In May 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea Underhill was with VS-5 on board the carrier . When VS-5 raided Tulagi on the morning of 4 May he flew his Douglas SBD Dauntless dive-bomber against a heavy anti-aircraft barrage and contributed to the sinking or damaging of eight enemy vessels. On the morning of 7 May, a coordinated attack group of 17 SBDs from VS-5 took off from "Yorktown" and, in clear skies with unlimited visibility, launched a dive bombing attack on the light carrier "Shōhō". The American planes scored nine direct hits and two near misses sinking the "Shōhō".