Evening star., 1942-05-08
Corul Seq Bottle

The official report Of great naval
battle in the Coral Sea, which washes
the northeastern shore of Australia
| probably signals the beginning of a
fateful struggle for control of the
approaches to the land down under,
if not for control of the continent
itself.
In or skirting the Coral Sea are
vital island outposts-the Solomons,
New Caledonia, just recently occu-
pied by American troops; the New
Hebrides and the Fiji Islands. There
too, in New Guinea at the mouth of
the Torres Strait, is Port Moresby
just 300 miles from Cape York and
deemed vital to the defense of
Australia.
II Australia is to play its expected
part in the war of the Southwestern
Pacific, Japan must be denied control
of these outposts. Should the con-
trary be the case, it would become a
relatively simple matter to cut the
supply line from the United States
and effectively blockade the Domin-
ion. Indeed, once in command of
the Coral Sea. Japan might consider
an actual invasion of Australia
feasible, and the presence of troop
transports in the attacking force
suggests that landing at some point
Is in contemplation.
There has been as yet no informa-
ton concerning the strength of the
Japanese invasion fleet. But the in
dications are that it must be in con-
siderable force. In the first place
Japan would hardly risk her naval
units against the powerful Allied air
forces in Australia unless she had a
major objective in mind. The only
sound inference Is that the enemy,
playing for big stakes, expected to
take losses and had mustered her
strength accordingly. Secondly, the
magnitude of the japanese losses
specified in the official communique
from General MacArthur's head
quarters clearly indicates that the
enemy was encountered in great
force.
According to this communique, the
Allied forces sank one japanese air
craft carrier, one heavy cruiser, one
light cruiser, two deStroyerS, four
gunboats, transport and a supply
vessel. In addition, another enemy
aircraft carrier was heavily hit and
is believed to be a total loss, and
severe damage was inflicted on a
heavy cruiser, light cruiser, a 5000
ton seaplane tender and a cargo
vessel. These figures, it was said,
include the enemy losses reported
yesterday by the Navy Department
as result of the engagement off the
Solomon Islands Monday.
As yet, there has been no report
Of Allied losses beyond the three
planes admittedly shot down in the
SOAOAAOAA 4SAd1ldo Al6A1t. ~ 10 ild1 oly
to be expected, however, that our
forces, in inflicting such great dam
age on the enemy, could have come
through unscathed.
Berlin, attributing it's information
to Japanese imperial headquarters,
says that two American aircraft car
riers Of the Yorktown and Saratoga
classes and battleship of the Cali
fornia class were sunk. 1t was also
claimed by the Nazis that a British
battleship Of the Warspite class and
cruiser tAustralian) of the Can
berra class were damaged. Pending
an official announcement from this
Government, the japanese claims
can be discounted, but it would be
well nevertheless to anticipate losses
on our part.
In an engagement of this kind;
however, our own losses are not the
most important consideration. What
is important is the toll taken of the
enemy's ships and the extent to
which Japan's invasion plans were
thwarted AS Australian Premier
Curtin expressed it, this battle is of
crucial importance" If Australia
and its approaches are held, and the
enemy battered and driven off, the
Navy and the air units will have
performed their function, regardless
of losses. The battle is still going on,
and until the facts are known
probably a matter of several days
we can take comfort in the certain
knowledge that our men, both on the
sea and in the air are fighting to the
best of their ability.