page_title: Battle of the Coral Sea order of battle
section_title: Allied forces
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of the Coral Sea order of battle / Allied forces
caption_attribution_description: The U.S. Navy fleet oiler USS Neosho (AO-23) at the time of her commissioning, circa mid-1939.
context_page_description: This is an order of battle for the Battle of the Coral Sea. The battle, fought during 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia.
  In an attempt to strengthen their defensive positioning for their empire in the South Pacific, Imperial Japanese forces decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the southeastern Solomon Islands. The plan to accomplish this, called Operation MO, involved several major units of Japan's Combined Fleet, including two fleet carriers and a light carrier to provide air cover for the invasion fleets, under the overall command of Shigeyoshi Inoue. The U.S. learned of the Japanese plan through signals intelligence and sent two United States Navy carrier task forces and a joint Australian-American cruiser force, under the overall command of Frank Jack Fletcher, to oppose the Japanese offensive.
context_section_description: Task Force 17 – Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher
  Task Group 17.2.1 (Attack Group) – Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid
  cruisers Minneapolis, New Orleans
  * Task Group 17.2.2 (Attack Group) - Rear Admiral William W. Smith
  Astoria, Chester, Portland
  destroyers Phelps, Dewey, Farragut, Aylwin, Monaghan
  Task Group 17.3 (Support Group, from Task Force 44) – Rear Admiral John Gregory Crace
  cruisers Australia, Chicago, Hobart
  destroyers Perkins, Walke
  Task Group 17.5 (Carrier Air Group) – Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch, Officer in Tactical Command (OTC)
  carrier Yorktown
  Yorktown Air Group – Lieutenant Commander Oscar Pederson
  Fighting 42 (VF-42) – 17 Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters
  Bombing 5 (VB-5) – 18 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers
  Scouting 5 (VS-5) – 17 SBD Dauntless dive bombers
  Torpedo 5 (VT-5) – 13 Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers
  carrier Lexington (sunk)
  Lexington Air Group – Commander William B. Ault
  Fighting 2 (VF-2) – 21 F4F Wildcat fighters
  Bombing 2 (VB-2) – 18 SBD Dauntless dive bombers
  Scouting 2 (VS-2) – 17 SBD Dauntless dive bombers
  Torpedo 2 (VT-2) – 12 TBD torpedo bombers
  destroyers Morris, Anderson, Hammann, Russell
  Task Group 17.6 (Fueling Group) – Captain John S. Phillips
  oilers Neosho (sunk), Tippecanoe
  destroyers Sims (sunk) - Lieutenant Commander William Arthur Griswold†, Worden
  Task Group 17.9 (Search Group) – Commander George H. DeBaun
  seaplane tender Tangier.  Based at Noumea
  Patrol Squadron 71 (VP-71) – 6 PBY-5 Catalinas
  Patrol Squadron 72 (VP-72) – 6 PBY-5 Catalinas
  South West Pacific Area – General Douglas MacArthur
  Allied Naval Forces – Vice Admiral Herbert F. Leary
  Task Group 42.1 – Captain Ralph Waldo Christie in submarine tender USS Griffin at Brisbane
  Subdiv 53 – Lieutenant Commander Elmer E. Yeomans:  S-42, S-43, S-44, S-45, S-46, S-47
  Subdiv 201 – Commander Ralston B. Van Zant:  S-37, S-38, S-39, S-40, S-41
  Task Force 44 – temporarily assigned to Task Force 17, see Task Group 17.3 above
  Allied Air Forces – Lieutenant General George Brett
  United States Army Air Forces:
  8th Pursuit Group – Archerfield, Brisbane, 26 P-39 Airacobras
  35th Fighter Squadron – Port Moresby
  36th Fighter Squadron – Port Moresby
  49th Pursuit Group – Darwin, 90 Curtiss P-40s
  7th Fighter Squadron – Darwin
  8th Fighter Squadron – Darwin
  9th Fighter Squadron – Darwin
  3rd Light Bombardment Group -
  8th Light Bombardment Squadron – Port Moresby, Douglas A-24 Dauntless dive bombers
  13th Light Bombardment Squadron – North American B-25 Mitchells
  90th Light Bombardment Squadron – B-25 Mitchells
  19th Bombardment Group – Townsville, 17 B-17s
  30th Bombardment Squadron
  40th Reconnaissance Squadron
  93rd Bombardment Squadron
  435th Bombardment Squadron
  22nd Bombardment Group – Townsville, 48 Martin B-26 Marauders
  Royal Australian Air Force
  No. 11 Squadron – Consolidated PBY Catalinas
  No. 20 Squadron – PBY Catalinas
  No. 24 Squadron – Townsville, 3 CAC Wirraways
  No. 32 Squadron – Port Moresby, Lockheed Hudsons
  No. 75 Squadron – Port Moresby, 3 Curtiss P-40s
  Port Moresby garrison – approximately 5,000 troops under Major General B. M. Morris
  30th Infantry Brigade
  39th Infantry Battalion
  49th Infantry Battalion
  53rd Infantry Battalion
  13th Field Regiment
  23rd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery
  Detachment, 1st Independent Company
  30th Infantry Brigade Signal Section
  30th Infantry Brigade HQ Defence Platoon
  Moresby Fixed Defences
  Moresby Fixed Defences Fortress Engineers
  Moresby Fixed Defences Anti-Aircraft Artillery (six 3-inch guns)
  1st Army Troops Company
  7th Field Company
  1st Section, 1st Mechanical Equipment Company
  8th Military District Survey Section
  8th Military District Bomb Disposal Section
  8th Military District Signals
  8th Military District Defence and Employment Company
  New Guinea Volunteer Rifles
  Papuan Infantry Battalion
  8th Military District Section Intelligence Corps
  15th Supply Personnel Company
  8th Military District Bulk Issue Petrol and Oil Depot
  A Section, 8th Military District Mechanical Transport Company
  Base Hospital
  3rd Field Ambulance
  113th Convalescent Depot
  8th Military District Dental Centre
  45th Dental Unit
  253rd Dental Unit
caption: USS Neosho
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