disposition of Japanese naval forces in the area, Pye ordered TF 14 to return to Pearl Harbor on December 22, thus abandoning the relief effort. Fletcher obeyed the recall orders and returned TF 14 to Pearl Harbor and on the return trip, the equipment loaded on the Tangier was delivered to Midway Island. January–April 1942 On January 1, 1942, Fletcher took command of Task Force 17 built around the carrier . Although a surface fleet admiral, he was chosen over more senior officers to lead a carrier task force. He learned air operations on the job while escorting troops to the South Pacific. He was junior TF commander under tutelage of the experts: Vice Admiral William Halsey during the Marshalls-Gilberts raids in February; Vice Admiral Wilson Brown attacking the enemy landings on New Guinea in March; and had aviation expert Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch with him during the first Battle of the Coral Sea. On April 19, 1942, Fletcher was designated Commander Cruisers, Pacific Fleet, with additional duty as Commander Cruiser Division Four. Coral Sea: May 4–8, 1942 In May 1942, Fletcher commanded the task forces during the battle of the Coral Sea. This battle is famous as the first carrier-on-carrier battle fought between fleets that never came within sight of each other. Fletcher with , Task Force 17, had been patrolling the Coral Sea and rendezvoused with Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch with , Task Force 11, and a tanker group. Fletcher finished refueling first and headed West. On hearing the enemy was occupying Tulagi, Task Force 17 attacked the landing beaches, sinking several small ships before rejoining Lexington and an Australian cruiser force under Rear Admiral John Gregory Crace on May 5. The next day, intelligence reported a Japanese invasion task force headed for Port Moresby, New Guinea, and a carrier strike force was in the area. The morning of May 7, Fletcher sent the Australian cruisers to stop the transports while he sought the carriers. His combat pilots sank the , escorting the enemy troop ships—"Scratch one flat top." radioed Lieutenant Commander Robert E. Dixon flying back to Lexington. That same day, Japanese carrier planes of Rear Admiral Chuichi Hara found the American tanker . Believing they had found a carrier, they severely damaged her after several all-out attacks, and sank her escorting destroyer, ; on May 11, located her, rescued the surviving crew, and sank her by