Battle of Bismarck Sea Battle of Bismarck Sea
On the evening of February 28th, a transport fleet consisting of eight transport ships and eight destroyers set sail from Rabaul for Laicheng. The Japanese navy and army aviation will provide them with maximum air cover, destroyers have been specially strengthened for air defense, and the seafarers on the transport ship are veterans who have carried out the battlefield transportation mission in Guadalcanal. They operate the anti-aircraft gun positions added by the transport ship, which will serve as the second line of defense against allied air strikes. The Japanese army mixed the transport ship and the destroyer to distribute the air defense firepower as evenly as possible. At the same time, they also plan to suppress air strikes on allied airports in Maultsby Port, milne bay, Buna and Wau. In fact, this plan was not realized, but Laicheng Airport was suppressed by the Royal Australian Air Force. The commander of the fleet, Rear Admiral Kimura Changfu, has great confidence in the success of the transportation operation: he has strong cover from the sea and the air, and the Japanese navy carrying out the task is a veteran who has been through many battles. At the same time, the weather is beautiful and the fleet is covered by bad weather, so it will not be too difficult to reach Laicheng safely.
General Commander of Japanese transport fleet: Rear Admiral Kimura Changfu
Commander of transport fleet: Hideyoshi Matsumoto
Escort destroyer fleet
The Arachida, Chaochao, Snow White and Tokitsukaze (all four ships were lost in the Battle of Bismarck Sea)
Chaoyun, Fubo, Pubo and Xuefeng (.
The transport fleet
Aiyomaru is 2,746 tons (* * * has 252 crew members, loaded with ammunition, supplies and fuel, and carries the 8th Ship Engineering Wing of simizu Lieutenant-General) Kembu Maru is 953 tons (loaded with fuel for aviation and vehicles)
Kyoku Seiki. 493 tons (loaded with heavy weapons such as infantry artillery, landing craft and oil, and equipped with nishikawa Shaozuo's 115th Infantry Wing)
6,493 tons of Oikawa Maru
3,793 tons of Shinai Maru
2,882 tons of Taimei Maru. )
Nojima )4,5 tons (noshima is 8,75 tons, which is loaded with heavy oil and supplies, etc.)
Taiming Maru
After it set sail from Rabaul, the fleet sailed southwest under the cover of night, under strong winds and showers. Under the dim sky, the huge waves caused by the strong wind made the fleet appear and disappear in the peaks and waves, and the torrential rain also made the visibility on the sea extremely low, which made the Japanese army feel at ease about their whereabouts. Unfortunately, on the morning of March 1st, a B-24 of the 321st Squadron of the 9th Bomber Brigade of the United States Army Airlines, which took off from Maultsby Port, found the trace of the Japanese fleet on the Bismarck Sea and immediately telegraphed the headquarters of Maultsby Port. However, the bad weather affected the tracking of the Japanese fleet by the reconnaissance plane dispatched later, and it was not until 8: 15' on March 2 that the position of the Japanese fleet was re-determined.
At this time, the position of the Japanese fleet was still outside the operational radius of the medium bomber, so General Kenny ordered the B-17 heavy bomber to dispatch. Two waves of 29 and 11 B-17s were bombed in the morning of the same day. By the afternoon of the same day, the Japanese transport ship Polar Star Maru was sunk, the transport ships Diyang Maru and Nojima were injured, and two Japanese fighters trying to cover the fleet were also shot down by B-17s. A B-17 was shot down by zero war, and the parachuting crew was immediately strafed by Japanese fighters.
about 1,5 people fell into the water. Japanese destroyers Xuefeng and Chaoyun picked up about 95 of them, and left the fleet first and sailed for Laicheng at full speed. These Japanese soldiers who fell into the water did not expect that their bad luck would save them from the subsequent disaster. Before dawn the next day, the two destroyers returned to the fleet at full speed after sending the drowning man to Laicheng.
from the night of March 2 to the early morning of March 3, the Japanese fleet continued to sail without being attacked. Only a PBY-5 "Katrina" seaplane of the 11th Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force, which took off from cairns, tracked them far away, occasionally harassed the fleet with its small size, and continued to send its position back to the headquarters until a B-17 of American Army Airlines took over its task on the morning of March 3. After crossing the vitiaz Strait between New Britain and Rock Island and entering the Solomon Sea, Rear Admiral Kimura made a fatal mistake: instead of sailing to Laicheng at full speed under the cover of darkness, he foolishly ordered the fleet to circle in the dark and delayed the estimated arrival time until the next night. On the morning of March 3, when the B-17 fleet returned, the Japanese transport fleet remained on the sea. Why did Rear Admiral Kimura make such a decision? The attack of B-17 in the daytime on March 2 made him feel the threat of allied land-based aviation, which was not serious in his view, but it was always an existing problem. The continuous tracking of allied aircraft also made him understand that the whereabouts of the fleet had been completely exposed; If we continue to sail to Laicheng, the fleet will arrive on the morning of March 3, and will have to face the powerful daytime air raid by the Allied forces on the port of Laicheng, and the Japanese aviation at Laicheng Airport is weak and cannot provide effective cover; Then, it may be a good choice to stay the fleet in the cover radius of the Japanese air force at Gasmata airport during the day, and then land in Laicheng on the night of March 3: the relatively powerful Japanese land-based air force in New Britain is enough to protect the fleet from the attack of the land-based air force of New Guinea allies during the day.
On the morning of March 3rd, several Beaufort torpedo attack planes of the 1th Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force, which took off from milne bay, found the traces of the Japanese fleet and launched an attack. Due to the bad weather, only three successfully approached the Japanese fleet and carried out attacks. Two Beaufort torpedo attack planes fired torpedoes at 6: 25' in the morning, but missed; The third plane attacked at 7 o'clock in the morning. Because the torpedo release mechanism of the Beaufort attack plane failed, the plane strafed the superstructure of a transport ship with airborne weapons, but only caused minor damage. Subsequently, the three planes immediately returned to milne bay to troubleshoot and refuel, ready to join the allied air force in a full-scale air raid on the Japanese fleet. At this time, the allied land-based aviation in the whole region mobilized. According to the operational arrangements already deployed by the 5th Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force, allied bombers, attack planes and fighter planes roared off at all allied airports from eastern New Guinea to northeastern Australia, heading for the planned Bismarck naval battle field. After taking off, the A-2 attack fleet of the Royal Australian Air Force turned to Laicheng to continue the task of suppressing the local Japanese airport. Many pilots who participated in the battle at that time recalled that after they took off, they saw "a huge fleet that New Guinea has never had since the war." In fact, the number of land-based aviation used in this air raid was the largest in the whole South Pacific at that time.
at 9: 3 in the morning, the first air raid fleet assembled over cape ward hunt. At 1 o'clock in the morning, 13 B-17s, escorted by 16 P-38s, bombed the Japanese fleet horizontally at medium and high altitude. Although the bombing did not cause any damage, the Japanese ships disrupted the fleet's air defense formation when they avoided falling at high altitude, creating opportunities for the subsequent attack aircraft to raid at low altitude. Almost at the same time, 13 Royal Australian Air Force "beaufighter" attack ships directly attacked the Japanese fleet from low altitude. The "beaufighter" attack ship is equipped with four 2mm cannons at the nose and six .33 machine guns on the wing, which is called "Whispering Death" by the Japanese. Followed by the B-25 fleet of the 5th Air Force, the two formations were so close that they crossed. Other allied planes surrounded the Japanese fleet and carried out centripetal attacks centering on the fleet from all directions. The anti-aircraft guns of the Japanese fleet aimed at the "beaufighter" fleet and fired fiercely. What was even more troublesome for the Australian pilots was that the P-38 fighter group escorting them overhead at this time threw off the auxiliary fuel tank and began to climb, preparing to engage with the Japanese fighters who were covering the fleet. These falling auxiliary fuel tanks banged up huge waves, which seriously hindered the sight of the pilots of the "beaufighter" fleet flying at low altitude. Fortunately, none of these Australian planes were hit by anti-aircraft fire, and all of them successfully broke through the anti-aircraft fire circle of the peripheral destroyers and rushed to the transport ship. Subsequently, the Australian military aircraft group climbed to the attack altitude, and then carried out a dive attack on their selected target transport ships. The intensive fire consisting of 2MM cannon and 6.33 machine guns swept the anti-aircraft gun position and superstructure of the transport ship, and a huge explosion occurred on the deck cargo hold of a transport ship on the spot, spraying large groups of orange fireballs. An observer aboard the "beaufighter" attack ship vividly described the scene at that time: "We quickly left the enemy destroyers behind, but they kept shooting at us with their own anti-aircraft guns of various calibers. The hiss of small-caliber rapid-fire guns and the Mao Mao of large-caliber anti-aircraft guns were endless, and we could see the fire line composed of tracer bullets radiating around our plane. A transport ship was brought into view of the plane. It was well camouflaged and had front and rear masts? . At first it looked vague, but as the plane approached at high speed, it became clearer and clearer. The huge vibration of the first machine gun firing is like thunder, which makes your feet numb. At the same time, you can clearly see that the fire line composed of machine gun tracer bullets is projected on the hull. After a short silence, orange fireballs suddenly spewed out from all over the hull. "
the fleet of "beaufighter" was followed by 12 B-25 heavy attack ships of the 9th attack squadron under the command of Major Edward Rana. Flying above them were 13 unmodified ordinary B-25 fleets, which carried out horizontal bombing at a height of 2, to 3, feet. It is estimated that Japanese observers confused "beaufighter" with the fleet of B-25 and the "Beaufort" torpedo attack aircraft that attacked earlier, and Japanese ships turned their bows and sailed straight in the direction of the attack fleet according to the standard action mode of avoiding torpedoes. This evasive method may be effective in avoiding torpedoes, but it made the allied attack pilots happy. In a flash, the storm composed of 1.5-inch machine guns fired by B-25 was swept straight from the bow to the stern. When the B-25 fired, the huge flame from the nose machine gun made many Japanese air defense gunners think that the nose of the B-25 was hit and burned, but their emplacements were immediately silenced by these "burning" planes. Moreover, the weapons of the B-25 are far more than these. With the opening of the bomb bay, 5 pounds fell and bounced on the surface of the water to the hull of the Japanese ship, which fully showed the achievements of the hard training of "ricochet attack" by the 5 th Air Force. A pilot of the "beaufighter" attack ship recalled an interesting scene, when his plane made a small formation with a 5-pound bouncing towards the same target on the water during a dive attack. B-25 threw 37 5-pound missiles, 17 of which hit the target. The 2 A-2 fleets of the 5th Air Force threw 2 5 pounds and hit 11. The high-altitude B-17 fleet reported 5 hits, but failed to verify. When the allied low-altitude attack fleet climbed again after throwing, only a pile of debris and debris were left on the passing sea, as well as several floating and burning ships.
at high altitude, the same fierce fighting broke out between the Japanese cover fighter group and the 28 P-38s of the allies. Lieutenant C.L. "Jack" Jones, the pilot of P-38 who shot down the Japanese ace pilot Satoshi Yoshino(yashino's flight warrant officer was confirmed to have won 15 aircraft before being shot down), recalled the scene at that time: "The special feature of the Battle of Bismarck Sea was that it was a ground battle in which the battle was fought at sea and the battle was won by air." P-38 of the 39th Flying Squadron to which I belong serves as the escort for the bomber group and the attack group. The intelligence department estimates that our opponents will be about 4 HNA Zero and about 6 Japanese Army Air Fighters covering the Japanese transport fleet. HNA Zero is responsible for air cover in the morning, while Luhang fighters will take over from them in the afternoon. " "On March 2, during the day, the weather was extremely bad, and we didn't have many chances to fight. Fortunately, under the cover of thick clouds, I found and quietly approached three Japanese Army Air Fighters with my team. I quickly deflected the nose by 9 degrees, and swept the long plane of the Japanese flight squad with a long shot. My bullets and shells hit the engine in front of the cockpit of this fighter. In the strong black smoke from the engine, the plane staggered and crashed in the jungle. The remaining two Japanese fighters quickly fled into the clouds and disappeared, which made us extremely disappointed. "
"March 3rd is a day I will never forget. The weather improved that day, and we fought all-out with Japan's Hainan Airlines. I still remember that Japanese ships were in a mess on the sea to avoid our low-altitude bomber group, and the burning Japanese ships braved thick black smoke. At high altitude, we fought fiercely. I aimed at a zero at 12 o'clock. When this zero tried to turn right in front of me to seize 6 o'clock, I smashed a large piece of its fuselage with a long shot. Maybe this shot hit the pilot or the flight control system, and it immediately plunged vertically, dragging a faint black smoke. My other comrades-in-arms are also fighting fiercely with Zero at this time. We completed the assigned task very well, so that the Japanese fighters were unable to attack our bomber group. "
the allies lost one B-17 and three P-38s in the air battle. After the wing fuel tank of the B-17 was ignited, Lieutenant Woodrow Moore tried his best to steer the plane away from the allied formation and dive down, throwing all of it into the sea. When the plane disintegrated due to continuous burning and explosion, 7 of the 11 crew members parachuted in time. However, these crew members hanging on parachutes were immediately strafed by Japanese fighter planes. There are different opinions about the number of Japanese soldiers who were shot down in the battle, ranging from 6 to 2, but according to the situation, 6 to 1 is a reasonable number. In the battle, the allies * * * had eight airmen.