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Concept
Battle of Kolombangara
Summary
The Battle of Kolombangara (Japanese: コロンバンガラ島沖海戦) (also known as the Second Battle of Kula Gulf) was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of 12/13 July 1943, off the northeastern coast of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands. The battle took place during the early stages of the New Georgia campaign when an Imperial Japanese Navy force, carrying reinforcements south to Vila, Solomon Islands, was intercepted by a task force of U.S. and New Zealand light cruisers and destroyers. In the ensuing action, the Japanese sank one Allied destroyer and damaged three cruisers. They were also able to successfully land 1,200 ground troops on the western coast of Kolombangara but lost one light cruiser sunk in the process.
The Allied campaign in New Georgia had begun on 30 June 1943 as part of their advance through the central Solomon Islands towards Rabaul under the guise of Operation Cartwheel. In the initial phase of the operation, Rendova had been captured to provide a staging point for U.S. forces assigned to capture the Japanese airfield at Munda Point, which was one of the campaign's key objectives. On 2 July, troops of the U.S. 43rd Infantry Division landed on New Georgia to attack Munda, while three days later a battalion Marine Raiders and two U.S. Army battalions were landed at Rice Anchorage on New Georgia's northern shore to seize Bairoko.
In response to the Allied landings, the Japanese sought to reinforce New Georgia to shore up the southern flank to their base around Rabaul. On the night of 12 July a Japanese "Tokyo Express" naval reinforcement force made a run down "The Slot" from Rabaul to land troops at Vila on Kolombangara by way of the Kula Gulf. This force was commanded by Rear Admiral (少将 shōshō) Shunji Isaki and consisted of the light cruiser , the destroyers , , , and , as well as the destroyer transports , , , and . These four ships carried 1,200 ground troops which were to be landed on Kolombangara as part of efforts to reinforce area in response to the Allied landings in New Georgia.
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