Battle of Vella Gulf: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|Naval battle of the New Georgia campaign during World War II}}

| place = Near [[Kolombangara]] in the [[Solomon Islands]]

| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox New Georgia}}<br />{{Campaignbox South West Pacific theatre}}

The {{nihongo|'''Battle of Vella Gulf'''|ベラ湾夜戦|Berawan yasen}} was a [[naval battle]] of the [[Pacific War|Pacific campaign]] of [[World War II]] fought on the night of 6–7 August 1943 in [[Vella Gulf]] between [[Vella Lavella]] Island and [[Kolombangara]] Island in the [[Solomon Islands]] of the Southwestsouthwest Pacific.

This engagement was the first time that American destroyers were allowed to operate independently of the American cruiser force during the Pacific campaign. In the battle, six American destroyers engaged four Japanese destroyers attempting to reinforce Japanese troops on Kolombangara. The American warships closed the Japanese force undetected with the aid of radar and fired torpedoes, sinking three Japanese destroyers with no damage to American ships.

After their victory in the [[Battle of Kolombangara]] on 13 July 1943, the Japanese had established a powerful garrison of 12,400 around [[Vila, Solomon Islands|Vila]] on the southern tip of [[Kolombangara island]] in an attempt to block further [[Leapfrogging (strategy)|island hopping]] by the American forces, which had [[Guadalcanal campaign|taken Guadalcanal]] the previous year as part of [[Operation Cartwheel]].<ref>Morison pp. 190 & 225; Miller pp. 172 & 185.</ref> Vila was the principal port on Kolombangara, and it was supplied at night using fast destroyer transport runs the Americans called the "[[Tokyo Express]]". Three supply runs onruns—on 19 July, 29 July, and 1 August were successfullyAugust—were completed.<ref name=ohara/>

During the final run on 1 August, a force of 15 USU.S. [[PT boat]]s launched an unsuccessful attack, firing between 26 and 30 torpedoes. Four Japanese destroyers responded, and in the ensuing battle ''[[Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109|PT-109]]'', captained by Lieutenant [[John F. Kennedy]], later President of the United States, was rammed and sunk by {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Amagiri|1930|2}}.<ref name=ohara>{{cite web |url=http://www.microworks.net/pacific/battles/vella_gulf.htm |author=O'Hara, Vincent |title=Battle of Vella Gulf: August 6-7, 1943 |access-date=29 August 2017}}</ref><ref>Morison 1975, pp. 210–211.</ref> By 5 August, the Americans were driving towards the Japanese -held airfield at [[Munda, Solomon Islands|Munda]] on [[New Georgia|New Georgia Island]] just south of Kolombangara, and the Japanese decided to send a fourth transport run to Vila with reinforcements.<ref>Morison, pp. 205 & 210.</ref>

On the night of 6 August, the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] sent a force of four destroyers under Captain [[Kaju Sugiura]]——2 {{sclass|Kagero|destroyer|0}}: {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Hagikaze||2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer |Arashi||2}}, and 2 {{sclass|Shiratsuyu|destroyer|0}}: {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Kawakaze|1936|2}} of Sugiara's own Destroyer Division 4 and {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Shigure|1935|2}} of Captain [[Tameichi Hara]]'s Destroyer Division 27—carrying about 950 soldiers and their supplies.<ref>Stille p.57</ref> The Japanese airfield at [[Munda (Solomon Islands)|Munda]] on New Georgia, which the force at Vila was assigned to reinforce, was on the verge of being captured; it[[Battle wouldof Munda Point|it actually fallfell later that day]]. The Imperial Japanese commanders expected that Vila would become the center of their next line of defense. The Japanese operational plan specified the same approach route through Vella Gulf as the three previous successful transport runs over the objections of Hara, who argued that repeating prior operations was courting disaster.<ref>Hara p.174</ref>

The [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] Task Group 31.2 (TG&nbsp;31.2) of six [[destroyer]]s—{{USS|Dunlap|DD-384|6}}, {{USS|Craven|DD-382|2}}, {{USS|Maury|DD-401|2}}, {{USS|Lang|DD-399|2}}, {{USS|Sterett|DD-407|2}}, and {{USS|Stack|DD-406|2}}—commanded by Commander [[Frederick Moosbrugger]], having been forewarned of the Japanese operation, was dispatched to intercept the Japanese force.<ref name=Tucker783>Tucker, p. 783.</ref> The morale of Moosbrugger's crews was buoyed by the realization that at last they would be free of the combat doctrine that required them to stick close to the cruisers; on this night, they would be able to apply their own tactics.<ref>Morison pp. 212–213</ref>

The USU.S. ships made radar contact with the Japanese force at 23:33 on 6 August. Moosbrugger's battle plan divided his forces into two divisions. Moosbrugger's own Destroyer Division 12 (''Dunlap'', ''Craven'' and ''Maury''), whose ships retained their full pre-war torpedo batteries, was to launch a surprise torpedo attack out of the shadow of Kolombangara Island. Meanwhile, Commander Roger Simpson's Destroyer Division 15 (''Lang'', ''Sterett'' and ''Stack''), whose ships had exchanged some of their torpedo tubes for extra 40 &nbsp;mm guns,<ref name=ohara/> was to cover Moosburger's division from an overwatch position, turning to cross the enemy's course. The idea was that any attempt by the Japanese to turn into the first division's torpedo attack would expose their broadsides to torpedo attack from the second division.<ref>Stille pp.56–57</ref>

''Dunlap'', ''Craven'' and ''Maury'' fired a total of 24 torpedoes<ref>Morison p. 216.</ref> in the space of 63 seconds before turning to starboard and withdrawing at high speed, using the mountainous island to their east to help camouflage their movements. The Americans were operating on the assumption that the Japanese had nothing to match their new centrimetriccentimetric [[SG radar]]; they knew that their older meter band radars could not differentiate between the surface ships and the island and presumed Japanese radars were no better. In the event, none of the Japanese ships present actually had radar, and the looming mass of the island served to conceal the American ships from visual observation.<ref>Hara pp.176–177</ref> ''Lang'', ''Sterett'' and ''Stack'' turned to port to [[Crossing_the_TCrossing the T|cross their opponent's T]] and opened fire as soon as the torpedoes started detonating. All four Japanese destroyers were hit by American torpedoes. ''Hagikaze'', ''Arashi'', and ''Kawakaze'' burst into flames and either sank immediately or were quickly sunk by naval gunfire. The torpedo that hit ''Shigure'' was a dud that passed through her rudder without detonating, allowing her to escape into the darkness. ''Shigure'' fired eight torpedoes while it retreated from the scene, all of which missed their targets.<ref>Morison pp. 215–218.</ref>

Many of the Japanese soldiers and sailors left floating in the water after their ships sank refused rescue by American ships. A total of 1,210685 Japanese soldiers and sailors were lost,<ref>Hara, pp. 191–192</ref> mostly by drowning. Six hundred and eighty-five troops were lost. In addition, 356 mensailors were lost on ''Hagikaze'' and ''Arashi'' (178 on each), whileand 169 were lost on ''Kawakaze''.<ref>{{cite web |author=Nevitt, Allyn |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/kawaka_t.htm |title=IJN Kawakaze: Tabular Record of Movement |work=Combined Fleet |access-date=27 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Nevitt, Allyn |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/hagika_t.htm |title=IJN Hagikaze: Tabular Record of Movement |work=Combined Fleet |access-date=27 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920062114/http://combinedfleet.com/hagika_t.htm |archive-date=20 September 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Nevitt, Allyn |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/arashi_t.htm |title=IJN Arashi: Tabular Record of Movement |work=Combined Fleet |access-date=27 August 2017}}</ref> A small group of 300 survivors reached Vella Lavella.<ref>Miller p. 171.</ref> They were later transferred to Kolombangara Island. During this battle, not oneno U.S. ship was struck by so much as a single bullet or shell, with the only casualty being a crush injury to a gun loader caused by an accident.<ref>Morison p. 220.</ref> <!-- Moosbrugger's wise usage of radar and clever coordination of his forces resulted in the battle being nearly a "clean sweep" of Vella Gulf by the U.S. Navy.{{Cn|date=August 2017}}-->

The battle—coming less than one month after the night action at the Battle of Kolombangara—was the first time that the Japanese had been beaten in a night destroyer action.<ref name="Tucker783" /> <!-- It was also the first U.S. Navy victory in World War II in a torpedo duel.{{Cn|date=August 2017}} --> The six destroyers had accomplished what a squadron of 15 American PT boats could not shortly before: sink the Tokyo Express with torpedoes with no American or friendly navy losses. The Empire of Japan could no longer supply their garrison on Kolombangara Island, and the Allies bypassed it, landing instead on [[Battle of Vella Lavella (land)|Vella Lavella]] to the west on 15 August. The Japanese Army soon abandoned Kolombangara, completing their withdrawal by early October.<ref>Miller pp. 171–186.</ref>

The [[escort aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Vella Gulf|CVE-111}}, in [[Ship commissioning|commission]] from 1945 to 1946, and the {{sclass-|Ticonderoga|cruiser|0}} [[guided-missile cruiser]] {{USS|Vella Gulf|CG-72}}, in commission sincefrom 1993 to 2022, were named for this battle.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.public.navy.mil/surflant/cg72/Pages/Crest.aspx |title=USS Vella Gulf (CG 72): About the Ship's Coat of Arms |publisher=US Navy |access-date=29 August 2017 |archive-date=22 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122001126/https://www.public.navy.mil/surflant/cg72/Pages/Crest.aspx }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Commander |first1=Naval Surface Forces Atlantic |title=USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) Decommissioned |url=https://www.dvidshub.net/news/426589/uss-vella-gulf-cg-72-decommissioned |website=DVIDS Hub |access-date=5 August 2022 |date=4 August 2022}}</ref>

==ReferencesNotes==

===Bibliography= References ==

* {{cite book | last = Miller | first = John, Jr. | year = 1959 | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Rabaul/index.html | title = Cartwheel: The Reduction of Rabaul | series = United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific | publisher = [[Office of the Chief of Military History]], U.S. Department of the Army}}

*{{cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | author-link = Samuel Eliot Morison | orig-yeardate = 1958 | year = 1975 | title = Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier | volume = Vol. 6 | series = [[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]] | publisher = Castle Books | isbn = 0-7858-1307-1 | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780785813071 }}

*{{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer |title=World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia |volume= Volume 1 |year=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781598844573978-1-59884-457-3}}

*{{Cite bookjournal|author1-link=Thomas C. Hone | last = Hone | first = Thomas C. | year = 1981 | title = The Similarity of Past and Present Standoff Threats | periodical = Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute | publication-place = Annapolis, Maryland | issuevolume = Vol. 107,| No.issue = 9, September 1981 | pages = 113–116 | issn = 0041-798X}}

{{Commons|Battle of Vella Gulf}}

[[Category:Pacific Ocean theatretheater of World War II|Vella Gulf]]

[[Category:August 1943 events in Oceania]]