Battle of the Bismarck Sea order of battle explained

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

Rear Admiral Masatomi Kimura

TransportsCaptain Kamataro Matsumoto

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

Embarked units

Army

Eighteenth Army Headquarters

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

Yokosuka 3rd Naval Air Defence Unit

Yokosuka 5th Special Naval Landing Party

Maizuru 2nd Special Naval Landing Party

ScreenRear Admiral Kimura

8 destroyers

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

(Commander Masayoshi Motokura)

(Commander Ryokichi Sugama)

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

(Commander Hideo Kuboki)

(Commander Goro Yoshii)

(Commander Toru Iwahashi)

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

(Lt. Commander Akifumi Kawahashi)

(Commander Rokuro Sugawara)

(Lt. Commander Chikara Hagio)

Air units

Navy

11th Air Fleet / Southeast Area Fleet

Zuihō Fighter Group (Kavieng)

Army

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)^[1]

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

Turnbull Field: Lockheed Hudson

No. 22 Squadron RAAF (Wing Commander Keith Hampshire)

Wards Airfield: A-20 Boston

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

Wards Airfield: Bristol Beaufighter

No. 71 Wing RAAF (Wing Commander Ian McLachlan)^[2]

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

Gurney Airfield: P-40 Kittyhawk

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

Gurney Airfield: Bristol Beaufort

USAAF

35th Fighter Group (Colonel Richard A. Legg)

39th Fighter Squadron (Captain T. J. Lynch)

Schwimmer Airfield: P-38 Lightning

40th Fighter Squadron (Captain Malcolm A. Moore)

Rogers Airfield: P-39 Airacobra

49th Fighter Group (Lieutenant Colonel R. L. Morrissey)

7th Fighter Squadron (Major William P. Martin)

Durand Airfield: P-40 Warhawk

8th Fighter Squadron (Major Mitchell E. Sims)

Kila Airfield: P-40 Warhawk

9th Fighter Squadron (Captain Jesse C. Peaslee)

Schwimmer Airfield: P-38 Lightning

3rd Attack Group (Lieutenant Colonel R. F. Strickland)

13th Attack Squadron (Major Harold V. Maull)

Schwimmer Airfield: B-25 Mitchell

89th Attack Squadron (Major Glen W. Clark)

Kila Airfield: A-20 Havoc

90th Attack Squadron (Major Edward L. Larner)^[3]

Durand Airfield: B-25 Mitchell

38th Bombardment Group (Colonel Fay R. Upthegrove)

71st Bombardment Squadron (Major Eugene P. Mussett)

Durand Airfield: B-25 Mitchell

405th Bombardment Squadron (Lieutenant Colonel Millard Lewis)

Durand Airfield: B-25 Mitchell

43rd Bombardment Group (Colonel Roger M. Ramey)

63rd Bombardment Squadron (Major Edward W. Scott)

Jacksons Airfield: B-17 Flying Fortress

64th Bombardment Squadron (Major Kenneth D. McCullar)

Jacksons Airfield: B-17 Flying Fortress

65th Bombardment Squadron (Major Harray J. Hawthorne)

Jacksons Airfield: B-17 Flying Fortress

403rd Bombardment Squadron (Major Jay P. Reusek)

Mareeba Airfield: B-17 Flying Fortress

90th Bombardment Group (Colonel Ralph E. Koon)

319th Bombardment Squadron (Captain Charles E. Jones)^[4]

Jacksons Airfield: B-24 Liberator

320th Bombardment Squadron (Major Roy L. Taylor)^[5]

Jacksons Airfield: B-24 Liberator

321st Bombardment Squadron (Major Cecil L. Faulkner)^[6]

Jacksons Airfield: B-24 Liberator

400th Bombardment Squadron (Major Harry J. Bullis)

Jacksons Airfield: B-24 Liberator

8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron (1st Lieutenant F. S. Savage)^[7]

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

Motor Torpedo Boat Striking Force

Lieutenant Commander Barry K. Atkins

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)

Bibliography

Book: Ikuhiko Hata

. Hata . Ikuhiko . Ikuhiko Hata . Yasuho . Izawa . Christopher . Shores . 2011 . Japanese Naval Air Force Fighter Units and Their Aces 1932–1945 . Grub Street . London . 9781906502843.

Book: Ikuhiko Hata

. Hata . Ikuhiko . Ikuhiko Hata . Yasuho . Izawa . Christopher . Shores . 2012 . Japanese Army Fighter Aces 1931–45 . Stackpole Books . Mechanicsburg, PA . 978-0-8117-1076-3.

Book: McAulay , Lex . 1991 . Battle of the Bismarck Sea . St Martins Press . . 0-312-05820-9 . 23082610.
Book: Morison , Samuel Eliot . Samuel Eliot Morison

. Samuel Eliot Morison . 1950 . Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier . VI . . . . 0-7858-1307-1 . 10310299 . registration .

Book: RAAF Historical Section . Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History . Volume 2 Fighter Units . Australian Government Publishing Service . Canberra . 1995a . 0-644-42795-7.
Book: RAAF Historical Section . Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History . Volume 3 Bomber Units . Australian Government Publishing Service . Canberra . 1995b . 0-644-42795-7.
Book: Silverstone , Paul H. . U.S. Warships of World War II . Doubleday & Co. . Garden City, NY . 1970 . 978-0711003071.

Notes and References

Web site: Group Captain Blake Raymond Pelly . Australian War Memorial . 20 November 2011.
Web site: Air Vice Marshal Ian Dougald McLachlan . Australian War Memorial . 20 November 2011.
Web site: 90 Fighter Squadron (PACAF) . 20 November 2011 . Air Force Historical Agency . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213609/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=10541 . 3 March 2016 .
Web site: 319 Missile Squadron (AFGSC) . 20 November 2011 . Air Force Historical Agency . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232518/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=11963 . 3 March 2016 .
Web site: 320 Missile Squadron (AFGSC) . 20 November 2011 . Air Force Historical Agency . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303195657/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=11965 . 3 March 2016 .
Web site: 321 Missile Squadron (AFGSC) . 20 November 2011 . Air Force Historical Agency . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160611080550/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=11966 . 11 June 2016 .
Web site: 8 Flying Training Squadron . 20 November 2011 . Air Force Historical Agency . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111003123404/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=9766 . 3 October 2011 .