096 - The Raid on Tulagi Island

The Flanking Position

 

Before the Japanese could invade Port Moresby, they would need to secure the surrounding areas. To the north lie the treacherous Owen Stanleys, to the west lay the narrow Torres Strait and the vast stretch of sea to the Dutch East Indies. To the east, there was Tulagi Island.

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Tulagi’s central location in the Solomon Sea added a second point of attack to Port Moresby. In addition, Tulagi was known to be poorly defended.

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In fact, there were only three  machine guns on the whole island - and they all dated back to the First World War. In response to the low numbers of Allied defenders, the Japanese prepared a small task force for the Tulagi invasion.

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By the morning of May 4^th, the Japanese had begun the raid on Tulagi with a small task force that consisted of 2 destroyers, 5 minesweepers, 2 minelayers, 2 sub-chasers, and a single transport ship loaded with 500 soldiers. Meanwhile, the USS Yorktown was aware of the attack and was steaming towards Tulagi.

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By noon, the USS Yorktown had launched three air strikes to stop the invasion .Her SBD Dauntless Dive Bombers sank one destroyer and three minesweeping ships. Afterwards, the Yorktown rendezvoused with the USS Lexington and headed back to Allied ports. In the following week, the Lexington and Yorktown would face these same enemies, just as Yamamoto wanted. For now, the Japanese held onto Tulagi and established a stronger foothold in the South Pacific.

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