The mid-1942 clashes in the Coral Sea and at Midway were the world’s first fights between aircraft carriers. Plenty of photos were taken to remember them by.

More of the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway ended up on film than any other battles in history. Readers of newspapers and magazines back in the States got to see ships, airplanes, airmen, and sailors doing the grim duty they had been sent overseas to do. Here, crewmen of the US carrier Lexington examine their ship’s No. 2 gun gallery after a bomb struck it on May 7 in the Coral Sea. (National Archives)

The damage to the five-inch guns in the Lexington’s gun gallery No. 2 was just a small part of the destruction done in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Before the May 1942 fight, the Coral Sea was known for its welcoming warm weather and beautiful coral reefs and beaches. (National Archives)

Despite the efforts of the sailors who rushed to repair the Lexington after repeated attacks, the order came to abandon ship. Seen from a distance here, crew members scramble down ropes and ladders to await rescue by a nearby destroyer. The 150 American wounded were hoisted over the side in basket stretchers and lowered into motorized whale boats. More than 200 other crewmen went down with the Lexington. (National Archives)

After the Battle of the Coral Sea, the June 1942 Battle of Midway wreaked havoc on land as well as sea. The focus of the fighting, Midway Island, is actually two small islets (Eastern and Sand) sitting in a shallow lagoon. US Navy, Marine Corps, and Army personnel manned the base and defended its important airstrip. Here marines are arriving at the installation, their guns and helmets stacked by their ship, below the wings of a Curtiss SOC Seagull float biplane. Used to patrol Midway’s waters, the Curtiss was one of many planes brought in as upgrades to the slow patrollers and obsolete fighters on the island. (National Archives)

The Sand and Eastern islets each had a mess hall, powerhouse, dispensary, and post exchange. The servicemen slept underground at night, and during the day their guns and helmets were always with them. In all, about 3,600 marines and air personnel lived protected by mines, barbed wire, torpedo boats, and submarines. But Japanese bombs managed to destroy much of Midway’s facilities, including its oil tanks, shown here billowing clouds of black smoke. Among the destruction was the island’s bird population–gooney birds appear in the foreground here. Thousands of carcasses covered the sand. (National Archives)

Midway was home to 120 planes in June 1942, some of them marine aircraft and others navy and army. What didn’t get off the ground during the initial attack on June 4 was torn apart by Japanese shells. By the end of the battle, two-thirds of the combat planes were destroyed or lost, and half the airmen were killed. Shown here is an American Grumman F4F. It was an F4F that killed GIs aboard the US carrier Hornet during the battle. As the fighter came in for a landing during the battle on June 4, the wounded pilot did not cut his gun switches. The impact of landing jolted six .50-caliber guns to go off, killing 5 and wounding 20. (National Archives)

The F2A Brewster Buffalo navy fighter was just one of many types of planes flown at Midway. Many of the airmen most familiar with the Buffalo called it the Flying Coffin. It was slow and didn’t fare well in combat with Japanese Zeros. (National Archives)

Seen through a haze of smoke, a fire-fighting detail on the US carrier Yorktown attempts to extinguish one of the blazes on the ship. One of the Yorktown firefighters, Lieutenant Milton E. Ricketts, posthumously earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for his efforts. A bomb exploded directly under the battle station where Ricketts was, killing or wounding everyone there. Rickets was wounded but managed to open a nearby fireplug valve, pull out a fire hose, and aim a blast of water on the blaze before dropping dead. (National Archives)

The Yorktown suffered her final blow on June 6, when a sub’s torpedo struck her. She sank the next day, but not before her crew attempted to save her. This picture was taken just after an attack by a torpedo plane. The crewmen are trying to navigate a slick deck pitched at a 20-degree angle. (National Archives)

Visual documentation of the Coral Sea and Midway battles includes footage shot by the navy and distributed as seen fit by the US Office of War Information. Here is a still shot from an OWI movie that incorporated captured Japanese newsreel scenes. Repair work on the Japanese carriers was done on deck, rather than in hangars below, to expedite plane takeoffs. Japanese Commander Mitsuo Fuchida was on the deck of the carrier Akagi when it was attacked. He saw “a huge hole in the flight deck just behind the amidship elevator. The elevator itself, twisted like molten glass, as drooping into the hanger. Deck plates reeled upward in grotesque configurations.” (National Archives)

Survivors of attacks on Japanese ships were rescued by their American foes. These dirty, dejected sailors were eventually sent to Pearl Harbor for internment. Survivors of Japanese and American naval forces were often found floating long after the guns quieted. One group of men from the carrier Hiryu drifted in a lifeboat for 30 days and 110 miles before it was found. (National Archives)

One type of image the OWI was certain to make public was an award ceremony with officers and sailors in dress whites. Here Admiral Chester Nimitz (left) awards Lieutenant Commander Clarence W. McClusky with the Distinguished Flying Cross. McClusky had ordered the USS Enterprise’s air squadron to attack the Kaga, leading to the Japanese carrier’s destruction.