Quote:
Originally Posted by copeab
In a paper for a high school history class, I argued the turning point was the Battle of Coral Sea. Until that point, the Japanese had been running free in the Pacific. While tactically the battle was a draw (or arguably a Japanese marginal victory), it was a strategic loss for them. For the first time in the Pacific war, Japan had failed to mount a successful invasion of significance.
(in that same class, I also wrote a paper where I asserted the sinking of the Lusitania was legally justified)
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Coral Sea was at best, a draw for both sides. To be sure, it did stop the immediate Japanese move on Port Morseby. But what halted the planned invasion was Yamamoto's commencement of the Midway/Aleutians operation.
With the launch of the Guadalcanal battle, the Japanese were forced into a attrition battle that they could not sustain. With the encirclement of Rabual, the cream of the Japanese pilots lay dead. This was a blow that they never recovered from.