Battle of Koromokina Lagoon

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Koromokina Lagoon
partof=the Pacific Theater of World War II


caption=U.S. Marines battle Japanese infantry on November 8, 1943 on Bougainville during the Battle of the Koromokina Lagoon.
date=November 7 – 8, 1943
place=Bougainville in the South Pacific
result=United States victory
combatant1=United States
combatant2=Empire of Japan
commander1=Roy Geiger
Allen H. Turnage
commander2=Hitoshi Imamura,
Harukichi Hyakutake
strength1=10,000
strength2=850
casualties1=16 killed
casualties2=377+ killedThe Battle of the Koromokina Lagoon was a battle between United States Marine Corps and Imperial Japanese Army forces on Bougainville. The battle took place November 7 – 8, 1943, during the Bougainville campaign.

Responding to the Allied landings on Bougainville at Cape Torokina on November 1, 1943, Japanese General Hitoshi Imamura, commander of the 8th Area Army at Rabaul, underestimating the size of the Allied landing forces, despatched a force of 850 soldiers to execute a counter landing to attempt to drive the Allied forces back into the sea. The Japanese soldiers landed from four destroyers near Koromokina Lagoon on the night of November 7 and engaged two battalions of U.S. Marines from the 9th Marine Regiment under the command of Allen H. Turnage.

Over the next two days the Japanese attacks were defeated with heavy losses to the Japanese attackers. After the battle, Allied forces continued to expand their beachhead on Bougainville with the goal of constructing airfields to attack and neutralize Japanese forces located at Rabaul and nearby areas.

Notes

References

*cite book
last = Gailey
first = Harry A.
authorlink =
year = 1991
chapter =
title = Bougainville, 1943–1945: The Forgotten Campaign
publisher = University Press of Kentucky
location = Lexington, Kentucky, USA
id = ISBN 0-8131-9047-9- neutral review of this book here: [http://www.sonic.net/~bstone/archives/030504.shtml]
*cite book
last = Long
first = Gavin
authorlink = Gavin Long
year = 1963
url = http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/chapter.asp?volume=23
title = Volume VII – The Final Campaigns
series = Australia in the War of 1939–1945
location = Canberra
publisher = Australian War Memorial
accessdate = 2006-11-02
*cite book
last = McGee
first = William L.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2002
chapter =
title = The Solomons Campaigns, 1942–1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville—Pacific War Turning Point, Volume 2 (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII)
publisher = BMC Publications
location =
isbn = 0-9701678-7-3
*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
coauthors =
year = 1958
chapter =
title = Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier", vol. 6 of "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
publisher = Castle Books
location =
isbn = 0-7858-1307-1
*cite book
last = Odgers
first = George
year = 1968
url = http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/chapter.asp?volume=27
title = Volume II – Air War Against Japan, 1943–1945
series = Australia in the War of 1939–1945
location = Canberra
publisher = Australian War Memorial
accessdate = 2006-11-02
*cite book
last = Rottman
first = Gordon L.
authorlink =
coauthors = Dr. Duncan Anderson (consultant editor)
year = 2005
chapter =
title = Japanese Army in World War II: The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1942–43
publisher = Osprey
location = Oxford and New York
isbn = 1-84176-870-7

External links

*cite web
last = Craven
first = Wesley Frank
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coauthors = James Lea Cate
date =
year =
month =
url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/IV/index.html
title = Vol. IV, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944
format =
work = The Army Air Forces in World War II
pages =
publisher = U.S. Office of Air Force History
accessmonthday = October 20
accessyear = 2006
*cite web
last = Chapin
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date =
year = 1997
month =
url = http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003141-00/index.htm
title = TOP OF THE LADDER: Marine Operations in the Northern Solomons
format =
work = World War II Commemorative series
pages = 1
publisher = Marine Corps History and Museums Division
accessmonthday = August 30
accessyear = 2006 Also available at: [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-NSol/index.html]
*cite web
last = Fuquea
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coauthors =
date =
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url = http://www.nwc.navy.mil/press/Review/1997/winter/art6wi97.htm
title = Bougainville: The Amphibious Assault Enters Maturity
format =
work = Naval War College Review, Winter 1997, Vol. L, No. 1
pages = 418
publisher =
accessmonthday = October 20
accessyear = 2006
*cite web
last = Lofgren
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authorlink =
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date =
year =
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url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-C-NSolomons/index.html
title = Northern Solomons
format =
work = The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II
pages =
publisher =
accessmonthday = October 18
accessyear = 2006
*cite web
last = Mersky
first = Peter B.
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coauthors =
date =
year = 1993
month =
url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Aces/index.html
title = Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots in the Solomons, 1942–1944
format =
work = Marines in World War II Commemorative Series
pages =
publisher = History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
accessmonthday = October 20
accessyear = 2006
*cite web
last = Miller
first = John, Jr.
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year = 1959
month =
url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Rabaul/index.html
title = CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul
format =
work = United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific
pages = 418
publisher = Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Department of the Army
accessmonthday = October 20
accessyear = 2006
*cite web
last = Rentz
first = John M.
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year = 1946
month =
url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-NSols/index.html
title = Bougainville and the Northern Solomons
format =
work = USMC Historical Monograph
pages =
publisher = Historical Branch, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
accessmonthday = October 18
accessyear = 2006
*cite web
last = Shaw
first = Henry I.
authorlink =
coauthors = Douglas T. Kane
date =
year = 1963
month =
url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/II/index.html
title = Volume II: Isolation of Rabaul
format =
work = History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II
pages =
publisher =
accessdate = 2006-10-18
accessyear =
*cite web
last = U.S. Army Center of Military History
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year =
month =
url = http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V2%20P1/macarthurv2.htm#contents
title = Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area, Volume II - Part I
format =
work = Reports of General MacArthur
pages =
publisher =
accessdate = 2006-12-08
accessyear =- Translation of the official record by the Japanese Demobilization Bureaux detailing the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy's participation in the Southwest Pacific area of the Pacific War.
*cite web
last = Uyehata
first = Roy T.
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year = 2003
month =
url = http://www.densho.org/learning/spice/lesson5/5activity5-2handouts.PDF
title = Roy Uyehata's Personal History
format =
work =
pages =
publisher = The Leland Stanford Junior University
accessdate = 2006-12-08
accessyear =- Account of a Japanese-American interrogator on Bougainville.