The battle of the Coral Sea (3-8 May 1942) ended as the first major Japanese setback of the Second World War, and marked the end of the period of rapid Japanese expansion across the Pacific that began after the attack on Pearl Harbor. By the early spring of 1942 the Japanese high command was faced with an unexpected problem. All of their initial objectives had been achieved at far less cost than expected, and rather than consolidate their defensive perimeter, the various power groups within the Japanese armed forces each began to press for further expansion. The Army wanted to concentrate on the war in China. The Naval General Staff wanted to attack either west to Ceylon and India or south to Australia. Finally Admiral Yamamoto and the staff of the Combined Fleet wanted to move east, occupy Midway, Johnston and Palmyra Islands, and once again threaten Hawaii, forcing the American fleet to come out of port for the decisive battle that the Combined Fleet believed would win the war for Japan. At first the Naval General Staff got their way, and plans were put in place for an attack on Port Moresby, on the southern coast of New Guinea, but after the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo on 18 April 1942 Yamamoto got his way. The main Japanese attack in the summer of 1942 would be the thrust east that ended with the battle of Midway. Despite this change of plan, the Naval General Staff decided to continue with Operation MO, the invasion of Port Moresby.
The Japanese Force
Task Force MO was made up of five separate groups. The main Striking Force, commanded by Vice Admiral Takeo Takagi, was built around Carrier Division 5, under the command of Vice Admiral Chuichi Hara. This contained the two modern carriers Shokaku (Flying Heron) and Zuikaku (Joyous Heron), considered to have been the best designed Japanese aircraft carriers of the Second World War. The carriers were escorted by two heavy cruisers and six destroyers. The Covering Group, commanded by Rear-Admiral Nobuji Goto, contained the light carrier Shoho, four heavy cruisers and one destroyer.
The remaining three forces were all intended to establish new Japanese bases. The Tulagi Invasion Group was to set up a seaplane base on Tulagi, just to the north of Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands. The Support Group, built around a seaplane carrier, was to establish a base in the Louisiade Islands, to the south east of New Guinea. Finally the main Port Moresby Invasion Force, eleven transports and eight escorts under the command of Admiral Sadamachi Kajioka, was to sail from Rabaul, round the eastern tip of New Guinea, and land at Port Moresby.
The operation was to be commanded by Vice Admiral Shigeyoshi Inouye, commander of the Fourth Fleet based at Rabaul.
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