Bright Sword: Construction starts from southeastern Shanxi

Battle of the Coral Sea

Through code-breaking, the United States knew that the Japanese were about to land at Port Moresby and that their advance force would capture Tulagi, and they had a basic understanding of the Japanese troop strength. Nimitz was determined to prevent the Japanese landing at Port Moresby, a decision not to be made lightly, as it was difficult for the Allies to gather the necessary forces to confront the enemy. The Saratoga, damaged by a Japanese submarine, was repaired off the west coast. While the Enterprise and Hornet were returning from their attack on Tokyo, the only forces available were the carriers USS Lexington and USS Yorktown of Task Force 8 and Task Force 17, along with eight cruisers and 13 destroyers. Under the unified command of Fletcher, the two fleets entered the Coral Sea on May 1.

The first battle began on May 3rd. General Fletcher's Yorktown was still over a hundred miles west of Cape Buttercap when he received word of the Japanese landing at Tulagi. "This is news we have been waiting for a month," he wrote. He immediately discontinued refueling and ordered a northbound steamer at 26 knots, heading toward the central Solomon Islands. At dawn on May 4th, the Yorktown arrived about a hundred miles southwest of Guadalcanal and launched fighters to attack the Japanese transport fleet near Tulagi, destroying the Japanese seaplanes. Fletcher jubilantly reported the victory to Pearl Harbor, and the US fleet subsequently headed for West Morehead Harbor. Nimitz later reassessed the so-called Battle of Tulagi: "Compared with the ammunition expended and the results achieved, the battle was certainly disappointing." Another flaw of the attack was that it exposed the US military's strength. Before the Battle of the Coral Sea, the US had an intelligence advantage, but after the attack on Tulagi, the intelligence between the two sides was even.

On May 6, under cover of dense cloud, Fletcher rendezvoused with Admiral Grace's heavy cruisers and the USS Lexington and refueled. Recent intelligence from Pearl Harbor indicated that the invasion force, supported by two aircraft carriers, would pass through the Luciardo Islands the following day. Fletcher then headed westward toward the Coral Sea. Unbeknownst to Fletcher, he had been spotted that afternoon by a prowling Japanese seaplane. The news that two US aircraft carriers were en route to intercept the Japanese invasion force at Port Moresby caused near-panic at Vice Admiral Inoue's headquarters in Rabaul. The headquarters urgently ordered the transports to halt. Rear Admiral Takagi's mobile force, primarily Shokaku and Zuikaku, was refueling south of Guadalcanal when the alert was received. Just as he was about to close the distance to launch an air strike, the fleet encountered thick fog and cloud. He decided to refuel and resume the pursuit at dawn.

Japanese troops obtain intelligence

Battle of the Coral Sea

At approximately 4:00 AM on May 7, having already determined the location of the US fleet, the Japanese mobile fleet dispatched 12 carrier-based aircraft, divided into six groups, to search for the enemy within a range of 250 nautical miles between 180 and 270 degrees. At 5:45 AM, Japanese aircraft searching southward reported: "One enemy aircraft carrier and one cruiser have been sighted." Between 6:00 and 6:15 AM, nine Zero fighters, 17 bombers, and 11 torpedo planes took off from the Zuikaku, and nine Zero fighters, 19 bombers, and 13 torpedo planes took off from the Shokaku. A total of 78 Japanese aircraft headed for the targets. However, upon reaching their targets, they discovered that they were not the US carrier group, but the oiler USS Neosho and the destroyer USS Sims, which had separated from Fletcher's main force in the afternoon of the 6th. The two ships, each enlarged, clearly resembled an aircraft carrier and a cruiser. The Japanese assault planes flew over the group and, realizing it wasn't an aircraft carrier, searched the surrounding waters for two hours, finding no other targets. The torpedo planes returned home at 9:15 a.m. without attacking, while the 36 dive bombers reluctantly attacked the initial targets between 9:26 and 9:40 a.m. This was like using a sledgehammer to overkill. The USS Sims was hit by three 250-kilogram bombs, two of which exploded in the engine room, sinking in less than 60 seconds. The USS Neosho was hit by seven bombs and drifted at sea for several days, engulfed in flames, before sinking. Meanwhile, Fletcher's main carrier force, having separated from the oilers, was heading west, hoping to intercept the Japanese landing force. However, the US fleet made the same mistake: it failed to detect the mobile force. Two hours after dawn, a patrol plane from the USS Lexington reported, "Two carriers and four heavy cruisers sighted." Fletcher, assuming this was the Japanese carrier force, decided to launch an all-out attack. A total of 93 carrier-based aircraft, including 28 dive bombers, 12 torpedo planes, and 10 fighters, were dispatched from the Lexington, while 25 dive bombers, 10 torpedo planes, and 8 fighters were dispatched from the Yorktown, respectively, for their targets. Upon arrival, they discovered two light cruisers and two gunboats, a Japanese landing cover force that, due to a coded error, had been misrepresented as a single assault force. However, the Americans finally discovered a worthy target within the exaggerated fleet: the aircraft carrier Shoho. After half an hour of continuous attacks by 93 American fighters and bombers, Shoho had been hit by 13 bombs and 7 torpedoes. Izawa ordered the abandonment of ship. Minutes later, Shoho sank, leaving only a cloud of black smoke and an oily slick spreading across the Coral Sea. This marked the loss of the Imperial Japanese Navy's first major ship.