When the war
came close to home.
Misima sits within the story of the Battle of the Coral Sea.
The U.S. Navy’s official combat narrative includes a chapter on the action off Misima on 7 May 1942. These records connect a major naval battle with the waters beside an island that was already home to generations of families.
7 May: the action off Misima.
Aircraft from the American carriers Lexington and Yorktown attacked and sank the Japanese light carrier Shōhō. The official naval account places the action off Misima. It was an engagement at sea; these photographs are not scenes of fighting inside Misima’s villages.
8 May: the carriers and their crews.
Further carrier attacks damaged Shōkaku and Yorktown. Lexington suffered damage and fires, was abandoned and was lost. The photographs below record attack, destruction and the effort to get people off the carrier.
Why the battle mattered.
The carrier battle prevented the planned Japanese seaborne capture of Port Moresby. It also imposed heavy losses on both sides. The 2017 naval foreword explains its strategic significance and the limits of the original wartime account.
Read the official naval history · PDFSource: U.S. Navy, The Battle of the Coral Sea, original 1943 narrative with a 2017 Naval History and Heritage Command foreword. See foreword and printed pp. 11–16, 28 and 32–39.
Witnesses in the photographic record.
Three historical U.S. Navy photographs from the official reprint. Original black-and-white images; no colourisation or generated detail. Credits link to the page containing each image.
The island’s own wartime story.
The South Australian Museum holds a twelve-page typescript catalogued as Isikeli Hau‘ofa’s Report 1942, in the Harry K Bartlett archive (AA 21/5/3). Its description covers the evacuation order of 25 January, conditions on Misima and what islanders could see and hear after the Coral Sea battle.
A naval record follows ships and aircraft. This island account provides another route into the same year. We link to the catalogue description; the full typescript has not been reproduced here.
Explore the island account · SA MuseumBring family memories into the record.
Do your elders remember stories of 1942, aircraft, ships, evacuation or the months afterwards? We welcome accounts that families want to share, with names, dates where known and permission from those whose knowledge is being entrusted.