Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-08-19

Told chronologically, this story of
humiliation demonstrates dramatically
the constantly accelerating growth in
size and striking power of the United
States Navy as the Nation geared
itself to peak production in industry
and. simultaneously, peak enrolment
In the armed services.
The First Six Months
During the first six months of the
war from December 7, 1941, when the
japanese struck at Pearl Harbor, to
May 4, 1912, when opening phases of
the Battle of the Coral Sea began, the
Allies were engaged in a defensive war
at sea. The Japanese. moving south
ward toward the Netherlands East
Indies, were engaged by smaller forces
of the United States, Netherlands and
Australian Navies, in the Battles of
Banka Island, Macassar Strait, Java
Sea, Madeira Strait and Lombok Strait.
Particularly in the narrow waters of
the Lombok and Macassar Straits the
enemy sustained damage from our sub
marines and light surface forces. But
the Allies losses were also heavy and,
with fewer ships at our command, we
were less we'll able to sustain them. The
temporary victory rested with Japan:
She was able to impose her will on the
Allies, landing her troops and over
running the Netherlands East Indies.
This concept of naval victory as a
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power to go where it wishes is an i'm
portant one, since it is the scale whereby
the present American victory is best
measured. Where, at one time, waters
almost 5000 miles from Japan were once
dangerous for American shipping, in the
closing months of the war our ships
could and did steam within three miles
of the Japanese home islands to shell
shore installations at will, while the
few japanese warships, still capable of
getting to sea, were forced to hide in
the recesses of the Inland Sea.
The Battle of Coral Sea
The first step toward this overwhelm-
ing victory, victory whether measured
by the opening of areas to our control
or by the physical destruction of Jap
anese naval power came with the Battle
of the Coral Sea in the first 10 days
of May, 1912 At this time, the Jap
anese, either as a feint or with serious
intent, were making aggressive fleet
movements in the waters around the
southeastern tip of New Guinea, threat
ening the important Allied base Of
Port Moresby and, by extension, the
entire continent of Australia. To check
this operation, two American task forces
augmented by two Australian cruisers,
each built around a carrier as the i'm
portant striking unit, were assigned in
what might be termed an offensive
defensive operation.
On May 4 the action began with
naval aircraft strike on the Japanese
base and staging area at Tulagi. On
May 7 and 8, the battle proper
was joined. 1t established the pattern
of many of the most important sea en-
gagements that were to follow: No sur
face contact was ever established be-
tween the opposing forces, and each
force subjected the other to air attack
The result was a clear-cut victory for
the United States Navy.
Flyers from the U. S. S. Lexington and
U. S. S. Yorktown sank one japanese
carrier, damaged another, sank light
cruiser, two destroyers, a cargo ship
or transport, four gunboats and de-
stroyed 104 enemy aircraft. The cost
to us was the carrier Lexington, the
oiler U. S. S. Neosho and the destroyer
U. S. S. Sims. The true estimate of
the work accomplished in the Battle of
the Coral Sea, however, is obtained by
recognizing that the Japanese never
again threatened Port Moresby from
seward.
This victory however, was far from
giving the United States unchallenged
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