Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:
On May 9th, O'Brien was based at Pago Pago, and would remain there for several weeks doing local escort duty.
Battle of the Coral Sea - Positions May 6th
Admiral Fletcher had the Task Forces combined and fully fueled by the morning of the 6th. He had sent his tanker Neosho, along with the USS Sims (lead destroyer of the class that includes O'Brien) south but within easy access. The now combined Task Force 17 would have been at the lower right on the map below.
The main Japanese push to take Port Moresby was now to begin. Port Moresby can be seen at the left of the map.
- The Japanese troop transports and escorts would come from Rabaul at the northeast end of New Britain (top center), and go around the southeast tip of Papua to attack Port Moresby.
- A supporting force of cruisers and one light carrier would move from the Solomons (center right) back toward Papua (center left) to cover the transports.
- The Japanese carrier force (2 fleet carriers) was expected to be northeast of the Solomons (upper right), but was actually just south of the middle of the island chain (center right on the map).
Battle of the Coral Sea Continues
US Naval Intelligence, though not having fully broken the Japanese code, was able to give Admiral Fletcher enough information to get a good estimate of Japanese plans. He sailed for his initial position which was southeast of Papua, intending to engage the main Japanese fleet carriers as they came west, and then to turn on the transports to stop their advance to Port Moresby. As Task Force 17 moved toward this area on the 6th, the main Japanese carrier force spotted them, but a combination of bad weather and distance kept them from attacking.
Searches from both sides' carrier groups were sent out on the 7th. The Japanese located the US task force, but also located oiler Neosho escorted by Sims. As the air war was relatively new to both sides, there were many bad identifications by pilots; in this case Neosho was reported as a carrier, resulting in a full strike from both Japanese carrier on these unfortunate ships. The two small ships had no chance; Sims was sunk and Neosho left heavily damaged, burning and drifting. Neosho would sink four days later.
The US forces would enact somewhat of a mirror image of this error. A search pilot wrongly coded his report as two Japanese carriers instead of the cruisers he had actually seen, causing Fletcher to launch a full attack from both of his carriers, thinking it was the main Japanese fleet. The squadrons from both carriers eventually found the force supporting the invasion and attacked the small Japanese carrier Shoho, sinking it. Both sides had attacked a small force with all their firepower after mistaken identifications.
The US sinking of the Shoho had caused the Japanese invasion force to turn back temporarily. Also, the big Japanese carriers had retrieve their planes after sinking the Sims, and launched an attack on the American carriers at dusk. These planes did not find their target and were forced to return without success.
On the 8th, both of the carrier task forces attacked each other immediately. Yorktown was damaged but still mostly operational. Lexingtion was hit by two bombs and two torpedoes. While it was initially thought that Lexington could be saved, fires continued to spread and by dusk it was clear that sinking was inevitable, so US destroyers were ordered to sink her with torpedoes.
US planes arrived at different times over the Japanese carriers, and all attacked the visible carrier, Shokaku, while Zuikaku remained hidden by clouds. Shokaku did not sink but was badly damaged. Both Shokaku and Zuikaku would need repairs, refurbishing, and many new planes, which would keep them out of the upcoming operation against Midway Island.
The result of the battle was the stopping of the Port Moresby invasion, as the Japanese invasion convoy eventually turned back. The US had more naval losses, especially losing Lexington versus the small Japanese carrier. As noted many times, this was the first naval battle where all engagements were from air power, and no surface fighting was done.
Surrender of the Philippines
As had seemed inevitable for several months, on May 8th all Allied forces in the Philippines surrendered to the Japanese. US captives numbered 12,000. The Bataan Death March began soon after.
U. S. Navy Task Forces:
- Task Force 17 (Yorktown) Task Force 11 (Lexington)
were now combined into Task Force 17, and fought the Battle of the Coral Sea.
- Task Force
16 (Enterprise and Hornet), were moving toward the South Pacific, expected to arrive in mid-May.
More Information:
- Official Navy Chronology, pp. 190-195.
- The First South Pacific Campaign, John B. Lundstrom, pp. 102-116.
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