Task Force 17 Task Force 17 Task Force 17 (TF17) was an aircraft carrier task force of the United States Navy during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. TF17 participated in several major carrier battles in the first year of the war. TF17 was initially centered around . With "Yorktown", TF17 engaged Imperial Japanese Navy forces in actions at the Marshalls-Gilberts raids, Invasion of Lae-Salamaua, Battle of the Coral Sea, and the Battle of Midway. "Yorktown" was sunk at Midway. Reformed around and commanded by RADM George Murray, TF17 supported Allied forces during the Guadalcanal Campaign. At the Battle of the Santa
Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku In May 1942, she was assigned along with "Shōkaku" to support Operation Mo, the invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea. Alerted by intercepted and decrypted Japanese naval messages, the Americans dispatched the carriers and to stop this operation. On 8 May 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea, the main carrier forces located one another and launched maximum-effort raids, which passed each other in the air. Hidden by a rain squall, "Zuikaku" escaped detection, but "Shōkaku" was hit three times by bombs and was unable to launch or recover her aircraft. In return, torpedo and dive bombers from both