Battle of the Coral Sea in the context of "Pacific War"

The Coral Sea (French: Mer de Corail) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) down the Australian north-east coast to latitude 30° south. Most of it is protected by the French Natural Park of the Coral Sea (French: Parc Naturel de la Mer de Corail) and the Australian Coral Sea Marine Park. The sea was the location for the Battle of the Coral Sea, a major confrontation during World War II between the navies of the Empire of Japan, and the United States and Australia.

The sea contains numerous islands and reefs (hence the name), as well as the world's largest reef system, the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981. All previous oil exploration projects were terminated at the GBR in 1975, and fishing is restricted in many areas. The reefs and islands of the Coral Sea are particularly rich in birds and aquatic life and are a popular tourist destination, both domestically and internationally.

Cairns (/ˈkɛərnz/ ; Yidiny: Gimuy) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the 2021 census, Cairns had a population of 169,312 people.

The city was founded in 1876 and named after Sir William Wellington Cairns, following the discovery of gold in the Hodgkinson River. During World War II, the city became a staging ground for the Allied Forces in the Battle of the Coral Sea. By the late 20th century the city had become a centre of international tourism. In the early 21st century, it has developed into a major regional city.

A carrier battle group (CVBG) is a naval fleet consisting of an aircraft carrier capital ship and its large number of escorts, together defining the group. The CV in CVBG is the United States Navy hull classification code for an aircraft carrier.

The first naval task forces built around carriers appeared just prior to and during World War II. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was the first to assemble many carriers into a single task force, known as the Kido Butai. This task force was used with devastating effect in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Kido Butai operated as the IJN's main carrier battle group until four of its carriers were sunk at the Battle of Midway. In contrast, the United States Navy deployed its large carriers in separate formations, with each carrier assigned its own cruiser and destroyer escorts. These single-carrier formations would often be paired or grouped together for certain assignments, most notably the Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway. By 1943, however, large numbers of fleet and light carriers became available, which required larger formations of three or four carriers. These groups eventually formed the Fast Carrier Task Force, which became the primary battle unit of the U.S. Third and Fifth Fleets.

The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Japanese Combined Fleet under the command of Isoroku Yamamoto suffered a decisive defeat by the U.S. Pacific Fleet near Midway Atoll, about 1,300 mi (1,100 nmi; 2,100 km) northwest of Oahu. Yamamoto had intended to capture Midway and lure out and destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet, especially the aircraft carriers which had escaped damage at Pearl Harbor.

Before the battle, Japan desired to extend its Pacific defense perimeter, especially after the Doolittle air raid of Tokyo in April 1942, and to clear the seas for attacks on Midway, Fiji, Samoa, and Hawaii. A related Japanese attack on the Aleutian Islands began one day earlier, on 3 June. The Japanese strike force at Midway, known as the Kidō Butai, was commanded by Chuichi Nagumo. Yamamoto's plan for the operation, which depended on precise timing and coordination, was undermined by its wide dispersal of forces, which left the rest of the fleet unable to support the Kidō Butai effectively.

The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theater, was the theater of World War II fought between Japan and the Allies in East and Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the Pacific Ocean theater, the South West Pacific theater, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the brief Soviet–Japanese War, and included some of the largest naval battles in history. War between Japan and the Republic of China had begun in 1937, with hostilities dating back to Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931, but the Pacific War is more widely accepted to have begun in 1941, when the United States and United Kingdom were brought into the war, after being attacked by Japan.

Japan invaded French Indochina in 1940, and extended its control over the entire territory in July 1941. On 7–8 December 1941, Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii; the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island; and the British colonies of Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong, followed by a Japanese declaration of war. The Japanese achieved great success over the next 6 months, allying with Thailand and capturing the listed territories (except for Hawaii) in addition to Borneo, New Britain, the Dutch East Indies, Burma, the Solomon and Gilbert Islands, and parts of New Guinea. In May 1942, Japanese and Allied aircraft carriers fought at the Battle of Coral Sea, resulting in the retreat of a Japanese invasion force headed for Port Moresby. In June, Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands, and in the central Pacific was defeated at the Battle of Midway, considered a key turning point in the war. After this point, the Japanese experienced great difficulty replacing their losses in ships and aircraft as the U.S. produced ever increasing numbers of both.