The Battle of the Coral Sea was a major battle fought during 1942 in may from the 4th to the 8th. It took place in the Pacific ocean between australia and asia. The destructive battle was between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia.
The U.S. Got invloved when they heard of the Japanese plan through signals intelligence and sent two United States Navy carrier task forces and a joint Australian-American cruiser force, under the overall command of American Admiral Frank J. Fletcher, to oppose the Japanese offensive and help Australia.
The battle first took action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other (Japan and Australia), as well as the first in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other.
In an attempt to strengthen their defensive positioning for their empire in the South Pacific, Japanese forces decided to invade Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi (which was eventually conquered) in the southeastern Solomon Islands. The plan to accomplish this, called Operation MO apparently, involved several major units of Japan's Combined Fleet, including two fleet carriers and a light carrier to provide air cover for the invasion fleets, under the overall command of Japanese Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue.