A series of raids on Deboyne were conducted by Allied forces against the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

seaplane base in the Deboyne Islands of the

Louisiade Archipelago The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs, and 90 smaller coral islands in Papua New Guinea. It is located 200 km southeast of New Guinea, stretching over more than and spread o ...

between 9–11 May 1942. The seaplane base had been set up prior to the

Battle of Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the battle ...

and became untenable and was abandoned by the Japanese, due to proximity to Allied airfields at

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

and the failure of ''

Mo Sakusen or the Port Moresby Operation was a Japanese plan to take control of the Australian Territory of New Guinea during World War II as well as other locations in the South Pacific. The goal was to isolate Australia and New Zealand from the Allied ...

'' (Operation ''Mo'').

Deboyne atoll installations

Deboyne is the name for both an island and the

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

of which it is a part. Deboyne Island is also known as Panniet Island. It is in the Louisiade Archipelago east of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. During World War II, the Japanese built a temporary seaplane base in the lagoon at Deboyne Atoll as part of MO Sakusen, the attempt to capture

, Papua. The base was created by units that came from

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

, New Britain and Shortland Island in the Solomon Islands, including the seaplane tender ''Kamikawa Maru''. The base existed for approximately five-and-a-half days in May 1942, including the Battle of the Coral Sea. During that time the Japanese Navy operated a small number of

Aichi E13A The Aichi E13A (World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft, Allied reporting name: "Jake") is a long-range reconnaissance seaplane used by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) from 1941-45. Numerically the most important floatplane of the IJN, i ...

(Jake),

Mitsubishi F1M The Mitsubishi F1M ( Allied reporting name "Pete") is a Japanese reconnaissance floatplane of World War II. It was the last biplane type of the Imperial Japanese Navy, with 944 built between 1936 and 1944. The Navy designation was "Type Zero Obse ...

(Pete),

Nakajima E8N The Nakajima E8N was a Japanese ship-borne, catapult-launched, reconnaissance seaplane of the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was a single-engine, two-seat biplane with a central main-float and underwing outriggers. During the Pacific War, it was ...

(Dave) and possibly other types of seaplanes there. Fortifications were minimal, consisting of felled palm trees and small-caliber

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

s on shore, as well as any firepower on ships in the lagoon.Diary of seaplane tender Kamikawa MaruDiary of Air Unit of Kiyokawa Maru

Operations at Deboyne

Two Australian planes made contact with the Japanese seaplane base force as it was approaching the Deboyne atoll on May 6, 1942 to set up the base. Lockheed Hudson bomber A16-160 escaped, but Catalina A24-20 was shot down by three Japanese seaplanes in the vicinity of Misima Island. An Australian

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...

carried out a bombing raid early on May 7. The light aircraft carrier Shôhô was sunk later on May 7, 1942 by American carrier-based airplanes north and east of Deboyne. At least two fighter planes from Shôhô ditched at Deboyne. In addition, one Japanese land-based bomber made an emergency landing in the lagoon on May 7 following its attack on Royal Australian Navy Rear Admiral Crace's task force, which was to the south of Deboyne. Japanese seaplanes flew in and out of the Deboyne base during the Coral Sea battle on reconnaissance and search-and-rescue missions. They particularly concentrated their searches to the south, where American aircraft carriers were expected. On May 8, a fighter plane from aircraft carrier

Zuikaku was the second and last built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before the beginning of the Pacific War. ''Zuikaku'' was one of the most modern Japanese aircraft carriers when commissioned, and saw successful action throughout numero ...

made an emergency landing in the lagoon. American Army bombers from Port Moresby attacked the seaplane base on May 9, 10 and 11, suffering the loss of one B-25 and one B-26. The Japanese left Deboyne during May 10–12, 1942 and did not return during World War II. The base became untenable for the Japanese due to proximity to Allied airfields at Port Moresby and the failure of MO Sakusen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deboyne Bombing South West Pacific theatre of World War II Conflicts in 1942 1942 in Papua New Guinea Battles and operations of World War II involving Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea in World War II World War II aerial operations and battles of the Pacific theatre