Air Strikes on Rabaul
2–11 November 1943
Attack on Japanese ships in Simpson Harbor, Rabaul, by aircraft of the USAAF 3rd Bomb Group, 2 November 1943. The heavy cruiser Haguro is partially visible at left, with what appears to be the submarine tender Chogei or Jingei beyond. The burning transport in the left center appears to be one of the Hakone Maru class (NH 95559).
Two officers assigned to Special Devices Division, Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, building a relief map of Rabaul's Simpson Harbor for familiarizing naval aviators, 1943 (80-G-K-15348).
Japanese ships under carrier plane attack in Simpson Harbor, Rabaul, 5 November 1943. Cruiser with big fire aft is Maya (left center). Several other cruisers are among the ships heading for sea, to the right. View looks north, with Rabaul town at top center and Lakunai airfield in top right. Photographed from a Saratoga (CV-3) aircraft (80-G-89098).
Japanese heavy cruiser Chikuma photographed from a Saratoga (CV-3) SBD Dauntless scout bomber's gun camera during the raid on Rabaul, 5 November 1943 (80-G-89107).
Commander Joseph C. Clifton, USN, commander of Saratoga’s fighter group, passes out cigars in celebration of the successful air attack on Rabaul, 5 November 1943 (80-G-417635).
Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., Commander, South Pacific Force (center), enjoys a joke with Commander Clifton (right) at a party given for Saratoga officers at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, following the 5 November 1943 Rabaul raid (80-G-44089).
A closer view of the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro during the USAAF 3rd Bomb Group attack on Simpson Harbor, Rabaul, on 2 November 1943, Haguro had been somewhat damaged the previous night during the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay (NH 95558).
Dawn on USS Saratoga’s (CV-3) flight deck, during preparations for the air strike on Rabaul, 5 November 1943 (80-G-470943).
Aircraft from Saratoga (CV-3) and Princeton (CVL-23) hit shipping at Rabaul, including several cruisers, 5 November 1943. One cruiser, at right center, has been hit. This view is looking west, taken from a Saratoga aircraft. Japanese cruisers and destroyers are standing out of Simpson Harbor into Blanche Bay. Note the antiaircraft fire (80-G-89104).
Medical corpsmen and plane handlers remove casualties from the Saratoga (CV-3) air group commander's TBF Avenger torpedo bomber, just after it landed after being shot up over Rabaul, 5 November 1943 (80-G-44087).
Onboard Saratoga (CV-3), Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman (with cap at center), task force commander, gets good news from Commander Clifton (right) on the 5 November 1943 Rabaul raid. Clifton's fighters escorted the strike, in which 24 Japanese planes were shot down (80-G-44090).
During the 11 November 1943 carrier strike on Rabaul, a Japanese bomber explodes on the water just astern of Essex (CV-9), after being shot down by anti-aircraft fire. USS Independence (CVL-22) is in the right background (80-G-206615).
Published: Fri May 10 11:38:00 EDT 2019
