What was the first military battle between aircraft carriers?

The world’s navies have used aircraft carriers since 1918, but it wasn’t until World War II that the powerful ships came into their own. Before aircraft carriers, navies revolved around battleships, which served throughout World War II. When the US lost much of its battleship strength in the Pacific Fleet, things changed. The attack on Pearl Harbor changed the U.S. Navy’s strategy, and the aircraft carriers not at Pearl Harbor during the sneak attack formed the fleet’s core strength for the remainder of World War II.

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Aircraft carriers saw naval wars take to the skies and took part in many battles, with losses on both sides. Given how important they were, it is interesting to investigate when two aircraft carriers first met in combat. That hadn’t happened before World War II, but when it did, it changed naval warfare forever. An aircraft carrier offered warships the opportunity to engage in battles over the horizon. Essentially, an aircraft carrier doesn’t need to see its target to attack it – that’s what its air power is for.

The first time aircraft carriers on either side engaged in combat was in May 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea.. The battle took place between May 4 and 8 and was a turning point in naval warfare, and it was a major conflict for the United States Navy. The Navy lost much of its fighting power at Pearl Harbor, and the Battle of the Coral Sea offered two things. It demonstrated the combat effectiveness of aircraft carriers in blue-water warfare, and it gave the Americans a chance to regain a foothold in the Pacific.

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(Featured image from US Navy via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | Public domain)

On May 4, 1941, two American aircraft carriers were dispatched in an attempt to stop the Japanese advance into New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Japan learned that two American carriers were in the area, diverting their attention from their operation to deal with the new threat. As night fell on May 6, the fleet carriers, USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Yorktown (CV-5), attempted to locate the Japanese fleet carriers, the Zuikaku and Shōkaku, but neither side could engage the other locating the darkness despite being relatively close.

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The next day the search resumed and both sides launched attacks on the other. For the first time there was fighting over the horizon, but not without problems. Both the Japanese and Americans accidentally attacked different targets, although the Americans had better luck. Fifty aircraft from the Lexington and 43 from the Yorktown chanced upon a new light aircraft carrier, Shōhō. Although it was not the fleet carriers that the American scouts had previously identified, it was also a sitting duck.

The aircraft made short work of the Shōhō, sending her beneath the waves with multiple torpedo and bomb attacks. Meanwhile, the Japanese had also misidentified their targets, and while the Zuikaku and Shōkaku wanted to attack a fleet, they found only a fast fleet oiler, Neosho, and an escort fighter, Sims. The Japanese aircraft attacked both targets, immediately sinking the Sims; although the Neosho floated, she was effectively dead in the water and had suffered extensive damage. Over-the-horizon turned out to be successful for both parties, but not in the way they intended.

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(Featured image from US Navy via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | Public domain)

Finally, on May 8, the larger fleet ship Shōkaku met the Lexington and Yorktown in battle over the horizon, resulting in a massive dogfight. Both American ships were equipped with radar, the Japanese ship was not. This gave the Americans an advantage in launching their planes, 75 of which went up to attack the 69 later launched by the Japanese. All three carriers were attacked by aircraft launched by the other sides, and it was a brutal battle that led to numerous losses across the board.

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The Americans lost a total of 66 aircraft, while Japan lost 77. The aircraft carriers on both sides did not fare well in the battle, as the aircraft carrier Lexington was so badly damaged that it had to be scuttled and ended up on the list of sunken American navies. ships. Additional losses for the Americans included a destroyer, an oiler, and extensive damage to the USS Yorktown, which required significant repairs. The Japanese lost the Shōhō and suffered critical damage to the Shōkaku, which took three 1,000 pound bomb attacks on her flight deck.

Both the Shōkaku and Zuikaku lost so many aircraft that they were no longer combat fit and could not participate in the Battle of Midway in June. The Imperial Japanese Navy also lost a destroyer, three minesweepers and more. Ultimately, the Battle of the Coral Sea was a strategic victory for the Allies, and resulted in a serious deterioration in combat effectiveness for the Japanese. Most importantly, the battle halted possible Japanese plans to invade Australia.

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(Featured image from US Navy via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | Public domain)