Coral Sea

Battle of the Coral Sea, May 4-8 1942: a major Japanese advance was checked

To be later replaced by JW and RA respectively. They were to cover the world, but probably the best-known are those fought through to revictual Malta against heavy air and sea attack (of which Operation “Pedestal” in August 1942 was the most spectacular) and the grim Arctic convoys to Murmansk and Archangel, which also turned into full-scale engagements (the disaster of PQ17, the fiercely contested success of PQ18 and the heroic defence of JW51B — the Battle of the Barents Sea - all in 1942, are the best known). The fierce actions round the Gibraltar convoy HG76 in which the first escort carrier, Audacity proved herself and was then sunk in 1941, involved air and submarine attack. The dramatic battles of March-April 1943 in which the balance of the Battle of the Atlantic swung first one way then the other were of air and surface escorts against submarines. HX229 and SC122 lost 21 ships in return for only one U-boat. However, ONS5 was fought through in April, losing 12 ships but seven U-boats were sunk, and SC130 a month later lost no ships against five U-boats sunk.

The dire results of failing to plan for convoy were illustrated by the great success of American submarines against Japanese commerce in the Pacific, where the Japanese response was too little, too late. Postwar doubt has been expressed at the future of convoy in an atomic age, but there still seems no better answer to the protection of commerce, and we have recently seen it revived during the Persian Gulf War. DJL.

Coral Sea, Battle of the (May 4—8 1942). In May 1942, the Japanese moved into the south Pacific with the object of occupying territory that would isolate Australia. Their naval forces were divided into six separate bodies, the main battle group consisting of two fleet carriers, Shokaku and Zuikaku. Overall command of the Japanese operation was exercised by Vice Adm Shigeyoshi Inouye, the main carrier force being led by Vice Adm Takeo Takagi. The American naval command, alerted by excellent intelligence, dispatched Task Force 17 under the command of Rear Adm Fletcher, which was built up around two fleet carriers.

Lexington and Yorktown, to the Coral Sea, with orders to thwart Japanese plans to capture Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tula-gi in the lower Solomons.

On May 4, planes from Yorktown struck Japanese shipping at Tula-gi, sinking a destroyer, two patrol boats, and a transport. On May 7, an air strike from both American carriers on the Port Moresby invasion force sank the light carrier Shoho. That same day, Japanese aircraft from the main battle group sank an American destroyer and badly damaged a fleet oiler, which later went down, and attempted, unsuccessfully, to attack the American force at night. On the morning of May 8, American air attacks disabled Shokaku, while Japanese aircraft damaged Yorktown, and made tor' pedo and bomb hits on Lexington, which subsequently resulted in fires and explosions that caused her to be abandoned and scuttled. The battle ended with the withdrawal of the American force.

American warship losses were far more serious than those suffered by the Japanese. Japanese losses in aircraft and personnel, on the other hand, were substantially greater than those suffered by the Americans; the combination of ship damage and air group casualties deprived the Japanese of the use of two fleet carriers that might have turned the tide at Midway a month later, while the Port Moresby operation was cancelled. The Battle of the Coral Sea was both the first time that a major Japanese advance had been turned back, and the first naval battle in which the opposing ships did not come into direct contact. JTS.

Cordon and search operations.

Sometimes called search and clear operations; employed by American and South Vietnamese forces where enemy troops mingled with the population in confined areas. These operations used high troop densities and combined arms to seal off populated areas. Vietnamese National and Special Branch Police then corralled the population for interrogation in order to identify and remove enemy combatants, with minimum destruction of civilian lives and property. See also search and destroy OPERATIONS.

Corfu, incidents at (1923 and 1946). In August 1923 four Italian members of an international boundary commission were murdered in Greece. Mussolini used this as an excuse to seize the strategically important Greek island of Corfu and, after a brief naval bombardment, the island was occupied. The Greeks appealed to the League of Nations and international pressure secured an Italian withdrawal and the payment of a Greek indemnity. A second incident took place in 1946 when two British destroyers were severely damaged by Albanian mines laid in the Corfu Channel. MS.

Cork and Orrery, Adm of the Fleet, the Earl of (1883-1967). Br. Commander of Allied naval forces at Narvik in 1940. See also

NORWEGIAN CAMPAIGN.