Download The Battle of the Coral Sea: The History and Legacy of World War II's First Major Battle Between Aircraft Carriers AudioBook Free
The growing hype of aircraft engines disturbed the Japanese military construction employees hauling equipment ashore on the beige coral sand of Tulagi Island at 8:20 AM on May 4, 1942. Offshore, the top IJN (Imperial Japanese Navy) minelayer Okinoshima, flagship of Admiral Shima Kiyohide, place at anchor, along with two destroyers, Kikuzuki and Yutsuki, and transport ships. Six Japanese Mitsubishi F1M2 floatplanes also rested on the soft, deep blue swell, marking Tulagi's future as an IJN floatplane bottom part. The men on the beach, at inland engineering sites, or aboard the Japanese ships, appeared up towards the huge white cumulus clouds sailing on the sea wind. Considered completely by surprise, the Japanese stood and stared as 13 sturdy-looking dive bombers slipped through the cumulus level at 6,000 foot, plunging towards the IJN ships. Because they streaked lower, the white superstar on a dark-colored disk insignia of American plane grew visible on the underside of each wing. As the dive bombers roared low, drowning out the tender clacking of palm-fronds agitated by the regular sea air flow, the dark capsule patterns of 1 1,000-lb bombs broke away from their undersides and hurtled towards the anchored ships. Amid the immediate thunder of explosions, huge fountains of white foam gushed upward, gleaming in the tropical sunlight before collapsing back to the ocean. Only as the North american Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers began climbing out of their attack did the Japanese finally open fireplace with the four anti-aircraft weapons set up on the Tulagi shoreline.
