). After the initial shock of the Air attack had subsided, it was time to take action. On December 31st 1941 Admiral Chester Nimitz took command. He later told his wife with very little enthusiasm:I’m the new commander and chief She said: You’ve wanted this all you lifeThen he said: But sweetheart, all the ships are on the bottom(Rice 33)After the loss of what was the main combat force the American strategists had to come up with a completely new way of fighting a war. Now carriers, not heavy battleships were the center of operations. This is when the face of sea battle changed forever. Instead of two ships pounding each other with heavy guns, ships could sink each other from miles away(Hammel 243). This was the case in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Japanese fleet steamed into the Coral Sea setting course for port Moresby south of New Guinea, as a stepping stone to the eventual invasion of the Australian continent. The first great air war of the pacific was about to begin. A two carrier American force rushed to intercept the invasion fleet and on May 7th The two day battle began without the two opposing fleets ever laying eyes on each other (U.S dep.1). The carrier launched aircraft in the battle did all of the fighting, they alone Sank the Japanese carrier Shoho, heavy damage to the carrier Shokaku, and two-thirds of all carrier based planes destroyed. America lost the Lexington and took heavy damage to Yorktown(U.S dep. 2). This battle proved that the days of face to ace combat between fleets was over and that the carrier launched planes ruled the open sea. The Americans had won a strategic battle in the Coral Sea. For once, the unstoppable Japanese had been stopped and with this victory the time to take the offensive had finally arrived (U.S dep.1). With the help of expert codebreakers the Americans discovered a Japanese plan to attack a small atoll halfway across the Pacific kno...
