Battle of Cape St. George

Battle of Cape St. George
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
File:AusburneSolomons1943.jpg U.S. destroyer Charles Ausburne operating in the Solomon Islands around 1943.
Date November 26, 1943 Location Near Buka Island, north of Bougainville Result U.S. victory
Belligerents
United States	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Arleigh Burke	Kiyoto Kagawa†
Strength
5 destroyers	5 destroyers
Casualties and losses
None	3 destroyers sunk, 647 killed

The Battle of Cape St. George was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on November 26, 1943 between Cape St. George, New Ireland and Buka Island (now part of the North Solomons Province in Papua New Guinea). It was the last engagement of surface ships in the Solomon Islands campaign.

Background

Americans had landed troops on Bougainville on November 1 1943. This posed a threat to the Japanese base on Buka Island to the west, and 900 Army troops were loaded on the destroyer transports Amagiri, Yugiri, Uzuki and sent together with the destroyers Onami, Makinami under the command of Captain Kiyoto Kagawa to reinforce the garrison.

The US Navy learned of the convoy and sent the five destroyers Charles Ausburne, Claxton , Dyson, Converse, and Spence under the command of Captain Arleigh Burke to intercept it.

Battle

The Japanese destroyers landed the 900 troops and supplies, embarked an equivalent number of Navy personnel (that the Army troops replaced), and were returning to Rabaul when at about 01:40 they were spotted on radar by the U.S. warships. Superior radar allowed the American ships to approach and launch their torpedoes at about 01:55 before the Japanese sighted them. Onami was hit by several torpedoes and sank immediately. Makinami was hit by one torpedo, disabled, and then sunk by gunfire. The transport destroyers fled in different directions; Burke pursued Yugiri and sank her about 03:30.

Aftermath

The battle marked the end of the Tokyo Express and the end of Japanese resistance in the Solomon Islands, and the success of Allied efforts to achieve superiority in night combat using radar. There were no more surface engagements in the Pacific War until the Marianas Islands campaign began with the invasion of Saipan in June 1944.

References

Books

• Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-914-X.
• D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 0-8159-5302-X.
• Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
• Hara, Tameichi (1961). Japanese Destroyer Captain. New York & Toronto: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-27894-1.
• Jones, Ken (1997). Destroyer Squadron 23: Combat Exploits of Arleigh Burke's Gallant Force. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-412-1. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Kilpatrick, C. W. (1987). Naval Night Battles of the Solomons. Exposition Press. ISBN 0-682-40333-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• McGee, William L. (2002). "Bougainville Campaign". The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville--Pacific War Turning Point, Volume 2 (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII). BMC Publications. ISBN 0-9701678-7-3. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Morison, Samuel Eliot (1958). Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, vol. 6 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Castle Books. ISBN 0-7858-1307-1. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Potter, E. B. (2005). Admiral Arleigh Burke. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-692-5. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Roscoe, Theodore (1953). United States Destroyer Operations in World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-726-7. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

• Parshall, Jon. "Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com)". Retrieved 2006-06-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Description by Vincent O'Hara
• Order of battle
• WW2DB: Solomons Campaign