Francais | English | Espanõl

Battle of the Bismarck Sea

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Battle of the Bismarck Sea
Part of World War II, Pacific War
A bomber banks away after dropping its load on a Japanese warship
Date March 2, 1943 – March 4, 1943
Location Bismarck Sea, in the vicinity of Lae
Result Decisive Allied victory
Combatants
United States; Australia Japan
Commanders
George C. Kenney Kimura Masatomi
Strength
39 heavy bombers;
41 medium bombers;
34 light bombers;
54 fighters 		8 destroyers,
8 troop transports,
about 100 land-based fighter planes
Casualties
2 bombers,
3 fighters shot down 		8 transports sunk;
4 destroyers sunk;
20 fighters shot down
New Guinea campaign
Operation Mo – 1st Rabaul – Coral Sea – Kokoda Track – Milne Bay – Buna-Gona – Bismarck Sea – Cartwheel – Lae-Salamaua – Finschhafen – Mainland New Guinea – 2nd Rabaul – Cape Gloucester – New Britain – Bougainville

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.

Contents

[edit] 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.

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.

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 commander 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.

Allied air forces, under the air commander SWPA, Major General George Kenney, and based in Allied occupied 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.

[edit] The battle

Japanese ship and Allied air movements during 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.

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 parachute out. 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]

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 ships proceeded to Lae to disembark the survivors, then rejoined the convoy the next day. The convoy, without the troop transport and two destroyers, was attacked again that evening, with one transport sustaining minor damage.

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, 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.

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.

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 20mm (0.787 in) nose cannons and six wing-mounted .303 (7.7mm) machine guns.

Image:BismarckSeaDestroyer.jpg
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.

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 only three Lightnings. During the afternoon, further attacks from Mitchells and RAAF Bostons followed.

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 back to Rabaul. The fifth destroyer, Asagumo, was sunk in a subsequent strike as it was picking up survivors from the Arashio.

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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] References

[edit] Books

[edit] Web

[edit] See Also

Allied war crimes during World War IIde:Schlacht in der Bismarcksee fr:Bataille de la mer de Bismarck ja:ビスマルク海海戦

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/Battle_of_the_Bismarck_Sea"
Personal tools