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Kent Weekly (SS/DSV) (DBF), EMCS
to remember
Phelan, James Frederick, Sr., CDR USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Sedalia, MO
Date of Passing Apr 18, 1998
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
James Frederick, Phelan, Sr., (Jim), Commander, U. S. Navy (Ret.) 81, of Blacksburg, died Saturday, April 18, 1998 at Montgomery Regional Hospital. He was born in Sedalia, Missouri on January 13, 1917 to the late Leroy Dean and Frances Josephine Milburn Phelan. A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Jim served during World War II and the Korean War. He retired from the Navy after 20 years of service in 1960. At that time, he became a Professor of Engineering at VPI & SU, where he taught until his retirement in 1983. Jim was very active in the Rotary Club International, Blacksburg Chapter. He was preceded in death by his wife, Katherine C. Phelan. He is survived by a daughter and son-in-law, Anne Phelan-Adams and Tom Adams of Lebanon, Ohio; a son and daughter-in-law, James F., Jr. and Susan Phelan, Lieutenant, USN (Ret.) of Los Angeles, Calif.; a brother and sister-in-law, Jack D. and Ruth D. Phelan of Coronado, Calif.; five grandchildren, Lieutenant James F. Phelan, III, U. S. Marine Corps of San Diego, Calif., Geoffrey, Megan, Mary and Thomas Adams, all of Lebanon, Ohio; and three nephews, John, Frank and Tom Phelan. There will be no memorial service. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made on Jim's behalf to a charity of your choice. The family will receive friends from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday evening at the McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg.
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Battle of the Coral Sea
From Month/Year
May / 1942
To Month/Year
May / 1942
Description The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought during 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, 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 and occupy Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the southeastern Solomon Islands. The plan to accomplish this, called Operation MO, 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. The US learned 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.
On 3–4 May, Japanese forces successfully invaded and occupied Tulagi, although several of their supporting warships were surprised and sunk or damaged by aircraft from the US fleet carrier Yorktown. Now aware of the presence of US carriers in the area, the Japanese fleet carriers entered the Coral Sea with the intention of finding and destroying the Allied naval forces.
Beginning on 7 May, the carrier forces from the two sides exchanged airstrikes over two consecutive days. The first day, the US sank the Japanese light carrier Shoho, while the Japanese sank a US destroyer and heavily damaged a fleet oiler (which was later scuttled). The next day, the Japanese fleet carrier Shokaku was heavily damaged, the US fleet carrier Lexington was critically damaged (and was scuttled as a result), and the Yorktown was damaged. With both sides having suffered heavy losses in aircraft and carriers damaged or sunk, the two fleets disengaged and retired from the battle area. Because of the loss of carrier air cover, Inoue recalled the Port Moresby invasion fleet, intending to try again later.
Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory for the Allies for several reasons. The battle marked the first time since the start of the war that a major Japanese advance had been checked by the Allies. More importantly, the Japanese fleet carriers Sokaku and Zuikaku – one damaged and the other with a depleted aircraft complement – were unable to participate in the Battle of Midway, which took place the following month, ensuring a rough parity in aircraft between the two adversaries and contributing significantly to the US victory in that battle. The severe losses in carriers at Midway prevented the Japanese from reattempting to invade Port Moresby from the ocean. Two months later, the Allies took advantage of Japan's resulting strategic vulnerability in the South Pacific and launched the Guadalcanal Campaign that, along with the New Guinea Campaign, eventually broke Japanese defenses in the South Pacific and was a significant contributing factor to Japan's ultimate defeat in World War II.