As important as the Battle of the Coral Sea was to the United States, the battle was of supreme importance to Australia. Japanese possession of Moresby would have posed a serious threat to northern Australia’s cities and military bases. General MacArthur, who did not often praise the navy, said that the battle had been “the real safeguard of Australian independence.” It was, in a sense, Australia’s Trafalgar—a naval victory that shattered the hopes of a formidable would-be invader. For years after the war, the anniversary of the battle was celebrated by Australians as a quasi-national holiday.
