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<hr />
<div>{{Short description|1943 naval battle in the Pacific}}<br />
{{Infobox military conflict<br />
| conflict = Battle of Cape St. George<br />
| image = Map of Battle of Cape St. George.jpg<br />
| image_size = 300<br />
| caption = Track chart of the battle<br />
| partof = the [[Bougainville campaign|Bougainville Campaign]] of the [[Pacific War|Pacific Theater]] ([[World War II]])<br />
| date = 25 November 1943<br />
| place = Near [[Buka Island]], north of [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]]<br />
| result = American victory<br />
| combatant1 = {{flag|United States|1912}}<br />
| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}<br />
| commander1 = {{flagdeco|United States|1912}} [[Arleigh Burke]]<br />
| commander2 = {{flagdeco|Empire of Japan|naval}} [[Kiyoto Kagawa]]{{KIA}}<br />
| units1 = [[Destroyer Squadron 23]]<br />
| units2 = Destroyer Division 31<br />
| strength1 = 5 destroyers<br />
| strength2 = 5 destroyer transports<br />
| casualties1 = None<br />
| casualties2 = 3 destroyers sunk,<br/>1 destroyer damaged,<br/>647 killed{{#tag:ref|Nevitt says all hands (228 men) were lost on ''Onami'' and all but 28 were lost on ''Makinami'' (total lost 200 men),<ref name=makina/><ref name=onami/> and, along with Morison, says that there were 278 survivors from ''Yugiri''.<ref name=Morison353>Morison, ''Breaking the Bismarcks'', [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780785813071/page/353/mode/2up p. 353].</ref> Morison says there were 300 troops on ''Yugiri'', which along with a normal complement of 197 means about 497 were on board during this engagement. Subtracting 278 from 497 equals 219 killed on ''Yugiri''. |group=Note}}<br />
}}<br />
{{Campaignbox Bougainville}}<br />
{{Campaignbox Solomons}}<br />
<br />
The '''Battle of Cape St. George''' was a [[naval battle]] of the [[Pacific War|Pacific campaign]] of [[World War II]] fought on 25 November 1943, between [[Cape St. George]], [[New Ireland (island)|New Ireland]], and [[Buka Island]] (now part of the [[North Solomons Province]] in [[Papua New Guinea]]). It was the last engagement of surface ships in the [[Solomon Islands campaign]]. During the engagement, a force of five US Navy destroyers led by [[Captain (naval)|Captain]] [[Arleigh Burke]] intercepted a similar sized Japanese force that was withdrawing from Buka towards Rabaul, having landed reinforcements on the island. In the ensuing fight, three Japanese destroyers were sunk and one was damaged, with no losses amongst the US forces.<br />
<br />
==Background==<br />
The [[Landings at Cape Torokina|Americans had landed Marines]] from the [[3rd Marine Division]] around Cape Torokina on [[Bougainville Island]] on 1 November 1943.<ref>Morison, ''Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier'', [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780785813071/page/296/mode/2up p. 296].</ref> Judging the landings a ruse, and that the real Allied objective was the airfields around [[Buka Island]] to the north of Bougainville, the Japanese delayed launching a concerted counterattack on Cape Torokina, and instead determined to reinforce Buka.<ref>Costello, ''The Pacific War 1941–1945'', p. 425.</ref> As a result, 920 [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese Army]] troops were embarked on the destroyers {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Amagiri|1930|2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Yūgiri|1930|2}} and {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Uzuki|1925|2}} under the command of Captain Katsumori Yamashiro and were sent to reinforce the garrison, escorted by the destroyers {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Ōnami|1942|2}} and {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Makinami|1941|2}} under the command of Captain [[Kiyoto Kagawa]]. The convoy was spotted by reconnaissance aircraft,<ref>Costello, ''The Pacific War 1941–1945'', p. 426.</ref><ref name="o'hara">{{cite web |url=http://www.microworks.net/pacific/battles/cape_stgeorge.htm |author=O'Hara, Vincent |title=Battle of Cape St. George: November 25, 1943 |access-date=19 August 2017}}</ref> and the [[United States Navy]] sent Captain [[Arleigh Burke]]'s [[Destroyer Squadron 23]], composed of Destroyer Division 45 ({{USS|Charles Ausburne|DD-570|2}}, {{USS|Claxton|DD-571|2}}, and {{USS|Dyson|DD-572|2}}), under Burke's direct command, and Destroyer Division 46 ({{USS|Converse|DD-509|2}} and {{USS|Spence|DD-512|2}}), under [[Commander (naval)|Commander]] [[Bernard L. Austin|Bernard Austin]] to intercept it. Meanwhile, nine [[PT boat]]s under Commander Henry Farrow moved into the Buka Passage to engage the Japanese if Burke's force was unable to make contact.<ref>Morison, ''Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier'', [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780785813071/page/353/mode/2up pp. 353–354].</ref><br />
<br />
==Battle==<br />
[[File:USS Charles Ausburne (DD-570).jpg|thumb|U.S. destroyer {{USS|Charles Ausburne|DD-570|2}} operating in the Solomon Islands around 1943.]]<br />
The Japanese battle plan divided their force into two columns,<ref name=Tuohy239>Tuohy, ''America's Fighting Admirals'', p. 239.</ref> with the three transport destroyers trailing the two escort destroyers.<ref>Jones, ''Destroyer Squadron 23: Combat Exploits of Arleigh Burke's Gallant Force'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=r149BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA249 pp. 248–249].</ref> The American battle plan also divided their force into two columns using tactics devised by Burke and first employed successfully by Commander [[Frederick Moosbrugger]] at the [[Battle of Vella Gulf]] the previous August. One column would make a torpedo attack while the other took up a supporting position ready to open gunfire as soon as the first column's torpedo attack struck home.<ref name="Morison, p. 355">Morison, ''Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier'', [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780785813071/page/355/mode/2up p. 355].</ref><br />
<br />
The Japanese destroyers landed the 920 troops and supplies and embarked 700 [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Navy]] aviation personnel being withdrawn because Allied bombing had rendered the airfield at Buka non-operational.<ref name="o'hara"/><ref>Morison, ''Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier'', [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780785813071/page/353/mode/2up p. 353].</ref> The Japanese force was returning to [[Rabaul]] when Farrow's PT boats spotted four of the Japanese ships on their radar on 25 November 1943 just after midnight; however, the PT boats mistook the Japanese vessels for friendly forces and moved closer to shore. Two of the Japanese ships subsequently attacked the PT boats, firing on them and attempting to ram ''PT-318''. They failed to score any hits, though, while one of the PT boats, ''PT-64'', fired a torpedo which missed its target.<ref>Morison, ''Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier'', [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780785813071/page/354/mode/2up p. 354].</ref> Afterwards, the Japanese destroyers steamed west towards Cape St. George.<ref name=rickard/><br />
<br />
Around 01:41, Kagawa's two screening destroyers were picked up by radar by Burke's destroyers, which had moved into position between Cape St. George and Buka,<ref name=rickard/> with ''Dyson'' making contact first.<ref name="o'hara"/><ref name="Morison, p. 355"/> Poor visibility prevented the Japanese from spotting the American ships in turn. Burke elected to use his own division for the torpedo attack. Superior radar allowed the American ships to approach within {{convert|5500|yd|m}} and launch their torpedoes at about 01:55 before the Japanese sighted them. ''Onami'' was hit by several torpedoes and sank immediately with all hands, including Kagawa. ''Makinami'' was hit by one torpedo and disabled.<ref name=Morison356>Morison, ''Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier'', [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780785813071/page/355/mode/2up p. 356].</ref><br />
<br />
Burke's force established radar contact with the rest of the Japanese force at {{convert|13000|yd|m}} soon after launching their torpedoes and turned to pursue; Yamashiro's three transport destroyers fled north, pursued by Burke's division, while ''Converse'' and ''Spence'' from Austin's division finished off the disabled ''Makinami'' with torpedoes and gunfire. During the chase, torpedoes fired by Japanese destroyers exploded in the wakes of the American destroyers. Burke's three destroyers steadily gained on the three heavily laden Japanese destroyers, opening fire around 02:22, scoring several hits. ''Uzuki'' was hit by one dud shell and escaped without significant damage. ''Amagiri'' escaped untouched. Around 02:25, the Japanese ships split up and fled in different directions. Burke chose to pursue ''Yugiri'' with his entire force and sank her at about 03:28 after a fierce engagement.<ref>Morison, ''Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier'', [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780785813071/page/356/mode/2up pp. 356–357].</ref><br />
<br />
==Aftermath==<br />
By 03:45, Burke’s and Austin's divisions had linked up, continuing to push north to pursue the withdrawing Japanese ships.<ref name="o'hara"/> Burke subsequently called off the attempt at 04:04, low on fuel and ammunition and needing to withdraw before daylight, when Japanese aircraft would likely begin operations to search for them. In the event, the only aircraft the US ships spotted once daylight came were friendly [[AirSols]] [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning|P-38 Lightnings]].<ref>Morison, ''Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier'', p. 358.</ref><br />
<br />
The battle represented a significant victory for the Americans and was later described as an "almost perfect action," for which Burke was awarded a [[Navy Cross]].<ref name=Tuohy239/> It was the final surface engagement of the Solomon Islands campaign<ref name="o'hara"/> and the last such action in the wider Pacific for nine months.<ref>Costello, ''The Pacific War 1941–1945'', p. 427.</ref> Although the Japanese were able to land their troops and withdraw their supporting personnel, they lost three destroyers sunk and one damaged, without inflicting any losses on the American force.<ref name=rickard>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_cape_saint_george.html |title=Battle of Cape Saint George, 25 November 1943 |author=Rickard, J. |work=History of War |access-date=19 August 2017}}</ref> Amongst the Japanese crews, a total of 647 were killed.<ref name=makina/><ref name=onami/> A total of 279 survivors from ''Yugiri'' were rescued by the Japanese [[submarine]] {{Jsub|I-177||2}}<ref name=Morison353/><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160316155417/http://www.ijnsubsite.info/I-Sub%20Details/I-177.htm I-177 ijnsubsite.com 9 June 2018 Accessed 13 February 2022]}}</ref><ref name=combinedfleetI177>{{cite web |url= http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-177.htm |title=IJN Submarine I-177: Tabular Record of Movement |first1=Bob |last1=Hackett |first2=Sander |last2=Kingsepp |work=combinedfleet.com |date=2 September 2015|access-date=13 February 2022}}</ref> and 11 by the {{Jsub|I-181|up=yes}}.<ref name=combinedfleetI177/><br />
<br />
==Namesake==<br />
The U.S. Navy {{sclass|Ticonderoga|cruiser|0}} [[guided-missile cruiser]] {{USS|Cape St. George|CG-71}}, in [[Ship commissioning|commission]] since 1993, was named for this battle.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/cg71/Pages/namesake.aspx#.WZfpmVHhXIU |title=USS Cape St George: Named for a battle fought in the South Pacific off the island of New Ireland |publisher=United States Navy |access-date=19 August 2017 |archive-date=31 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731103012/http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/cg71/Pages/namesake.aspx#.WZfpmVHhXIU |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />
<br />
==Notes==<br />
;Footnotes<br />
{{Reflist|group=Note}}<br />
<br />
;Citations<br />
{{reflist|refs=<br />
<ref name=makina>{{cite web |author=Nevitt, Allyn D |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061028005920/http://www.combinedfleet.com/makina_t.htm |archive-date=28 October 2006 |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/makina_t.htm |title=IJN Makinami: Tabular Record of Movement |work= Long Lancers |access-date=19 August 2017 }}</ref><br />
<ref name=onami>{{cite web |author=Nevitt, Allyn D |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060222001120/http://www.combinedfleet.com/onami_t.htm |archive-date=22 February 2006 |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com:80/onami_t.htm |title=IJN Onami: Tabular Record of Movement |work=Long Lancers |access-date=19 August 2017 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref><br />
}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*{{cite book | last = Brown | first = David | year = 1990 | title = Warship Losses of World War Two | publisher = Naval Institute Press | isbn = 1-55750-914-X}}<br />
*{{cite book |last=Costello |first=John |title=The Pacific War 1941&ndash;1945 |orig-year=1981 |year=2009 |publisher=Harper Perennial |location=New York |isbn=978-0-68-801620-3}}<br />
*{{cite book | last = D'Albas | first = Andrieu | year = 1965 | title = Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II | publisher = Devin-Adair Pub | isbn = 0-8159-5302-X}}<br />
*{{cite book | last = Dull | first = Paul S. | year = 1978 | title = A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941–1945 | publisher = Naval Institute Press | isbn = 0-87021-097-1 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/battlehistoryofi0000dull }}<br />
*{{cite book | last = Hara | first = Tameichi | author-link = Tameichi Hara | year = 1961 | title = Japanese Destroyer Captain | publisher = [[Ballantine Books]] | location = New York & Toronto | isbn = 0-345-27894-1}}<br />
*{{cite magazine |last = Hone |first = Thomas C. |title = The Similarity of Past and Present Standoff Threats |work = Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute |location = Annapolis, Maryland |volume = 107 |number = 9 |date = September 1981 |pages = 113–116 |issn = 0041-798X}} <br />
*{{cite book | last = Jones | first = Ken | year = 1997 | title = Destroyer Squadron 23: Combat Exploits of Arleigh Burke's Gallant Force | publisher = Naval Institute Press | isbn = 1-55750-412-1}}<br />
*{{cite book | last = Kilpatrick | first = C. W. | year = 1987 | title = Naval Night Battles of the Solomons | publisher = Exposition Press | isbn = 0-682-40333-4}}<br />
*{{cite book | last = McGee | first = William L. | year = 2002 | chapter = Bougainville Campaign | 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 | isbn = 0-9701678-7-3}}<br />
*{{cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | author-link = Samuel Eliot Morison | year = 1958 | title = Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier | volume = 6 | series = [[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]] | publisher = Castle Books | isbn = 0-7858-1307-1 | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780785813071 }}<br />
*{{cite book | last = Potter | first = E. B. | year = 2005 | title = Admiral Arleigh Burke | publisher = Naval Institute Press | isbn = 1-59114-692-5}}<br />
*{{cite book | last = Roscoe | first = Theodore | year = 1953 | title = United States Destroyer Operations in World War Two | publisher = Naval Institute Press | isbn = 0-87021-726-7 | url = https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesdest0000rosc }}<br />
*{{cite book |first= William |last=Tuohy |title=America's Fighting Admirals |year=2007 |location=St. Paul, Minnesota |publisher=Zenith Imprint |isbn=978-1-61673-962-1}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
{{Commons}}<br />
*{{cite web| last = McComb| first = David W.| year = 2008| url = http://www.destroyerhistory.org/desron23/bat_capestgeorge.html| title = Battle of Cape St. George| work = Destroyer History Foundation| access-date = 16 April 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080515214616/http://www.destroyerhistory.org/desron23/bat_capestgeorge.html| archive-date = 15 May 2008| url-status = dead| df = dmy-all}}<br />
*{{cite web | last = Parshall | first = Jon |author2=Bob Hackett |author3=Sander Kingsepp |author4=Allyn Nevitt | url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/kaigun.htm | title = Imperial Japanese Navy Page |work=Combinedfleet.com | access-date = 14 June 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060613172444/http://www.combinedfleet.com/kaigun.htm| archive-date= 13 June 2006 | url-status= live}}<br />
*{{cite web |url=http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Cape-St_-George.htm |author=Muir, Dan <br />
|title=Order of battle: Battle of Cape St. George, 25 November 1942 |access-date=19 August 2017}}<br />
<br />
{{coord missing|Papua New Guinea}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Conflicts in 1943|Cape St. George]]<br />
[[Category:Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Cape St. George]]<br />
[[Category:Autonomous Region of Bougainville]]<br />
[[Category:1943 in Papua New Guinea]]<br />
[[Category:1943 in the Solomon Islands]]<br />
[[Category:Territory of New Guinea]]<br />
[[Category:Battles and operations of World War II involving Papua New Guinea|Cape St. George]]<br />
[[Category:Battles and operations of World War II involving the Solomon Islands|Cape St. George]]<br />
[[Category:World War II naval operations and battles of the Pacific theatre|Cape St. George]]<br />
[[Category:Naval battles of World War II involving Japan|Cape St. George]]<br />
[[Category:Naval battles of World War II involving the United States|Cape St. George]]<br />
[[Category:November 1943 in Oceania]]<br />
[[Category:Japan–United States military relations]]<br />
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving the United States]]</div>2600:6C50:667F:15D0:50E6:4FDA:E1C7:D216https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Bismarck_Sea&diff=539220Battle of the Bismarck Sea2025-08-25T05:19:13Z<p>2600:6C50:667F:15D0:50E6:4FDA:E1C7:D216: /* External links */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Short description|1943 Allied attack on a Japanese convoy}}<br />
{{Featured article}}<br />
{{Use Australian English|date=November 2011}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}<br />
{{Infobox military conflict<br />
| conflict = Battle of the Bismarck Sea<br />
| partof = the [[New Guinea campaign]] of the [[Pacific War|Pacific Theater]] ([[World War II]])<br />
| image = [[File:BismarckSeaShip.jpg|300px|alt=A ship viewed from far above. There are a dozen splashes in the water around it.]]<br />
| caption = Japanese transport under aerial attack in the Bismarck Sea, 3 March 1943<br />
| date = 2–4 March 1943<br />
| place = [[Bismarck Sea]], in the vicinity of [[Lae]]<br />
| result = Allied victory<br />
| combatant1 = {{flag|United States|1912}}<br />{{flag|Australia}}<br />
| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}<br />
| commander1 = {{flagicon|USA|1912}} [[Ennis Whitehead]]<br />{{flagicon|Australia}} [[Joe Hewitt (RAAF officer)|Joe Hewitt]]<br />
| commander2 = {{flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval}} [[Gunichi Mikawa]]<br />{{flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval}} [[Masatomi Kimura]]<br />
| strength1 = 39 heavy bombers;<br />41 medium bombers;<br />34 light bombers; <br />54 fighters<br>10 torpedo boats<br />
| strength2 = 8 destroyers,<br />8 troop transports,<br />100 aircraft<br />
| casualties1 = 2 bombers destroyed,<br />4 fighters destroyed,<br />13 killed<ref name="Gillison, p. 695"/><br />
| casualties2 = 8 transports sunk,<br />4 destroyers sunk,<br />15 fighters destroyed (Eight [[Mitsubishi A6M|Navy Type 0 fighters]] and seven [[Nakajima Ki-43|Army Type 1 fighters)]],<br />2,890+ dead<ref name="Gillison, p. 696">{{harvnb|Gillison|1962|p=696}}</ref><br />
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox New Guinea}}{{Campaignbox South West Pacific}}<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The '''Battle of the Bismarck Sea''' (2–4 March 1943) took place in the [[South West Pacific Area]] (SWPA) during [[World War II]] when aircraft of the U.S. [[Fifth Air Force]] and the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] (RAAF) attacked a [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] [[convoy]] carrying troops to [[Lae]], [[New Guinea]]. Most of the Japanese task force was destroyed, and Japanese troop losses were heavy.<br />
<br />
The Japanese convoy was a result of a Japanese [[Imperial General Headquarters]] decision in December 1942 to reinforce their position in the [[South West Pacific theatre of World War II|South West Pacific]]. A plan was devised to move some 6,900 troops from Rabaul directly to Lae. The plan was understood to be risky, because Allied [[air power]] in the area was strong, but it was decided to proceed because otherwise the troops would have to be landed a considerable distance away and march through inhospitable swamp, mountain, and jungle terrain without roads before reaching their destination. On 28 February 1943, the convoy – comprising eight [[destroyer]]s and eight [[Troopship|troop transport]]s with an escort of approximately 100 [[fighter aircraft]] – set out from [[Simpson Harbour]] in Rabaul.<br />
<br />
The Allies had detected preparations for the convoy, and naval [[codebreakers]] in [[Melbourne]] ([[FRUMEL]]) and [[Washington, D.C.]], had decrypted and translated messages indicating the convoy's intended destination and date of arrival. The [[South West Pacific Area (command)|Allied Air Forces]] had developed new techniques, such as [[skip bombing]], that they hoped would improve the chances of a successful air attack on ships. They detected and shadowed the convoy, which came under sustained air attack on 2–3 March 1943. Follow-up attacks by [[PT boat]]s and aircraft were made on 4 March on lifeboats and rafts. All eight transports and four of the escorting destroyers were sunk. Of 6,900 troops who were badly needed in New Guinea, only about 1,200 made it to Lae. Another 2,700 were rescued by destroyers and submarines and returned to Rabaul. The Japanese made no further attempts to reinforce Lae by ship, greatly hindering their unsuccessful efforts to stop Allied offensives in New Guinea.<br />
<br />
==Background==<br />
<br />
===Allied offensives===<br />
Six months after Imperial Japan [[attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941, the United States won a strategic victory at the [[Battle of Midway]] in June 1942. Seizing the strategic initiative, the United States and its Allies landed on [[Guadalcanal]] in the southern [[Solomon Islands]] in August 1942, beginning the [[Solomon Islands Campaign]]. The battle for Guadalcanal ended in victory for the Allies with the withdrawal of Japanese forces from the island in early February 1943. At the same time, Australian and American forces in New Guinea repelled the Japanese [[Kokoda Track campaign|land offensive along the Kokoda Track]]. Going on the offensive, the Allied forces [[Battle of Buna–Gona|captured Buna–Gona]], destroyed Japanese forces in that area.<ref>{{harvnb|Murray|Millett|2001|p=196}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hayashi|1959|pp= 64–66}}</ref><br />
<br />
The ultimate goal of the Allied counter-offensives in New Guinea and the Solomons was to capture the main Japanese base at [[Rabaul]] on [[New Britain]], later codified as [[Operation Cartwheel]], and clear the way for the eventual reconquest of the Philippines. Recognising the threat, the Japanese continued to send land, naval, and aerial reinforcements to the area in an attempt to check the Allied advances.<ref>{{harvnb|Morison|1958|p=12}}</ref><br />
<br />
===Japanese plans===<br />
Reviewing the progress of the Battle of Guadalcanal and the [[Battle of Buna–Gona]] in December 1942, the Japanese faced the prospect that neither could be held. Accordingly, [[Imperial General Headquarters]] decided to take steps to strengthen the Japanese position in the [[South West Pacific theatre of World War II|South West Pacific]] by sending [[Lieutenant General]] Jusei Aoki's [[Japanese 20th Division|20th Division]] from Korea to [[Guadalcanal]] and Lieutenant General [[Heisuke Abe]]'s [[Japanese 41st Division|41st Division]] from China to Rabaul.<ref name="Tanaka, p. 48"/> Lieutenant General [[Hitoshi Imamura]], the commander of the [[Eighth Area Army (Japan)|Japanese Eighth Area Army]] at Rabaul, ordered Lieutenant General [[Hatazō Adachi]]'s [[Eighteenth Army (Japan)|XVIII Army]] to secure [[Madang]], [[Wewak]] and [[Tuluvu]] in New Guinea. On 29 December, Adachi ordered the [[102nd Infantry Regiment (Imperial Japanese Army)|102nd Infantry Regiment]] and other units under the command of [[Major General]] [[Toru Okabe|Tōru Okabe]], the commander of the infantry group of the [[51st Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|51st Division]], to move from Rabaul to [[Lae]] and advance inland to capture [[Wau, Papua New Guinea|Wau]].<ref>{{harvnb|Willoughby|1966|pp=188–190}}</ref> After deciding to [[Operation Ke|evacuate Guadalcanal]] on 4 January,<ref>{{harvnb|Willoughby|1966|p=193}}</ref> the Japanese switched priorities from the [[Solomon Island]]s to [[New Guinea]], and opted to send the 20th and 41st Divisions to Wewak.<ref name="Tanaka, p. 48"/><br />
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[[File:Mitsubishi A62M Zero USAF.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]], painted to represent a section leader's aircraft from the {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Zuihō}} during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea<ref name="Factsheets : Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero">{{cite web|title=Factsheets : Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero |url=http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=471 |publisher=National Museum of the USAF |access-date=2 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113033903/http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=471 |archive-date=13 January 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref>|alt=A propellor aircraft on display in a museum. The wing tips are folded up.]]<br />
On 5 January 1943, the convoy, which consisted of five destroyers and five troop transports carrying Okabe's force, set out for Lae from Rabaul. Forewarned by [[Ultra (cryptography)|Ultra]], [[United States Army Air Forces]] (USAAF) and [[Royal Australian Air Force]] (RAAF) aircraft spotted, shadowed and [[Kenneth Walker (general)#Battle of Wau|attacked the convoy]], which was shielded by low clouds and Japanese fighters.<ref name="historynet"/> The Allies claimed to have shot down 69 Japanese aircraft for the loss of 10 of their own.<ref name="Craven and Cate">{{harvnb|Watson|1950|p=136}}</ref> An RAAF [[Consolidated PBY Catalina]] sank the transport {{ship|SS|Nichiryu Maru|1919|2}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Gillison|1962|pp=674–675}}</ref> Although destroyers rescued 739 of the 1,100 troops on board, the ship took with it all of Okabe's medical supplies. Another transport, {{ship|SS|Myoko Maru|1939|2}}, was so badly damaged at Lae by USAAF [[North American B-25 Mitchell]]s that it had to be beached. Nonetheless, the convoy succeeded in reaching Lae on 7 January and landing its troops, but Okabe was defeated in the [[Battle of Wau]].<ref>{{harvnb|Willoughby|1966|pp=190–193}}</ref><br />
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Most of the 20th Division was landed at Wewak from naval [[high speed transport]]s on 19 January 1943. The bulk of the 41st Division followed on 12 February.<ref name="Tanaka, p. 48">{{harvnb|Tanaka|1980|p=48}}</ref> Imamura and [[Vice Admiral]] [[Gunichi Mikawa]], the commander of the [[8th Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)|South East Area Fleet]], developed a plan to move the command post of the headquarters of the Japanese XVIII Army and the main body of the [[Japanese 51st Division|51st Division]] from Rabaul to Lae on 3 March, followed by moving the remainder of the 20th Division to Madang on 10 March.<ref>{{harvnb|Tanaka|1980|p=49}}</ref> This plan was acknowledged to be risky because Allied air power in the area was strong. The XVIII Army staff held [[Military simulation|war games]] that predicted losses of four out of ten transports, and between 30 and 40 aircraft. They gave the operation only a 50–50 chance of success. On the other hand, if the troops were landed at Madang, they faced a march of more than {{convert|140|mi|km|abbr=on}} over inhospitable swamp, mountain and jungle terrain without roads.<ref>{{harvnb|Drea|1992|p=67}}</ref> To augment the three naval and two army fighter [[Group (military aviation unit)|groups]] in the area assigned to protect the convoy, the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] temporarily detached 18 fighters from the [[aircraft carrier]] {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Zuihō||2}}'s fighter group from [[Chuuk State|Truk]] to [[Kavieng]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hata|Izawa|Shores|2011|pp=49–50}}</ref><br />
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===Allied intelligence===<br />
The Allies soon began detecting signs of preparations for a new convoy. A Japanese [[floatplane]] of the type normally used for [[Anti-submarine warfare|anti-submarine patrols]] in advance of convoys was sighted on 7 February 1943. The [[South West Pacific Area (command)|Allied Air Forces South West Pacific Area]] commander – [[Lieutenant General (United States)|Lieutenant General]] [[George Kenney]] – ordered an increase in [[Aerial reconnaissance|reconnaissance]] patrols over Rabaul. On 14 February, aerial photographs were taken that showed 79 vessels in port, including 45 merchant ships and six transports. It was clear that another convoy was being prepared, but its destination was unknown. On 16 February, naval [[codebreakers]] in [[Melbourne]] ([[FRUMEL]]) and [[Washington, D.C.]], finished decrypting and translating a coded message revealing the Japanese intention to land convoys at Wewak, Madang and Lae. Subsequently, codebreakers decrypted a message from the Japanese [[Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service|11th Air Fleet]] to the effect that destroyers and six transports would reach Lae about 5 March. Another report indicated that they would reach Lae by 12 March. On 22 February, reconnaissance aircraft reported 59 merchant vessels in the harbour at Rabaul.<ref>{{harvnb|Drea|1992|pp=68–69}}</ref><br />
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Kenney read this Ultra intelligence in the office of the Supreme Allied Commander, South West Pacific Area – [[General (United States)|General]] [[Douglas MacArthur]] – on 25 February. The prospect of an additional 6,900 Japanese troops in the Lae area greatly disturbed MacArthur, as they might seriously affect his [[Operation Cartwheel|plans to capture and develop the area]]. Kenney wrote out orders, which were sent by courier, for [[Brigadier General (United States)|Brigadier General]] [[Ennis Whitehead]], the deputy commander of the [[Fifth Air Force]], and the commander of its Advance Echelon (ADVON) in New Guinea.<ref name="Kreis, p. 265"/> Under the Fifth Air Force's unusual command arrangements, Whitehead controlled the Allied Air Forces units of all types in New Guinea.<ref>{{harvnb|Watson|1950a|p=99}}</ref> This included the RAAF units there, which were grouped as [[No. 9 Operational Group RAAF]], under the command of [[Air Commodore]] [[Joe Hewitt (RAAF officer)|Joe Hewitt]].<ref>{{harvnb|Odgers|1957|pp=23–24}}</ref><br />
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Kenney informed Whitehead of the proposed convoy date, and warned him about the usual Japanese pre-convoy air attack. He also urged that flying hours be cut back so as to allow for a large strike on the convoy, and instructed him to move forward as many aircraft as possible so that they could be close to the nearby captured [[Girua Airport|airfields around Dobodura]], where they would not be subject to the vagaries of weather over the [[Owen Stanley Range]].<ref name="Kreis, p. 265">{{harvnb|Kreis|1996|p=265}}</ref> Kenney flew up to [[Port Moresby]] on 26 February, where he met with Whitehead. The two generals inspected fighter and bomber units in the area, and agreed to attack the Japanese convoy in the [[Vitiaz Strait]]. Kenney returned to [[Brisbane]] on 28 February.<ref>{{harvnb|Kenney|1949|pp=198–201}}</ref><br />
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==Allied tactics==<br />
In the South West Pacific, a conventional strategic bombing campaign was out of the question, as industrial targets in Japan were well beyond the range of even the largest strategic bombers operating from bases in Australia and New Guinea.<ref>{{harvnb|Rodman|2005|p=14}}</ref> Therefore, the primary mission of the Allied bomber force was [[Air interdiction|interdiction]] of Japanese supply lines, especially the sea lanes.<ref>{{harvnb|Rodman|2005|p=24}}</ref> The results of the effort against the Japanese convoy in January were very disappointing;<ref name="historynet"/> some 416 sorties had been flown with only two ships sunk and three damaged; clearly, a change of tactics was in order. [[Group Captain]] [[Bill Garing]], an RAAF officer on Kenney's staff with considerable experience in air-sea operations, including a tour of duty in Europe, recommended that Japanese convoys be subjected to simultaneous attack from different altitudes and directions.<ref>{{harvnb|McAulay|1991|pp=19–20}}</ref><br />
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[[File:Air Force personnel ^amp, equipment. The Pacific, England, Wash. DC. 1942-44 (mostly 1943) - NARA - 292571.jpg|thumb|right|Captain Robert L. Faurot of the [[39th Fighter Squadron]], seen here in front of his P-38 Lightning. He was shot down by Japanese fighters during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.|alt=Man standing in front of a twin-propeller aircraft]]<br />
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The Allied Air Forces adopted some innovative tactics. In February 1942, the RAAF began experimenting with [[skip bombing]], an anti-shipping technique used by the British and Germans.{{sfn|Griffith|1998|p=82}} Flying only a few dozen feet above the sea toward their targets, bombers would release their bombs which would then, ideally, [[ricochet]] across the surface of the water and explode at the side of the target ship, under it, or just over it.<ref name="Kreis, p. 265"/> A similar technique was mast-height bombing, in which bombers would approach the target at low altitude, {{convert|200|to|500|ft}}, at about {{convert|265|to|275|mph}}, and then drop down to mast height, {{convert|10|to|15|ft}} at about {{convert|600|yd}} from the target. They would release their bombs at around {{convert|300|yd}}, aiming directly at the side of the ship. The Battle of the Bismarck Sea would demonstrate that this was the more successful of the two tactics.<ref>{{harvnb|Rodman|2005|p=68}}</ref> The two techniques were not mutually exclusive: a bomber could drop two bombs, skipping the first and launching the second at mast height.<ref>{{harvnb|Rodman|2005|p=41}}</ref> In addition, as regular bomb fuses were designed to detonate immediately on impact, which would catch the attacking aircraft in its own bomb blast at low altitude attacks, crews developed a delayed-action fuse.<ref name="historynet"/> Practice missions were carried out against the wreck of the {{ship|SS|Pruth|1916|6}}, a liner that had run aground in 1923.<ref>{{harvnb|McAulay|1991|p=20}}</ref><br />
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In order for bombers to conduct skip or mast-height bombing, the target ship's antiaircraft artillery would first have to be neutralized by strafing runs.<ref name="historynet"/> For the latter task, [[Major (rank)|Major]] [[Paul Gunn|Paul I. "Pappy" Gunn]] and his men at the 81st Depot Repair Squadron in [[Townsville, Queensland]], modified some USAAF [[Douglas A-20 Havoc]] light bombers by installing four {{convert|.50|in|mm|1|adj=on}} [[machine gun]]s in their noses in September 1942.<ref>{{harvnb|Kenney|1949|pp=76–77}}</ref> Two {{convert|450|usgal|adj=on}} fuel tanks were added, giving the aircraft more range. An attempt was then made in December 1942 to create a longer range attack aircraft by doing the same thing to a B-25 [[medium bomber]] to convert it to a "commerce destroyer",<ref>{{harvnb|Kenney|1949|p=144}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Rodman|2005|pp=40–42}}</ref> but this proved to be somewhat more difficult. The resulting aircraft was nose-heavy despite added lead ballast in the tail, and the vibrations caused by firing the machine guns were enough to make rivets pop out of the skin of the aircraft.<ref>{{harvnb|Kenney|1949|pp=161–162}}</ref> The tail guns and belly turrets were removed, the latter being of little use if the aircraft was flying low.<ref>{{harvnb|Rodman|2005|pp=43–44}}</ref> The new tactic of having the B-25 strafe ships would be tried in this battle.<ref>{{harvnb|McAulay|2008|p=90}}</ref><br />
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The Fifth Air Force had two [[heavy bomber]] groups. The [[43rd Bombardment Group]] was equipped with about 55 [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]]es. Most of these had seen hard war service over the previous six months and the availability rate was low. The recently arrived [[90th Bombardment Group]] was equipped with [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator]]s, but they too had maintenance problems. There were two medium groups: the [[38th Bombardment Group]], equipped with B-25 Mitchells, and the [[22nd Bombardment Group]], equipped with [[Martin B-26 Marauder]]s, but two of the former's four squadrons had been diverted to the [[South Pacific Area]], and the latter had taken so many losses that it had been withdrawn to Australia to be rebuilt.<ref name="Watson, pp. 6-8"/><br />
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There was also a light group, the [[3rd Attack Group]], equipped with a mixture of Douglas [[A-20 Havoc]]s and B-25 Mitchells.<ref name="Watson, pp. 6-8">{{harvnb|Watson|1946|pp=6–8}}</ref> This group was not just short of aircraft; it was critically short of aircrew as well. To make up the numbers the USAAF turned to the RAAF for help. Australian aircrew were assigned to most of the group's aircraft, serving in every role except aircraft commander.<ref>{{harvnb|McAulay|1991|pp=26–27}}</ref> In addition to the RAAF aircrew with the USAAF squadrons, there were RAAF units in the Port Moresby area. [[No. 30 Squadron RAAF]], which had arrived in Port Moresby in September 1942, was equipped with the [[Bristol Beaufighter]]. Both the aircraft and the squadron proved adept at low level attacks.<ref>{{harvnb|Gillison|1962|pp=139–140, 631–633}}</ref> Also in the Port Moresby area were the [[35th Fighter Group|35th]] and [[49th Fighter Group]]s, both equipped with [[Bell P-39 Airacobra|Bell P-39]], [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk]] and [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning]] fighters, but only the last were suitable for long range escort missions.<ref name="Watson, pp. 6-8"/><br />
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==Battle==<br />
{{Further|Battle of the Bismarck Sea order of battle}}<br />
[[File:Battle of the Bismark Sea.jpg|center|upright=2.5|thumb|Japanese ship movements (black) and Allied air attacks (red) during the battle|alt=Map of eastern New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Solomon Islands. Guadalcanal is at the lower right, Rabaul in the upper center, and Port Moresby, Buna, and Gona in the lower left.<!-- alt=Map of New Guinea indicating the route taken by the Japanese along the north coast of New Britain and through the Vitiaz Strait -->]]<br />
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===First attacks===<br />
The Japanese convoy – comprising eight [[destroyer]]s and eight [[Troopship|troop transport]]s with an escort of approximately 100 [[Fighter aircraft|fighters]] – assembled and departed from [[Simpson Harbour]] in Rabaul on 28 February.<ref name="Morison, p. 55"/> During the January operation, a course was followed that hugged the south coast of New Britain. This had made it easy to provide air cover, but being close to the airfields also made it possible for the Allied air forces to attack both the convoy and the airfields at the same time. This time, a route was chosen along the north coast, in the hope that the Allies would be deceived into thinking that the convoy's objective was Madang. Allied air attacks on the convoy at this point would have to fly over New Britain, allowing interdiction from Japanese air bases there, but the final leg of the voyage would be particularly dangerous, because the convoy would have to negotiate the restricted waters of Vitiaz Strait.<ref>{{harvnb|Yoshihara|1955}}</ref> The Japanese named the convoy "Operation 81."<ref name="Gamble 2010 303">{{harvnb|Gamble|2010|p=303}}</ref><br />
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[[File:Attack On Japanese Transporter (Battle Of The Bismarck Sea).jpg|thumb|left|Fifth Air Force bombs bracket the transport ''Taimei Maru''<ref>{{harvnb|McAulay|1991|pp=154–155}}</ref>|alt=A ship under way, with splashes on both sides.]]<br />
The destroyers carried 958 troops, while the transports took 5,954. All the ships were [[combat loading|combat loaded]] to expedite unloading at Lae. The commander of the Japanese XVIII Army – Lieutenant General Hatazō Adachi – travelled on the destroyer {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Tokitsukaze|1939|2}}, while that of the 51st Division – Lieutenant General [[Hidemitsu Nakano]] – was on board the destroyer {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Yukikaze|1939|2}}.<ref name="Morison, p. 55">{{harvnb|Morison|1950|p=55}}</ref> The escort commander – Rear Admiral [[Masatomi Kimura]] of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla – flew his flag from the destroyer {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Shirayuki|1928|2}}. The other five destroyers were {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Arashio||2}}, {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Asashio|1936|2}}, {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Asagumo|1938|2}}, {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Shikinami|1929|2}} and {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Uranami|1928|2}}. They escorted seven Army transports: {{ship|Japanese transport|Aiyo Maru||2}} (2,716 [[Gross register tonnage|gross register tons]]), {{ship|Japanese transport|Kembu Maru||2}} (950 tons), {{ship|SS|Kyokusei Maru||2}} (5,493 tons), {{ship|Japanese transport|Oigawa Maru||2}} (6,494 tons), {{ship|SS|Sin-ai Maru|1921|2}} (3,793 tons), {{ship|SS|Taimei Maru|1936|2}} (2,883 tons) and {{ship|SS|Teiyo Maru|1924|2}} (6,870 tons). Rounding out the force was the lone Navy transport {{ship|SS|Nojima Maru|1919|2}} (8,125 tons).<ref name="Gillison, p. 696"/><ref>{{harvnb|McAulay|1991|pp=178–179}}</ref> All the ships carried troops, equipment and ammunition, except for the ''Kembu Maru'', which carried 1,000 drums of [[avgas]] and 650 drums of other fuel.<ref>{{harvnb|McAulay|1991|p=39}}</ref><br />
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The convoy, moving at {{convert|7|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}},<ref>{{harvnb|Morison|1950|p=56}}</ref> was not detected for some time, because of two [[tropical storm]]s that struck the [[Solomon Sea|Solomon]] and [[Bismarck Sea]]s between 27 February and 1 March, but at about 15:00 on 1 March, the crew of a patrolling B-24 Liberator heavy bomber spotted the convoy. Eight B-17 Flying Fortresses were sent to the location but failed to locate the ships.<br />
<ref>{{harvnb|Watson|1950|p=142}}</ref><br />
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At dawn on 2 March, a force of six [[Douglas A-20 Havoc|RAAF A-20 Bostons]] attacked Lae to reduce its ability to provide support. At about 10:00, another Liberator found the convoy. Eight B-17s took off to attack the ships, followed an hour later by another 20.<ref name="Gillison, p. 691">{{harvnb|Gillison|1962|p=691}}</ref> The B-17s were planned to rendezvous with P-38 fighters from the 9th Fighter Squadron, but the B-17s arrived early and faced the Japanese fighters on their own for the initial air battle until the P-38s arrived. They found the convoy and attacked with {{convert|1000|lb|kg|abbr=on}} bombs from {{convert|5000|ft|m|abbr=on}}. They claimed to have sunk up to three merchant ships. ''Kyokusei Maru'' had sunk, carrying 1,200 army troops, and two other transports, ''Teiyo Maru'' and ''Nojima'', were damaged.<ref name="Gamble 2010 303"/><ref name="Morison, p. 58">{{harvnb|Morison|1950|p=58}}</ref> Eight Japanese fighters were destroyed and 13 damaged in the day's action, while nine B-17s were damaged.<ref name="Gamble 2010 313">{{harvnb|Gamble|2010|p=313}}</ref><br />
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The destroyers ''Yukikaze'' and ''Asagumo'' plucked 950 survivors of ''Kyokusei Maru'' from the water. 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 resumed their escort duties the next day.<ref name="Morison, p. 58"/> The convoy – without the troop transport and two destroyers – was attacked again on the evening of 2 March by 11 B-17s, with minor damage to one transport. During the night, PBY Catalina [[flying boat]]s from [[No. 11 Squadron RAAF]] took over the task of shadowing the convoy.<ref name="Gillison, p. 691"/><br />
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===Further attacks===<br />
By 3 March, the convoy was within range of the air base at [[Milne Bay]], and eight [[Bristol Beaufort]] [[torpedo bomber]]s from [[No. 100 Squadron RAAF]] took off from there. Because of bad weather only two found the convoy, and neither scored any hits, but the weather cleared after they rounded the Huon Peninsula. A force of 90 Allied aircraft took off from Port Moresby, and headed for Cape Ward Hunt, while 22 A-20 Bostons of [[No. 22 Squadron RAAF]] attacked the Japanese fighter base at Lae, reducing the convoy's air cover. Attacks on the base continued throughout the day.<ref name="Gillison, pp. 692-693"/><ref name="Watson, pp. 144-145"/><br />
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At 10:00, 13 B-17s reached the convoy and bombed from medium altitude of 7,000 feet, causing the ships to maneuver, which dispersed the convoy and reduced their concentrated anti-aircraft firepower. The B-17s attracted [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]] fighters, which were in turn attacked by the P-38 Lightning escorts. A B-17 broke up in the air, and its crew took to their parachutes. Japanese fighter pilots machine-gunned some of the B-17 crew members as they descended and attacked others in the water after they landed.<ref name="Gillison, pp. 692-693"/> Five of the Japanese fighters strafing the B-17 aircrew were promptly engaged and shot down by three P-38s which were also lost.<ref name="historynet"/> The Allied fighter pilots claimed 15 Zeros destroyed, while the B-17 crews claimed five more.<ref name="Gillison, pp. 692-693"/><ref name="Watson, pp. 144-145"/> Actual Japanese fighter losses for the day were seven destroyed and three damaged.<ref name="Gamble 2010 313"/> B-25s arrived shortly afterward and released their 500-pound bombs between 3,000 and 6,000 feet, reportedly causing two Japanese vessels to collide. The result of the B-17 and B-25 sorties scored few hits but left the convoy ships separated, making them vulnerable to strafers and masthead bombers, and with the Japanese anti-aircraft fire being focused on the medium-altitude bombers this left an opening for minimum-altitude attacks.<ref name="historynet"/><br />
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[[File:Bismarck Sea 127968.jpg|thumb|right|Pilot Flight Lieutenant Torchy Uren of [[No. 30 Squadron RAAF]] takes a drink from his water canteen while in the cockpit of his Beaufighter during the battle|alt=Pilot in a small cockpit. He is wearing a parachute and leather helmet. This is a still from movie footage shot by [[Damien Parer]].]]<br />
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The 13 Beaufighters from No. 30 Squadron RAAF approached the convoy at low level to give the impression they were Beauforts making a torpedo attack.<ref name="battleforaustralia.org.au">{{cite web |url=http://www.battleforaustralia.org.au/BABismarkSea.php |title=The Battle of the Bismarck Sea |publisher=Battle for Australia Association |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref> The ships turned to face them, the standard procedure to present a smaller target to torpedo bombers, allowing the Beaufighters to maximise the damage they inflicted on the ships' anti-aircraft guns, bridges and crews in [[strafe|strafing]] runs with their four {{convert|20|mm|in|abbr=on}} nose [[autocannon|cannons]] and six wing-mounted {{convert|.303|in|mm|2|abbr=on}} machine guns.<ref name="Gillison, pp. 692-693"/> On board one of the Beaufighters was cameraman [[Damien Parer]], who shot dramatic footage of the battle; it was later included in the newsreel ''[[The Bismarck Convoy Smashed]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|McAulay|1991|pp=64–65}}</ref> Immediately afterward, seven B-25s of the 38th Bombardment Group's [[71st Flying Training Squadron|71st Bombardment Squadron]] bombed from about {{convert|750|m|ft|abbr=on}}, while six from the [[405th Tactical Missile Squadron|405th Bombardment Squadron]] attacked at mast height.<ref name="Gillison, pp. 692-693">{{harvnb|Gillison|1962|pp=692–693}}</ref><ref name="Watson, pp. 144-145">{{harvnb|Watson|1950|pp=144–145}}</ref><br />
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According to the official RAAF release on the Beaufighter attack, "enemy crews were slain beside their guns, deck cargo burst into flame, superstructures toppled and burned".<ref name="battleforaustralia.org.au"/> Garrett Middlebrook, a co-pilot in one of the B-25s, described the ferocity of the strafing attacks: {{blockquote|They went in and hit this troop ship. What I saw looked like little sticks, maybe a foot long or something like that, or splinters flying up off the deck of ship; they'd fly all around;... and twist crazily in the air and fall out in the water. Then I realized what I was watching were human beings. I was watching hundreds of those Japanese just blown off the deck by those machine guns. They just splintered around the air like sticks in a whirlwind and they'd fall in the water.<ref name="Bergerud 2000 592">{{harvnb|Bergerud|2000|p=592}}</ref>}}<br />
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''Shirayuki'' was the first ship to be hit, by a combination of strafing and bombing attacks. Almost all the men on the bridge became casualties, including Kimura, who was wounded. One bomb hit started a [[Magazine (artillery)|magazine]] explosion that caused the stern to break off, and the ship to sink. Her crew was transferred to ''Shikinami'', and ''Shirayuki'' was [[Scuttling|scuttled]]. The destroyer ''Tokitsukaze'' was also hit and fatally damaged. Its crew was taken off by ''Yukikaze''. The destroyer ''Arashio'' was hit, and collided with the transport ''Nojima'', disabling her. Both the destroyer and the transport were abandoned, and ''Nojima'' was later sunk by an air attack.<ref name="Gillison, p. 697">{{harvnb|Gillison|1962|p=697}}</ref><br />
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[[File:BismarckSeaLowLevel.jpg|thumb|left|Allied aircraft execute a low-level attack on a Japanese ship|alt=Two aircraft fly after a ship at very low altitude]]<br />
Fourteen B-25s returned that afternoon, reportedly claiming 17 hits or near misses. By this time, a third of the transports were sunk or sinking. As the Beaufighters and B-25s had expended their munitions, some USAAF A-20 Havocs of the 3rd Attack Group joined in. Another five hits were claimed by B-17s of the 43rd Bombardment Group from higher altitudes. During the afternoon, further attacks from USAAF B-25s and Bostons of No. 22 Squadron RAAF followed.<ref>{{harvnb|Gillison|1962|pp=693–694}}</ref><br />
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All seven of the transports were hit and most were burning or sinking about {{convert|100|km|nmi mi|abbr=on}} southeast of [[Finschhafen]], along with the destroyers ''Shirayuki'', ''Tokitsukaze'' and ''Arashio''. Four of the destroyers – ''Shikinami'', ''Yukikaze'', ''Uranami'' and ''Asagumo'' – picked up as many survivors as they could and then retired to Rabaul, accompanied by the destroyer {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Hatsuyuki|1928|2}}, which had come from Rabaul to assist.<ref name="Gillison, p. 697"/> That night, a force of ten U.S. Navy [[PT boat]]s – under the command of [[Lieutenant Commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] Barry Atkins – set out to attack the convoy. Two boats struck submerged debris and were forced to return. The other eight arrived off Lae in the early hours of 4 March. Atkins spotted a fire that turned out to be the transport ''Oigawa Maru''. ''[[Patrol torpedo boat PT-143|PT-143]]'' and ''PT-150'' fired torpedoes at it, sinking the crippled vessel. In the morning, a fourth destroyer – ''Asashio'' – was sunk when a B-17 hit her with a {{convert|500|lb|kg|abbr=on}} bomb while she was picking up survivors from ''Arashio''.<ref>{{harvnb|Morison|1950|p=61}}</ref> Only one destroyer, ''Yukikaze'', was undamaged among the four surviving destroyers.<ref>{{harvnb|Hara|1967|p=168}}</ref><br />
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[[File:Bismarck Sea 141996.jpg|thumb|right|A Japanese ship, ''Kenbu Maru'', under attack|alt=A ship burning from the stern settles in the water.]]<br />
Some 2,700 survivors were taken to Rabaul by the destroyers. On 4 March, another 1,000 or so survivors were adrift on rafts.<ref name="Gillison, p. 697"/> On the evenings of 3–5 March, PT boats and planes attacked Japanese rescue vessels, as well as the survivors from the sunken vessels on life rafts and swimming or floating in the sea. This was later justified on the grounds that rescued servicemen would have been rapidly landed at their military destination and promptly returned to active service,<ref>{{harvnb|Gillison|1962|pp=694–695}}</ref> as well as being retaliation for the Japanese fighter planes attacking survivors of the downed B-17 bomber.<ref name="historynet"/> While many of the Allied aircrew accepted these attacks as being necessary, others were sickened.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnston|2011|p=276}}</ref><ref name="battleforaustralia.org.au"/> On 6 March, the Japanese submarines {{Ship|Japanese submarine|I-17||2}} and {{Ship|Japanese submarine|I-26||2}} picked up 170 survivors. Two days later, ''I-26'' found another 54 and put them ashore at Lae.<ref name="Gillison, p. 697"/> Hundreds made their way to various islands. One band of 18 survivors landed on [[Kiriwina]], where they were captured by ''PT-114''. Another made its way to Guadalcanal, only to be killed by an American patrol.<ref>{{harvnb|Morison|1950|p=62}}</ref><br />
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On 4 March the Japanese mounted a retaliatory raid on the Buna airfield, the site of a base that the Allies had captured back in January, though the fighters did little damage. Kenney wrote in his memoir that the Japanese reprisal occurred "after the horse had been stolen from the barn. It was a good thing that the [[Nip]] air commander was stupid. Those hundred airplanes would have made our job awfully hard if they had taken part in the big fight over the convoy on March 3rd."<ref name="historynet"/><br />
<br />
On [[Goodenough Island]], between 8 and 14 March 1943, Australian patrols from the [[47th Battalion (Australia)|47th Infantry Battalion]] found and killed 72 Japanese, captured 42 and found another nine dead on a raft. One patrol killed eight Japanese who had landed in two flat-bottomed boats, in which were found some documents in sealed tins. On translation by the [[Allied Translator and Interpreter Section]], one document turned out to be a copy of the Japanese Army List, with the names and postings of every officer in the Japanese Army. It therefore provided a complete order of battle of the Japanese Army, including many units that had never before been reported. A mention of any Japanese officer could now be correlated with his unit. Copies were made available to intelligence units in every theatre of war against Japan.<ref>{{harvnb|Dexter|1961|p=10}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Drea|1992|pp=73–74}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Aftermath==<br />
The battle was a disaster for the Japanese. Out of 6,900 troops who were badly needed in New Guinea, only about 1,200 made it to Lae. Another 2,700 were saved by destroyers and submarines and returned to Rabaul.<ref name="Tanaka, p. 50">{{harvnb|Tanaka|1980|p=50}}</ref> About 2,890 Japanese soldiers and sailors were killed. The Allies lost 13 aircrew, 10 of whom were lost in combat while three others died in an accident. There were also eight wounded. Aircraft losses were one B-17 and three P-38s in combat, and one B-25 and one Beaufighter in accidents. MacArthur issued a communiqué on 7 March stating that 22 ships, including twelve transports, three cruisers and seven destroyers, had been sunk along with 12,792 troops, based on a report by SWPA which also boasted exorbitant claims that included sixty enemy aircraft shot down, six destroyers or light cruisers sunk and eleven to fourteen merchantmen sunk.<ref name="Gillison, p. 695">{{harvnb|Gillison|1962|p=695}}</ref> Army Air Force Headquarters in Washington, D.C., looked into the matter in mid-1943 and concluded that there were only 16 ships involved, but GHQ SWPA considered the original account accurate.<ref>{{harvnb|Watson|1950|pp=147–148}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kenney|1949|pp=205–206}}</ref> The victory was a propaganda boon for the Allies, with one United States newsreel claiming the Japanese had lost 22 ships, 15,000 troops, and 102 aircraft.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxu2trrFhHE | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211114/Kxu2trrFhHE| archive-date=2021-11-14 | url-status=live|title=Newsreel: Allied airmen wipe out Jap invasion force (restoration) |publisher=Military Arts Pictures |website=Youtube |year=2012|access-date=21 November 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> ''The New York Times'', on its front page on March 4, 1943, cited the loss by the Japanese of 22 ships, 15,000 troops and 55 aircraft, though the Japanese lost only 15 aircraft over the course of the raids.<ref>''New York Times'', March 4, 1943, p. 1.</ref> <br />
<br />
The Allied Air Forces had used 233,847 rounds of ammunition, and dropped 261 500-pound and 253 1,000-pound bombs. They claimed 19 hits and 42 near misses with the former and 59 hits and 39 near misses from the latter. Of the 137 bombs dropped in low level attacks, 48 (35&nbsp;percent) were claimed to have hit but only 29 (7.5&nbsp;percent) of the 387 bombs dropped from medium altitude.<ref name="Rodman, pp. 69-71">{{harvnb|Rodman|2005|pp=69–71}}</ref> This compared favourably with efforts in August and September 1942 when only 3&nbsp;percent of bombs dropped were claimed to have scored hits.<ref>{{harvnb|McAulay|2008|p=240}}</ref> It was noted that the high and medium altitude attacks scored few hits but dispersed the convoy, while the strafing runs from the Beaufighters had knocked out many of the ships' anti-aircraft defences.<ref name="historynet">{{cite journal |url=http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-the-bismarck-sea.htm |title=Battle of the Bismarck Sea |first=Lawrence |last=Spinetta |date=November 2007 |journal=World War II |issn=0898-4204|access-date=2 August 2013}}</ref> Aircraft attacking from several directions at once had confused and overwhelmed the Japanese defences, resulting in lower casualties and more accurate bombing. The results therefore vindicated not just the tactics of mast height attack but of mounting coordinated attacks from several directions.<ref name="Rodman, pp. 69-71"/> The Japanese estimated that at least 29 bombs had hit a ship during the battle.<ref>{{harvnb|Hata|Izawa|Shores|2011|p=49}}</ref> This was a big improvement over the [[Battle of Wau]] back in January, when Allied aircraft attacked a Japanese convoy consisting of five destroyers and five troop transports travelling from Rabaul to Lae, but managed to sink just one transport and beach another.<ref name="historynet"/><br />
<br />
[[File:Japanese Movements in Eastern New Guinea.jpg|thumb|Summary of Japanese movements in eastern New Guinea, 1942–1944|alt=Map of New Guinea showing the coastal routes taken by the Japanese from Wewak and Madang to avoid the Lae area.]]<br />
Imamura's chief of staff flew to Imperial General Headquarters to report on the disaster. It was decided that there would be no more attempts to land troops at Lae.<ref>{{harvnb|Morison|1950|pp=62–63}}</ref> The losses incurred in the Bismarck Sea caused grave concern for the security of Lae and Rabaul and resulted in a change of strategy. On 25 March a joint Army-Navy Central Agreement on South West Area Operations gave operations in New Guinea priority over those in the [[Solomon Islands campaign]].<ref name="Drea, p. 72">{{harvnb|Drea|1992|p=72}}</ref> The XVIII Army was allocated additional shipping, ordnance and anti-aircraft units, which were sent to Wewak or Hansa Bay.<ref name="Tanaka, pp. 50-53"/> Of the defeat, Rabaul staff officer Masatake Okumiya said, "Our losses for this single battle were fantastic. Not during the entire savage fighting at Guadalcanal did we suffer a single comparable blow. We knew we could no longer run cargo ships or even fast destroyer transports to any front on the north coast of New Guinea, east of Wewak".<ref name="Bergerud 2000 592"/><br />
<br />
The planned movement of the 20th Division to Madang was revised in the light of events in the Bismarck Sea. The operation was postponed for two days, and the destination was altered from Madang to [[Hansa Bay]] further west.<ref name="Tanaka, pp. 50-53"/> To reduce the Allied air threat, the Allied airfield at Wau was bombed on 9 March and that at Dobodura on 11 March. Three Allied aircraft were destroyed on the ground and one P-40 was lost in the air but Allied fighters claimed nine Japanese aircraft.<ref>{{harvnb|Watson|1950|p=159}}</ref> The transports reached Hansa Bay unscathed on 12 March and the troops made their way down to Madang on foot or in barges. The 20th Division then became involved in an attempt to construct a road from Madang to Lae through the [[Ramu]] and [[Markham Valley]]s. It toiled on the road for the next few months but its efforts were ultimately frustrated by the New Guinea weather and the rugged terrain of the [[Finisterre Range]].<ref name="Tanaka, pp. 50-53"/><br />
<br />
Some submarines were made available for supply runs to Lae but they did not have the capacity to support the troops there by themselves. An operation was carried out on 29 March in which four destroyers delivered 800 troops to Finschhafen but the growing threat from Allied aircraft led to the development of routes along the coast of New Guinea from Madang to Finschhafen and along the north and south coasts of New Britain to Finschhafen, thence to Lae using Army [[landing craft]]. It was by this means that the remainder of the 51st Division finally made the trip to Lae in May.<ref name="Tanaka, pp. 50-53">{{harvnb|Tanaka|1980|pp=50–53}}</ref> The necessity of delivering troops and supplies to the front in this manner caused immense difficulties for the Japanese in their attempts to halt further Allied advances. After the war, Japanese officers at Rabaul estimated that around 20,000 troops were lost in transit to New Guinea from Rabaul, a significant factor in Japan's ultimate defeat in the New Guinea campaign.<ref>{{harvnb|Bergerud|2000|pp=592, 598}}</ref><br />
<br />
In April, [[Admiral]] [[Isoroku Yamamoto]] used the additional air resources allocated to Rabaul in [[Operation I-Go]], an air offensive designed to redress the situation by destroying Allied ships and aircraft in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.<ref>{{harvnb|Morison|1950|p=117}}</ref> The operation was indecisive and Yamamoto [[Operation Vengeance|became a casualty]] of Allied intelligence and air power in the Solomon Islands on 18 April 1943.<ref>{{harvnb|Morison|1950|pp=127–129}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Game theory==<br />
In 1954, O. G. Haywood Jr., wrote an article in the ''[[Operations Research: A Journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences|Journal of the Operations Research Society of America]]'' in which [[game theory]] was used to model the decision-making in the battle.<ref>{{harvnb|Haywood|1954|pp=366–371}}</ref> Since then, the name of the battle has been applied to this particular type of two-person [[zero-sum game]].<ref>{{harvnb|Peters|2008|p=3}}</ref><br />
<br />
As a very brief summary, the scenario modeled revolves around the decision Lt. General Kenney had to make just prior to the real-life battle. The Japanese commander had to choose one out of two courses of action: sail his convoy north of the New Britain island, or south of it. General Kenney likewise had to choose: focus any reconnaissance efforts north of the island, or south of it. This means there are four possible outcomes, and game theory explains Gen. Kenney's real-life decision to concentrate his reconnaissance airplanes north of New Britain.<ref>https://policonomics.com/battle-of-the-bismarck-sea/</ref><br />
<br />
==Notes==<br />
{{Reflist|30em}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Refbegin|30em}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Bergerud<br />
| first = Eric M.<br />
| year = 2000<br />
| title = Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific<br />
| publisher = Westview Press<br />
| location = Boulder, Colorado<br />
| isbn = 0-8133-3869-7<br />
| oclc = 42002639<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Dexter<br />
| first = David<br />
| title = The New Guinea Offensives<br />
| series = [[Australia in the War of 1939–1945]]. Series 1&nbsp;– Army<br />
| volume = 6<br />
| location = Canberra<br />
| publisher = Australian War Memorial<br />
| year = 1961<br />
| url = https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070205/<br />
| oclc = 2028994<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book |last = Drea<br />
|first = Edward J.<br />
|title = MacArthur's ULTRA: Codebreaking and the War Against Japan, 1942–1945<br />
|publisher = University Press of Kansas<br />
|location = Lawrence, Kansas<br />
|year = 1992<br />
|isbn = 0-7006-0504-5<br />
|oclc = 23651196<br />
|url = https://archive.org/details/macarthursultra00drea<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Gamble<br />
| first = Bruce<br />
| year = 2010<br />
| title = Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942&nbsp;– April 1943<br />
| author-link = Bruce Gamble (author)<br />
| publisher = Zenith Press<br />
| location = Minneapolis<br />
| isbn = 978-0-7603-2350-2<br />
| oclc = 437298983<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Gillison<br />
| first = Douglas<br />
| year = 1962<br />
| series = Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series 3 – Air<br />
| volume = 1<br />
| title = Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942<br />
| location = Canberra<br />
| publisher = [[Australian War Memorial]]<br />
| url = https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070209/<br />
| oclc = 2000369<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
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| first = Thomas E. Jr.<br />
| title = MacArthur's Airman: General George C. Kenney and the War in the Southwest Pacific<br />
| url = https://archive.org/details/macarthursairman00grif<br />
| url-access = registration<br />
| publisher = University Press of Kansas<br />
| location = Lawrence, Kansas<br />
| year = 1998<br />
| isbn = 0-7006-0909-1<br />
| oclc = 38885310<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Hara<br />
| first = Tameichi<br />
| orig-year = 1961<br />
| year=1967<br />
| title = Japanese Destroyer Captain<br />
| publisher = [[Ballantine Books]]<br />
| location = New York & Toronto<br />
| isbn = 0-345-27894-1<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last1 = Hata<br />
| first1 = Ikuhiko<br />
| author-link = Ikuhiko Hata<br />
| first2 = Yasuho<br />
| last2 = Izawa<br />
| first3 = Christopher<br />
| last3 = Shores<br />
| year = 2011<br />
| title = Japanese Naval Air Force Fighter Units and Their Aces 1932–1945<br />
| publisher = Grub Street<br />
| location = London<br />
| isbn = 978-1-906502-84-3<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite journal<br />
| last = Haywood<br />
| first = O. G. Jr.<br />
| title = Military Decision and Game Theory<br />
| journal = Journal of the Operations Research Society of America<br />
| volume = 2<br />
| issue = 4<br />
| date = November 1954<br />
| pages = 365–385<br />
| jstor = 166693<br />
| issn = 0096-3984<br />
| doi = 10.1287/opre.2.4.365<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Hayashi<br />
| first = Saburo<br />
| year = 1959<br />
| title = Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War<br />
| publisher = Marine Corps Association<br />
| location = Quantico, Virginia<br />
| oclc = 652388228<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Johnston<br />
| first = Mark<br />
| author-link=Mark Johnston (historian)<br />
| title = Whispering Death: Australian Airmen in the Pacific War<br />
| year = 2011<br />
| publisher = Allen & Unwin<br />
| location = Crows Nest, New South Wales<br />
| isbn = 978-1-74175-901-3<br />
| oclc = 733607074<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
|last=Kenney<br />
|first=George C.<br />
|author-link=George Kenney<br />
|year=1949<br />
|title=General Kenney Reports: A Personal History of the Pacific War<br />
|publisher=[[Duell, Sloan and Pearce]]<br />
|location=New York<br />
|isbn=0-912799-44-7<br />
|url=http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/gen_kenney_reports.pdf<br />
|access-date=20 February 2009<br />
|oclc=1227801<br />
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226030631/http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/gen_kenney_reports.pdf<br />
|archive-date=26 February 2009<br />
|url-status=dead<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| editor-last=Kreis<br />
| editor-first=John F.<br />
| title = Piercing the Fog: Intelligence and Army Air Forces Operations in World War II<br />
| url=https://archive.org/details/PiercingTheFog<br />
| publisher = Air Force History and Museums Program<br />
| location = [[Bolling Air Force Base]], Washington, DC<br />
| year = 1996<br />
| isbn = 1-4102-1438-9<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = McAulay<br />
| first = Lex<br />
| year = 1991<br />
| title = Battle of the Bismarck Sea<br />
| publisher = St Martins Press<br />
| location = New York<br />
| isbn = 0-312-05820-9<br />
| oclc = 23082610<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = McAulay<br />
| first = Lex<br />
| year = 2008<br />
| title = Battle of the Bismarck Sea: 3 March 1943<br />
| publisher = Banner Books<br />
| location = Maryborough, Queensland<br />
| isbn = 978-1-875593-32-3<br />
| oclc = 271780681<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Morison<br />
| first = Samuel Eliot<br />
| author-link = Samuel Eliot Morison<br />
| year = 1958<br />
| title = The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942&nbsp;– February 1943<br />
| series = [[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]]<br />
| volume = 5<br />
| publisher = Little, Brown and Company<br />
| location = Boston<br />
| isbn = 0-316-58305-7<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book |last = Morison<br />
|first = Samuel Eliot<br />
|author-link = Samuel Eliot Morison<br />
|year = 1950<br />
|title = Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier<br />
|series = [[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]]<br />
|volume = 6<br />
|publisher = Little Brown and Company<br />
|location = Boston<br />
|isbn = 0-7858-1307-1<br />
|oclc = 10310299<br />
|url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780785813071<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last1 = Murray<br />
| first1 = Williamson<br />
| author-link = Williamson Murray<br />
| first2 = Allan R.<br />
| last2 = Millett<br />
| year = 2001<br />
| title = A War To Be Won: Fighting the Second World War<br />
| publisher = Belknap Press<br />
| location = Cambridge, Massachusetts<br />
| isbn = 0-674-00680-1<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Peters<br />
| first = Hans<br />
| title = Game Theory: A Multi-Leveled Approach<br />
| location = Berlin<br />
| publisher = Springer<br />
| year = 2008<br />
| isbn = 978-3-540-69290-4<br />
| oclc = 804515280<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Odgers<br />
| first = George<br />
| author-link = George Odgers<br />
| year = 1957<br />
| series = Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series 3 – Air<br />
| volume = 2<br />
| title = Air War Against Japan 1943–1945<br />
| location = Canberra<br />
| publisher = [[Australian War Memorial]]<br />
| url = https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070210/<br />
| oclc = 1990609<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Rodman<br />
| first = Matthew K.<br />
| year = 2005<br />
| title = A War of Their Own: Bombers Over the Southwest Pacific<br />
| publisher = [[Air University (United States)|Air University]]<br />
| location = [[Maxwell Air Force Base]], Alabama<br />
| url = https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA434245.pdf<br />
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121007135729/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA434245&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf<br />
| url-status = live<br />
| archive-date = 7 October 2012<br />
| access-date = 20 February 2009<br />
| isbn = 1-58566-135-X<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| last = Tanaka<br />
| first = Kengoro<br />
| title = Operations of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in the Papua New Guinea Theater During World War II<br />
| year = 1980<br />
| publisher = Japan Papua New Guinea Goodwill Society<br />
| location = Tokyo<br />
| oclc = 672906428<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| first = Richard L.<br />
| last = Watson<br />
| title = U.S. Air Force Historical Study No. 113&nbsp;– The Fifth Air Force in the Huon Peninsula Campaign<br />
| url = http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/numbered_studies/467697.pdf<br />
| access-date = 15 February 2009<br />
| publisher = AAF Historical Office, Headquarters, U.S. Army Air Forces<br />
| year = 1946<br />
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060520173639/http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/numbered_studies/467697.pdf<br />
| archive-date = 20 May 2006<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| editor-last=Craven<br />
| editor-first=Wesley Frank<br />
| editor2-last=Cate<br />
| editor2-first=James Lea<br />
| last = Watson<br />
| first = Richard L.<br />
| year = 1950<br />
| pages = 129–162<br />
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/IV/index.html<br />
| contribution = The Battle of the Bismarck Sea<br />
| title = The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944<br />
| volume = IV<br />
| series = The Army Air Forces in World War II<br />
| publisher = University of Chicago Press<br />
| access-date = 20 October 2006<br />
| oclc = 30194835<br />
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061126225132/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/IV/index.html<br />
| archive-date = 26 November 2006<br />
| url-status = live<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| editor-last=Craven<br />
| editor-first=Wesley Frank<br />
| editor2-last=Cate<br />
| editor2-first=James Lea<br />
| last = Watson<br />
| first = Richard L.<br />
| year = 1950<br />
| pages = 129–162<br />
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/IV/index.html<br />
| contribution = The Papuan Campaign<br />
| title = The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944<br />
| volume = IV<br />
| series = The Army Air Forces in World War II<br />
| publisher = University of Chicago Press<br />
| access-date = 20 October 2006<br />
| oclc = 30194835<br />
| ref = CITEREFWatson1950a<br />
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061126225132/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/IV/index.html<br />
| archive-date = 26 November 2006<br />
| url-status = live<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| editor-link= Charles A. Willoughby<br />
| editor-first=Charles A.<br />
| editor-last=Willoughby<br />
| title = Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area<br />
| volume = II&nbsp;– Part I<br />
| url = http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V2%20P1/macarthurv2.htm<br />
| access-date = 10 February 2009<br />
| series = Reports of General MacArthur<br />
| year = 1966<br />
| publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]]<br />
| location = Washington DC<br />
| oclc = 643562232<br />
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090208191627/http://history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V2%20P1/macarthurv2.htm<br />
| archive-date = 8 February 2009<br />
| url-status = dead<br />
}}<br />
* {{cite book<br />
| title = Southern Cross: Account of the Eastern New Guinea Campaign<br />
| last = Yoshihara<br />
| first = Tsutomu<br />
| others = translation by Doris Heath<br />
| publisher = [[Australian War Memorial]]<br />
| location = Tokyo<br />
| year = 1955<br />
| url = http://ajrp.awm.gov.au/ajrp/ajrp2.nsf/Web-Pages/SouthernCross?OpenDocument<br />
| access-date = 15 January 2011<br />
}}<br />
{{Refend}}<br />
<br />
==Further reading==<br />
* {{Cite book|last=Arbon| first=J|year=1979|title=The Bismarck Sea Ran Red|publisher=Walsworth Press| location=Marceline, Missouri |oclc=7116275}}<br />
* {{Cite book|last=Birdsall|first=Steve|year=1977|title=Flying Buccaneers: The Illustrated Story of Kenney's Fifth Air Force |publisher=Doubleday | location=New York|isbn=0-385-03218-8|oclc=3001974}}<br />
*{{cite journal |last1=Cripps |first1=Jarryd |title=The Tipping Point: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea, March 1943 |journal=The Aviation Historian |date=2023 |issue=45 |pages=10–20 |issn=2051-1930}}<br />
* {{Cite book|last=Henebry|first=John P.|year=2002|title=The Grim Reapers at Work in the Pacific Theater: The Third Attack Group of the U.S. Fifth Air Force|publisher=Pictorial Histories Publishing Company|location=Missoula, Montana|isbn=1-57510-093-2|oclc=52569977}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
{{Commons category|Battle of the Bismarck Sea}}<br />
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBpmflvJkfk Bismarck Convoy Smashed!] Incorporates footage of the battle taken by Damien Parer.<br />
<br />
{{coord|07|15|S|148|15|E|display=title}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bismarck Sea, Battle of}}<br />
[[Category:1943 in Papua New Guinea]]<br />
[[Category:Battles and operations of World War II involving Papua New Guinea]]<br />
[[Category:Territory of New Guinea]]<br />
[[Category:Bismarck Sea]]<br />
[[Category:Conflicts in 1943]]<br />
[[Category:Naval battles of World War II involving Australia]]<br />
[[Category:Naval battles of World War II involving Japan]]<br />
[[Category:Naval battles of World War II involving the United States]]<br />
[[Category:South West Pacific theatre of World War II]]<br />
[[Category:World War II aerial operations and battles of the Pacific theatre]]<br />
[[Category:World War II naval operations and battles of the Pacific theatre]]<br />
[[Category:March 1943 in Oceania]]<br />
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving the United States]]</div>2600:6C50:667F:15D0:50E6:4FDA:E1C7:D216