The Battle of The Coral Sea occurred May 4th to the 8th in 1942
Check out this cool animated map that CDR Bullard sent me.
The Battle of The Coral Sea
I love stuff like this. I find visual aides very helpful. There is only so much I can absorp strictly through reading. Although I must be honest and tell you my preferred way of learning Naval history is through John Wayne movies...."In Harm's Way" anyone?
War movies can indeed be a wonderful way to learn naval history ... I was watching a very good example last night, Sink the Bismarck! Other good examples of the breed include Flying Leathernecks, Operation Pacific, and The Enemy Below. Sadly, In Harm's Way isn't in the same class -- it doesn't really correspond well to any WW2 campaign. Though it does earn several weird-me-out points for including in its cast a young Carroll O'Connor.
ReplyDeleteThen there are the scattered handful of great war movies set during the time when America was in retreat all across the Pacific. Perhaps the best of those is another Wayne film, They Were Expendable.
Triva: I'm in "In Harm's Way." No kidding....the MSTS ship we were coming back from Okinawa sailed into Pearl while they were filming. Saw John Wayne down there on the PT.
ReplyDeleteMore triva: Worked for The Sea Wolf's son (the real guy for "They Were Expendable")