On 4 May 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea began with the bombing of Japanese ships at Tulagi, an island in the Solomon Islands. Tulagi had been occupied by Japanese forces the day before as part of Operation Mo, designed to take control of the Australian Territory of New Guinea and other locations in the South Pacific. The Japanese had hoped to isolate Australia and New Zealand from their ally, the United States.

At 07:01 on 4 May, the US aircraft carrier Yorktown launched a first strike consisting of 12 TBD Devastator torpedo bombers and 28 SBD Dauntless dive bombers from a position about 160 km south of Guadalcanal. The aircraft began their attacks on Japanese ships anchored near Tulagi at 08:50, taking the Japanese ships by surprise and at anchor. Later a second strike—utilizing the same aircraft—returned to Tulagi and began their attack at 12:10 on the Japanese ships, many of which were now at full steam and attempting to put distance between themselves and Tulagi harbor. A third, smaller strike from Yorktown arrived at 15:30 and caused moderate damage.

In spite of the damage suffered in the carrier strikes, the Japanese continued construction of the seaplane base and began flying reconnaissance missions from Tulagi by 6 May. The Americans lost one dive bomber and two fighters in the strikes, but all of the aircrew were eventually rescued.

The Battle of the Coral Sea lasted four days, and was unique because it was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first battle in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other.

This watercolour by Russell Clark shows the view towards Tulagi from Halavo, Florida Island. It was painted in 1944, after New Zealand forces arrived in the area in 1943, and comes from the National Collection of War Art: warart.archives.govt.nz/

Archives Reference: AAAC 898 Box 504/ NCWA 128 archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=22505144

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