Jutland didn’t happen, the Germans wouldn’t be in any better position in the long run (in fact, if anything they’d have been in an even worse position in the long run because the numerical and strength disparity between the British and German capital ship forces would have been even worse).
Battle of Coral sea was insignificant blip. It would not have mattered if Japan invaded Australia. True, the Ozzies would not have liked it, but there was zero oil, industrial materials, machinery etc there. All Oz would have been would be yet ANOTHER manpower drain on Japan.
"Dark Seas" here gives a dramatic intro to the Battle of the Coral Sea. It's about time this epic WW2 encounter was given the attention it deserves as a history-maker.
One of the consequences of the Battle of the Coral Sea was that the Japanese were forced to attempt the capture of Port Moresby by land, over the Owen Stanley Ranges along the Kokoda Track. Of course they never made it (I shouldn't need to explain why), and from that point onward their land forces began the long retreat back home.
The CV 16 was originally named USS Cabot. Still can see this on her keel. I served 4 years on Lady Lex from April 61 through Aug 65. See post below. SMC, USN, Ret.
@10:18 More precisely, it was the first naval battle in history in which the opposing forces never came within sight of each other, not that the "carriers never fired at each other".
My uncle Nick , Gunners Mate Nicholas Borich USS Dewey was awarded his Silver Star in defense of Lexington. He was the gentlest soul you would ever meet. Still sneezing lead sometimes 30 years later. He never cashed a single disability check.
I wonder if the Japanese ever seriously considered that the presence of two American carriers in the Coral Sea meant that their naval codes were not secure. Was it arrogance that prevented them from believing that they could get the upper hand on them?
Dear larky368, good point, I suspect that they assumed their Codes were, initially at least, impenetrable, and unless they became aware that a sunk vessel was accessible, and therefore the possibility of captured code books was a real possibility, there would have to be a series of "coincidences" that would lead to a real suspicion of compromised codes. It should be pointed out that Allied Occupation Forces NEVER recovered any wartime codes from Japan. Also interesting, is that Germany was convinced that the Enigma codes were practically unbreakable, despite a German mathematician telling them otherwise, regards from Australia.
IJN did a war simulation on MI before deploying, just to see how things might play out. The commander playing the part of the Americans sent bombers from Midway to strike the carriers, sinking iirc 2. (IRL America DID send bombers but they flew too high and missed with every bomb) Ultimately the American side won the wargame. The referee of the exercise refused to accept that Japan could possibly lose. He invalidated the results, and the exercise was run again. But the commander was barred from using his bombers because "the Americans would have no reason to have bombers there because they won't know we were coming". Of course Japan won the wargame after that change, which made everyone confident MI would be a Japanese victory. This pretty much illustrates the arrogance of the IJN in WW2. "We won't lose because we can't lose" pretty much sums it up. Their codes were given the same consideration, "They can't have been broken because they cannot BE broken." Although giving credit where credit is due, America played a very careful game with code-breaking intelligence. England took it to a whole new level, on a few occasions making heavy sacrifices when notice of an impending attack "could only have been known due to enigma being broken". I assume the Americans treated Purple with similar rules, and we just haven't publicly discovered anything that could have been prevented. Regardless, in the long run, making sure the enemy doesn't realize their codes are broken proved time and time again to be an incredibly valuable advantage. It helps when the enemy is thoroughly convinced they are the "superior race", which both Germany AND Japan had going for them. That's what they were all taught, so it's hard to fault them for acting like they believed it. It wasn't an act - they all believed the propaganda and it ended up backfiring on them. The boost to morale they got was overshadowed by unwavering overconfidence.
Witnessing the Shoho's final moments, Lt. Cdr. Bob Dixon reported by radio at 11:36 AM the following message, Scratch One Flat Top! Dixon to carrier. Scratch one Flat Top! This was the first loss of a significant ship by the Imperial Navy. It also foretold of an end of the era of surface war ships slugging it out in a gunnery duel within sight of each other. The era of the carrier battle group had begun.
While MOST of this is factual the proposed invasion of Australia while at the time was considered highly likely by Australia nothing really supported that idea. It was more that japan wanted to get all of the island of New Guinea so they could harass Australia and threaten it from sea and air to make it only usable as a base from about the tropic of Capricorn south as a staging area and supply store for alied forces. The force of Japan at Coral Sea at the time in Australia was thought to be headed to Australia or was declared so publically in Australia after the battle but it was a follow on plan to the landings and attacks at Milne Bay as a way to control all of New Gunea. The records after the war in Japan showed that though some in positions of power wished to invade Australia their own calculations had decided it would require about 3 times the current strength of the Japanese army and navy to even partly control Australia and that while they could easily take the main cities and therefore most of the population the size and wild and unpopulated inland would require so much manpower to make it unusable for resistance or alied forces to operate from to attack japanese forces with in Australia it would not be worth while and that the best they could hope to do was cut off Australia from USA by working north of Australia and further across the Pacific Ocean with a possible invasion of New Zealand at some point as a final nail in Australias coffin. Australia has always considered this battle of Coral Sea as saving Australia while not directly true in that it was not intended to invade Australia had it landed in and around Port Morsby its further orders were to continue on and attach Darwin from the Carriers. Had this eventuated it would have made Australias future look very dark indeed. As well as loosing most of our current Army strength that was fighting in New Gunea at the time my own father included.
Hello @beckter181 and others, it should also be pointed out that the last Japanese air raid over Australia took place in 1944 ( in North Queensland ), and Japanese raiding parties had landed in northern Australia, and to this day, there are Japanese markers in northern Australia that emanate from this time. So the threat of Japanese assaults, even though small in practice, was real, and Australian forces had to make provision for this reality. Small forces can create havoc, and a lot of damage, as Germany found out when the British stole a complete radar set from northern France, Regards from Australia.
Japan had huge armys in the north of japan it was 50 or 60% of there overall force incase russia invaded.. Thus part reason usa wasent going to invade japan with troops and ships like all the other islands. If germany was more successful with russia.... mabey japan would have had a good crack at Australia, with them reserve troops a bit later on.
Japan was a top-rate military force at the beginning of the conflict, however, the Allies refused to accept that their military was anything other than a minor concern. The Allies soon learned that they were a very well-trained, well-led and motivated military force. The real problem was that the Japanese never considered recovering downed pilots which was their eventual downfall. Also their damage control was Piss Poor at best causing them often to lose platforms that in similar situations the Allied ships were kept afloat and thus repaired and put back into the fleet.
I have read Shattered Sword, and the stupidity of Hiryu to keep on attacking until it was lost, highlights Japanese incompetence. After losing 3 carriers in quick succession, the IJN should have recovered what they could and retired from the battlefield. They might have been able to quickly rebuilt their strength and caused the USN more grief.
My ancestors were Chinese who knew quite a bit about the Jap warrior spirit: prospective winners do not care much about defense (damage control) because fast and precise blows conclude fights. Such a lack of all-round consideration was a factor leading to their failure.
@@GrowFoodSustainably have to agree with you, their intent was always to attack full force and things like defense were often considered against the warrior code. For the Navy it came down to factors that destroyed them, blind obedience to orders, and adapting to the situation was against their warrior code. Damage Control was a very secondary thought, most of their DC was assigned to a handful of the crew ONLY, and recovering lost sailors and airmen was also not even a consideration due to the warrior codes they lived by. Many of their failures were directly attributed to their warrior code lifestyle. There are several countries that are major players on the world stage presently that seem to be drawn to this useless and counterproductive code which in a conflict end with them being self consumed nearly as badly as their adversarial actions against them.
I always think of Commander Bill Ault (CAG Lexington)..said he got a 1,000 pound bomb hit on a carrier but was separated while trying to evade Japanese fighters and couldn't find a way back to the Lex and Yorktown and was never heard from again. True American hero..I think of the guys at Coral Sea and Midway who were " lost at sea ", either shot down, crashed or ditched and were never found, never heard from again
Yamamoto understood that Japan could not win a war of attrition. Japan winning the war would depend on a sort of Pacific Theatre “Blitzkrieg” that demoralized America and brought her to the negotiating table. As others have observed, much of Japan’s war plans depended upon certain assumptions and wishful thinking. When America didn’t roll over, all indications are that Yamamoto saw the handwriting on the wall, but had no choice but to fight on.
The Doolittle Raid and the Battle of the Coral Sea were integral in their impact on the Battle of Midway. The Doolittle Raid reignited Yamamoto's desire to take out the American fleet, which he believed would be forced to meet at Midway. It also resulted in the attack and invasion of Attu and Kiska in Alaska to shield Japan from bombing from that direction. Coral sea would result in one Japanese carrier sidelined for damage from Midway, while the other was sidelined due to aircraft losses (as others have mentioned, Japanese practice at that time did not allow the combining of both carrier's air crews onto the remaining carrier). Coral Sea deprived Japan of 2 fleet carriers, so the US was outnumbered in carriers 4 to 3 at Midway, instead of 6 to 3. Damage control also learned from the fuel leaks in Lexington which caused the explosions which doomed her. Henceforth, fuel systems were flushed out and pumped with inert gases to prevent a repeat. Lexington was the lead class of the first true fleet carriers in US service, adapted from her original design as a battlecruiser. Although they were the biggest carriers until the Midway-class arrived in 1945, because they were not originally designed as carriers, they did not carry quite as many aircraft as the Yorktown or Essex-class carriers. Her loss would be the 1st of 4 American fleet carriers lost in 1942: Lexington, Yorktown, Wasp and Hornet (the first American carrier, Langley, was a light carrier, and had been converted to a seaplane tender when she was lost in the Java Sea battles early in the war).
You know many people can quote what happened at Midway without fail. But the Battle of the Coral Sea did indeed, user in a totally new type of naval warfare.
Technically it was a tactical victory for the Japanese, but the Americans forced them to turn back so it was a strategic victory for the United States. Call it a draw.
For anyone who wants to know more about the battle of Coral Sea watch Montemayor channel's video on the topic. He also has an outstanding Midway trilogy.
This battle was far more important than its typically credited with... Imagine if BOTH Lexington & Yorktown had been sunk. Would the US still have approached the Midway 'Ambush' of the IJN with only 2 CVs (Hornet & Enterprise)? Especially if the IJN had suffered NO losses...
It actually had a secondary effect. You see, an ensign on yorktown watched the lexington sink and realized a weakness in carrier design. Their fuel lines. He devised the idea of purging the fuel lines with co2 when they weren't being used. This idea went up the command and a functional design was implemented by the time yorktown pulled into harbor. From there, the information was spread to the rest of the navy. But more importantly, it is the reason yorktown took the battering she took and nearly pulled it off. She was actually under tow when the submarine attack finally did her in.
Look closely around the 8 minute mark when the Shogi blew up, One of the planes on deck blew ski high hundreds of feet and went nose down into the ocean. I think I'll keep replaying that it's great.
My friends Geoffrey Heath, Murray Forest, Mervcyn Loxton, Walter Carger, & Norm Sleep were on HMAS AUSTRALIA during the Coral Sea battle. Problem is too much emphasis is placed on the USA being there, making it sound like they were the only ones there. Time this fucking crap stopped.
Liked the clip. I think that my Dad took part in that battle. He was serving aboard one of the US destroyers, if I recall the story properly. I have heard or read somewhere... that this was one of the first situations that the newer US shell, a variable timed fuse was used? The widget carried with it a small battery operated radio transceiver that could detect nearby objects. Again, if memory serves. The reason that I recall this, is this was one of the first incidences in history that a printed circuit was used.
Author Stanley Johnson was onboard the Lexington during the Coral Sea battle. The title"Queen of The Flattops". The book goes into great detail of the operations before and during the battle!
My great uncle was Admiral Aubrey Fitch who commanded the Lexington. It was the bomb that entered the boiler room that caused the most damage. I see a comment by someone that their relative (forgot the relationship) was in the boiler room. I never knew if anyone who was there had survived.
USS Texas is in Galveston today having her hull worked on. I visited the Lexington in 2006. She’s a beautiful lady. Battleship Texas is another beautiful lady with 14” guns. Would be sweet to see them pop a round or two.
I like the overall presentation and thanks for your hard work, but I have 2 major things to point out: 1) The tone of the narration: The Japanese viciously sank Simms (an oiler) but the Americans, who were unopposed only pummeled the Shoho? While I understand that at the time there was a clear distinction between "us vs them", history should have no place for such things. People should be impartial observers learning from it, not gloating over it. 2) Much more problematically, at 8:50 you are making a massively wrong statement: "Despite their technological advantage however.." meaning the Americans. Both their bombers (Nakajima B5N 'Kate') and fighters (Mitsubishi A6M 'Zero') were far better than their American counterparts (the bomber Douglas TBD 'Devastator and the fighter Grumman F4F 'Wildcat'). At that particular time, the Americans were outclassed by their Japanese counterparts in all but three areas: Shipbuilding and repair (owed to their immense pool of manpower and resources), codebreaking and far, far superior damage control teams, which saved the Yorktown twice (even if it was scuttled the second time after the battle of Midway). Edit: While I agree the battle of the Coral Sea did have its implications, the majority of the American victory at Midway is owed to two facts: Surprise by the Americans while the Japanese were bombing Midway and much, much more importantly, the Japanese had not yet realized their codes had been cracked and continued to use the same code as they did at the Coral Sea.
The Japanese Navy WANTED to invade Australia, but the Army refused to cut loose enough troops to even have a hope of doing so. Throughout the war, the Imperial Army's top priority was China, with anywhere else being considered almost incidental. The Coral Sea operation was an attempt to cut off Australia from the US supply chain which, if successful, may have affected the war's outcome to some extent. A proper invasion, even under ideal circumstances, would have likely been a disaster for Japan.
Yes japan kept aprox 50 or 60% of there army in reserve on main japan incase the russians invaded. Part reason usa dident do troop invasion of main japan... if Russia fell to germany well it be a different story.
Had Japan actually landed significant troops on Australia, the strategic balance of power in the Pacific would definitely have shifted, and resources sent elsewhere (Africa, India, New Guinea, Guadalcanal) would have had to divert to defend Australia. It would have been a different war, but likely with the same outcome.
@@sumrdreamer Such an attempt would have impacted Japan itself far far more than the Allies. What many people fail to realize is just how stretched Japan's supply lines were at the furthest extent of their expansion. So, they would have had to do all that - take AND hold Malaya, the Philippines, Borneo, the Dutch Indies, the Solomon Islands, etc.. THEN, on top of this, muster a big enough force of troops and ships to invade an entire continent. Much of Australia's army was still in the Middle East, but they were coming back, and there was still a substantial reserve at home capable of driving a tank or carrying a rifle.
My great uncle was a Marine and fought on IwoJima and survived long enough to get in the famous Mount Seri flag picture on the bottom row second from left.
1 year later, in January 1943, the Japanese tried to take other islands in the area, but were thwarted again. They prepared for evacuation under harassment by Allied naval forces. The result was the Battle of Rennell Island. 43 Japanese bombers fought off a makeshift USN taskforce, sinking 1 heavy cruiser, the USS Chicago (CA-29). That was my grandfather's ship. He almost died that day, and personally saved 7 other men from the wreckage before succumbing to fatigue and had to be saved himself. His captain wanted to put him in for the Navy Cross but he refused commendation, aside from a Purple Heart. My grandmother even got a Western Union telegraph that he died, because medical staff could not find his dog tags, and he was unconscious.
MacArthur was the worst sort of diva , on par with Monty . He pissed off and left his men to die in the Philippines . (edit:) You failed to mention why this ( loss ? ) won the war . The damage sustained caused the Japanese to be down one carrier at Midway , while Yorktown was able to be repaired .
Won't argue MacArthur's character, but he was ordered by Roosevelt and the Joint Chiefs to retire to Australia to organize the defense and relief of the Western Pacific. He did not choose to leave the Philippines, but only did so under direct orders. He did, however, coordinate a terrific underground resistance there throughout the war, and significantly drained Japan's manpower and shipping resources during the New Guinea campaign.
@@sumrdreamer Actually MacArthur said there was no chance of organized resistance in the Philippines until it became clear that there was a resistance movement especially on Mindano . During the war the Filipino resistance would grow to over 30,000 troops thru out the islands.
When inexperienced, green troops fight seasoned, experienced, battle-hardened troops you probably won't win those first battles. But it is important to show you are game and have fight in you to let them know it won't be easy and to buy time till they get experience. The Americans showed they had fight in them so a loss early is less important in the long run.
I think the battle of the Coal Sea is the only major battle Enterprise was not involved in (because they were busy escorting Hornet on the Doolittle raid)
Or, we could talk about the REAL (naval) battle that won the war. Or atleast a war (the pacific war.) The Excess convoy of january the 1941. This was the famous battle where HMS Illustrious got mauled. Stay with me here and I'll tell you how this won the pacific war. Going into that battle almost everyone assumed "modern" AA was sufficient to fend off "modern" attack aircraft. Then Illustrious got the Scheet kicked out of her. She survived >only< because she didnt take any direct underwater hits. Eventually she limped her way to the US east coast. While undergoing repairs there she was studied in detail by the Briitish and Americans. The lessons were as clear as a bucket of ice water. "Modern" AA was a joke against "modern" aircraft and damage control procedures had to change. This lead to the US adopting the 20 and 40mm along with revisiting damage control processes. Illustrious losing that battle saved the US in the Pacific. No doubt on my mind. I could go on but you get the point.
HMS Illustrious was a BRITISH ship, so the British did NOT study the ship during repairs in the US, as it was one of their own. She was built by Vickers Armstrong, laid down in April 1937, launched in April 1939.
@@rogerknights857 Lee was credited with upgrading the precision of naval gunnery, and at Guadalcanal used modern radar in combination with excellent gunnery to decisively defeat a Japanese capital ship in a dramatic night battle. Lee was Captain of USS Washington in that engagement, and later was promoted to Admiral and commanded the fleet battleship squadron for the rest of the war.
I know Lady Lex has a special place in the hearts of Australians. Even though she was lost, the Battle set the stage for the Allies. I don't think she will ever be forgotten. Great video!
The Battle of the Coral Sea stopped the Japanese invasion of Port Morsby. Where the planned to set up a base for the invasion of Australia.
Because the Aussies knew that the Americans 🇺🇸 and Navy had saved Australia from what would have been a dreadful invasion of their homeland. And till this very day the Australian people remember and are still grateful for our stopping the Japanese.
@@jnstonbely5215 Japs were never going to invade Australia. Way too hard. To invade from the North was impossible. The country up there is very harsh and if you don't know the area, very easy to get lost and not much water around either. They would have stayed on the Solomon Islands and used that to stop America getting to Australia to use as a base.
@@jnstonbely5215 The Army won the battle of Kolkata which stop the Japanese Army from advancing into Port Moresby so they could invade Australia
@@BatMan-oe2gh The Australian official history states that all the Japanese had to do was cut Australia off from America, and they could take Australia over "at their leisure". The Americans built a massive airfield at Tocumwul, in southern Australia, the largest airfield in the southern hemisphere at the time. But after Coral Sea, it was no longer seen as being needed, an invasion in southern Australia was no longer expected, and air assets were moved north.
for anyone thats wondering:
"Lexington's wreck was located on 4 March 2018 by research vessel Petrel during an expedition funded by philanthropist Paul Allen. A remotely operated underwater vehicle confirmed the ship's identity by the nameplate on its stern. It lies at a depth of 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) and at a distance of more than 800 kilometers (500 mi) east off the coast of Queensland.
The wreck lies on the seabed separated into multiple sections. The main section sits upright on the seabed; the bow rests flat with the stern sitting upright across from it, both approximately one nautical mile (1,900 m; 6,100 ft) west of the main section. The bridge rests by itself in between these sections. Seven TBD Devastators, three SBD Dauntlesses, and a single F4F Wildcat were also located farther to the west-all in a good state of preservation." - wikipedia
The same crew found USS Hornet in January 2019, after her sinking in Santa Cruz
i wonder what Patrick Bateman has to say about Paul Allen’s discovered wreckage
@@sammcoin8430 My god, look at all the watermarks.
@@sammcoin8430 Impressive. Very nice. Let's see Paul Allen's carrier group.
Meanwhile today RV Petrel fell over whilst in dry dock in Scotland.
My father was working at the Quincy (MA) shipyard on an Essex class carrier when news of the Lexington’s sinking reached the US. The carrier he was working on was renamed Lexington (can’t recall what the planned name was). In the early 70s (I think) he was with a group that went to Pensacola and got a ride in the Lexington (Naval Air school was using it to train carrier pilots). He had a great time talking to the crew and pointing out the electrical work he had done on the elevators. As a gift, the crew gave him a fantastic aerial photo of the Lex banking a tight turn.
Cabot was the orginal name of CV 16.
The planned name of the carrier under construction at the Fore River shipyard was to be "Cabot." After news of the loss of Lexington at the Battle of the Coral Sea, the shipyard workers requested that the ship they were building be renamed "Lexington." This wish was granted and I was lucky enough to serve aboard that vessel from 1980 to 1983 when she operated out of Pensacola training future carrier pilots. Even then, that ship could still make 33 knots of speed at age 40. She is, today, the only Essex-class carrier left that was built at Fore River shipyard. After the war Tojo blamed Japan's loss on three factors...Island hopping strategy, American submarines, and fast carrier task forces. Thanks for your comment.
I am constantly in awe of all the people who contributed to the war effort. I'll bet your dad and his coworkers put in extra effort to get the new Lexington into the fight even sooner.
Lexington is tied up in Corpus Christi today. Lexington CV2 was recently found by MV Petrel at the bottom of the Coral Sea.
Cool story bro
"The Japanese plans proved to be unnecessarily complex." Which was pretty much their playbook at this point in the war.
Unnecessarily complex plans were a hallmark of the IJN for pretty much the entire war.
@@7thsealord888 The fact the attack on Pearl Harbor went off without a hitch was fairly miraculousness. If it hadn't been nearly unopposed it very well might have gone very, very badly for them as soon as any one thing stopped being as their plan assumed. It's odd that while the IJN always overcomplicated everything the IJA always seemed to default to banzai charges until finally adopting devilishly layerd defenses after losing the initiative in the Pacific.
@@johnassal5838 No it didn't. Main targets were not in port (carriers), second priority targets (modern heavy cruisers) were mostly ignored in favor of the old battleships for BS reasons, and the dud/miss rate was insane, against STATIONARY targets. The attack on Pearl Harbor went "well", with just a few losses, but in terms of mission targets, it was a failure.
@@NahuCommNS The fact they ever launched the attack was a strategic failure. Even Yamamoto seemed to miss that the public reaction would be just as vengeful even if that declaration of war arrived just before the attack as intended instead of after. Catching the carriers might've gained them another six months before the momentum shifted and ignoring the entire Pacific fleet's fuel reserve in those tank farms might've cost as much again but they'd still be too committed in China to invade the west coast or Australia and the longer the Pacific campaign went the more atom bombs would've been available by the end... With a functional radar in place they really should've flown into defending aircraft instead of catching all them all on the ground on top of those missed opportunities.
@@johnassal5838 I agree. Though to be honest, it was inevitable at that point. Japanese government weren't going to back down and lose prestige for cultural and political reasons, and the US fuel embargo left them with either that which they wouldn't do, or go to war to secure the oil resources they needed. Also, fighting a two front war as well. Strategically, was an absolutely stupid and irrational decision, and they couldn't have screwed up worse even if they tried to. Cheers.
The Lexington held a special place in the hearts of the naval flyers and her loss hit them hard. Congratulations on this excellent video as you showed the correct aircraft with their correct markings, that’s something I rarely see in documentaries unfortunately.
My great uncle reported to Neosho the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. She was berthed in Battleship Row, but the skipper skillfully extricated her without damage. At Coral Sea, Neosho and Sims fought a desperate and impossible battle against 70 Japanese aircraft. My uncle was among the casualties that day, and his body was never recovered. His brother, my grandfather, was serving on USS Argonne at the time, which supported this battle. Grandpa later served on USS Niagra, which was sunk in the Solomon Islands campaign. In 1944, he was on Kalinin Bay during the Battle off Samar.
God bless those heroes of the Pacific!
Your Grandpa did great service on the USS Niagra supporting their PT boat division. And the same for his duty on the USS Kalinin Bay. I honor him and hope he shared his memories with you.
Respect.
My Dad was an 18 yr old sailor on the USS Lexington during the battle of the Coral Sea and managed to make it off. Then a few yrs ago, I found out that my ex wifes father also served on Lady Lex at the same time. It then occurred to me, in an amazing twist of fate, that my daughter had both grandfather's together on 8 May 1942 and made it back home .... mostly intact. My Dad went directly from the Navy to the newly formed Army Air Corp (later becoming the Air Force) and served an additional 25 yrs in the military. He passed in 1999 and although I told him how proud I was of him, I regret that I never truly knew the significance of his service while he was alive. I honor him here along with all of those men and women from the greatest generation. THANK YOU FOR SAVING US FROM IMPERIALISM, COMMUNISM, SOCIALISM, AND FASCISM!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! FJB
And said generation fucked us over with social "security", medicaid, medicare, so called campaign finance "reform" which meant only super rich people can run for political office or be slaves to the federal DNC/RNC chairs... implementing socialism/fascism at home... We were the losers.
god bless your family and FJB.
Thank you for saving us from what? Bro everyone is propagating their own ideal and denying anything else. Same with the US. Why can't we just preach a single thing combining the good parts of what you wrote in capitals
@@space0015 Its called having a working brain instead all tied up ya feelin's darlin
While the loss of the actual aircraft was significant, the more critical loss was of aviators. Even before the actual battle between the TFs, Japanese aircraft and airmen had been frittered away on various risky searches and the attack on Neosho. Consequently, the attack force that hit Lex and York was much smaller than it might have been. Due to IJN carrier doctrine of the time, the air group survivors of Sho and Zui were not combined so as to enable Zuikaku to be present at Midway. Shoho was not bait. She was part of a force whose task was to support the then upcoming landing. As the video said and was repeated in a comment below, the operation plan was complicated.
Any idea why the IJN doctrine didn't allow combining of air groups? Reduce bickering/infighting?
@@pierrecurie more the sailors of a ship should fight with said ship and not fight for other ships
You really should have talked more about the effect the damage to the two Japanese carriers had on the following operation at Midway. One carrier was damaged and required repair, while the other lost most of its pilots. Japanese doctrine would not allow the transfer of pilots to the working carrier, so BOTH were absent for the battle of Midway. Had even ONE more additional carrier been available for MI, it likely would have been a Japanese victory. Simply put, the engagement at the Solomons gave the Americans a chance to win at Midway.
Wars are usually won by the side with the greatest resources and that makes the fewest mistakes.
A lose at Midway would only delay the inevitable. They were never gonna out Build the United States. And likely still have suffered similar loses as the American Surprise Attack still happens. Japan wasn’t even able to replace the ships they lost. By the end of 1942 America was building 5 carriers, while Japan could barely start building 1.
That sounds stupid doctrine. Why did they put that in the first place?
@@gorilladisco9108 Japan was super strict with its doctrines. It was the same reason Nagumo waited till his planes returned, to launch an attack on the US Carriers, so by the time the US bombers arrived they were just now getting ready to launch, so dozens of fully fueled and armed planes were all sitting on the flight decks and lower hangers.
@@onefadedgunner3281 I know they are super strict. But what kind of moron ordered their troop to stick on their disabled ship? Who wrote that guidebook? 😅
Lexington and Yorktown are well known in Australia. There's a suburb of Adelaide called Elizabeth that was established in the 1950's. A large section has streets and roads name after the planes, ships and officers from the Battle of Midway. Midway Road and Yorktown Road are the two main ones. Nimitz Court is tiny, but is named after the Admiral Chester Nimitz. There's Spruance, Kittyhawk, and many more. I often think about the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Lexington when I drive my car along there.
Wow, that is pretty cool, thx for sharing
Well, Adelaide got it wrong. Nimitz should never have been a "court." What the hell is that about?
"Nimitz Boulevard" shoulda been the MAIN DRAG through town. Nimitz was America's great admiral in WW2, responsible for the daring actions at both Coral Sea and Midway. And many others.
@@lololomo5484 there's always one rude big mouth, isn't there?
That's nice to know.
My grandad was on Yorktown at Midway, he survived the war, God bless our greatest generation.
The most important effect of Coral Sea was that the Japanese fleet at Midway had four carriers, not six.
I'd argue that the defective American Torpedoes had a larger effect in my opinion, than the possibility of the possibility of 6 carriers being present at midway instead of the 4 that were present.
That's simply how terrible those Torpedoes were, there were numerous hits and near misses, that did not work because of the defective America Torpedoes.
If they were not defective, the increase of carriers would not have a made much of a difference, due to the earlier American raids on the Japanese fleet would have been more effective. Atleast 2 Japanese Carriers would have been unable to be used in the battle, making the addition of 2 extra carriers not have much of a impact on the outcome of the battle.
Actually, had Yamamoto wished, he could’ve had six carriers but he chose to bring only four. Remember the diversion carrier attack on the Aleutian Islands? It was worse than pointless in that the USA ended up with an intact ZERO.
@@rwarren58 and that was because the Japanese brass were scared about the potential of another bombing raid on the home islands. Doolittle's bomber raid did almost no actual damage to the Japanese war effort but it had an outsized impact psychologically.
@@noticedruid4985 Man that's one of the worst parts of the war. They sent a bunch of mostly obsolete torpedo bombers to get shot down while trying to drop defective torpedoes. Military brass knew the torpedoes were defective but they covered it up. Very few of the torpedo bomber crew survived the battle.
My great grandfather served aboard the British auxiliary tug Amethyst, it had to be scuttled off the coast of Borneo after striking a reef. My great grandfather survived with the rest of the crew on a deserted beach for 2 weeks eating coconuts and periwinkle. They were befriended by natives and brought to their village where a Dutch missionary pointed their approximate location on a map.
They walked inland through thick jungle with a native guide until they found the secret allied location hidden amongst the trees. It was a radio station with only a few huts and a transmitter disguised as a tree. The radio operator and several others were there and sent a message to a nearby base to pick up the shipwrecked crew.
It was decided not to spare resources to pick up my great grandfather and his mates so the natives brought them to sea in canoes and they safely rowed many miles to the allied base.
My son and were watching a few of your posts about the pacific theater.
( My Dad served in the Pacific)... all of a sudden he says " Could you imagine if Japan had half the industrial capacity of the US ? Thank you for this channel , he learns more from you than school , and l just plain enjoy it.
What u think China is doing.
Indeed this is probably why we won't win when China/Taiwan happens... Sadly, Every factory is in China now.
It does call into question the wisdom of outsourcing industrial capacity to our enemies.
Lexington's crew was saved by a well timed call to abandon ship. That crew became the leaders of new crews of ships being built back in the States.
Great video. The Battle of Coral Sea deserves more attention. Of course Midway has captured much of the attention but without Coral Sea, Midway doesn’t play out the same.
I had a feeling this was going to be a battle of the Coral Sea. However, I disagree with the title. Most historians don't agree that the battle was a clear cut victory for the Japanese. Both sides claimed victory at the time. You could argue that the battle was a slight Japanese tactical victory even though they lost more men and precious elite aviators (which they couldn't replace), but it was a clear strategic victory for the Americans, it turned back the invasion of Port Moresby and lessened the threat to the supply lines of Australia. It also was the first time a Japanese invasion had been turned back, and "shattered" the "myth" of Japanese "invincibility". I think a "draw" is a better conclusion, or perhaps a Japanese tactical victory, and an American strategic victory.
My ex-father in law was on Lady Lex in the boiler room when she was hit. He survived but was emotionally scared. Before his death he recounted his battle of the Coral Sea with me. Maybe because I am a Vietnam vet. His perspective was interesting to say the least.
thanks to both of you
i bet he could get a head of steam on her that would make boomer crews want coal or oil down there instead of plutonium
Love from India
@@SILOPshuvambanerjee It's been awhile since I seen a friendly Indian. It's refreshing and really lightens my heart to see something other then bitter politics from it
@@WhatHappenedIn-vt3vq Not a cricket fan, I take it?
This WAS NOT a solely American action. The "surface action group" detailed to cover the Jomard Passage was Task Force 44 comprised of two Australian ships, the heavy cruiser Australia and the light cruiser Hobart, the US cruiser Chicago, and the US destroyers Perkins, Walke, and Farragut. The group was commanded Rear Admiral John Crace of the Royal Australian Navy.
Love the Australians. Sad we don't give them enough credit. I guess that's kind of natural.
Australia has always helped the US. Australia even sent troops to Vietnam
Just don’t let the truth get in the way of an American victory. I don’t think they can handle it. They won the war after all. Lol
You just have to accept the fact that history written by Americans is telling their story, not yours. I'm from the Great White North and am pretty much used to it.
@@davidbeattie4294 I'm not complaining, all countries do it. I was just adding some additional history that I thought might interest viewers.
Some of those career deck shots were from Enterprise at the Marshall Islands where my dad (ensign) was in charge of a 1.1 battery shown in the footage. He received a commendation from Admiral Halsey and went on to become a Corsair pilot. So much respect for that generation.
My grandfather was on Lexington during this time. He made it out alive and was recovered. USS Phelps was the ship that dealt the final blows to Lexington
My grandfather served on the Lexington, too-- CPO, signalman. He loved that ship.
Very well done.
Would have been better if the Royal Australian Navy & Air Force were mentioned.
My Father & Grandfather witnessed our contribution from Cairns.
They never forgot our American friends & their sacrifice. (& neither have I.)
And no one from the US should forget the sacrifice that the Aussie forces made in all the bloody battles in NG and the sailors that died fighting the Japanese but many of them do not know anything about that and it is a shame.
Thanks, all the dark vids are very well done, thanks. Leona
Normally I play this kind of content at 1.5x but your videos are so well edited and paced that I prefer 1x! Keep it up friend
I remember that during the war we kids used to use that phrase "scratch one flattop". I think two of the most used phrases were "Kilroy was here" and "don`t you know there`s a war on?".
When these "Dark Seas" episodes are good, they are VERY good. This is one of them.
The narrator's style brings an urgency to the naval movements. Great drama.
The truth is that Japan never stood a chance. By the end of the war she was launching more carriers every month than she had started the war with. Her pilots were trained safely at home, with plenty of fuel, and by experienced combat pilots. As the war went on, every encounter got to be more and more one-sided. Japan never stood a chance, Yamamoto knew this, but the Japanese military never understood it.
Yes they did , it was drown out and be subject to european / anglo whims , like the rest of asia , or fight and try to be a power like them , no other choice give the ongoin massive war in china.
@@cseijifja Feels like someone is underestimating the US again...
They didn't, they may have had more powerful forces at the start but the US industry got to work way before Japan could shut it down, as an example, in the Atlantic front, Liberty class freighters were built as fast as 42 days, one even being built in 4. Soon their industrial capability made it so that their air and naval capability near the end was almost overwhelming for their Japanese counterparts to deal with.
@@cseijifja they could have withdrawn from china in 1940.
@@thecappeningchannel515 They could NOT. They started invasion because they had to acquire the resources from China. They had not better choice. And even if they had withdrown from China, there would be MANY MILLIONS of Chinese and Korean troopers waiting to revenge.
Yamamoto knew that Japan had a very short window of time (6 months is usually quoted) after Pearl Habor to secure a victory in the Pacific. The Japanese leadership knew that coukd not win a sustained war with the US. The US had cut off oil exports to Japan over her continued invasion of China plus aligning themselves with Germany. Japan didn't have it's own oil and couldn't maintain its economy without US oil.
Not sure why but I find myself drawn to the early days in the Pacific WWII. So many unknowns.
Its one of the few times where the US didnt know if they could win, it wasnt a forgone conclusion like most of the European theatre
The Java sea campaign is brutal. A voyage of the damned.
I find it interesting because history might repeat itself.
Jump into 40k warhammer lore...if you're really looking for uncertainty!
(Baldremort, Arch, A Border Prince, Luetin)
(For real, give it a go...a truly fantastic "universe" ... anyway...)
@@theduplicator3270 tsk, tsk...
Won't repeat...it will rhyme.....
My new favorite channel. Awesome delivery. Never boring.
The only ship in this battle that fought at Midway was the Yorktown. Her combat experienced pilots (from this battle) were decisive in the Midway combat.
When she reached port after the battle the drydock workers proudly promised to get her shipshape in 90 days. The Admiral gave them 3. Workers stayed on board while the ship steamed to Midway to continue repairs and were offloaded just before the battle.
While the Yorktown sunk in that battle, it is possible the Japanese would have won at Midway without her.
I just finished Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle f Midway by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully. It covered Coral Sea as the lead up to Midway from the Japanese perspective. Very interesting how infighting in the Navy and with the army helped the US. Yamamoto's plan depended on to many things to go as he wished them to rather than take into account what his enemy might do. Added to the US accounts, how things turned out makes a lot of sense.
Great book!
Yamamoto was right about carriers and that's about it. As an admiral he was an imbecile. He sent their whole fleet in blind with no intelligence. The Americans made a lot of mistakes that day and still wound up w/ a resounding victory. With luck the best hope for Japan was to just lose badly and not get annihilated. Its a shame we shot him out of the sky, if he was still in charge the Pacific war might have ended sooner. Nagumo gets all the blame but he was set up to fail.
@@rook1196 He was very dumb, frittered away his numerical superiority and when others wanted to take into account other possibilities he ordered them not to. All for an island he couldn't defend and couldn't reasonably use offensively.
That’s a great book. 📖
This is something people don't consider when reviewing aftermath facts and the decisions that lead to them.
Even today, in Japanese culture, when someone is the leader be it in business or otherwise and they decide something it is not only the expectation this decision is followed but the structure of the decision and those around the leader are such that no thought is given, or at least spoken or acted on, that the decision could be wrong.
Once the decision is made. Prior there may be discussion or requests for opinions but the leader decides, and then it is followed with fervor. Yamamoto wrote he disagreed with the attack on Pearl harbor. But he followed the decision to attack, and committed completely to it. Once that happened, it was on him to try to fight a war with a foe that should never have been provoked.
The war in the Pacific is simply a series of Japanese commanders making the wrong decision over and over and over again. I don't know if anyone really can fully understand why. People will say the commanders were fools, but on the other hand they did not know the US knew all their plans because of the code break. Imagine creating a plan only for the enemy to somehow appear at just the right place to counteract. How do you respond? I think this is why the plans became so elaborate. Japan worked under assumption they were in secret and must have thought the US either had much better intel, spies, or a bigger navy then they thought, so japan made things harder on themselves trying to "trick" the seemingly impossible to deceive enemy.
None of this takes into account Japan's unwillingness to commit gunships to battle. Even in this Coral sea, if they had steamed out with some gunships to engage the enemy things may have changed. The same can be said at Midway, there was a significant force accompanying the carrier force, they were held in reserve and then retreated without firing a shot as the carriers exploded. It seems Japan was concerned with conserving resources in every regard EXCEPT pilots.
Japan planned to attack Midway with six carriers. Like they did at Pearl harbor but because of the Coral sea battle they only had four carriers capable of participating. As they say the rest is history.
I’ve read that Nimitz later said that if Japan had had six carriers at Midway, there’s no way America would have won.
Nimitz was willing to lose two carriers at Midway, if they could simply take out two Japanese ones. Declassified records show he was willing to go 2 on 5. Nobody was planning on an outright victory at Midway. Nimitz knew that the US would always win a war of attrition.
@@rogerknights857 The what-ifs for the US had a lot more impact to them; the war might well have been won by 1944 if the Bureau of Ordnance had given the navy a working Mk. 14 torpedo from day 1.
Didn't the Japanese divert two carriers to their concurrent operation to invade the Aleutins ?
Otherwise the could have had six at Midway ?
@@maconescotland8996 I’m positive only one went to the Aleutians. Two of the Japanese carriers sent to the Coral Sea, and that Yamamoto wanted to go to Midway, were held back, one because it was so damaged, and the other because it had lost so many aircraft. There were sufficient plane and pilots on the damaged craft to make up the shortage, but the Japanese were too rigid to allow that. A big mistake!
Dude I am loving the fact that you have slowed down your narration. Your style was always good but now your not bombarding us with info at breakneck speed. Much much gooder.
My grandfather served aboard the USS Saratoga aircraft carrier but not during WW2 or Vietnam 🇻🇳 war either
He was also stationed in Japan 🇯🇵 after WW2
My grandfather was also aboard the USS independence aircraft carrier
I salute 🫡 all those who fought in WW2
Glad we’re friends with Japan 🇯🇵 after all these years after WW2 why because wouldn’t have Sony inc
Or Honda or Nissan or Mitsubishi etc
Dove 🕊️ of peace ☮️
You know Mitsubishi made aircrafts were used to attack in Pearl Harbor and in other battles.
It's better if Japan won WW2, there'll be American and Australian comfort girls serving Imperial soldiers
The Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zero" is a...
Japanese cars are great. What fine engineers! Dad fought in the Solomons but loved his Honda Accord. (All his kids drive Japanese vehicles - my sister-in-law's brother helps build Toyotas in Japan).
Japan is our ally now - and I'm glad about that - I have Japanese friends. The Coral Sea is just across the ditch (from New Zealand) and up a bit. Its not that far away.
The Doolittle raid meant that Enterprise was unavailable for Coral Sea, as she was still returning from the raid, and Enterprise had by far the most experienced crew and aircrews at the time.
On the other hand, the Doolittle raid was actually very important in cracking the Japanese naval code. In the immediate aftermath of the raid, radio intercepts increased 10-fold.
USS Hornet was also part of that raid.
Rocketsong: That's a most interesting comment (intercepts), one I had not seen before. Got any references?
The Doolittle raid was a morale thing when you look at it. The damage inflicted on Japan was minimal.
@@peternewman7940 "The morale is to the physical as three is to one," Napoleon once said. I have seen this borne out in my life, with well equipped teams being stopped by malaise and bad morale.
@@Luked0g440 yeah, the Hornet was on the raid. Plus it was at Midway where it had exactly zero impact on the battle due to a flight commander that was too arrogant and inexperienced and lead all the plane on a flight to nowhere.
The US had the best leaders during WWII. These were exceptional warriors. I don't think we have anything to compete with them today.
SAS ? SBS ?
I think you better have a look at the conflict in Somalia. Why did the US struggle to try defeating the malitia? POOR TACTICS, & THEY WERE PINNED DOWN!! As for the Coral Sea battle, HMAS Australia (Australian battleship) was NOT sunk, though she did receive minor damage. As for having the best leaders during WW2, what a fucking load of bullshit mate. You need to fucking learn the BRITISH had to deal with Germany pretty much ON THEIR OWN!!! Once the Brits change tactics, the Germans were shocked. The USA had help from other countries, including Australia.
Victor David Hansen said that the reason is that Marshall cleared out the deadwood-34 generals-at the start of the war.
Sorry but I believe Admiral Halsey was an incompetent leader. U.S. Navy veteran. I served aboard the U.S.S. Lexington in the early 80's.
Thank you for this fantastic piece of work.
It is one of your best.
Operation Mo was postponed and modified. Japanese eventually landed at Milne Bay seeking to take Moresby overland route rather than amphibious invasion.
Thanks for another one on Australia
Coral Sea: love it! Midway: absolute lucky rolls of the dice.
Island hopping: brilliant!
I would hesitate to call Coral Sea an Allied loss, either tacticly or strategically. Sure the US lost more tonnage, but in the end they controled the battlefield, or at least the Japanese were kept out of Port Mosby .
In many ways the battle was simillar to Jutland, sure the High Seas Fleet sunk more of the Grand Fleet, but it isn't really considered a German Victory.
Also, the battle that won the war was Pearl Harbor, the only way Japan was going to win the war was if the US gave up.
@Retired Bore Love your handle.
Exactly, The US replaced the Lexington in December of 1942, The Japanese didn't replace Shoho until 1944.
In no way shape or form was Coral Sea any kind of a loss.
Yes. Invincible Japanese were stopped for the first time. Moresby saved. Put Milne Bay and Kokoda disasters as serious Plan Bs for Japanese. Laid the groundwork for massive victories at Midway, New Guinea and Guadalcanal after which Japan was a dead man walking.
I’d actually argue there’s a stronger argument for calling Jutland a German victory than for calling CS a Japanese victory.
See, the German goal at Jutland was NOT, in fact, to beat the British in a single decisive battle and break out. The Germans did want to break the blockade, but that was the goal for the naval theatre as a whole, NOT for any one operation. The Germans never wanted a decisive battle because they’d lose in such a battle; they instead tried to opt for a lot of smaller piecemeal engagements to whittle down the British capital ship engagement a few ships at a time, and only bother with any sort of breakout once the numerical advantage had shifted.
What happened at Jutland was that the Germans set up one of those piecemeal engagements, trying to go after the British battlecruisers (and ONLY the British battlecruisers), then get the hell out of there before the entire Grand Fleet showed up. The Grand Fleet showed up much sooner than the Germans expected, but even if that hadn’t happened, the Germans wouldn’t have tried to break out: that just wasn’t part of their plans for that day. They’d have gone home as they wanted to do, albeit in significantly better shape.
So the Germans actually did accomplish their objective at Jutland (since they weren’t, in fact, trying to break out right there and then and were merely trying to lay the foundations for a breakout much later down the line), even though they took much heavier losses than expected. That’s not really the same as in Coral Sea where the Japanese outright failed in their objective.
@Retired Bore
I mean….just about every scholarly work that looks at German naval doctrine in the leadup to/during WWI (even those that incorrectly assume Jutland was a breakout attempt) will point out that the Germans wanted an attritional strategy instead of a “single decisive battle” strategy, which the British countered by either not showing up to the piecemeal engagements the Germans set up, or (as at Jutland) showing up with a much larger force than the Germans planned to deal with.
Also, the High Seas Fleet actually did attempt to set up more piecemeal engagements they wanted after Jutland (as well as trying to deal with the Imperial Russian Navy). The British just refused to cooperate with their attempts, which is why these attempts didn’t work out for the Germans, and the inability of the Germans to get in as many of these these small-scale piecemeal engagements as they needed was the main reason behind the HSF’s failure and eventual defeat in WWI.
If the Battle of Jutland didn’t happen, the Germans wouldn’t be in any better position in the long run (in fact, if anything they’d have been in an even worse position in the long run because the numerical and strength disparity between the British and German capital ship forces would have been even worse).
Battle of Coral sea was insignificant blip. It would not have mattered if Japan invaded Australia. True, the Ozzies would not have liked it, but there was zero oil, industrial materials, machinery etc there. All Oz would have been would be yet ANOTHER manpower drain on Japan.
From an old salt to a young sailor.... Hell yes I'm crying , the Lady's going down....... From a book I read many years ago ! Always remember.
Thx. No Thx.
The Aussies will never forget that.# Bravery, sacrifice.🇦🇺🇺🇸
"Dark Seas" here gives a dramatic intro to the Battle of the Coral Sea.
It's about time this epic WW2 encounter was given the attention it deserves as a history-maker.
One of the consequences of the Battle of the Coral Sea was that the Japanese were forced to attempt the capture of Port Moresby by land, over the Owen Stanley Ranges along the Kokoda Track. Of course they never made it (I shouldn't need to explain why), and from that point onward their land forces began the long retreat back home.
The CV 16 was originally named USS Cabot. Still can see this on her keel. I served 4 years on Lady Lex from April 61 through Aug 65. See post below. SMC, USN, Ret.
@10:18 More precisely, it was the first naval battle in history in which the opposing forces never came within sight of each other, not that the "carriers never fired at each other".
Me seeing Lady lex (my brain ah yes I gotta watch this even more now). Anyway keep the good work up
She's a good looking ship for some reason.
My uncle Nick , Gunners Mate Nicholas Borich USS Dewey was awarded his Silver Star in defense of Lexington. He was the gentlest soul you would ever meet. Still sneezing lead sometimes 30 years later. He never cashed a single disability check.
I wonder if the Japanese ever seriously considered that the presence of two American carriers in the Coral Sea meant that their naval codes were not secure. Was it arrogance that prevented them from believing that they could get the upper hand on them?
Dear larky368, good point, I suspect that they assumed their Codes were, initially at least, impenetrable, and unless they became aware that a sunk vessel was accessible, and therefore the possibility of captured code books was a real possibility, there would have to be a series of "coincidences" that would lead to a real suspicion of compromised codes. It should be pointed out that Allied Occupation Forces NEVER recovered any wartime codes from Japan.
Also interesting, is that Germany was convinced that the Enigma codes were practically unbreakable, despite a German mathematician telling them otherwise, regards from Australia.
IJN did a war simulation on MI before deploying, just to see how things might play out. The commander playing the part of the Americans sent bombers from Midway to strike the carriers, sinking iirc 2. (IRL America DID send bombers but they flew too high and missed with every bomb) Ultimately the American side won the wargame. The referee of the exercise refused to accept that Japan could possibly lose. He invalidated the results, and the exercise was run again. But the commander was barred from using his bombers because "the Americans would have no reason to have bombers there because they won't know we were coming". Of course Japan won the wargame after that change, which made everyone confident MI would be a Japanese victory.
This pretty much illustrates the arrogance of the IJN in WW2. "We won't lose because we can't lose" pretty much sums it up. Their codes were given the same consideration, "They can't have been broken because they cannot BE broken." Although giving credit where credit is due, America played a very careful game with code-breaking intelligence. England took it to a whole new level, on a few occasions making heavy sacrifices when notice of an impending attack "could only have been known due to enigma being broken". I assume the Americans treated Purple with similar rules, and we just haven't publicly discovered anything that could have been prevented. Regardless, in the long run, making sure the enemy doesn't realize their codes are broken proved time and time again to be an incredibly valuable advantage. It helps when the enemy is thoroughly convinced they are the "superior race", which both Germany AND Japan had going for them. That's what they were all taught, so it's hard to fault them for acting like they believed it. It wasn't an act - they all believed the propaganda and it ended up backfiring on them. The boost to morale they got was overshadowed by unwavering overconfidence.
Winning the war is the ultimate. Losing battles is not the end of the war.
Witnessing the Shoho's final moments, Lt. Cdr. Bob Dixon reported by radio at 11:36 AM the following message, Scratch One Flat Top! Dixon to carrier. Scratch one Flat Top! This was the first loss of a significant ship by the Imperial Navy. It also foretold of an end of the era of surface war ships slugging it out in a gunnery duel within sight of each other. The era of the carrier battle group had begun.
While MOST of this is factual the proposed invasion of Australia while at the time was considered highly likely by Australia nothing really supported that idea. It was more that japan wanted to get all of the island of New Guinea so they could harass Australia and threaten it from sea and air to make it only usable as a base from about the tropic of Capricorn south as a staging area and supply store for alied forces. The force of Japan at Coral Sea at the time in Australia was thought to be headed to Australia or was declared so publically in Australia after the battle but it was a follow on plan to the landings and attacks at Milne Bay as a way to control all of New Gunea. The records after the war in Japan showed that though some in positions of power wished to invade Australia their own calculations had decided it would require about 3 times the current strength of the Japanese army and navy to even partly control Australia and that while they could easily take the main cities and therefore most of the population the size and wild and unpopulated inland would require so much manpower to make it unusable for resistance or alied forces to operate from to attack japanese forces with in Australia it would not be worth while and that the best they could hope to do was cut off Australia from USA by working north of Australia and further across the Pacific Ocean with a possible invasion of New Zealand at some point as a final nail in Australias coffin.
Australia has always considered this battle of Coral Sea as saving Australia while not directly true in that it was not intended to invade Australia had it landed in and around Port Morsby its further orders were to continue on and attach Darwin from the Carriers. Had this eventuated it would have made Australias future look very dark indeed. As well as loosing most of our current Army strength that was fighting in New Gunea at the time my own father included.
Well then don’t hold Australia. Destroy the cities and city populations, take everything useful, and head to Old Guinea
Maybe they heard that everything tries to kill you here anyway and thought "stuff that!"
@@peteanderson2533 Lets face it with wild life with the attitudes ours has a couple of thousand armed men is the least of ya worries LMAO
Hello @beckter181 and others, it should also be pointed out that the last Japanese air raid over Australia took place in 1944 ( in North Queensland ), and Japanese raiding parties had landed in northern Australia, and to this day, there are Japanese markers in northern Australia that emanate from this time. So the threat of Japanese assaults, even though small in practice, was real, and Australian forces had to make provision for this reality. Small forces can create havoc, and a lot of damage, as Germany found out when the British stole a complete radar set from northern France, Regards from Australia.
Japan had huge armys in the north of japan it was 50 or 60% of there overall force incase russia invaded..
Thus part reason usa wasent going to invade japan with troops and ships like all the other islands.
If germany was more successful with russia.... mabey japan would have had a good crack at Australia, with them reserve troops a bit later on.
Always Good. Thanks.
Japan was a top-rate military force at the beginning of the conflict, however, the Allies refused to accept that their military was anything other than a minor concern. The Allies soon learned that they were a very well-trained, well-led and motivated military force. The real problem was that the Japanese never considered recovering downed pilots which was their eventual downfall. Also their damage control was Piss Poor at best causing them often to lose platforms that in similar situations the Allied ships were kept afloat and thus repaired and put back into the fleet.
I have read Shattered Sword, and the stupidity of Hiryu to keep on attacking until it was lost, highlights Japanese incompetence. After losing 3 carriers in quick succession, the IJN should have recovered what they could and retired from the battlefield. They might have been able to quickly rebuilt their strength and caused the USN more grief.
My ancestors were Chinese who knew quite a bit about the Jap warrior spirit: prospective winners do not care much about defense (damage control) because fast and precise blows conclude fights. Such a lack of all-round consideration was a factor leading to their failure.
@@GrowFoodSustainably have to agree with you, their intent was always to attack full force and things like defense were often considered against the warrior code. For the Navy it came down to factors that destroyed them, blind obedience to orders, and adapting to the situation was against their warrior code. Damage Control was a very secondary thought, most of their DC was assigned to a handful of the crew ONLY, and recovering lost sailors and airmen was also not even a consideration due to the warrior codes they lived by. Many of their failures were directly attributed to their warrior code lifestyle. There are several countries that are major players on the world stage presently that seem to be drawn to this useless and counterproductive code which in a conflict end with them being self consumed nearly as badly as their adversarial actions against them.
Excellent work. I love your narration. Please continue.
IJN was done after midway, they just didn’t realize it, well Yamamoto knew 😂
I always think of Commander Bill Ault (CAG Lexington)..said he got a 1,000 pound bomb hit on a carrier but was separated while trying to evade Japanese fighters and couldn't find a way back to the Lex and Yorktown and was never heard from again. True American hero..I think of the guys at Coral Sea and Midway who were " lost at sea ", either shot down, crashed or ditched and were never found, never heard from again
This battle should be taught in all Australian school's.
the comment about the Japanese plans being "Unnecessarily Complex" is a recurring theme throughout the Pacific War.
Yet, because the Japanese took a circuitous route, Fletcher had no idea where they were.
In this battle, it was probably a good move.
Yamamoto understood that Japan could not win a war of attrition. Japan winning the war would depend on a sort of Pacific Theatre “Blitzkrieg” that demoralized America and brought her to the negotiating table. As others have observed, much of Japan’s war plans depended upon certain assumptions and wishful thinking. When America didn’t roll over, all indications are that Yamamoto saw the handwriting on the wall, but had no choice but to fight on.
It was a tactical victory for the Japanese. However it was a strategic victory for the US.
Yorktown like captain America...survived like 4 attacks...I can do this all day
The Doolittle Raid and the Battle of the Coral Sea were integral in their impact on the Battle of Midway. The Doolittle Raid reignited Yamamoto's desire to take out the American fleet, which he believed would be forced to meet at Midway. It also resulted in the attack and invasion of Attu and Kiska in Alaska to shield Japan from bombing from that direction. Coral sea would result in one Japanese carrier sidelined for damage from Midway, while the other was sidelined due to aircraft losses (as others have mentioned, Japanese practice at that time did not allow the combining of both carrier's air crews onto the remaining carrier). Coral Sea deprived Japan of 2 fleet carriers, so the US was outnumbered in carriers 4 to 3 at Midway, instead of 6 to 3.
Damage control also learned from the fuel leaks in Lexington which caused the explosions which doomed her. Henceforth, fuel systems were flushed out and pumped with inert gases to prevent a repeat. Lexington was the lead class of the first true fleet carriers in US service, adapted from her original design as a battlecruiser. Although they were the biggest carriers until the Midway-class arrived in 1945, because they were not originally designed as carriers, they did not carry quite as many aircraft as the Yorktown or Essex-class carriers. Her loss would be the 1st of 4 American fleet carriers lost in 1942: Lexington, Yorktown, Wasp and Hornet (the first American carrier, Langley, was a light carrier, and had been converted to a seaplane tender when she was lost in the Java Sea battles early in the war).
You know many people can quote what happened at Midway without fail. But the Battle of the Coral Sea did indeed, user in a totally new type of naval warfare.
*usher in
One. Of the first books I read as a young boy was " Queen of The. Flattops" by Stanley Johnston.
Technically it was a tactical victory for the Japanese, but the Americans forced them to turn back so it was a strategic victory for the United States. Call it a draw.
There is no strategic loss a tactical victory can even out.
@@scottl9660 As the Japanese learned to their regret.
For anyone who wants to know more about the battle of Coral Sea watch Montemayor channel's video on the topic. He also has an outstanding Midway trilogy.
This battle was far more important than its typically credited with...
Imagine if BOTH Lexington & Yorktown had been sunk. Would the US still have approached the Midway 'Ambush' of the IJN with only 2 CVs (Hornet & Enterprise)?
Especially if the IJN had suffered NO losses...
It actually had a secondary effect. You see, an ensign on yorktown watched the lexington sink and realized a weakness in carrier design. Their fuel lines. He devised the idea of purging the fuel lines with co2 when they weren't being used. This idea went up the command and a functional design was implemented by the time yorktown pulled into harbor. From there, the information was spread to the rest of the navy. But more importantly, it is the reason yorktown took the battering she took and nearly pulled it off. She was actually under tow when the submarine attack finally did her in.
Do Midway next!
Look closely around the 8 minute mark when the Shogi blew up, One of the planes on deck blew ski high hundreds of feet and went nose down into the ocean. I think I'll keep replaying that it's great.
I saw that!
My father was on the Portland during the Battle of the Coral Sea.
My friends Geoffrey Heath, Murray Forest, Mervcyn Loxton, Walter Carger, & Norm Sleep were on HMAS AUSTRALIA during the Coral Sea battle. Problem is too much emphasis is placed on the USA being there, making it sound like they were the only ones there. Time this fucking crap stopped.
@@christophermarshall5765 why don't you post this on your own rather than a comment on my post?
@@thomasswafford250 I already have done so. I’m doing this to ensure people know all the facts.
@@christophermarshall5765 I understand your point, but it had nothing to do with my post.
@@christophermarshall5765 so take your diatribe elsewhere. This about the fact my father was there, not a statement about the overall war effort.
Liked the clip. I think that my Dad took part in that battle. He was serving aboard one of the US destroyers, if I recall the story properly. I have heard or read somewhere... that this was one of the first situations that the newer US shell, a variable timed fuse was used? The widget carried with it a small battery operated radio transceiver that could detect nearby objects. Again, if memory serves. The reason that I recall this, is this was one of the first incidences in history that a printed circuit was used.
Proximity fuse. It was not a PC rather a version of a radar. An oscillator sensing objects.
Author Stanley Johnson was onboard the Lexington during the Coral Sea battle. The title"Queen of The Flattops". The book goes into great detail of the operations before and during the battle!
Excellent video!
"You sunk my Battleship! Here's 100 more..."
-The Unites States of America
My great uncle was Admiral Aubrey Fitch who commanded the Lexington. It was the bomb that entered the boiler room that caused the most damage. I see a comment by someone that their relative (forgot the relationship) was in the boiler room. I never knew if anyone who was there had survived.
USS Texas is in Galveston today having her hull worked on. I visited the Lexington in 2006. She’s a beautiful lady. Battleship Texas is another beautiful lady with 14” guns. Would be sweet to see them pop a round or two.
can you do a video of vukovar massacre?
Great doc
Can you do a video about Laffy(Benson class destroyer)
You never disappoint 👍🏼
Ahhhh yes, the Essex carriers. We made those like other countries made cars.
Why are they fluffy??
The Battle of Midway was set up by two events, Coral Sea and the Doolittle Raid.
and by one miracle, in the dockyards of perl harbor. "We'll need 90 days to fix her." "You have THREE."
I like the overall presentation and thanks for your hard work, but I have 2 major things to point out:
1) The tone of the narration: The Japanese viciously sank Simms (an oiler) but the Americans, who were unopposed only pummeled the Shoho? While I understand that at the time there was a clear distinction between "us vs them", history should have no place for such things. People should be impartial observers learning from it, not gloating over it.
2) Much more problematically, at 8:50 you are making a massively wrong statement: "Despite their technological advantage however.." meaning the Americans. Both their bombers (Nakajima B5N 'Kate') and fighters (Mitsubishi A6M 'Zero') were far better than their American counterparts (the bomber Douglas TBD 'Devastator and the fighter Grumman F4F 'Wildcat'). At that particular time, the Americans were outclassed by their Japanese counterparts in all but three areas: Shipbuilding and repair (owed to their immense pool of manpower and resources), codebreaking and far, far superior damage control teams, which saved the Yorktown twice (even if it was scuttled the second time after the battle of Midway).
Edit: While I agree the battle of the Coral Sea did have its implications, the majority of the American victory at Midway is owed to two facts: Surprise by the Americans while the Japanese were bombing Midway and much, much more importantly, the Japanese had not yet realized their codes had been cracked and continued to use the same code as they did at the Coral Sea.
I attended the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Coral Sea in Sydney in the early 90s while serving in the US Navy. Was a blast!
Whatever the problem is send Enterprise with plenty of extra parts
The Japanese Navy WANTED to invade Australia, but the Army refused to cut loose enough troops to even have a hope of doing so. Throughout the war, the Imperial Army's top priority was China, with anywhere else being considered almost incidental.
The Coral Sea operation was an attempt to cut off Australia from the US supply chain which, if successful, may have affected the war's outcome to some extent. A proper invasion, even under ideal circumstances, would have likely been a disaster for Japan.
Yes japan kept aprox 50 or 60% of there army in reserve on main japan incase the russians invaded.
Part reason usa dident do troop invasion of main japan... if Russia fell to germany well it be a different story.
@@jamierowe9736 Fear of Russia was the sole basis of the alliance between Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. Such as it was.
Had Japan actually landed significant troops on Australia, the strategic balance of power in the Pacific would definitely have shifted, and resources sent elsewhere (Africa, India, New Guinea, Guadalcanal) would have had to divert to defend Australia. It would have been a different war, but likely with the same outcome.
@@sumrdreamer Such an attempt would have impacted Japan itself far far more than the Allies.
What many people fail to realize is just how stretched Japan's supply lines were at the furthest extent of their expansion. So, they would have had to do all that - take AND hold Malaya, the Philippines, Borneo, the Dutch Indies, the Solomon Islands, etc.. THEN, on top of this, muster a big enough force of troops and ships to invade an entire continent. Much of Australia's army was still in the Middle East, but they were coming back, and there was still a substantial reserve at home capable of driving a tank or carrying a rifle.
My great uncle was a Marine and fought on IwoJima and survived long enough to get in the famous Mount Seri flag picture on the bottom row second from left.
Japanese battle plans in world war two be like: *shows quantum mechanics equations* "and that’s all we need to do.. simple right"
1 year later, in January 1943, the Japanese tried to take other islands in the area, but were thwarted again. They prepared for evacuation under harassment by Allied naval forces. The result was the Battle of Rennell Island. 43 Japanese bombers fought off a makeshift USN taskforce, sinking 1 heavy cruiser, the USS Chicago (CA-29).
That was my grandfather's ship. He almost died that day, and personally saved 7 other men from the wreckage before succumbing to fatigue and had to be saved himself.
His captain wanted to put him in for the Navy Cross but he refused commendation, aside from a Purple Heart. My grandmother even got a Western Union telegraph that he died, because medical staff could not find his dog tags, and he was unconscious.
MacArthur was the worst sort of diva , on par with Monty . He pissed off and left his men to die in the Philippines . (edit:) You failed to mention why this ( loss ? ) won the war . The damage sustained caused the Japanese to be down one carrier at Midway , while Yorktown was able to be repaired .
Won't argue MacArthur's character, but he was ordered by Roosevelt and the Joint Chiefs to retire to Australia to organize the defense and relief of the Western Pacific. He did not choose to leave the Philippines, but only did so under direct orders. He did, however, coordinate a terrific underground resistance there throughout the war, and significantly drained Japan's manpower and shipping resources during the New Guinea campaign.
@@sumrdreamer Actually MacArthur said there was no chance of organized resistance in the Philippines until it became clear that there was a resistance movement especially on Mindano . During the war the Filipino resistance would grow to over 30,000 troops thru out the islands.
When inexperienced, green troops fight seasoned, experienced, battle-hardened troops you probably won't win those first battles. But it is important to show you are game and have fight in you to let them know it won't be easy and to buy time till they get experience. The Americans showed they had fight in them so a loss early is less important in the long run.
Love the narration.
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Tell Andrei jikh I have referred you for something you would love to share, link up ⤴️✍️
I want to see the battle of midway :)
My uncle was on the Astoria, said it was a sad day.
I think the battle of the Coal Sea is the only major battle Enterprise was not involved in (because they were busy escorting Hornet on the Doolittle raid)
I can't follow without more pictures.
Or, we could talk about the REAL (naval) battle that won the war. Or atleast a war (the pacific war.) The Excess convoy of january the 1941. This was the famous battle where HMS Illustrious got mauled.
Stay with me here and I'll tell you how this won the pacific war.
Going into that battle almost everyone assumed "modern" AA was sufficient to fend off "modern" attack aircraft.
Then Illustrious got the Scheet kicked out of her. She survived >only< because she didnt take any direct underwater hits. Eventually she limped her way to the US east coast. While undergoing repairs there she was studied in detail by the Briitish and Americans. The lessons were as clear as a bucket of ice water. "Modern" AA was a joke against "modern" aircraft and damage control procedures had to change. This lead to the US adopting the 20 and 40mm along with revisiting damage control processes. Illustrious losing that battle saved the US in the Pacific. No doubt on my mind. I could go on but you get the point.
HMS Illustrious was a BRITISH ship, so the British did NOT study the ship during repairs in the US, as it was one of their own. She was built by Vickers Armstrong, laid down in April 1937, launched in April 1939.
@@christophermarshall5765 yes they DID study her damage to see what lessons they could learn.
I’ve read that an Admiral Lee was very influential in upgrading the AA firepower on American ships.
@@rogerknights857 more so admiral king.
@@rogerknights857 Lee was credited with upgrading the precision of naval gunnery, and at Guadalcanal used modern radar in combination with excellent gunnery to decisively defeat a Japanese capital ship in a dramatic night battle. Lee was Captain of USS Washington in that engagement, and later was promoted to Admiral and commanded the fleet battleship squadron for the rest of the war.
The amount of ordinance that sent IJN Shoho to the bottom would have sunk both Shokaku and Zuikaku.
God bless America and its affiliates like Australia 🙏