Arundel Island is an island of the New Georgia Islands archipelago in the Western Province of Solomon Islands. [1] Its indigenous names are Kohinggo and Ndokulu.
Arundel Island is an island of the New Georgia Islands archipelago in the Western Province of Solomon Islands. [1] Its indigenous names are Kohinggo and Ndokulu.
Arundel Island is located between Kolombangara and New Georgia islands, in the Western Province, at 8°12′S157°8′E / 8.200°S 157.133°E . It is separated from Kolombangara by Blackett Strait. To the west lies Vonavona Island, and to northwest lies Ferguson Passage.
Round Hill, with a height of 250 feet or 76 meters, is located in the southern part of the island. [2]
On August 27, 1943, the island was attacked by American forces. The Japanese lost 345 killed and 500 wounded during the fighting for the island. Eventually, General Sasaki withdrew from Arundel and Gizo on September 20–21, 1943. [3] Kolombangara had already been liberated by the American invasion of Vella Lavella, and, at the end of September, the Japanese began to evacuate their last base in the New Georgia islands. [4]
PT-109 was an 80-foot Elco PT boat last commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, future United States president, in the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific theater during World War II. Kennedy's actions in saving his surviving crew after PT-109 was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer earned him several commendations and made him a war hero. Back problems stemming from the incident required months of hospitalization at Chelsea Naval Hospital and plagued him the rest of his life. Kennedy's postwar campaigns for elected office referred often to his service on PT-109.
The New Georgia Islands are part of the Western Province of Solomon Islands. They are located to the northwest of Guadalcanal. The larger islands are mountainous and covered in rain forest. The main islands are New Georgia, Vella Lavella, Kolombangara, Ghizo, Vangunu, Rendova and Tetepare. They are surrounded by coral reefs and include the Marovo Lagoon.
The Battle of Kolombangara 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 Battle of Kula Gulf took place in the early hours of 6 July 1943 during World War II. The battle involved United States and Japanese ships off the eastern coast of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands. It took place during the early stages of the New Georgia campaign when a Japanese force landing reinforcements at Vila was intercepted by a force of US Navy cruisers and destroyers. One US light cruiser was sunk during the engagement while two Japanese destroyers were sunk and two more were damaged. The Japanese withdrew after the engagement, having landed 1,600 troops.
New Georgia Sound is the sound in the New Georgia Islands region that runs approximately southeast–northwest through the middle of the Solomon Islands archipelago in the Southern Pacific Ocean and Melanesia.
New Georgia, with an area of 2,037 km2 (786 sq mi), is the largest of the islands in Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the 224th-largest island in the world. Since July 1978, the island has been part of the independent state of Solomon Islands.
Kolombangara is an island in the New Georgia Islands group of the nation state of Solomon Islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The name is from a local language, a rough translation of its meaning is "Water Lord" with approximately 80 rivers and streams running down its flanks.
The Battle off Horaniu was a minor naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought near Vella Lavella in the Solomon Islands. On the night of 17–18 August 1943, four U.S. Navy destroyers intercepted an Imperial Japanese Navy convoy carrying troops to Horaniu, on the northern coast of Vella Lavella, where they were to establish a barge base to support the movement of troops through the region.
The Battle of Blackett Strait 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.
The New Georgia campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific Theater of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied strategy in the South Pacific to isolate the Japanese base around Rabaul. The campaign took place in the New Georgia Islands in the central Solomon Islands and followed the Allied capture of the Russell Islands. The main fighting took place on New Georgia itself, although significant actions also took place around the island chain throughout the campaign.
USS Strong (DD-467), was a Fletcher-class destroyer and the first ship of the United States Navy to be named after Rear Admiral James H. Strong (1814–1882), who rammed the Confederate ironclad CSS Tennessee during the Battle of Mobile Bay, receiving a commendation and promotion to captain.
Vella Lavella is an island in Western Province, in the independent nation of Solomon Islands. It lies to the west of New Georgia, but is considered one of the New Georgia Group. To its west are the Treasury Islands.
Blackett Strait is a waterway in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. It lies between the islands of Kolombangara to the north, and Arundel Island (Kohinggo) to the south. It connects Vella Gulf to the west with Kula Gulf to the east. It is almost certainly named after Lt. Frederick Arthur Blackett (1846-1880), the youngest son of Sir Edward Blackett 6th Bt., who served on HMS Thalia as part of the China Station from 1872 to 1873.
Kula Gulf is a waterway in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. It lies between the islands of Kolombangara to the west, Arundel Island (Kohinggo) to the southwest, and New Georgia to the south and east. To the north, it opens into New Georgia Sound. To the southwest, it connects via Blackett Strait to Vella Gulf and the Solomon Sea.
The Battle of Vella Lavella was fought from 15 August – 6 October 1943 between the Empire of Japan and the Allied forces from New Zealand and the United States at the end of the New Georgia campaign. Vella Lavella, an island located in the Solomon Islands, had been occupied by Japanese forces early during the war in the Pacific. Following the Battle of Munda Point, the Allies recaptured the island in late 1943, following a decision to bypass a large concentration of Japanese troops on the island of Kolombangara.
Jintsū (神通) was the second vessel completed in the three-ship Sendai-class light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), named after the Jinzū River in the Gifu and Toyama prefectures of central Japan. She was active in World War II in various campaigns including the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the Battle of the Java Sea, and Battle of Midway. On 13 July 1943 in the Battle of Kolombangara, she was discovered during a night attack by American ships and sunk in combat.
Choiseul Island, native name Lauru, is the largest island of the Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands, at 7.08°S 157°E. The administrative headquarters of Choiseul Province is situated in the town of Taro, on Taro Island.
Vonavona is an island in Western Province, in the independent nation of Solomon Islands. Alternative local names and spellings of the island are Parara and Wanawana. The estimated terrain elevation above sea level is some 21 metres (69 ft). Vonavona borders Ferguson Passage to the west, Arundel Island to the east, and the island of Kolombangara to the north.
The Battle of Arundel Island was fought from 27 August – 21 September 1943, primarily between United States Army and Imperial Japanese Army forces on Arundel Island during the New Georgia campaign in the Pacific War. The battle took place towards the end of the campaign after the capture of Munda airfield and mopping up operations in western New Georgia had resulted in the Japanese evacuation of mainland New Georgia. The US high command decided to occupy the island so that it could be used as a base for artillery to fire on the main Japanese troop concentration on Kolombangara.
Ro-101 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in October 1942, she served in World War II and operated in the Solomon Islands and the New Guinea area until she was sunk in September 1943 during her eighth war patrol.
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