Prof. Greg Jackson

the Japanese have swept through the Dutch East Indies, taken the U.S.

Commonwealth of the Philippines, and pushed into the British Crown's territories everywhere, from Singapore to those on eastern New Guinea.

And right now, on May 7th, the Japanese are a few days into a multi-pronged action called Operation Moe, intended to take Port Moresby.

Located on Australia-administered Papua's southern coast and just across the Coral Sea from the land down under, Port Moresby would position the Japanese well to cut off U.S.

supplies to Australia and then to move in for the kill.

But this hasn't gone as smoothly as Japanese leadership had hoped, not with the Americans having cracked Japan's operational code system, JN-25.

Fully aware of the general strokes of the Japanese forces' plans, Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher's aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown, surprised the Japanese at their newly established base on the island of Tulagi on May 4th.

This was followed by two days of both sides' respective aircraft carrier-led fleets trying to catch the other in the vast Coral Sea.

And now, this May 7th morning, the Japanese have honed in on the oil tanker USS Neosho and its accompanying escort, the destroyer USS Sims, mistaking the retreating Neosho for one of the American's carriers.

As this mistake slowly becomes clear, most of the Japanese aircraft are called off, but not the dive bombers.

They soon swoop in and sailors deep in the Neo shows hold like Bill Liu are getting that news over the JV phone.

Ah, and that brings us back to our story.

with some two dozen or more IHE D3A2 dive bombers, or VALs as they're known.

Dropping one bomb after another, Bill and his fellow sailors feel every hit as it shakes the whole ship.

One is too close for comfort, shaking them so hard it tears the cork plaster right off the wall.

The voice on the other side of the JV phone yells, Are you guys still alive down there?

Yes, we are, but I'm sure scared.

The other sailor answers with a nervous laugh.

Bill must be wondering, did he really survive Pearl Harbor only to die in the hole of this tanker?

After seven bombs hit the Neosho and three strike the Sims, Bill hears the cry, abandon ship.