The Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March 1943) took place in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II.
At midnight 28 February 1942, eight transports carrying about 6,900 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army, escorted by eight destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, departed their base at Rabaul, New Britain heading for Lae, New Guinea. Through the afternoon of 1 March, the overcast weather held at which point the weather changed direction and the slow-moving task force was spotted by an Allied scout plane.
Aircraft of the U.S. 5th Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked the convoy, sinking all eight transports and four of the eight destroyers. The remaining destroyers with about 2,700 surviving troops limped back to Rabaul.
Japanese forces
Rear Admiral Masatomi Kimura
Transports Captain Kamataro Matsumoto
Transport Grosstonnage (m3) Fate No.killed 2,716 7,686 323 950 2,688 20 5,493 15,545 486 6,494 18,378 1,229 3,793 10,734 63+ 2,883 8,159 200 6,870 19,442 1,915 8,125 22,994 400
Embarked units Army Eighteenth Army Headquarters Eighteenth Army Signals 51st Division Headquarters 51st Division Signals 51st Engineer Regiment 14th Artillery Regiment 115th Infantry Regiment 3rd Field Hospital 21st Artillery Brigade 50th Antiaircraft Battalion 15th Independent Engineer Regiment 22nd Airfield Battalion 209th Airfield Regiment 5th Air Signals Regiment 8th Shipping Engineer Regiment 3rd Company, 5th Shipping Engineer Regiment 3rd Disembarkation Unit Navy Yokosuka 3rd Naval Air Defence Unit Yokosuka 5th Special Naval Landing Party Maizuru 2nd Special Naval Landing Party
Screen
Rear Admiral Kimura 8 destroyers 2 (6 × 5-in. main battery) (Commander Masayoshi Motokura) (Commander Ryokichi Sugama) 3 (6 × 5-in. main battery) (Commander Hideo Kuboki) (Commander Goro Yoshii) (Commander Toru Iwahashi) 3 (6 × 5-in. main battery) (Lt. Commander Akifumi Kawahashi) (Commander Rokuro Sugawara) (Lt. Commander Chikara Hagio)
Air units Navy 11th Air Fleet / Southeast Area Fleet 204 Air Group 252 Air Group 253 Air Group First Air Flotilla Zuihō Fighter Group (Kavieng) Army 1st Flying Group (1st Hikō Sentai) 11th Flying Group (11th Hikō Sentai)
Allied forces Allied air forces Commander, Allied Air Forces, Southwest Pacific Area/US Fifth Air Force Lieutenant General George C. Kenney
Advanced Echelon, Allied Air Forces Major General Ennis C. Whitehead
RAAF
No. 9 Operational Group RAAF Air Commodore J. E. Hewitt
No. 73 Wing RAAF (Wing Commander Blake Pelly) No. 6 Squadron RAAF (Wing Commander A. A. Barlow) Turnbull Field: Lockheed Hudson No. 22 Squadron RAAF (Wing Commander Keith Hampshire) Wards Airfield: A-20 Boston No. 30 Squadron RAAF (Wing Commander B. R. Walker) Wards Airfield: Bristol Beaufighter No. 71 Wing RAAF (Wing Commander Ian McLachlan) No. 75 Squadron RAAF (Squadron Leader W. S. Arthur) Gurney Airfield: P-40 Kittyhawk No. 100 Squadron RAAF (Squadron Leader J. A. Smilbert (acting)) Gurney Airfield: Bristol Beaufort
USAAF
35th Fighter Group (Colonel Richard A. Legg) 39th Fighter Squadron (Captain T. J. Lynch) Schwimmer Airfield: P-38 Lightning 40th Fighter Squadron (Captain Malcolm A. Moore) Rogers Airfield: P-39 Airacobra 49th Fighter Group (Lieutenant Colonel R. L. Morrissey) 7th Fighter Squadron (Major William P. Martin) Durand Airfield: P-40 Warhawk 8th Fighter Squadron (Major Mitchell E. Sims) Kila Airfield: P-40 Warhawk 9th Fighter Squadron (Captain Jesse C. Peaslee) Schwimmer Airfield: P-38 Lightning 3rd Attack Group (Lieutenant Colonel R. F. Strickland) 13th Attack Squadron (Major Harold V. Maull) Schwimmer Airfield: B-25 Mitchell 89th Attack Squadron (Major Glen W. Clark) Kila Airfield: A-20 Havoc 90th Attack Squadron (Major Edward L. Larner) Durand Airfield: B-25 Mitchell 38th Bombardment Group (Colonel Fay R. Upthegrove) 71st Bombardment Squadron (Major Eugene P. Mussett) Durand Airfield: B-25 Mitchell 405th Bombardment Squadron (Lieutenant Colonel Millard Lewis) Durand Airfield: B-25 Mitchell 43rd Bombardment Group (Colonel Roger M. Ramey) 63rd Bombardment Squadron (Major Edward W. Scott) Jacksons Airfield: B-17 Flying Fortress 64th Bombardment Squadron (Major Kenneth D. McCullar) Jacksons Airfield: B-17 Flying Fortress 65th Bombardment Squadron (Major Harray J. Hawthorne) Jacksons Airfield: B-17 Flying Fortress 403rd Bombardment Squadron (Major Jay P. Reusek) Mareeba Airfield: B-17 Flying Fortress 90th Bombardment Group (Colonel Ralph E. Koon) 319th Bombardment Squadron (Captain Charles E. Jones) Jacksons Airfield: B-24 Liberator 320th Bombardment Squadron (Major Roy L. Taylor) Jacksons Airfield: B-24 Liberator 321st Bombardment Squadron (Major Cecil L. Faulkner) Jacksons Airfield: B-24 Liberator 400th Bombardment Squadron (Major Harry J. Bullis) Jacksons Airfield: B-24 Liberator 8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron (1st Lieutenant F. S. Savage) Kila Airfield: F-4 Lightning, F-5 Lightning
Motor Torpedo Boat Striking Force
Lieutenant Commander Barry K. Atkins Early Type (77 feet, 4 × 18-in. torpedo tubes) PT-66 (Lieutenant (jg) William C. Quinby) PT-67 (Ensign James W. Emmons) PT-68 (Lieutenant (jg) Robert L. Childs) Elco Type (80 feet, 4 × 21-in. torpedo tubes) PT-121 (Ensign Edward R. Bergin) PT-128 (Ensign James W. Herring) PT-143 (Lieutenant (jg) John S. Bayliss) PT-149 (Lieutenant William J. Flittie) PT-150 (Lieutenant (jg) Russell E. Hamacheck)
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