theleansubmariner

May of 1942 was a desperate time for the Allies in the South Pacific. Japanese expansion had been literally unchecked for the first six months of the war. It was only the bravery of the outmatched men of the Navy, Army and Marines that stood between the Japanese and the land down under.

This was the first battle fought exclusively between the two fleet’s aircraft carriers and the first major naval battle in which the two groups never came into close enough contact to see each other. Their planes were the only ones who carried forward the battle to a hellish effect.

In the end, both sides knew that victory was imperative to survival. On the Japanese side, it was survival of the tide forward which would help them establish a new boundary. For the Allies, it was desperation which meant the stemming of that tide and the preservation of…

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