Rabaul 1943–44

by Mark Lardas

  A pilot’s strip map showing the route from Bougainville to Rabaul. Centered on Torokina, but usable with Piva, this would have been carried by pilots in single-engine aircraft making the long flight over the St George’s Channel. (AC)

  To further isolate Rabaul, United States Navy aircraft hit Kavieng on December 25, 1943. Two Japanese minesweepers pictured are under attack by US Navy carrier planes. (Note the F6F Hellcat between the two transports.) (USNHHC)

  Boyington’s loss marked a change in the tempo of the air war over Rabaul. For three weeks, the primary focus had been on fighter duels. It was a period emphasizing the “ace race” – where individual performance by fighter pilots was tracked as if they were athletes in a sports competition. While Boyington remains the best known fighter ace, there were others in the race. Joe Foss had also racked up 26 kills around Guadalcanal in 1942. Marion Carl, flying at the same time as Boyington, was credited with 18½, most the previous year but two in December 1943 at Rabaul. Robert Hanson would be credited with 25 kills between November 1943 and February 1944. Foss, Boyington, and Hanson all received Medals of Honor for their performances.

  The fame and promotion accompanying a successful fighter record led to an overemphasis on individual performance. It led many to exaggerate and some to falsify their claims. There were genuine reasons to overclaim. In the heat of combat it was easy to mistake damaging an aircraft for destroying it. American pilots assumed that if the engine of a Japanese aircraft started smoking, it was going to crash. But low octane gasoline and poor engine maintenance often caused Japanese aircraft to smoke heavily even when the engine was undamaged. However, some pilots, including Hanson, almost certainly lied about kills. Many of his claimed kills occurred when he was alone, having shaken off his wingman – and occasionally exceeded the total number of Japanese losses on that day.

  Nor were the Allied pilots alone in exaggerating claims. For every false claim made by Allied pilots, Japanese pilots made ten. While Japanese pilots did not track individual scores, squadron scores were closely followed. Unit honor demanded their unit outperform rivals. Additionally when pilots were shot down, they would be credited with kills to honor their deaths.

  Yet despite the exaggerations, the Allied air offensive was wearing down Rabaul. One last fighter sweep was flown on January 5, when Lightnings and Corsairs mixed it up with 33 Zeroes. Two Zeroes and two P-38s were shot down. But the tempo of the air war over Rabaul was about to change once again. On January 6, the bomber strip at Piva became operational. Rabaul was now within range of Allied light and medium bombers. Another 250 combat aircraft could reach Rabaul: tactical bombers capable of saturating Rabaul’s airfields.

  Rabaul encircled: January 7–February 27, 1944

  When Torokina opened for business it began as a place to top off fuel tanks. Fighters staged from bases further south in the Solomons, and landed at Torokina to refuel before heading off to Rabaul. Once done they would land at Torokina to have enough fuel for the leg home. As time passed, more base facilities were added. By the last week of December pilots would fly up to Torokina in the evening, sleep in cots at newly built barracks, and fly off for Rabaul at dawn. By January the ground elements of the fighter squadrons using Torokina were relocating to Bougainville, and it was becoming a permanent home.

  The Piva bomber strip on Bougainville served as an emergency strip as early as December 19, 1943. This photo shows the first aircraft to use the strip, an SBD Dauntless, landing as the Seabees building it watch. It became operational on January 10, 1944. (USNHHC)

  Piva allowed light bombers, such as these TBF Avengers taxiing to take off for Rabaul, to reach the Gazelle Peninsula. Avengers and SBD dive bombers soon began making daily appearances over Rabaul. (AC)

  When Piva Uncle was declared operational on January 6, the same pattern was followed. Piva Uncle then had a runway, taxiways and revetments, fueling facilities – and not much else. Light and medium bombers (mostly light bombers, since B-25s could reach Rabaul from Munda) would launch at dawn from their bases, land at Piva, refuel, and continue their mission.

  The first such mission was flown January 7, 1944. SBDs left Munda for Rabaul, stopping at Piva. There they picked up an escort of Hellcats. The target was Tobera airfield, but it was socked in by rain. They hit the alternate: the Japanese radar station at Cape St George on the southern tip of New Ireland. Seventy Zeroes intercepted the flight. Three Hellcats and four SBDs were shot down. The radar station stayed on-line and the Japanese lost no fighters.

  The next mission, on January 9, proved more successful – and an indication of things to come. Sixteen TBFs and 24 SBDs hit Tobera. The Japanese response was ferocious. Despite this, the Dauntlesses systematically worked over the antiaircraft positions. Then, at medium altitudes, the Avengers dropped 2,000lb bombs on the paved runway. Although the Japanese were able to shoot down three escorting fighters and one SBD, Tobera was temporarily shut down by the raid. It was the first time any Rabaul airbase was shut down due to bomb damage, even if it was temporary.

  This was followed up on January 11 by another mission first: a low-level attack on Vunakanau by Army B-25s from the Solomons. Like the Fifth Air Force Mitchells, these airplanes had eight fixed forward-firing .50-caliber machine guns. The weather gods again favored Japan. Only half of the Mitchells found the target, but they damaged eight parked Japanese aircraft.

  Then on January 14, General Ralph Mitchell, who commanded Comairsols, sent his aircraft against Lakunai, Rabaul’s most heavily defended target. B-24s led off the attack, making a nighttime raid on the airfield on January 13/14. The day’s second raid was made by B-25s, which attacked targets on New Ireland. Then 16 TBFs and 36 SBDs battled their way to Lakunai. They had company from the time they neared New Ireland until they reached the target and back down the St George’s Channel. The Japanese had sent up 84 fighters. They had previously met the B-25s over New Ireland, and followed the Dauntlesses and Avengers up the St George’s Channel.

  The Narato Maru, displacing 7,150 tons, was an early victim of Piva-based bombers. It was beached to prevent it from sinking after it had been bombed in Keravia Bay during a January raid mounted from Piva. (AC)

  By the end of February Comairsols bombardment had cratered the paved portions of all four airfields with improved surfaces. The runways at Rapopo (shown here) and Tobera were so badly damaged that these two fields were abandoned. (AC)

  The bombers were well-guarded by fighter cover. RNZAF Kittyhawks flew close cover, while P-38s and F4Us gave top cover. As long as the formation held tight, the Japanese failed to press the attack against the bombers, although they fenced with the escort. Two bombers were lost before reaching Lakunai; one to a mid-air collision and one to antiaircraft fire. When the Allied aircraft finally arrived, clouds shielded Lakunai. The bombers switched to ships in Simpson Harbor. The Avengers carried 2,000lb bombs, limiting their effectiveness. Regardless, they landed hits on the 15,400-ton-displacement oiler Naruto, and the destroyer Matsukaze. Naruto was beached and later refloated. Five other ships were damaged. In addition to the two bombers lost, four fighters were shot down. The Japanese lost three.

  Comairsols revisited Simpson Harbor and Blanche Bay three days later, on January 17. This time shipping was the primary target. At least five ships were sunk for a total of 30,000 tons: Komaki Maru, Kosei Maru, Yamayuri Maru, Hakkai Maru, and Iwate Maru. One ship had ten aircraft for the garrison aboard which had not been unloaded and were lost.

  The attack was costly. Twelve Comairsols airplanes were lost: eight P-38s and an F6F, an F4U, a TBF and an SBD. Two B-25s and three Corsairs were lost two days later attacking Vunakanau. The price was worth it, however. Rabaul was beginning to cost the Japanese too much shipping. While the Imperial High Command was willing to absorb those losses for a while, they could not afford that rate of attrition for long.

  Things got worse for the Japanese in the final ten days of January. The weather improved on January 21, providing a long period of clear weather.
The Dauntless and Avenger squadrons had also transferred to Piva. Staging from the bases in the southern Solomons meant that raids over Rabaul predictably arrived at noon. Flying out of Piva gave a much wider arrival window, forcing Japanese fighters to remain airborne longer. Mitchell sent his aircraft over almost daily, sometimes mounting two or three different raids on the same day. American losses were brutal. Between January 23 and January 30, 23 planes were shot down. Japanese losses were worse. Over the same period they reported 37 aircraft downed. Thirteen were lost on January 23 alone.

  By late January, Rabaul was running out of aircraft. Standard levels of replacements failed to maintain air group strength. On January 25 Admiral Koga ordered the 2nd Carrier Division to Rabaul. Made up of the air groups of three aircraft carriers at Truk, Junyo, Hiyo, and Rhuyo, this force added 62 Zeroes, 18 D3A Vals, and 18 B5N Kates. All but 20 of the remaining Zeroes, and a handful of the other aircraft of the Sixth Air Attack Force, then at Rabaul, were withdrawn to Truk, along with all but 40 pilots. The withdrawn survivors were allowed to recuperate or sent to training squadrons as instructors.

  While this brought a respite for the relieved pilots, for the pilots sent to or retained at Rabaul the tempo was increasing. Between January 25 and January 31, Comairsols conducted daily raids against targets in the Gazelle Peninsula, again conducting two or three separate attacks in one day. They mixed up the targets. One day they would hit shipping in Blanche Bay and Simpson Harbor. The next day they would hit one or more airfields. Then they would attack targets in Rabaul city.

  Nor were they making a single type of attack. During that period Tobera was hit by dive bombers, then high-altitude B-24s, followed by B-25s strafing or dropping bombs between 1,000ft and 5,000ft. Lakunai and Vunakanau were hit by daylight attacks at high, medium, and low altitudes, followed up by night bombings by B-24s. These would drop flares, both to illuminate the target and to keep the pilots and ground crew awake, and deprived of sleep.

  The attacks were just as relentless in the first week of February. Weather compelled a two-day break at the beginning of the month, but Allied air forces returned on February 3. By February 7, nine separate airstrikes had been made, three each on Lakunai, Vunakanau, and Tobera.

  These were sizable raids. On January 26, nearly 100 fighters and over 50 SBDs attacked Lakunai, targeting its antiaircraft guns. On January 28, nearly 200 aircraft hit multiple targets. On January 29, 100 aircraft were sent against Tobera. On February 6, 80 bombers and 110 fighters were sent against Lakunai. Only night attacks were smaller. They numbered between one and 20 aircraft.

  The attacks quickly wore down Rabaul’s air garrison. The Japanese met each raid by scrambling 35–85 fighters, often supplementing the fighters with D4Y1s to drop phosphorus bombs on Allied formations. Yet these aircraft were finding an environment simply too saturated with enemy aircraft. Allied bomber formations were protected by such large numbers of escorts, the Japanese fighters could not stop the bombers from reaching their targets. While the Japanese did succeed in shooting down Allied fighters during each mission, their losses in the air equaled or exceeded the number of aircraft they managed to down.

  Nor were Japanese aircraft losses limited to aerial combat. The airfield raids were destroying aircraft on the ground. Not in the wholesale numbers of the October raids – too few Japanese aircraft were left for that. Yet each raid managed to destroy or disable between four and 20 aircraft on the ground. After two weeks of intensive bombing Japanese ground losses were approaching triple digits. Additionally, damage was not confined to aircraft. Each raid destroyed hangers, maintenance shops, and barracks. This reduced the ability of the Japanese to repair damaged aircraft or maintain undamaged fighters. A Reisen lost because its engine had quit due to bad spark plugs was just as gone as one lost to a Corsair’s bullets.

  The ability to defend an airbase was also reduced by every crater a 2,000lb bomb left on a runway. The Japanese still had plenty of POW laborers to level the runway and fill in the bomb craters. But the paved surfaces were being replaced with crushed coral which left soft spots after the frequent tropical rains. Operational accidents increased as a result.

  Dive bombing also proved hellishly effective against aerodrome antiaircraft positions. The hits only occasionally destroyed a gun. Bombing destroyed only one-quarter of the antiaircraft artillery on Rabaul. The attacks proved deadly to their crews, however. After being bombed several times the survivors became more interested in reaching cover than hitting enemy aircraft.

  Marine PBJ Mitchells headed towards Rabaul fly over the invasion convoy on course to invade the Green Islands, the day before the February 15 landing. (LOC)

  Aircraft losses could be replaced only with difficulty. The 2nd Carrier Division represented Japan’s last available air reserves. Ironically, the Japanese had nearly 150 replacement aircraft at Truk in late January and early February. Shipped from Japan in crates, they required assembly at Truk before they could be sent to Rabaul. But there were too few aircraft mechanics at Truk to assemble the crated aircraft quickly enough to replace losses.

  The Allies could replace their losses. They could also reinforce what totals they did have. The second week of February saw yet another uptick in Allied activity with an increase in the number of attacks and the number of aircraft committed to each attack. On February 10, the Allies filled the air over the Gazelle Peninsula with 275 aircraft – nearly twice the strength of the Japanese air garrison.

  After February 12, Mitchell began adding P-39s to the mix escorting bombers. The Airacobra, slow and unmaneuverable, was outclassed by the Zero. But it carried a 37mm cannon which worked magnificently strafing ground targets. By mid-February the Zero posed so little threat that including the P-39 improved Allied capabilities without risking disproportionate losses.

  Bad as things were for Japan by the second week of February, things got still worse during the third week. On February 15, the Allies invaded the Green Islands, a small atoll east of New Ireland. Reconnaissance flights made in late January revealed that the islands were virtually undefended by the Japanese, and possessed terrain capable of holding an airfield. They were only 115 miles from Rabaul. An invasion force was hastily assembled and on February 15, two brigades from the 3rd New Zealand Division were landed.

  Kusaka attempted to break up the landing by attacking the invasion fleet the night before it took place. He sent 32 D3As and B5Ns to bomb the fleet. Twelve bombers were shot down on February 14, and 15 more lost when unescorted D3As ran into fighter cover over the fleet on the next day. Japanese resistance was quickly overcome – there were fewer than 150 soldiers in the garrison, and the Kiwis had 5,800. The Seabees moved in and built an airfield on Nissan Island. By March 16, aircraft from Nissan were bombing Kavieng.

  Then on February 16 and 17 Truk was hit by a massive airstrike launched by US Navy aircraft carriers. Operation Hailstone saw Truk worked over by the aircraft of five fleet carriers and five light carriers. The attack temporarily closed down Truk as a conduit of supplies to Rabaul.

  Finally, to add insult to injury, after sunset on February 17 five US Navy destroyers bombarded Rabaul. The bombardment went on until after midnight on February 18. Using rain squalls for cover and radar-guided gunfire, the destroyers dropped 3,868 5in artillery rounds into Rabaul city over Crater Peninsula. They then retired south, firing 15 torpedoes at shipping in Blanche Bay as they passed. The torpedo attack did relatively little damage, but indicated the deterioration of Japanese air power around Rabaul. US Navy destroyers would make two more such attacks before February ended, with the Japanese powerless to stop them. The biggest hazard these destroyers would face was friendly aircraft. Returning from the third raid they were attacked by overeager Allied aircraft, thrilled at a rare opportunity to attack a naval target at sea. Fortunately, the attackers were out of practice, and missed.

  Attack from above

  On February 10, 1944, 59 Dauntless dive bombers and 24 Avengers, escorted by 99 fighters, pasted Vunakanau
airfield. The fighter escort prevented Japanese interference with the bombers. The Avengers dropped bombs on the runway and facilities, while the Dauntlesses methodically took out the antiaircraft batteries.

  There are few things more terrifying than being dive-bombed, especially when you know – as the crews of the antiaircraft guns knew – the dive bomber is aiming at you. The airplane heads straight for you. You watch it swell in size as it approaches the drop point. You cannot tell whether the bomb is going to hit or miss, because even if it does miss the geometry makes it appear it is heading right at you. Making things worse, a dive bomber is a difficult target to hit. It comes straight at you, offering just a narrow head-on target: the width of its wings and the diameter of its fuselage is all that is visible. If you do hit it, the wreck is likely to land on or near you.

  Paradoxically, a large antiaircraft gun is even less likely to hit a dive bomber than a smaller-caliber antiaircraft gun. The large gun does not aim directly at an airplane. It aims at a spot in the sky where it expects the airplane to be. The shell is fused to fire at a specific altitude. This works well with level bombers, but the altitude of a dive bomber is constantly changing until it hits the drop point. Guess wrong, and the shell harmlessly bursts above or below the target. And on this day, there were more dive bombers than there were antiaircraft guns – nearly twice as many bombers as gun positions.

  All the targeted crew could do was fire as fast as they could and hope the shells were fused properly. On several occasions antiaircraft crews broke under the strain.

  Having achieved air superiority, the Allies turned to Rabaul city. These Maine PBJs are over the Crater Peninsula heading to Rabaul. Flak is still heavy, indicating that this photo was taken at the beginning of this phase. (USNHHC)