Battle of the Coral Sea (1959)
Director: Paul Wendkos.
Starring: Cliff Robertson, Gia Scala, Teru Shimada, Patricia Cutts, Gene Blakely, Gordon Jones.
Cliff Robertson plays the role of a submarine captain trying to get information to the US fleet in the area.
Historical Background:
In 1942 Japan tried to capture Port Moresby on the south side of the eastern end of the island of New Guinea. The battle of the Coral Sea was the result. Shortly before the battle, the US Navy broke the Japanese code. The battle itself proved a turning point for the United States in the war.
A US carrier task force was searching for the enemy fleet. On May 4 the planes
were prepared for an attack, but most stayed overhead the carriers. The attack
was not well organized or synchronized. But the command to hit the Japanese
naval unit was carried out on schedule. Yorktown and Lexington were the
carriers. They searched for several days. A group of Japanese planes were in
turn searching for the US warships. They met in combat. Units of the Japanese
fleet were discovered. They zig-zagged to avoid being hit, but the American
planes sank a Japanese carrier.
The
Japanese planes did well. May 8 they attacked the Lexington. It was lost.
Losses were almost evenly divided but the Japanese invasion fleet was routed. The Americans lost 66 planes and the Japanese 80.
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