The Battle of Britain began several weeks after Winston Churchill’s famous speech in which he stated, “The Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin.” Unfortunately, he was …show more content…
The four-day battle was the first carrier vs. carrier battle in history. The goal of this skirmish (led by Admiral Frank J. Fletcher and Vice Admiral Takagi Takao of the U.S. and Japanese forces, respectively) was centered around Australia, Japan’s next target in its Pacific campaign (History.com, “Battle of Coral Sea”). The Japanese planned to launch an attack against Port Moresby, Australia in order to sever communications between Australia and the U.S. Allied codebreakers were able to decipher Japanese messages, and saw the attack coming. They were able to move forces into place, including the air force carriers USS Lexington and USS Yorktown (Alex, “Battle of Coral Sea Timeline”). American forces were able to sink the lesser carrier, the IJN Shoho, and damaged the IJN Shokaku. In return, Allied forces lost the USS Lexington completely. This battle was technically a victory for Japan, but they were unable to capture Australia which set back their plans for dominating the pacific (Alex, “Battle of Coral Sea Timeline”). In addition, it left the Japanese with insufficient forces for the future Battle of Midway, allowing for an Allied