Battle of the Bismarck Sea
Part of World War II, Pacific War
A U.S. or Australian A-20 Havoc/Boston bomber attacks a Japanese ship during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.
Date March 2, 1943 – March 4, 1943 Location Bismarck Sea, in the vicinity of Lae Result Decisive Allied victory
Combatants
United States, Australia	Empire of Japan
Commanders
George C. Kenney	Masatomi Kimura
Strength
39 heavy bombers; 41 medium bombers; 34 light bombers; 54 fighters	8 destroyers, 8 troop transports, 100 aircraft
Casualties
2 bombers, 3 fighters destroyed	8 transports, 4 destroyers sunk 20 fighters destroyed, 5,000 troops killed[1]

The Battle of the Bismarck Sea was a battle in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II, in which planes of the United States Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), attacked a Japanese convoy carrying troops to Lae. Most of the task force was destroyed, and Japanese troop losses were extremely high. Combatants Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total... Combatants Republic of China U.S.A. (from 1941) U.K. (from 1941) Australia (1941) Netherlands (1941) New Zealand (1941) Canada (1941) U.S.S.R. (from 1945) Empire of Japan Commanders Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin (from 1945) Hideki Tojo The Pacific War was... Image File history File links A20BismarckSea. ... The Douglas DB-7 was a family of attack, light bomber and night fighter aircraft of World War II, serving primarily with Soviet, US and British airforces. ... March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... March 4 is the 63rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (64th in leap years). ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... The Bismarck Sea lies to the north of the island of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. ... Lae is the second largest city of Papua New Guinea with a population of approx 120,000. ... In general, allies are people or groups that have joined an alliance and are working together to achieve some common purpose. ... Anthem: Kimi ga Yo Imperial Reign Slogan: Fukoku Kyohei Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Military (a. ... George Churchill Kenney, August 6, 1889-August 9, 1977, was a United States Army Air Force general during World War II and was commander of Allied air forces in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) from August 1942 until 1945. ... Masatomi Kimura (December 6, 1891 – February 14, 1960), was a vice admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... The New Guinea campaign was one of the major military campaigns of World War II. Fighting in the Australian mandated Territory of New Guinea (the north-eastern part of the island of New Guinea and surrounding islands) and Dutch New Guinea, between Allied and Japanese forces, commenced with the Japanese... The Battle of Rabaul, around the main town of Rabaul on the island of New Britain, in early February 1942, represented a strategically-significant defeat of Allied forces by Japan, in the Pacific campaign of World War II. Following the capture of Rabaul, Japanese forces turned it into a major... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Combatants United States, Australia Japan Commanders Chester Nimitz Frank Jack Fletcher Shigeyoshi Inoue Takeo Takagi Aritomo Goto Strength 2 large carriers, 3 cruisers 2 large carriers, 1 small carrier, 4 cruisers Casualties 1 large carrier, 1 destroyer, 1 oil tanker, 543 personnel 1 small carrier, 1 destroyer, 1,074 personnel... Combatants Australia Japan Commanders Ralph Honner Selwyn Porter Arnold Potts Arthur Tubby Allen George Vasey Yosuke Yokoyama Tomitaro Horii Strength 2,000 plus reinforcements 10,000 plus reinforcements Casualties 725 killed 1,055 wounded Hundreds sick with disease 6,500 killed including Maj-Gen Horii Hundreds sick with disease The... Combatants Australia, United States (engineering support and minor combat) Japan Commanders Cyril Clowes Shojiro Hayashi, Minoru Yano Strength 9,000 (half non-combat personnel) 2400 Casualties less than 200 dead 600 dead The Battle of Milne Bay was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Japanese marines... Combatants Australia, United States Japan Commanders George Vasey (Australia); Edwin F. Harding/ Robert L. Eichelberger (United States) Ken Yamagata Strength 20,000+ 7,400+ Casualties 3,500 (not counting tropical diseases); 1,300 Australian and 1,000 US personnel killed in action. ... Australian soldiers unloading transport planes at an airfield near Wau, in mid-1943. ... Combatants Australia United States Empire of Japan Commanders Douglas MacArthur Hatazô Adachi Strength ~30,000 ~10,000 Casualties  ?  ? The Salamaua-Lae campaign was a series of actions in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. Australian and United States forces sought to capture two major Japanese bases, one in... The eastern part of the Territory of New Guinea, and the northern Solomon Islands; the area in which Operation Cartwheel took place, from June 1943. ... Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders George Kenney Kumaichi Teramoto Strength 47 heavy bombers; 30 medium bombers; 80 fighters 130 aircraft Casualties 3 destroyed 100 destroyed The Bombing of Wewak was an air raid by the United States Army Air Forces, on August 17, 1943 against the major air... The Finisterre Range campaign was a series of actions in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. Australian and United States forces assaulted Japanese positions in the Finisterre Range of New Guinea. ... The Huon Peninsula campaign was a series of actions in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. Australian forces assaulted a Japanese bases on the Huon Peninsula. ... Combatants United States Australia New Zealand Fiji Empire of Japan Commanders Roy Geiger Theodore S. Wilkinson Oscar Griswold Stanley Savige Harukichi Hyakutake Masatane Kanda Strength 126,000 troops,[1] 728 aircraft[2] 65,000 troops,[3] 154 aircraft[4] Casualties 1,243 dead[5] 44,000 dead[6] The Bougainville... Combatants United States, Australia, New Zealand Empire of Japan Commanders George Kenney (land air forces), William Halsey, Jr. ... Australian soldiers in New Britain in 1945 (AWM 092342) The New Britain Campaign was a World War II campaign fought by the Allies between December 1943 and the end of the war to secure and protect air bases on the island of New Britain. ... The Admiralty Islands campaign, also known as Operation Brewer, was a series of battles in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. The United States 1st Cavalry Division assaulted Japanese bases on the Admiralty Islands. ... The Western New Guinea campaign was a series of actions in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. United States and Australian forces assaulted Japanese bases and positions in the north-west coastal areas of Netherlands New Guinea and adjoining parts of the Australian Territory of New Guinea. ... South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to one of the four major Allied commands in the Pacific theatre of World War II, during 1942-45. ... Combatants Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total... The Fifth Air Force (5AF), with headquarters currently located at Yokota Air Base,Japan, is one of very few numbered air forces of the United States Air Force never to have been based in the United States itself. ... The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. ... A convoy is a group of vehicles traveling together for mutual support. ... Lae is the second largest city of Papua New Guinea with a population of approx 120,000. ...

Background

On December 23, 1942, the Japanese high command decided to transfer about 100,000 troops from China and Japan to Lae in New Guinea to reinforce their forces there. This would allow the Japanese to fall back from their defeat at the Battle of Guadalcanal, which they ordered evacuated the following week. The troops were needed near Lae, where an Allied offensive was expected. December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... Operation Watchtower On August 7, 1942, the 1st Marine Division performed an amphibious landing east of the Tenaru River. ... Look up ally in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Relocating such a large force was a great burden on Japanese shipping capability, but the high command considered it a military necessity. By late February 1943, the 20th and 41st divisions had been safely transported to Wewak. Next, the 51st Division was to be transported from the major Japanese base at Rabaul to Lae, a perilous maneuver as Allied air power in the area was very strong, especially in the Vitiaz Strait through which the ships would have to pass. Damaged package The Panama canal. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to twenty thousand soldiers. ... Wewak is the capital of the East Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. ... A view from Rabaul Volcano Observatory across the relatively undamaged western half of Rabaul and towards Tavurur Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, was the headquarters of German New Guinea and then the Australian mandatory territory of New Guinea from 1910 until 1937, the base of Japanese activities in the South Pacific... Aerial warfare is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of warfare. ... Dampier Strait and Vitiaz Strait are a pair of straits between New Guinea and New Britain, linking the Bismarck Sea to the north with the Solomon Sea to the south. ...

On February 28 the convoy assembled for the task, comprising eight destroyers and eight troop transports with an escort of approximately 100 fighter aircraft departed from Simpson Harbour in Rabaul. The commanding officer of the 51st Division, Lieutenant-General Hidemitsu Nakano, was aboard the destroyer Yukikaze, while Rear Admiral Kimura Masatomi, the head of the operation, was on a troop transport, Desron 3. February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft). ... USS John Land (AP-167) in San Francisco Bay sometime in 1945-46; soldiers crowd the decks in anticipation of homecoming. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Yukikaze was a Kagero-class destroyer in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She was the only member of her class to survive the war. ... The term Rear Admiral originated from the days of Naval Sailing Squadrons, and can trace its origins to the British Royal Navy. ...

Allied air forces, under the air commander SWPA, Major-General George Kenney, and based in Allied territory on New Guinea, had been preparing for such an eventuality. In particular, the crews of specially modified USAAF B-25 Mitchells and RAAF Beaufighters had been practising attacks on shipping. The Mitchell crews were developing a new technique called "skip bombing": after flying only a few dozen feet above the sea towards their targets, they would release their bombs, which would then skip across the surface. George Kenney George Churchill Kenney (August 6, 1889 - August 9, 1977) was one of the most brilliant and successful United States Army Air Forces generals of World War II. He excelled in his his role as commander of the Allied air forces in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) from August... B-25 Mitchell, England, 2001 B_25 Mitchell was a twin_engined, medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation in the United States and used during World War II. By the time production of the plane ended, roughly 10,000 had been built, including PBJ_1 Navy Patrol Bomber and an F-10... The Beaufighter was a long-range heavy fighter modification of the Bristol Aeroplane Companys earlier Beaufort torpedo bomber design. ...

The battle

The convoy, moving at a top speed of seven knots, was not detected for several days due to tropical storms which struck the Solomon and Bismarck Seas between February 27 and March 1. However, at about 3:00 p.m. on March 1 the crew of a patrolling B-24 Liberator bomber spotted the convoy north of Cape Hollman. U.S. heavy bombers were sent to the location but failed to locate the convoy. A knot is a unit of speed, abbreviated kt or kn. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American bomber that was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft during the World War II and was used by most of the Allied air forces during the war. ... A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping boobs. ... Cape Hollman is a headland in the north-central of the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, at . ...

At about 10:00 a.m. on March 2, another Liberator found the convoy, and clear skies allowed several flights of U.S. B-17 Flying Fortress bombers to attack and sink up to three merchant ships, including the Kyokusei Maru. A B-17 was seriously damaged by a New Britain-based Mitsubishi Zero fighter, and the crew was forced to take to their parachutes. The Japanese pilot machine-gunned some of the B-17 crew members as they descended, and attacked others in the water after they landed.[1] The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed for the U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC). ... (This article is about the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea. ... Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero Model 52 The Mitsubishi A6M was a light-weight carrier-based fighter aircraft employed by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. ...

Japanese ship and Allied air movements during the battle.

Out of 1,500 troops being transported by the Kyokusei Maru, 800 were rescued from the water by the destroyers Yukikaze and Asagumo. These two destroyers, being faster than the convoy since its speed was dictated by the slower transports, broke away from the group to disembark the survivors at Lae. The destroyers would resume their escort duties the next day. The convoy, without the troop transport and two destroyers, was attacked again on the evening of March 2, with one transport sustaining minor damage. Download high resolution version (1000x693, 126 KB)Battle of the Bismark Sea Source: Scanned from Reports of General MacArthur (1994 facsimile printing), Vol 2. ... Download high resolution version (1000x693, 126 KB)Battle of the Bismark Sea Source: Scanned from Reports of General MacArthur (1994 facsimile printing), Vol 2. ... Yukikaze was a Kagero-class destroyer in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She was the only member of her class to survive the war. ... Asagumo (朝雲) was a Asashio-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ...

PBY Catalina flying boats from No. 11 Squadron RAAF continued to trail and occasionally bomb the convoy over the night of March 2, and at about 4:00 a.m. on March 3, when the convoy was within range of the air base at Milne Bay, Bristol Beaufort torpedo bombers from No. 100 Squadron RAAF took off. However, due to bad weather only two Beauforts found the convoy and neither scored any hits. PBY Catalina was the United States Navy designation for an American and Canadian-built flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s. ... No. ... Battle of Milne Bay Conflict World War II, Pacific War Date August 25, 1942 – September 5, 1942 Place Milne Bay, New Guinea Result Allied victory The Battle of Milne Bay was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Japanese marines attacked the Australian base at Milne... The Bristol Type 152 Beaufort was a large torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from the earlier Blenheim light bomber. ... A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with torpedoes, but they could also carry out conventional bombings. ... Four No. ...

The convoy was now rounding the Huon Peninsula, bringing it into clearer conditions. A force of 90 Allied aircraft took off from Port Moresby and headed for Cape Ward Hunt; simultaneously 22 RAAF Douglas Bostons set off to attack the Japanese fighter base at Lae, reducing the convoy's air cover. Attacks on the base continued throughout the day. Port Moresby town Port Moresby, (), population 255,000 (2000), is the capital of Papua New Guinea. ... The Douglas DB-7 was a family of attack, light bomber and night fighter aircraft of World War II, serving primarily with Soviet, US and British airforces. ... Lae is the second largest city of Papua New Guinea with a population of approx 120,000. ...

At 10:00, 13 B-17s reached the convoy and bombed from medium altitude, causing the ships to disperse, and prolonging the journey.

Then 13 Bristol Beaufighters from No. 30 Squadron RAAF approached at low level, to give the impression they were Beauforts making another torpedo attack. The ships turned to face them and the Beaufighters were then able to inflict maximum damage on the ships' AA guns, bridges and crews, during strafing runs with their four 20 mm (0.787 in) nose cannons and six wing-mounted .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns. The Bristol Beaufighter is also the name of a car produced by Bristol Cars in the 1980s. ... No. ... Warfare Strafing (adaptation of German strafen - to punish) is the practice of shooting a machine gun, from an airplane in flight, at objects or people on the ground. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ...

Japanese transport under aerial attack in the Bismarck Sea March 3, 1943.

Immediately afterwards, 13 USAAF Mitchells bombed from about 2,500 ft. Then 12 Mitchells made a "skip bombing" attack, reportedly claiming 17 hits. By this time half of the transport ships were sunk or sinking. As the Beaufighters and Mitchells expended their munitions, some USAAF A-20s joined the attack. Another five hits were claimed by B-17s from higher altitudes. Image File history File linksMetadata BismarckSeaDestroyer. ... Image File history File linksMetadata BismarckSeaDestroyer. ... A foot (plural: feet; symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ...

While the attack on the ships proceeded, 28 US P-38 Lightnings provided top cover, and 20 Japanese fighters were shot down for the loss of three Lightnings. Two were from the 39th Fighter Squadron: the aces Bob Faurot and Hoyt Eason were both killed in action. During the afternoon, further attacks from Mitchells and RAAF Bostons followed. The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was one of the most important American fighters of the Second World War. ...

All seven of the remaining transports were sunk about 100 km southeast of Finschhafen, along with the destroyers Shirayuki, Arashio, and Tokitsukaze. Four of the destroyers picked up as many survivors as possible, and then retired to Rabaul. The fifth destroyer, Asagumo, was sunk in a subsequent strike as it was picking up survivors from the Arashio. km redirects here. ... Finschhafen is a district on the northeast coast of the Morobe province of Papua New Guinea. ... Shirayuki was a Fubuki-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... Arashio was a Asashio-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... Tokitsukaze Favorable Wind) was a Kagero-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... Asagumo (朝雲) was a Asashio-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... Arashio was a Asashio-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ...

Following orders from Kenney, from the evening of March 3 until March 5, Allied patrol boats and planes attacked Japanese rescue vessels, as well as survivors from the sunken vessels on life rafts and swimming or floating in the sea.^[2] Categories: Ship types ...

Aftermath

The battle was a disaster for the Japanese. Out of 6,900 troops who were badly needed in New Guinea, only about 800 made it to Lae. The Australian War Memorial states that 2,890 Japanese soldiers and sailors were killed.[2]

"A merciful providence guarded us in this great victory," said Douglas MacArthur in one of his communiqués. He used the victory to request five additional U.S. divisions and 1,800 aircraft in preparation for his landings in northern New Guinea. Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 - April 5, 1964), was an American general who played a prominent role in the Pacific theater of World War II. He was poised to command the invasion of Japan in November 1945 but was instead instructed to accept their surrender on September 2, 1945. ...

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References

Books

• Arbon, J (1979). The Bismarck Sea ran red. Walsworth Press. ASIN B0006XMVUI. 
• Bergerud, Eric M. (2000). Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific. Boulder, CO, USA: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-3869-7. 
• Birdsall, Steve (1977). Flying buccaneers: The illustrated story of Kenney's Fifth Air Force. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-03218-8. 
• Bruning, John R., Jr. (2005). "Chapter Seven – The Butchers of Bismarck Sea", Ship Strike Pacific. St. Paul, Minnesota, USA: Zenith Press. ISBN 0-7603-2095-0. 
• Henebry, John P. (2002). The Grim Reapers at Work in the Pacific Theater: The Third Attack Group of the U.S. Fifth Air Force. Pictorial Histories Publishing Company. ISBN 1-57510-093-2. 
• McAulay, Lex (1991). Battle of the Bismarck Sea. St Martins Pr; 1st ed edition. ISBN 0-312-05820-9. 
• Morison, Samuel Eliot (1958). Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, vol. 6 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Castle Books. 0785813071. 

Doubleday is one of the largest book publishing companies in the world. ... RAdm Samuel Eliot Morison (1887-1976), USN historian Samuel Eliot Morison, RAdm, USNR (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian, notable for producing scholarly works that were both authoritative and highly readable, an ability recognized with two Pulitzer Prizes. ... The History of United States Naval Operations in World War II is a 15-volume account of the United States Navy in World War II, written by eminent historian Samuel Eliot Morison and published by Little, Brown and Company between 1947 and 1962. ...

Web

• Brad Manera, Military Historian, Australian War Memorial, 2003, Battle of the Bismarck Sea, 2-4 March 1943
• Historic Wings: Battle of the Bismarck Sea
• Dr Alan Stephens, ?, "Battle of the Bismarck Sea"
• Geoff Hastwell, 2003, "The Battle of the Bismarck Sea"
• Allyn D. Nevitt, 1996, "Battle of the Bismarck Sea"
• Craven, Wesley Frank; James Lea Cate. Vol. IV, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944. The Army Air Forces in World War II. U.S. Office of Air Force History. Retrieved on Oct 20, 2006.

October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

Notes