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|strength1 = 39 heavy bombers;<br />41 medium bombers;<br />34 light bombers; <br />54 fighters<br>10 torpedo boats
|strength2 = 8 destroyers,<br />8 troop transports,<br />100 aircraft
|casualties1 = 2 bombers destroyed,<br />4 fighters destroyed,<br />13 killed<ref name="Gillison, p. 695"/>
|casualties2 = 8 transports sunk,<br />4 destroyers sunk,<br />20 fighters destroyed,<br />2,890+ dead<ref name="Gillison, p. 696">{{harvnb|Gillison|1962|p=696}}</ref>
|campaignbox = {{Campaignbox New Guinea}}{{Campaignbox South West Pacific}}
}}
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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.
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.
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 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 life boats 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 ultimately unsuccessful efforts to stop Allied offensives in New Guinea.
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===Japanese plans===
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"/>
[[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.]]
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>
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>
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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]]
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>
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>
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"/>
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===First attacks===
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 the 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>
[[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.]]
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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 published in ''[[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>
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: {{
''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>
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==Aftermath==
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.<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.
The Allied Air Forces had used 233,847 rounds of ammunition, and dropped two-hundred and sixty-one 500-pound and two-hundred and fifty-three 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 percent) were claimed to have hit but only 29 (7.5 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 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"/>
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| first = Tsutomu
| others = translation by Doris Heath
| publisher = [[Australian War Memorial]]
| location = Tokyo
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==Further reading==
* {{Cite book|last=Arbon| first=J|year=1979|title=The Bismarck Sea Ran Red|publisher=Walsworth Press| location=Marceline, Missouri |oclc=7116275}}
* {{Cite book|last=
*{{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}}
* {{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}}
==External links==
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