- Bombing of Rabaul (November 1943)
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Carrier raids on Rabaul
partof= the Pacific Theater ofWorld War II
caption= Japanese cruiser "Chikuma" under attack on5 November 1943
date=November 1 1943 –November 11 ,1943
place=coord|4|11|58|S|152|10|4|E|type:city|name=Rabaul|display=inline,titleRabaul onNew Britain in theBismarck Archipelago
result=Allied victory
combatant1=flag|United States|1912 flag|Australia flag|New Zealand
combatant2=flag|Empire of Japan
commander1=George Kenney (land air forces),William Halsey, Jr. ,Frederick Sherman (naval forces)
commander2=Mineichi Koga ,Jinichi Kusaka
strength1=3 fleet carriers,
2 light carriers,
2 light cruisers,
9 destroyers,
282 carrier aircraft,
94 land-based aircraft [Gailey, "Bougainville", p. 86-92.]
strength2=10 cruisers,
11 destroyers,
200 aircraft [Gailey, "Bougainville", p. 86-92.]
casualties1=10 carrier aircraft,
1 land-based aircraft destroyed [Gailey, "Bougainville", p. 88-89.]
casualties2=5 cruisers heavily damaged,
52 aircraft destroyed [Gailey, "Bougainville", p. 88-91 and Parshall & Hackett, Combinedfleet.com.]The
Allies of World War II conducted a bombing of Rabaul in November 1943 at the major Japanese base. Allied carrier and land-based planes attacked Japanese airfields, ships and port facilities, on the island ofNew Britain , to protect the Allied amphibious invasion of Bougainville. As a result of theRabaul raids, several Japaneseheavy cruiser s and numerous smaller warships and transports were damaged, effectively ending the Japanese naval threat to the initial landings on Bougainville.Background
Rabaul, on the island of
New Britain , was one of two major ports in theAustralia nTerritory of New Guinea . It was the main Japanese naval base for theSolomon Islands campaign andNew Guinea campaign . Simpson Harbour — captured from Australian forces in February 1942 — was known as "the Pearl Harbor of the South Pacific" and was well defended by 300 anti-aircraft guns and five airfields.In early 1943 Rabaul had been distant from the fighting. However, the Allied grand strategy in the
South West Pacific Area ,Operation Cartwheel , aimed to isolate Rabaul and reduce it by air raids. Japanese ground forces were already retreating inNew Guinea and in theSolomon Islands , abandoningGuadalcanal ,Kolombangara andVella Lavella .Land based air attacks
From
October 12 ,1943 , as part of Operation Cartwheel, the U.S.Fifth Air Force , theRoyal Australian Air Force and theRoyal New Zealand Air Force , directed by the Allied air commander in theSouth West Pacific Area , GeneralGeorge Kenney , launched a sustained campaign of bombing against the airfields and port of Rabaul. The biggest raid was onNovember 2 .Carrier attacks
With the invasion of Bougainville on
November 1 ,1943 , Rabaul came under threat from another direction. A hasty attempt to drive Allied forces off Bougainville had been defeated in theBattle of Empress Augusta Bay . Now Koga planned to reinforce Rabaul and overwhelm the limited Allied forces around Bougainville while most of the U.S. Navy was involved in preparations for the invasion of Tarawa.Rear-Admiral
Frederick Sherman planned to pre-empt this threat by a carrier raid. "Saratoga" and "Princeton" headed for New Britain under cover of a weather front and launched every plane at Rabaul. No ships were sunk, but six cruisers were damaged, four heavily. "Atago" was near-missed by three 500-lb bombs that caused severe damage and killed 22 crewmen, including her captain. [Hackett, "HIJMS ATAGO: Tabular Record of Movement", Combinedfleet.com. "Atago" went toYokosuka , Japan, for further repairs which were completed onDecember 30 ,1943 .] "Maya" was hit by one bomb above one of her engine rooms, causing heavy damage and killing 70 crewmen. [Hackett, "HIJMS MAYA: Tabular Record of Movement", Combinedfleet.com. "Maya" went to Yokosuka for further repairs which, along with the addition of additional anti-aircraft guns, were completed onApril 9 ,1944 .] "Mogami", was hit by one 500-lb bomb and set afire, causing heavy damage and killing 19 crewmen. [Hackett, "HIJMS MOGAMI: Tabular Record of Movement", Combinedfleet.com. "Mogami" went to Kure, Japan for further repairs which were completed onFebruary 17 ,1944 .] "Takao" was hit by two 500-lb bombs, causing heavy damage and killing 23 crewmen. [Hackett, "HIJMS CHIKUMA: Tabular Record of Movement", Combinedfleet.com. "Takao" went to Yokosuka for further repairs which were completed onJanuary 18 ,1944 .] "Chikuma", was slightly damaged by several near-misses. [Hackett, "HIJMS CHIKUMA: Tabular Record of Movement", Combinedfleet.com.] "Agano" was near-missed by one bomb which damaged one anti-aircraft gun and killed one crewman. [Hackett, "HIJMS AGANO: Tabular Record of Movement", Combinedfleet.com.] Three destroyers were also lightly damaged. [Hackett, "HIJMS FUJINAMI: Tabular Record of Movement", "HIJMS AMAGIRI: Tabular Record of Movement", "HIJMS WAKATSUKI: Tabular Record of Movement", Combinedfleet.com., "Fujinami" suffered minor damage with one crewman killed. "Amagiri" and "Wakatsuki" suffered minor damage and no casualties.] Most of the Japanese warships returned to Truk the next day for repairs and to escape further Allied airstrikes. One was hit by 12 bombs and sank in 21 minutes.A second carrier raid was made on
November 11 by the "Saratoga", "Princeton", "Bunker Hill", "Essex" and "Independence". "Agano", which had remained at Rabaul after theNovember 5 strike, was torpedoed in this attack and heavily damaged. [Hackett, "HIJMS AGANO: Tabular Record of Movement", Combinedfleet.com. OnFebruary 16 ,1944 , as "Agano" traveled from Truk to Japan for further repairs, she was hit by two torpedoes fromUSS Skate (SS-305) and sunk. Her 523 survivors were picked up the destroyer "Oite" and returned to Truk. InOperation Hailstone , "Oite" was sunk by U.S. carrier aircraft, killing all of "Agano's" survivors.]Notes
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