An Aviation History Twofer: On This Day in Aviation History in 1942 and 1952.

Welcome to an aviation history twofer!  According to History.com and downloaded on May 3, 2025 from: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-3/the-battle-of-the-coral-sea-begins, “On May 3, 1942, during World War II, the first modern naval engagement in history, the Battle of the Coral Sea, began. A Japanese invasion force succeeded in occupying Tulagi of the Solomon Islands in an expansion of Japan’s defensive perimeter.

“The United States, having broken Japan’s secret war code and forewarned of an impending invasion of Tulagi and Port Moresby, attempted to intercept the Japanese armada. Four days of battles between Japanese and American aircraft carriers resulted in 70 Japanese and 66 American warplanes destroyed. This confrontation, called the Battle of the Coral Sea, marked the first air-naval battle in history, as none of the carriers fired at each other, allowing the planes taking off from their decks to do the battling. Among the casualties was the American carrier Lexington; “the Blue Ghost” (so-called because it was not camouflaged like other carriers) suffered extensive aerial damage and was scuttled by destroyer torpedoes. Two hundred sixteen Lexington crewmen died as a result of the Japanese aerial bombardment.

Photo courtesy of the United States Navy.

“Although Japan would go on to occupy all of the Solomon Islands, its victory was a Pyrrhic one: The cost in experienced pilots and aircraft carriers was so great that Japan had to cancel its expedition to Port Moresby, Papua, as well as other South Pacific targets.”

And for the second of our aviation history vignette twofer on this date, a mere ten years after the Battle of Coral Sea and according to History.com and downloaded on May 3, 2025 from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-3/fletcher-lands-on-the-north-pole, “A ski-modified U.S. Air Force C-47 piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph O. Fletcher of Oklahoma and Lieutenant Colonel William P. Benedict of California was among the first aircraft to land on the North Pole. A moment later, Fletcher climbed out of the plane and walked to the exact geographic North Pole, probably the first person in history to do so.

Photo courtesy of the United States Air Force.

“In the early 20th century, American explorers Robert Peary and Dr. Frederick Cook, both claiming to have separately reached the North Pole by land, publicly disputed each other’s claims. In 1911, Congress formally recognized Peary’s claim. In recent years, further studies of the conflicting claims suggest that neither expedition reached the exact North Pole, but that Peary came far closer, falling perhaps 30 miles short. In 1952, Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher was the first person to undisputedly stand on the North Pole. Standing alongside Fletcher on the top of the world was Dr. Albert P. Crary, a scientist who in 1961 traveled to the South Pole by motorized vehicle, becoming the first person in history to have stood on both poles.”

Onward and upward!

Sources:  History.com, US Navy, and USAF.