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The Coral Sea 1942: The first carrier battle (Campaign) |  | Author: Mark Stille
Creator: John White
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $11.77
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Seller: allnewbooks
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 142021
Media: Paperback
Pages: 96
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 7.2 x 0.3
ISBN: 184603440X
Dewey Decimal Number: 940
EAN: 9781846034404
ASIN: 184603440X
Publication Date: November 24, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The Battle of the Coral Sea is unique in the annals of naval history. It is the first battle in which enemy fleets never came within sight of one another. Instead, aircraft launched from carrier decks were sent out to attack the enemy with bombs and torpedoes.
In May of 1942, the Japanese fleet moved on Port Moresby, the last Allied base between Australia and Japan. Forced to respond, the Americans sent two aircraft carriers to protect the base. In the ensuing battle, one American carrier was destroyed and the other severely damaged. However, the Japanese also lost a carrier and decided to withdraw. Although bloody, it proved to be an important strategic victory for the Allies as the Japanese were forced to attempt future attacks on Port Moresby over land. Using the latest research and numerous period photographs, retired USN Commander Mark O. Stille tells the story of this important and unique battle in the Pacific War.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
 Pretty good May 16, 2010
David W. Nicholas (Montrose, CA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This brief overview of the Battle of the Coral Sea is reasonably complete, and contains a lot of good information. The author goes over the personalities of the commanders, their ships and aircraft, and their plans, with considerable authority and detail, and he does a good job of describing the events of the battle itself. If there's a failing here it's the illustrations. Osprey has designed this elaborate illustration protocol for these Campaign books, and it really works best for land battles from the black powder era. Here, the 3D battle capability of the maps is pretty much completely wasted, since the battle takes place on the open ocean, where that 3rd dimension is essentially meaningless. They try to compensate for this by doing maps that show the attacks of the various air groups on the carriers, but it doesn't work very well: it's pretty hard to tell which of the arrows is supposed to be above one of the others. The detailed illustrations, which usually have many numbered explanations to tell you who the various people portrayed in the illustration are, in this case merely label the ship #1 and the plane attacking it #2. Really, without those numbers, who would be able to tell which was the plane, and which was the ship?
This isn't a bad book, don't get me wrong. The narrative is very well-written and the author lays out his information intelligently. It's just not the best use of the illustrations.
 A good introduction April 30, 2010
R. Murray (Toronto)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
In my opinion this is one of the best (if not the best) Osprey Campaign Series titles that I've ever purchased. It's filled with well chosen, interesting photos & battle scene paintings and the maps are very well done (no typos).
To the reviewer who only gave it 2 stars: keep in mind that it's an Osprey book so the author is limited to their 96 page format. The author doesn't claim that this book is the last word on the subject. He provides the reader with a list of further reading in the bibliography (including John Lundstrom's work) .
In closing I'd like to say that if you know very little about the battle then this book is a great place to start.
 basic info April 19, 2010
stancan (tn usa)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
very basic info on this historic battle....I have read much more in depth accounts from authors such as John Lunstrum.
Good, quick introduction to a key carrier battle in WW II February 27, 2010
Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL))
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is another in the Osprey series of brief works on warfare. The focus here is the Battle of the Coral Sea, carried out in 1942. As usual, this is a rather brief book, featuring a slender volume. Nonetheless, there is value to this publication.
The book explores the context and actions during the first major carrier battle in history. The Japanese and American navies converged in the Coral Sea for a contest between the respective aircraft carriers--Lexington and Yorktown representing the American carriers and Shokuku, Zuikaku, and light carrier Shoho for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).
The book itself features a chronology leading up to the battle, a thumbnail sketch of the leading commanders for both sides (e.g., Admiral Yamamoto for the IJN and Admirals Nimitz and Fletcher for the Allies, among others), the opposing fleets (including specifications for the carriers), the opposing plans for battle, and then a description of the battle itself.
The Japanese were at a disadvantage,, since they did not have radar (although American radar was hardly deployed with great effectiveness). They also depended too much on an overly complex plan of action. The battle itself featured errors and missed opportunities by both sides.
In the end, though, the battle took place, and the era of the carrier as the dominant warship began.
This is a useful brief introduction to an important battle.
THE CORAL SEA IN DETAIL January 31, 2010
James L. Woolridge (Sunny Florida)
To be as concise as possible, if you are into naval warfare history or the history of the Pacific campaign or warships themselves, get this book. Retired navy officer Mark Stille, always provides concise but detailed books that are factual. The Coral Sea is no exception. This giant carrier duel, the first of its kind in indeed naval history, a huge American victory. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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