Allied Air Dominance in the Pacific: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea March 2 - 3 1943

as 1942 passed in 1943 the Japanese position on its Southern front was beginning to deteriorate all throughout the previous year the war with the Western allies had been primarily focused in the area surrounding Australia here in the Bismarck archipelago the Japanese had set up the great Fortress of rabal a strongly held and well-fortified Air in Naval Base rabal was the key to protecting Japan's Southern flank if it fell then the great Naval Base at truck Lagoon Japan's Pearl Harbor would be within B-17 range from this very strong strategic position the Japanese military was able to threaten the sea lines of communication between Australia and the United States which were the Allies main strategic weakness in the Pacific Australia was geostrategically vital to the Allied cause against Japan as a drive across the Central Pacific alone would have been difficult considering the lack of basic infrastructure in this area additionally although in global terms Australia was a minor power in 1942 it was just as it is today a major regional power and thus it played a disproportionately large role in the Pacific War for example the Australian Army provided very large forces in the Pacific throughout 1942 and 1943 MacArthur had some 12 Australian divisions under his command most of which would be deployed to Papua the Solomons and New Guinea during the conflict in the whole Pacific War through to 1945 the United States deployed 22 divisions to the theater the Japanese had used about 11 to conquer their whole Pacific Empire therefore knocking Australia out of the war would not only deprive the allies of a strategically vital staging area but would remove about a third of the land forces opposing them in the Pacific thus in its war with the Western allies apart from engaging the United States Navy carrier force in a decisive battle Australia was Japan's primary strategic objective in 1942. a land invasion of Australia was dismissed by the Army as simply being Beyond Japan's capability Imperial General headquarters determined that a force of 12 divisions would be required to wage a land campaign on Mainland Australia which was 12 more than Japan had available at the end of 1941 the Japanese Army order of battle stood at 51 divisions 28 were deployed in China 13 formed the Manchurian Garrison which was required to cover the Soviets and 10 were in the Japanese home Islands only 11 divisions could be spared for operations against the Western allies a force which had conquered the Philippines Malaya Burma the Dutch East Indies the Bismarck archipelago and New Guinea all areas which now had to be garrisoned finding another 12 first-rate divisions capable of engaging the Allies in what would have been by far the largest land campaign of the Pacific War fought across the vast expanses of Northern Australia was a practical impossibility even if the other fronts could have been stripped to find the substantial Force the shipping required to sustain them so far from Japan was simply not in existence Imperial General headquarters decided that the best way to engage Australia was to isolate it especially from the United States if Australia could be cut off from its allies then there was hope that enough pressure could be brought upon Canberra to sign A Separate Peace even if this could not be achieved without substantial error and Naval support Australia alone would not pose a substantial threat to Japan's Southern front despite its large land forces although capturing Rubble was deemed a defensive necessity it quickly served as the base for the campaign against Australia to achieve this isolation strategy Japan initiated two operations the construction of air bases in the Guadalcanal tulaki area and amphibious and later land operation designed to capture Port Moresby the only major Allied base left north of Mainland Australia these two Japanese offensives and the Allied counter thrust designed to thwart them would generate the two fronts of the Pacific War which would rage in unison all throughout 1942 Papua and Guadalcanal although both operations were initially launched with such promise of achieving strategic success against the allies and Australia specifically by New Year's Day 1943 it was clear to all that both fronts were ending in disaster for the Japanese realizing that the 17th Army was incapable of handling the Guadalcanal and Papua France the Japanese Southern flank was substantially reinforced in a major restructuring of Japanese forces on November 26 1942 the 18th Army was activated under the command of Lieutenant General hatozo adachi this new formation would focus solely on operations in Papua and New Guinea the 17th Army under Lieutenant General harukichu High of patake would focus on the defense of Guadalcanal Bougainville and the rest of the Solomon Islands these field armies were placed under the command of the eighth area Army equivalent to an army Group which was headquartered at rabal the eighth area Army was under the command of Lieutenant's General hitoshi imamura with the Japanese Army simply out force on Guadalcanal a problem compounded by the inability of air and Naval forces to isolate the island and the bunagona front about to collapse on January the 4th 1943 Imperial General headquarters issued the following orders to eight area Army command in the Solomons area the fight to recaptured Guadalcanal will be discontinued and the Army will evacuate its forces immediately henceforth the Army will secure the northern Solomons including new Georgia and South Isabel and the Bismarck archipelago in the New Guinea area the Army will immediately strengthen its bases of operations at lay salamau Madame and we whack the Strategic area north of the Owen Stanley range will be occupied and thereafter preparations will be made for operations against Port Moresby the forces in the Buna area will withdraw to the vicinity of salamau as required by the situation and will secure strategic positions there although these orders still entertain the possibility of further offensives against Port Moresby they were in effect a clear admission that the campaign to isolate Australia had failed Japanese Grand strategy for the war with the Western allies always envisaged a transition from an offensive to a defensive phase and it was cleared that the end of 1942 had brought about that transition to facilitate the defensive Rebels right flank the North Coast of New Guinea three additional divisions would be deployed the 51st which was already in rabal and had one element at salamau the 20th which had been redeployed from Korea and the 41st from China in addition to these three field divisions the New Guinea reinforcement plan included numerous supporting elements such as air base construction units Engineers anti-aircraft guns and the bulk of the sixth air division a force which in total numbered around a hundred thousand men during 1942 most of the North Coast of New Guinea was only largely held by Japanese forces with the bulk of their operations focused on Papua and the development of the Buna gona base area but with the defeat at the Battle of Buna gona eighth area Army command began to rapidly develop these rear areas by February 1943 the 41st division had been successfully moved to wewack on the far North Coast of New Guinea and the 20th to middang about 300 kilometers down the coast these two Villages were soon developed into major Japanese bases with large-scale Anchorage and air-based Facilities but the front line the area where the next battle would be fought was salamau and lay this most forward Japanese base at the mouth of the mighty Markham River was clearly where the next major Allied blow would land in New Guinea and eighth area Army command was determined to deploy substantial Japanese forces in this area however although sea lines of communication to wewack and madang were secure the same could not be said for salamau and lay the threat of Allied aircraft increased exponentially in the Solomon sea especially with the construction of Allied air bases in the Buna area the 20th division had been ordered to build a road from medang to lay in salamau but this involved 250 kilometers of infrastructure development thus until that road was built the only way to reinforce the salamau and lay Garrison was by sea however to do so meant running the gauntlet of b-17s and Beau Fighters but adachi knew a major battle would be fought at lay so the forward Japanese position had to be reinforced immediately there were thousands of troops in the lay area but these were in very poor condition the remnants of the South Seas Detachment were recuperating after the nightmare of Buna and gona and to a cabbage attachment a regimental combat team equivalent of the 51st division had just been badly mauled by the Australians as well additionally there were several thousand men in construction and base units the next phase in the campaign was coming and the Japanese were running out of time to meet the inevitable Allied thrust for the Allies 1942 had been a year of better combat and hard-fought victories unlike 1944 and 1945 the Allies did not enjoy aggregate material superiority over the Japanese and the Guadalcanal and perfume campaigns were evenly matched encounters the 1942 campaigns had been split between two Allied theater commands the struggle for Guadalcanal had been undertaken by Admiral bull halsey's South Pacific area command which had the bulk of U.S naval Assets in the Pacific the papuan campaign had been waged by General Douglas MacArthur's Southwest Pacific area which was in 1942 and 1943 primarily in Australian theater in terms of lands and Naval forces the United States commitment to the Southwest Pacific area had been small just two U.S divisions were under MacArthur's command the 32nd and 41st which were only deployed to Australia in exchange for keeping the ninth Australian division in North Africa obviously this decision by the combined Joint Chiefs of Staff does make sense considering the half a million strong Australian Army already in the theater U.S naval commitment to the Southwest Pacific area was also Limited MacArthur's primary Naval force was task force 44 formerly the Anzac Squadron which was a cruiser Force based on the heavy cruises hmas Australia hmas Canberra which was sunk off Guadalcanal and USS Chicago the light Cruiser hmas Hobart and a number of American Destroyers this force was only ever intended to defend Australia's near seas and was certainly not strong enough to operate in the Solomon or Bismarck Seas independently there was one area where a significant portion of the United States is considerable military strength was deployed to the Southwest Pacific area air power on the 20th of September 1942 the United States Army Air corps Fifth Air Force was activated originally composed of scattered Elements which had fled the Philippines and Java just three fighter groups and five poorly equipped bombardment groups by the first quarter of 1943 The Fifth Air Force was growing into a very formidable fighting force in April there were some 36 American squadrons in the Southwest Pacific area 9 Fighter 5 dive bomber six medium bomber eight heavy bomber and eight transport the total number of aircraft available to the Fifth Air Force was 1 361. Major General George C Kenny was placed in command of this new formation a fighter pilot from Brookville Massachusetts Kenny had received the distinguished service cross for an engagement with German fighters in October 1918. a graduate of the army war College he was also an accomplished military theorist and an air Warfare specialist certainly a solid choice for theater command Kenny was promoted to Southwest Pacific area Supreme Air Force Commander and was thus granted operational control over the bulk of the royal Australian Air Force leaving Fifth Air Force operational command to Major General Whitehead the RAF was also undergoing a rapid expansion in 1938 it deployed a total of 17 squadrons and a first line strength of 198 aircraft but just five years later there were some 31 rwf squadrons allocated to Southwest Pacific area command with eight more in Australia those 39 squadrons in the Southwest Pacific area deployed 1441 aircraft including 523 Fighters 384 medium bombers and 108 dive bombers as a point of comparison the fighter strength of the royal air force during the Battle of Britain was roughly 600. the Australian government had far grander Ambitions by the end of 1943 it wanted 45 rwf squadrons with an eventual Force structure goal of some 73. at the end of the war the RAF would be the fourth largest Air Force in the world with thousands of front-line aircraft the RAF used a combination of American British and domestic aircraft its primary fighter was the P40 Kitty Hawk although this was supplemented by Australia's domestic Fighter the Commonwealth aircraft Corporation ca-12 Boomerang and eventually this Spitfire Mark V in early 1943 there were roughly equal Royal Australian Air Force and U.S Army Air Corps squadrons in the Southwest Pacific area although all were under the command of Kenny and MacArthur The Fifth Air Force in iwaf maintained their own operational commands the Australians had a continent to defend and constant air battle was raging over the north of the country especially around Darwin thus the Royal Australian Air Force maintained operational command over all Allied squadrons based on the mainland The Fifth Air Force on the other hand focused on operations in Papua and New Guinea nevertheless both units were Allied formations with American squadrons operating under RAF operational command and vice versa under the command of air Vice Marshall Bostock air officer commanding RAF Kenny allocated 24 rwf squadrons one Royal Air Force Fighter Squadron which was equipped with Spitfires one Dutch Squadron flying b-25s and an American B-24 Squadron the remaining seven are double AF squadrons formed number nine operational Group which was permanently assigned to the Fifth Air Force operational command additionally as all rwaf and Fifth Air Force units operated under Kenny's Supreme command squadrons were routinely transferred between the two air forces thus although only a portion of the almost 3 000 aircraft the Allies had in the theater were operating in Papua and New Guinea the amount of aerial combat power Kenny could bring to bear was truly formidable in terms of Frontline aircraft the Japanese were becoming heavily outnumbered by 1943. headquartered in rebol the fourth air Army and ijn 11th air fleet had a paper strength of 400 Frontline aircraft but operational platforms were far fewer in number although Tokyo was doing everything it could to reinforce its air units in New Guinea and the Solomons they were fighting a losing battle as with much of the Japanese military replacing the exquisitely trained aviators which populated Japanese squadrons in 1941 was no easy task and the supply of Parts was also beginning to break down leading to numerous unservable aircraft in the Frontline areas stockpiles of spare parts are an often overlooked but critical element in Air Force operations and even this early in the war the Japanese were struggling to produce enough of these spares and move them to the combat area in this case some 4 500 kilometers from the home Islands on any given day in March 1943 The Fifth Air Force could Master some 700 operational aircraft the Japanese 200. indeed by this time morale in the fourth air Army was beginning to wane Japanese Pilots complained to one another their equipment was inferior to the allies and now they were not being given home leave the Japanese were also facing an enemy that was starting to gain technological superiority the Mainstay of the Allied fighter squadrons was the P-40 Warhawk called the Kitty Hawk in Commonwealth service the P40 was a rugged Dependable Machine with good Firepower and an excellent dive speed however it struggled at high altitude in comparison to the zeros it faced in New Guinea by all reports the P40 gave a good account of itself in 1942 and 1943 but the situation began to change with the deployment of the P-38 Lightning the P-38 was a twin engine long-range high performance fighter that really found its niche in the Pacific by this point in the war Fifth Air Force lightning Squadron air-to-air losses were just 25 compared to those suffered by p-40s it's high speed high altitude performance and very high dive speed meant that if employed correctly the P-38 routinely held an energy advantage over the A6 M2 a lightning could dive on a zero and there was nothing the Japanese pilot could do to escape and with the p-38's exceptional rate of climb almost 5000 feet a minute in testing it could routinely gain the altitude advantage thus although the Zero's renowned maneuverability made dog fighting almost suicidal for lightning through the use of boom and zoom tactics American Pilots were beginning to dominate many aerial battles notwithstanding these worrying Trends in the air war in late February the decision was made at eighth area Army command to try and risk sending a large Convoy to lay the bulk of the 51st division was ready at rabal and with Allied air strength growing by the day the window for such a move was short from their base at wow Australian forces were already probing the defenses around salamau and it was obvious that the Allies were planning a major offensive in this area thus General immemora decided to poke The Hornet's Nest the morning of the 28th of February found the Anchorage at Simpson Harbor a hive of activity under the command of Lieutenant General hiramitsu nakano the 51st division Commander a force of around 6 900 men were busily boarding the eight transports which had arrived this formation included the bulk of the 51st Division and the 23rd any aircraft defense unit to defend the force of slow transports a substantial Naval and air escort had been allocated onto the command of re-admiral Kimura eight destroyers of the third Destroyer flotilla and the whole 253rd Air Group which had been tasked with providing air cover in total around 100 Fighters were assigned to defend the Convoy given the A6 m20s very long range Kimura was confident that he would have a fighter escort for the whole Voyage at least during daylight hours the 18th Army Commander General adachi who had decided to establish his forward HQ at lay boarded the Destroyer tukitukaze with his staff Allied signals intelligence had forewarned Kenny that the Japanese were likely to send a large Convoy over the last two weeks of February and into March and weather reports indicated that the first week in March would have low visibility over New Britain along with General Whitehead The Fifth Air Force Commander Kenny began planning a masked coordinated strike which would involve around 100 aircraft Kenny's equipment was not especially well suited to anti-shipping the core of his bomber Force were b-17s b-25s and a20s although there was a squadron of Bristol Beaufort torpedo bombers at Port Moresby however through the use of innovative tactics and training these aircraft better known for their use in Europe were being transformed into deadly Maritime strike platforms one of the major Innovations was a tactic called skip bombing Kenny first learned of this technique on the way to Australia it involved a low-level Beam on attack where the aircraft would drop the bomb perhaps 100 meters from the Target because of the high momentum of the weapon it would skip off the top of the water like a stone ideally as the bomb skipped towards the target it would either hit the side of the ship detonate underwater like a mine or air burst over it there was an old wreck which had run aground on one of Port moresby's outer reefs which made an ideal Target for low-level bombing practice two squadrons of b-25s had been selected to develop skip bombing and low-level tactics and by February 1943 they were ready to put these innovative ideas to the test General Kenny later recalled the scene in his memoirs major Ed learner promised me that his Squadron of B-25 Commerce destroyers wouldn't miss I saw a couple of them practicing on the old wreck on the reef outside Port Moresby they didn't miss it was pretty shooting and pretty skip bombing I told Ed to warn that cocky gang of his that they were not taking on any high school team this time they were playing Notre Dame Ed grindin said he would give them my message we really had something I was sure I had a hunch to the Japs we're going to get the surprise of their lives in addition to the skip bombing tactic which was effective learner had developed a masked height attack where the aircraft would drop to extremely low altitude quite literally the Mast height of the ship and used the nose of the aircraft as a bomb site this high speed low altitude and very close range attack profile gracefully increased the chances of scoring a hit but it made the bombers highly vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire by the 1st of March the Allied Airmen were ready Kenny and Whitehead planned to hit the Convoy with everything they had as soon as it came into range a mass coordinated attack with heavy and medium bombers Whitehead had allocated a force of some 95 Fighters 49 medium and 37 heavy bombers to the attack with some of his shorter range units allocated to attack the Japanese airfields at lay at midnight on the 28th of August the Japanese forced to part of the safety of a ball and ventured into the dangerous Seas Beyond Simpson Harbor like all convoys it was only as fast as its slowest ship this time just seven knots this speed meant the Japanese force would take about three days to reach the ported lay in the shoe on golf its path took it along the North Coast of New Britain where it would then turn South out of the Bismarck sea through the videos straight into the Solomon sea the Allies knew they were coming and several Maritime Patrol aircraft were prowling the waters to the north of New Britain for the first 18 hours the weather aided the Japanese hidden by a cloud cover the Convoy steamed lazily towards its destination but by midday on the 1st of March Kenny received reports from his Patrol aircraft that the weather was clearing at 3 P.M the crew of a B-24 Liberator peed through a widening hole in the clouds to see 16 Japanese ships glistening in the afternoon sunshine the long-awaited Convoy had been detected the battle of the Bismarck sea had begun Kenny's man sprang into action it was to use one of his favorite metaphors game day the battle plan involved hitting the Convoy with heavy bombers whilst it was north of New Britain as his attack aircraft did not have the range to reach it in this area rather they would wait until the Japanese formation had exited the video straight and hit it with a masked coordinated attack but the weather had robbed Kenny of the first day's battle a squadron of b-17s immediately departed Port Moresby but as they approached the weather had a gain closed in and they were unable to find their prey frustrated by the weather the Americans returned to base empty-handed but all throughout the night a pair of liberators maintained contact battle was finally joined on the morning of the second at 6am 6 RAF a20 havocs called a Boston in rwf service hit the Japanese Air Base at lay with a low-level attack bombing the runway in dispersal areas widely used in the Pacific the a20 was a light bomber smaller than a B-25 with a lighter payload of just over 4 000 pounds a fast and agile machine the Boston was well liked in Australian service and the strike it laid badly disrupted the Japanese fighter escort although briefly lost in the weather the B-24 regained contact with the Convoy at 8am reporting its position as 50 miles north of Cape Gloucester on the North Coast of New Britain heading for the VT air Strait and the Solomon sea a little over half an hour later the b-17s arrived the B-17 Flying Fortress Is perhaps one of the most famous aircraft of the second world war but this great celebrity was earned during the Strategic bombing campaign in Europe perhaps many will be surprised to learn that the B-17 was arguably one of the most important combat aircraft the Allies possessed in the Southwest Pacific area specifically because of its anti-shipping capability early attempts to use the B-17 and the maritime strike roll had been poor as was evidenced in the Battle of Midway which may have led to a general conception that using level bombers to strike ships was an ineffective tactic but just like many things in war the problem was not necessarily the aircraft or the concept but simply the training hitting moving ships from 10 000 feet is a skill and just like any other it needs to be built and maintained early in the war resulted in poor but as the B-17 was what the Fifth Air Force had it's what they used and soon the American pilots and bombardiers were able to show just how capable a maritime strike platform the B-17 could be in fact the Flying Fortress was the aircraft that concerned the Japanese most in the Southwest Pacific Theater this combination of range payload and devastating defensive Armament made the B-17 a substantial threat one of the critical problems the Japanese faced was the fact that they lacked an aircraft that could reliably engage the B-17 the A6 M20 was an amazingly capable airplane a true Thoroughbred but it lacks both the Armament and protective systems to effectively engage B-17 formations the b17e bristled with 10 50 caliber machine guns and a 30 caliber weapon and as the zero lacked self-sealing fuel tanks just one solid hit from a 50 BMG armor-piercing incendiary round was often enough to set an A6 M2 on fire typically a death sentence for an aircraft without an effective fire suppression system additionally although the Zero's Armament to 20 millimeter cannons and two rifle caliber machine guns was adequate for engaging Fighters it often struggled to shoot down the massive Fortress even if it scored solid hits b-17s would routinely return to base with evidence of numerous enemy hits that failed to produce crippling damage these two problems conspired to make the Flying Fortress able to conduct strike missions even without a fighter escort these Trends were crystal clear on the morning of the 2nd of March as the weather cleared to reveal a sunny day eight b-17s made their approach in good visual bombing conditions flying at mid-altitude about 8 000 feet they lined up for level bombing runs this small Force unescorted as the p-38s had not been able to Rendezvous should have been easy pickings for the 33 Japanese Fighters that were orbiting high above the Convoy as the zeros dived on their lumbering prey a hail storm of Tracer fire rose up to meet them like an Echidna curling up into a ball to present the world with a forest of spikes the bomber's defensive fire proved to be an impenetrable barrier and the lumbering Giants went on to make their attack runs flying straight and level the 5 500 tonne koyakuzae Maru absorbed a devastating blow when she was struck by a one thousand pound bomb the transport was instantly crippled her back broken by the massive explosion by 9 22 she had broken in half and slipped beneath the waves out of the 1 500 men aboard around 850 survivors including the 51st division Commander Lieutenant General hiramitsu nakano were able to be transferred to a pair of Destroyers which immediately steamed for layer 30 knots as kayakuzaimaru was in her Death Rows another 20 b-17s attacked and although they claimed some near-misses Japanese sources indicate that no further hits were scored the unescorted B-17 shot down three zeros and although the Japanese were able to score hits on 10 bombers all made it back to Port Moresby safely an indication of just how much the Japanese struggled to deal with the huge American bombers The b-17s Returned again just before dusk for another bite of the Apple it's a little unclear exactly how many hits these three Air Raids scored on the Convoy American pilots and bombardiers claimed numerous hits with several vessels seen to be burning Japanese sources on the other hand claimed that there was no direct hits after the sinking of kayakuzaimaru this discrepancy is typical of after action reports as of necessity Allied intelligence had to rely on the visual sightings of Highly adrenalized air crew nonetheless many American Pilots reported several ships burning this is probably explained by the impact of near misses the American aircraft were dropping one thousand pound bombs when one of these weapons hits the water it will detonate just below the surface because of the way kinetic energy propagates through water a near-miss will often cause significant damage to a ship similar to a mine Explosion shock of one of those weapons detonating close to a vessel can cause minor flooding in the outbreak of fire on board given the number of bombs dropped on the Convoy it's quite probable that a number were near misses even if no further direct hits were scored as Knight fell on the 2nd of March the battle was still undecided one large transport had been sunk but the majority of the Convoy was still intact although several vessels had been damaged if the Japanese ships were headed for the North Coast of New Guinea there was a good chance that they would make landfall safely onto the cover of Darkness through destroyers yukikaze and as a gumo had raced to lay and were by morning back with the Convoy that was now approaching the huon peninsula unsure what path the Convoy would take Allied command nervously waited for contact reports from the RAF Catalina that was now shadowing the Japanese ships steaming under a clear sky and a bright full moon by midnight Kenny received the news he had been waiting for the Japanese had turned South into the video Strait and the huon Gulf game day had finally arrived Kenny had been preparing for this battle for months like a coach directing the action on the sideline he had his quarterback wide receivers and offensive line and all knew their part in a complex play that was about to be Unleashed on the Japanese the men worked to be greeted by a beautiful sunny day and the three major Allied air bases in Papua roared with the sound of departing aircraft some 91 in total which all formed up over Cape Ward hunt the Convoy was now about 50 miles Southeast of Finch oven at the head of the huon peninsula the Japanese knew the onslaught was coming they had every available fighter they could muster in escort although the Japanese Air Base at lay had again been hit by RAF Bostons disrupting their operations they managed to get 40 zeros in the air above the Convoy the Japanese were close only about eight hours from the protection of lay but they were entering the Viper's nest the assault began at 10 am flying in a tight box formation designed to provide maximum protection a force of 18 b17s and 20 b-25s approached the Convoy at an altitude of 7000 feet employing level bombing the formation flew in a straight line and began dropping its bombs although it's unclear how many hits were achieved by the medium altitude bombers their attacks served another purpose orbiting at 15 000 feet a swarm of Japanese Fighters Dove on the Allied bombers unseen above them were a squadron of P-38 Lightnings some 16 strong with the zeros now below them making attacks on the bombers the p-38s were in an ideal boom and zoom position with a significant altitude and thus energy advantage the American fighters Dove out of a clear blue sky making high-speed Gunnery runs on the Japanese many of which were Target fixated on the bombers after making single passes the Lightnings would use their huge dive speed to rapidly climb back to altitude these tactics immediately started paying dividends as several zeros were shot down as a B-17 piloted by Lieutenant Moore was making its attack run his aircraft was riddled by a Japanese 20 millimeter cannon burst engulfing his right wing in flames rather than bailing out Moore held his aircraft steady so his Bombardier could line up his Target just after the bombs were dropped the wing came off and the B-17 tumbled out of the sky seven of the air crew were able to bail out but as the men hung helplessly on their parachutes Japanese Fighters killed them all with machine gun fire seeing the helpless air crew three Lightnings piloted by Captain Farrell and his two wingmen Lieutenant Easton and Lieutenant schifflett Dove down to try and engage the Japanese to do so they sacrificed their altitude advantage now just as low and slow as the Japanese they were easy prey for the highly maneuverable zeros all three were shot down and killed in under a minute this is a crystalline example of how important having an energy Advantage was for American fighters in the Pacific that the same energy state is a zero most American fighters stood little chance indeed these were the only p-38s lost in the battle as the level bombers made their attack run and intense combat rage between the fighters the Japanese destroyers spotted the next wave coming in from the southeast to engine aircraft flying at very low altitude the same profile as a Beaufort torpedo bomber in a standard defensive tactic several captains ordered their Helmsman to turn towards the incoming aircraft as this would greatly reduce their silhouette and thus their vulnerability to torpedo attack but the incoming aircraft weren't Beaufort torpedo bombers they were Beau Fighters the Bristol Beau fighter was a fighter derivative of the Bristol Beaufort medium bomber much like the de Havilland mosquito or bf-110 the bowfighter was a heavy fighter a type of aircraft that was designed to offer increased range and Firepower in comparison to single-engine monoplanes in addition to long range escort heavy Fighters were intended to shoot down bombers and therefore had a heavy air-to-wear Armament in the beaufighters case it had a total of 11 guns four Hispano 20 millimeter Auto cannons under the nose six 303 machine guns in the wings and a manually operated machine gun for the Observer this devastating broadside was almost unparalleled all throughout the war although not really comparable to a Spitfire or a zero as a dog Fighter the Beau Fighters kinematic performance was still good its top speed of 320 miles an hour there's only 10 miles an hour slower than the contemporary a6m2 but much like the mosquito its range and Firepower made it an excellent attack platform one that was much beloved in Australian service 13 strong a squadron of RAF bowfighters screamed in just above the wavetops as the Destroyers turned to avoid the incoming Torpedoes they thought the beauforts were about to drop they placed themselves in perfect position for strafing runs 20 millimeter cannon fire tore into the exposed superstructures with devastating effect on board shiroyuki Admiral kimura's Flagship several 20 millimeter rounds smashed into the bridge killing most of the officers present and wounding Kimura the Beau Fighters left havoc in their wake every destroyer in the formation had suffered badly from their attention the exposed anti-aircraft positions had been rented to pieces easily mistaken for the lumbering Beaufort bomber the Japanese had made themselves sitting ducks for the bow Fighters now with the escorting Fighters heavily engaged by the p-38s and the anti-aircraft positions on the Japanese destroyers little more than smoldering wrecks their fatal blow was struck as the Beau Fighters screamed off to the north leaving as quickly as they had appeared from the south two waves of Allied bombers approached flying at just 500 feet Ed learner's Squadron of b-25s lined up the now helpless Japanese ships each pilot selected their own Target and dropped to wave top level as the swarm of Allied bombers enveloped the Convoy many Japanese men spent their last moments looking at the strange sight of 500 pound bombs skipping across the water like a stone the first attack was absolutely devastating the 12 b25s dropped 37 500 pound bombs 17 of which slammed into the side of Japanese ships the transports were crowded with men almost 7 000 in total one can only imagine the hellish Carnage of 500 pound bombs detonating amongst the mass of Humanity on board those Japanese ships the reign of Flesh and limb that would have surely been the result mercifully death would have been Swift for many as large as b-25s flew North they were immediately followed by 12 a20s which used the same low altitude attack profile the havocs released 2500 pound bombs scoring 11 direct hits as the Beau Fighters b-25s and a20s withdrew they left absolute Carnage in their wake after just 20 minutes of combat all seven remaining transports have taken at least one direct hit one Destroyer was sinking and three others were fatally damaged Lieutenant Commander hander who was on board the Destroyer shirayuki recalled the attack The Vessel was attacked in waves of three planes which came in at extremely low level in strafing and bombing attacks most Personnel on the bridge were killed or wounded a bomb hit the after turret a fire started a Powder Magazine exploded and the stern section broke off and the ship was flooded and sank at 3 pm the Final Act of Destruction took place 16 b17s 12 b25s 6 rwafa20s and 11p38s made up the strike package they found the Japanese ships right where they had left them for transports and one Destroyer were dead in the water and burning leaving Great Smoke plumes that were visible for miles there was one active Destroyer clearly picking up survivors from the three transports that had already sunk the number of hits that were scored in this attack is very hard to estimate Allied claims are high 22 direct hits in total one always has to be highly skeptical of kill or Direct Hit claims made by air crew as post-war evidence often shows them to be greatly exaggerated nevertheless what we can be sure of is that the Allies left the final attack with every transport and one Destroyer rapidly sinking and the other heavily damaged and dead in the water that last Destroyer would be sunk by PT boats during the night of the Third 16 vessels had left Simpson Harbor on the 28th of February a convoy that had at times over 40 fighters in escort by the morning of the 4th of March all that remained were four damage destroyers limping North to try and avoid a repeat of the brutal beating the Allies had just given them the rest of the Japanese vessels were now sitting on the bottom of the huon Gulf on the 4th of March beaufighter and B-25 Crews were ordered back into the air they had a stomach churning mission to accomplish in a final Macabre act of violence the Australian and American Crews began prowling the huon golf hunting for Life rafts and men in the water their orders were to kill as many Japanese as possible man the Army would have to fight again if they were allowed to reach New Guinea reportedly an RAF pilot returned from this Mission covered in his own vomit the emotional distress of strafing a Lifeboat was just too much gain one can only imagine the utter Carnage caused by 20 millimeter shells bursting amongst a tightly packed Lifeboat vessels that were surely packed with hundreds of men an eruption of blood flesh and limb would have filled the center of the gun sight as the bowfighter made its run with their raft blown to pieces and blood in the water any survivors were simply left to the sharks the battle of the Bismarck sea was over in a crushing victory for Allied air power the whole Convoy had been utterly destroyed twenty seven thousand five hundred tons of Japanese shipping had been sunk not including the four Destroyers but the losses in ships were nothing compared to the loss in human life of the 6900 Japanese soldiers that had boarded the transports and destroyers 3664 had been killed only 800 men those who survived the sinking of the kayokuse Maru actually made its lay soldiers who quite literally only had their rifles with them the rest of the survivors those that had been able to board the Destroyers including adachi were taken back to reball some 2700 in total of the approximately 1 000 men who were in lifeboats on the morning of the 4th of March only 224 were rescued by Japanese submarines in addition to the frightful losses in men much of the 51st division supplies and heavy equipment was now on the ocean floor on board the Convoy with numerous anti-aircraft guns artillery pieces medium machine guns and thousands of tons of ammunition medicine food and other specialist supplies and equipment but the consequences of the battle were far greater than simply the number of Japanese lives lost or the destruction of War material the Allies had demonstrated that in the Southwest Pacific their dominance of the air mattered more than Japanese dominance of the sea in the face of such devastating air power an Allied Air Force that was well armed well trained and now using Innovative new tactics the Japanese Navy was forced to Simply abandon the majority of the Solomon sea to the Allies they had masked all of the defensive assets they could muster over 40 zeros and eight destroyers but had only been able to shoot down one Flying Fortress and the three p-38s that Dove down to save the B-17 crew the Allies lost a further two aircraft to Landing accidents leading to Total casualties of 13 killed and eight wounded clearly the Japanese military could not operate large surface forces in the western Solomon sea without the deployment of aircraft carriers or Capital ships and most of these had been consumed by the naval battles around Guadalcanal and Midway nevertheless Imperial General headquarters was convinced that salamau and lay had to be held ordering on the 25th of March the defense of the huon peninsula should be the eighth area Army's first priority including sacrificing operations in the Solomon Islands if required Australian forces had already began probing the defenses around salamau at mubo and adachi was desperately trying to reinforce the Japanese positions in the area but now he had not only lost almost a third of the 51st Division and most of its equipment but he could not supply the base by sea the Japanese were trying to build a road from medang but by April had only completed about 40 miles and their construction activities were also being disrupted by continual Air Attack under a revised plan fast destroyers would sail to finchafen about a hundred kilometers up the coast from lay where a number of small barges would then LeapFrog down the coast or the men would travel Overland this word it was hoped Shield the Japanese vessels from the majority of the air threat on the 20th of March the first Battalion of the 115th regiment part of the 51st division departed re ball on board four fast destroyers and safely made it to finchafen but when the Japanese tried to repeat this success they were again met with withering airstrikes on both the 2nd and 10th of April the Japanese dispatched fast destroyed convoys containing units of the 66th Infantry Regiment both had to return to a ball after being intercepted by b-17s Allied reconnaissance was so good and their long-range Maritime strike capability was so effective that even fast destroyers steaming at over 30 knots could not make the 600 kilometer Journey safely out of desperation eighth area Army command decided to try and run a coastal relay of small barges that would travel at night these small vessels were only capable of carrying a load of between 5 and 10 tons but over 200 were commandeered to begin the new Supply operation these barges and landing craft would move from one Japanese base to another By Night hiding under jungle camouflage by day by this very rudimentary method the Japanese were able to move about 3 000 men and a substantial amount of suppliers from rabal to lay over a period of four months a similar system was set up linking the Japanese bases on the North Coast of New Guinea such as medang to facilitate the movement of the 20th and 41st divisions to delay area but the Japanese were running out of time New Guinea Force Headquarters were busily planning one of the largest Australian offensives of the war although the Allied land forces were still recovering from the grueling Battle of Buna and gona some four Australian divisions were being prepared for the salamau and lay operation by April 1943 elements of two the third and fifth divisions were moving towards the Australian Air Base at wow these forces would Advance over mountainous terrain that rivaled the Fearsome kokoda track with the objective of attacking the Japanese defenses at mubo but generals blamey and Herring had far grander plans codenamed operation postern they intended to employ a core level double development with simultaneous airborne and amphibious Landings around lay this plan worked then the bulk of the 18th Army would be surrounded and destroyed DJ was coming and with it one of the largest Allied land defenses of the Pacific War to this time would be Unleashed on the Japanese the Allies were about to show how their Mastery of the air sea and land made them capable of Feats of Rapid maneuver that the Japanese could simply not hope to counter

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Length: 46min 7sec (2767 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 09 2021