JAPANESE SHIPS AT KAWIENG

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23915, 6 April 1943, Page 5

JAPANESE SHIPS AT KAWIENG

“All Destroyed Or Dispersed” MORE WARSHIPS HIT (Special Australian Corresp.. N.Z.P.A.) (Rec. 10.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, April 5 The Japanese naval and merchant shipping concentration at Kawieng, In New Ireland, has been either destroyed or dispersed. General MacArthur’s latest communique tells the story of the three-day attack In which seven enemy warships and five merchantmen were sunk or heavily damaged. Specially selected Fortress crews used the new secret battle technique against the enemy ships gathered at the northern end of New Ireland. This victory by strictly limited Fortress fleets (a grand total of only 26 aeroplanes being employed) ranks with the Bismarck Sea battle as one of the greatest air feats of the war.

Only to-day did General MacArthur’s spokesman reveal that the three-day action was a carefully planned battle, and not merely a succession of followup blows on a chance target. Every pilot was a veteran specially chosen for the job. No more striking indication of the success obtained could be given than by the official "box score” which was released to-day. This analysis of the battle reads:

Warships: Saturday A heavy cruiser, four direct hits, sinking; a light cruiser, four direct hits, sunk; a destroyer, two direct hits, sinking; two destroyers, direct hits, both damaged; two warships bombed with unobserved results. Sunday.—A light cruiser or heavy destroyer, one direct hit, damaged; a destroyer, direct hit, damaged; a destroyer bombed with unobserved results.

Cargo ships;-—Friday—A 10,000-ton ship, two hits, damaged; a 6000-ton ship, straddled, sinking. Saturday—A 6000-ton ship, direct hits, damaged. Sunday—A 7000 to 8000-ton ship, bombed with unobserved results; a 6000 to 8000-ton ship, hit and damaged; a 5000 to 6000-ton ship, direct hits, damaged. Over the three days, 10 warships and six merchantmen were sunk, damaged, or bombed with unobserved results.

The official story of the attacks indicated that the Japanese “scarcely knew what hit them.” For three days the Allied pilots contrived to continue the element of surprise, and on the first day they caught the dispersed enemy ships absolutely off their guard. Not a bomb was wasted.

Several of the 26 bombers employed were engaged, not against enemy shipping, but in neutralising the Kawieng aerodrome. Nevertheless, on the second day of the battle, a total force of fewer than 12 aeroplanes put up the amazing performance of scoring 11 direct hits with 5001b bombs in addition to two damaging near misses and two “straddlers."

Account in Communique The portion of to-day’s communique from General MacArthur’s Headquarters dealing with the battle is:— New Ireland.—At Kawieng, striking again before dawn, our heavy units executed co-ordinated low-level bombing attacks on enemy shipping, scoring direct hits with heavy bombs on three, possibly four, vessels. A light cruiser or destroyer was hit with a 5001b bomb on the foredeck, resulting in an explosion followed by clouds of black smoke. A direct hit from mast height exploded on the bow of a destroyer, while a bomb which overshot possibly hit an 8000-ton cargo vessel anchored close by. A 6000-ton merchant ship received a direct hit amidships, followed by a large explosion. Bombs were dropped on another destroyer and on what was pTobably a submarine tender, but darkness and searchlight glare prevented observation of the results. Simultaneously, the aerodrome was effectively bombed and neutralised. There was no attempt at interception and all our aircraft returned.

The enemy’s naval concentration at Kawieng has now been completely destroyed or dispersed, and the Kawieng battle, which commenced on Friday and extended through Saturday and Sunday, can be regarded as completed. In the engagement seven enemy warships of cruiser or destroyer type, and five merchant vessels aggregating 36,000 tons, were either sunk or heavily damaged. Three additional enemy destroyers and one 8000-ton merchant ship were attacked and possibly damaged, but accurate observation of results was not obtained. Our own losses were limited entirely to damage to aeroplanes, all of which returned to their base.

Our force consisted of 10 heavy bombers in the first attack, and eight in the succeeding two. Each strike involved a flight of 1100 miles. Factors contributing to this decisive victory were the special battle technique developed for this attack, the neutralisation of enemy airfields, the utilisation of darkness as a screen, and the accomplishment of the initial surprise effect obtained by the extraordinary extension of our bomber range of attack.

“Skip*' Bombing The Flying Fortresses, lighting up their targets with flares, made many of their attacking runs at "wave-top” height. The first raid, which lasted for 30 minutes, was perhaps the most successful exploitation yet of the "skip” bombing tactics formulated and developed in this command area, by which bombs are skipped from, a low level into the hulls of ships, holing them at the waterline. Some of the Fortresses were damaged by anti-aircraft fire from the warships, but all returned to their base safely. No member of the crews was injured. The warships manoeuvred violently in unsuccessful efforts to avoid the attacks. Captain Fred Wesche, of New Jersey, who sank a destroyer in a singlehanded attack off Finschhafen a few days ago, got home the first direct hit which started a fire on the heavy cruiser. Japanese sailors were seen scurrying along the decks and making frantic efforts to put out the flames. Succeeding attackers scored other direct hits. One of the 5001b bombs must have penetrated the powder magazine, because the ship blew up with a terrific explosion. The light cruiser sank within a few minutes of four direct hits by “skip” bombing. Lieutenant William Humriehouse, who sank the heavy destroyer with two direct hits, flew so low that his aeroplane nearly collided with a mast as the warship zig-zagged wildly to escape the bombs which were throwing up huge waterspouts round it. “I made a head-on attack, and at one stage it appeared as if a collision was inevitable,” the pilot said. “The Japanese must have got a fright. He twisted away when I was almost on lop of him. There were only a few feet between me and the masthead when I dropped my bombs.” “That his losses will stir the enemy to yet greater efforts to recover fighter supremacy on the New Guinea coasts is not to be doubted,” says the “Sydney Morning Herald” in a leading article to-day. “For the rebuffs he has suffered are a challenge to his hold in this area. The truth should by now be appreciated in Washington that the United States has committed its arms so deeply here that it cannot afford to deny reinforcement in support of what those arms have already achieved.”

American Anti-tank Weapon.— American troops in Britain are confident that their simple but deadly secret weapon, nicknamed “Bazooka” and costing only 10s, is going to give German panzer crews bad headaches. The bazooka is a rocket-launcher. It consists of a plain metal cylinder and weighs only a few pounds. It can be easily carried. Its missile is so destructive that it can penetrate a tank’s armour and make casualties of the crew. The bazooka has been used in North Africa with pronounced success because of the ease with which it is operated.—London, April 4