Battle of the Bismarck Sea order of battle

The Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March 1943) took place in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II.

At midnight 28 February 1942, eight transports carrying about 6,900 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army, escorted by eight destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy, departed their base at Rabaul, New Britain heading for Lae, New Guinea. Through the afternoon of 1 March, the overcast weather held at which point the weather changed direction and the slow-moving task force was spotted by an Allied scout plane.

Aircraft of the U.S. 5th Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked the convoy, sinking all eight transports and four of the eight destroyers. The remaining destroyers with about 2,700 surviving troops limped back to Rabaul.

Japanese forces

An Allied A-20 bomber attacks Japanese shipping during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea

*Sin-ai Maru* burning after attack from Allied air power during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea

Rear Admiral Masatomi Kimura

Transports^[1]

Captain Kamataro Matsumoto

Transport	Gross tonnage	(m³)	Fate	No. killed
Aiyo Maru	2,716	7,686	sunk	323
Kembu Maru	950	2,688	sunk	20
Kyokusei Maru	5,493	15,545	sunk	486
Oigawa Maru	6,494	18,378	sunk	1,229
Sin-ai Maru	3,793	10,734	sunk	63+
Taimei Maru	2,883	8,159	sunk	200
Teiyo Maru	6,870	19,442	sunk	1,915
Nojima Maru	8,125	22,994	sunk	400

Embarked units

Army^[2]

Eighteenth Army Headquarters^[a]

Eighteenth Army Signals

51st Division Headquarters

51st Division Signals

51st Engineer Regiment

14th Artillery Regiment

115th Infantry Regiment

3rd Field Hospital

21st Artillery Brigade

50th Antiaircraft Battalion

15th Independent Engineer Regiment

22nd Airfield Battalion

209th Airfield Regiment

5th Air Signals Regiment

8th Shipping Engineer Regiment

3rd Company, 5th Shipping Engineer Regiment

3rd Disembarkation Unit

Navy^[3]

Yokosuka 3rd Naval Air Defence Unit

Yokosuka 5th Special Naval Landing Party

Maizuru 2nd Special Naval Landing Party

Screen^[4]

Rear Admiral Kimura

8 destroyers

2 Kagerō-class (6 × 5-in. main battery)

Tokitsukaze (Commander Masayoshi Motokura) (sunk)

Yukikaze (Commander Ryokichi Sugama)

3 Asashio-class (6 × 5-in. main battery)

Arashio (Commander Hideo Kuboki) (sunk)

Asashio (Commander Goro Yoshii) (sunk)

Asagumo (Commander Toru Iwahashi)

3 Fubuki-class (6 × 5-in. main battery)

Shikinami (Lt. Commander Akifumi Kawahashi)

Shirayuki (Commander Rokuro Sugawara) (sunk)

Uranami (Lt. Commander Chikara Hagio)

Air units

Navy^[5]^{[failed verification]}

11th Air Fleet / Southeast Area Fleet

Zuihō Fighter Group (Kavieng)

Army^[6]

1st Flying Group (1st Hikō Sentai)

11th Flying Group (11th Hikō Sentai)

Allied forces

Allied air forces

Commander, Allied Air Forces, Southwest Pacific Area/US Fifth Air Force: Lieutenant General George C. Kenney

Advanced Echelon, Allied Air Forces: Major General Ennis C. Whitehead

RAAF

No. 9 Operational Group RAAF: Air Commodore J. E. Hewitt

No. 73 Wing RAAF (Wing Commander Blake Pelly)^[7]

No. 6 Squadron RAAF (Wing Commander A. A. Barlow)

Turnbull Field: Lockheed Hudson^[8]^[9]

No. 22 Squadron RAAF (Wing Commander Keith Hampshire)

Wards Airfield: A-20 Boston^[8]^[10]^[11]

No. 30 Squadron RAAF (Wing Commander B. R. Walker)

Wards Airfield: Bristol Beaufighter^[8]^[10]

No. 71 Wing RAAF (Wing Commander Ian McLachlan)^[12]

No. 75 Squadron RAAF (Squadron Leader W. S. Arthur)

Gurney Airfield: P-40 Kittyhawk^[8]^[13]

No. 100 Squadron RAAF (Squadron Leader J. A. Smilbert (acting))

Gurney Airfield: Bristol Beaufort^[8]^[10]

USAAF

35th Fighter Group (Colonel Richard A. Legg)^[8]

39th Fighter Squadron (Captain T. J. Lynch)^[8]^[10]

Schwimmer Airfield: P-38 Lightning

40th Fighter Squadron (Captain Malcolm A. Moore)^[8]^[10]

Rogers Airfield: P-39 Airacobra

49th Fighter Group (Lieutenant Colonel R. L. Morrissey)^[8]

7th Fighter Squadron (Major William P. Martin)^[8]^[10]

Durand Airfield: P-40 Warhawk

8th Fighter Squadron (Major Mitchell E. Sims)^[8]^[10]

Kila Airfield: P-40 Warhawk

9th Fighter Squadron (Captain Jesse C. Peaslee)^[8]^[10]

Schwimmer Airfield: P-38 Lightning

3rd Attack Group (Lieutenant Colonel R. F. Strickland)^[8]

13th Attack Squadron (Major Harold V. Maull)^[8]^[10]

Schwimmer Airfield: B-25 Mitchell

89th Attack Squadron (Major Glen W. Clark)^[8]^[10]

Kila Airfield: A-20 Havoc

90th Attack Squadron (Major Edward L. Larner)^[8]^[14]

Durand Airfield: B-25 Mitchell

38th Bombardment Group (Colonel Fay R. Upthegrove)^[8]

71st Bombardment Squadron (Major Eugene P. Mussett)^[8]^[10]

Durand Airfield: B-25 Mitchell

405th Bombardment Squadron (Lieutenant Colonel Millard Lewis)^[8]^[10]

Durand Airfield: B-25 Mitchell

43rd Bombardment Group (Colonel Roger M. Ramey)^[8]

63rd Bombardment Squadron (Major Edward W. Scott)^[8]^[10]

Jacksons Airfield: B-17 Flying Fortress

64th Bombardment Squadron (Major Kenneth D. McCullar)^[8]^[10]

Jacksons Airfield: B-17 Flying Fortress

65th Bombardment Squadron (Major Harray J. Hawthorne)^[8]^[10]

Jacksons Airfield: B-17 Flying Fortress

403rd Bombardment Squadron (Major Jay P. Reusek)^[8]^[10]

Mareeba Airfield: B-17 Flying Fortress

90th Bombardment Group (Colonel Ralph E. Koon)^[8]

319th Bombardment Squadron (Captain Charles E. Jones)^[8]^[15]

Jacksons Airfield: B-24 Liberator

320th Bombardment Squadron (Major Roy L. Taylor)^[8]^[16]

Jacksons Airfield: B-24 Liberator

321st Bombardment Squadron (Major Cecil L. Faulkner)^[8]^[17]

Jacksons Airfield: B-24 Liberator

400th Bombardment Squadron (Major Harry J. Bullis)^[8]

Jacksons Airfield: B-24 Liberator

8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron (1st Lieutenant F. S. Savage)^[8]^[18]

Kila Airfield: F-4 Lightning, F-5 Lightning

Motor Torpedo Boat Striking Force

Lieutenant Commander Barry K. Atkins^[19]

Early Type (77 feet, 4 × 18-in. torpedo tubes)

PT-66 (Lieutenant (jg) William C. Quinby)

PT-67 (Ensign James W. Emmons)

PT-68 (Lieutenant (jg) Robert L. Childs)

Elco Type (80 feet, 4 × 21-in. torpedo tubes)

PT-121 (Ensign Edward R. Bergin)

PT-128 (Ensign James W. Herring)

PT-143 (Lieutenant (jg) John S. Bayliss)

PT-149 (Lieutenant William J. Flittie)

PT-150 (Lieutenant (jg) Russell E. Hamacheck)

Notes

^ A Japanese army was equivalent to a Euro-American corps

References

^ McAulay 1991, pp. 177–180
^ McAulay 1991, p. 187
^ McAulay 1991, p. 180
^ McAulay 1991, pp. 181–184
^ Hata, Izawa & Shores 2011, p. 49
^ Hata, Izawa & Shores 2012, pp. 38–39
^ "Group Captain Blake Raymond Pelly". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad Morison 1950, pp. 64–65
^ RAAF Historical Section 1995a, p. 16
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p McAulay 1991, pp. 173–174
^ RAAF Historical Section 1995a, p. 64
^ "Air Vice Marshal Ian Dougald McLachlan". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
^ RAAF Historical Section 1995b, p. 41
^ "90 Fighter Squadron (PACAF)". Air Force Historical Agency. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
^ "319 Missile Squadron (AFGSC)". Air Force Historical Agency. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
^ "320 Missile Squadron (AFGSC)". Air Force Historical Agency. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
^ "321 Missile Squadron (AFGSC)". Air Force Historical Agency. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
^ "8 Flying Training Squadron". Air Force Historical Agency. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
^ Morison 1950, p. 61

Bibliography

Hata, Ikuhiko; Izawa, Yasuho; Shores, Christopher (2011). Japanese Naval Air Force Fighter Units and Their Aces 1932–1945. London: Grub Street. ISBN 9781906502843.
Hata, Ikuhiko; Izawa, Yasuho; Shores, Christopher (2012). Japanese Army Fighter Aces 1931–45. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-1076-3.
McAulay, Lex (1991). Battle of the Bismarck Sea. New York, New York: St Martins Press. ISBN 0-312-05820-9. OCLC 23082610.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1950). Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. VI. Boston, Massachusetts: Little Brown and Company. ISBN 0-7858-1307-1. OCLC 10310299.
RAAF Historical Section (1995a). Volume 2 Fighter Units. Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. ISBN 0-644-42795-7.
RAAF Historical Section (1995b). Volume 3 Bomber Units. Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. ISBN 0-644-42795-7.
Silverstone, Paul H. (1970). U.S. Warships of World War II. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co. ISBN 978-0711003071.