May 8, 1942: Queen Of The Flattops Sunk

Over the night of May 7, 1942, the skies cleared over Task Force 17 and the carriers Yorktown and Lexington. The heavy overcast that had for the past two days concealed the two carriers from Japanese reconnaissance moved instead over the Japanese carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku. Shortly after 6:00 am on the 8th, TF 17 launched scout planes to search for the Japanese force and the Japanese launched aircraft searching for the Americans.

At 0820, the Americans spotted the Japanese carriers through the clouds. Two minutes later, Japanese pilots sighted TF 17. The two carrier forces were about 210 miles apart. By 0915, the Japanese had launched a strike on TF 17 and TF 17 had launched a strike against the Japanese carriers.

At 10:57, Yorktown airplanes attacked Shokaku, striking the ship with two 1,000 lb bombs. A half hour later, Lexington aircraft struck Shokaku again. heavily damaged, Shokaku withdrew from the battle. Zuikaku, concealed beneath heavy rain squalls, suffered less damage.

Meanwhile, about 10:55, Lexington's radar detected the incoming Japanese air raid. The attack began at 11:13. Lexington was hit by two torpedoes, rupturing a large tank holding highly volatile aviation fuel, and damaging the port section of the fire main. Two bomb hits did further damage, but fires were contained by about 12:30.

Attackers also damaged Yorktown, hit in the center of her flight deck by a single 550 lb  semi-armor-piercing bomb which penetrated four decks before exploding, causing severe damage.

Both sides lost many aircraft in the ensuing melee. For different reasons, the two Admirals decided to withdraw from the battle. The Japanese no longer had the ability to provide air cover for the invasion of Port Moresby.

Both US carriers remained operational. Damage control parties in Lexington had fires under control and the ship operational. Shortly before 1:00, though, the ship suffered a series of explosions when sparks ignited fuel vapors. By 3:30 the fires had become uncontrollable. A little after 5:00 the crew began to abandon ship.

After the crew was evacuated, the destroyer Phelps fired five torpedoes into the blazing ship. Lexington sank just before 8:00 pm in 2,400 fathoms in the Coral Sea.

The Japanese never captured Port Moresby. Despite heavy fighting in the Solomons, Japan never succeeded in establishing a base at Guadalcanal.

Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere never expanded in the Pacific beyond its extent as of May 8, 1942.

It had been five months since Pearl Harbor.

Journalist Stanley Johnston was aboard Lexington for her voyage to the South Pacific and her subsequent battles, including her sinking on May 8, 1942. His book Queen of The Flattops is a classic of wartime journalism. It was a book of the month club selection after the war. I was about ten years old when I read it. I still recommend it to anyone who wants to get a feel for what it was like to go to sea on an aircraft carrier early in WWII.