Battle of Blackett Strait

The Battle of Blackett Strait (Japanese: ビラ・スタンモーア夜戦 (Battle of Vila–Stanmore)) was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on 6 March 1943 in the Blackett Strait, between Kolombangara and Arundel Island in the Solomon Islands. The battle was a chance encounter between two Japanese destroyers that had been undertaking a resupply run to Vila and a U.S. Navy force of three light cruisers and three destroyers that had been tasked with bombarding the Japanese shore facilities around Vila. The two forces clashed as the Japanese destroyers were withdrawing through the Kula Gulf. In the short battle that followed the two Japanese destroyers were sunk after which the U.S. ships completed their bombardment of Vila before returning to their base.

Background

After the American victory in the Guadalcanal campaign in early 1943, operations in the Solomon Islands shifted to the west, where the Japanese maintained a substantial garrison on Kolombangara. Airbases had been established at Munda, on the western coast of New Georgia, and at Vila on the southern coast of Kolombangara. Allied efforts to reduce these airbases initially focused on air strikes, but later included naval bombardment in preparation for a ground campaign to capture New Georgia that would eventually commence in late June and early July 1943. Meanwhile, the Japanese continued to build up these bases as part of their efforts to reinforce the southern defenses to their main base around Rabaul.

On the night of 5 March 1943, the Japanese destroyers and took supplies to the Japanese base at Vila, on Kolombangara. Together, these ships formed part of the 2nd Fleet's Destroyer Squadron 4, which was under the command of Captain Masao Tachibana. Their passage to Vila was undertaken through the Vella Gulf and Blackett Strait, while they decided to return to the Shortland Islands via the shorter route through the Kula Gulf.

Order of Battle

Battle

As the Japanese ships withdrew through the Kula Gulf after landing their cargo, they encountered Task Force 68 (TF 68), consisting of three light cruisers (, , and ) and three destroyers (, , and ) commanded by Rear Admiral Aaron S. Merrill. This force was en route to commence bombarding Japanese positions at Vila. Two submarines, '' Grayback'' and ''Grampus'', had been assigned to support Merrill's force, and were stationed along likely Japanese withdrawal routes out of the Kula Gulf. Merrill's attack on Vila was timed to coincide with another attack on Munda by four destroyers under Captain Robert Briscoe.

In a short battle, both Japanese destroyers were sunk. The U.S. force was proceeding in a southwesterly direction about off the New Georgia coast, cruising at about . Meanwhile, the Japanese ships were sailing in the opposite direction along the east coast of Kolombangara, northeast from Sasamboki Island, roughly offshore from Stanmore. First contact was established by the U.S. radar operators around 00:57 on 6 March and firing commenced at 01:01. The U.S. cruisers engaged to starboard with their 6-inch guns at a range of around . Radar controlled gunnery was in its infancy as a technique and there was a tendency for the initial barrage to fall on the same, usually nearest, target. In earlier naval battles in the Pacific, this tactical deficiency had allowed the Japanese to successfully engage attacking U.S. ships with torpedoes and had resulted in several losses for U.S. forces previously.

In this case, the entire opening salvo straddled ''Murasame''. As ''Minegumo''s captain began passing orders to his crew, ''Murasame'' was hit by the sixth salvo of American gunfire, which was followed shortly afterwards by a salvo of five torpedoes that had been fired by the destroyer ''Waller''. At around 01:15, one of these torpedoes hit ''Murasame'', which exploded, caught fire and eventually sank. The explosion was reportedly heard by Briscoe's force about away around Munda. The U.S. cruisers then rapidly shifted target, doing so before ''Minegumo'' could release any torpedoes.

Meanwhile, ''Minegumo'' attempted to return fire, aiming for the flashes of the U.S. gun batteries off their starboard bow. After a few minutes, though, the second Japanese destroyer was also hit and began sinking in short order. As the surviving Japanese crew abandoned ship, firing ceased at 01:14. After the engagement, the U.S. vessels completed a turn to starboard when they were roughly due east of the Blackett Strait and north of Tunguirili Point. At 01:24, they commenced a northerly bombardment run off the Kolombangara coast, having been delayed by only 16 minutes. Under the direction of a reconnaissance aircraft flying overhead, the U.S. gunners targeted "supply dumps, runways, bivouacs and dispersed aircraft", according to Samuel Morison. The bombardment was reportedly very destructive and accurate. Several Japanese shore batteries responded, firing on the bombarding ships, but were knocked out quickly with counter battery fire. After completing their task at 01:40, Merrill's force withdrew through the New Georgia Sound

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