Landing at Nassau Bay
Encyclopedia
The Landing at Nassau Bay was an amphibious landing at Nassau Bay in the New Guinea campaign
of World War II between June 30 - July 6, 1943. United States forces sought to capture a beachhead
for a supply point to shorten the supply line for the proposed attack on Salamaua
as part of the Salamaua-Lae campaign
.
to South West Pacific Area
GHQ
that a beachhead at Nassau Bay would greatly shorten the supply line for Australian and American troops for the proposed attack against Salamaua.
During the night of June 28, 1943 the 162nd Infantry Regiment
's Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon placed lights upon islands lying offshore between Nassau Bay and Mageri Point to guide the invasion flotilla. Colonel Archibald R. MacKechnie flew to the Bulolo Valley for a conference with General Stanley Savige
to discuss the proposed landings. 'D' Company of the 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion
from Lababia Ridge was required to march to the mouth of the Bitoi River to divert Japanese attention from Nassau Bay. Also, one platoon of 'D' Company 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion was sent to the landing beach to set up lights to guide the landing craft. 'A'Company of the Papuan Infantry Battalion
, reconnoitered to Cape Dinga just south of Nassau Bay for the southern flank.
Prior to the landing the USAAF Fifth Air Force
's B-25s bombed Imperial Japanese strong points along the Bitoi River, and A-20s pounded a supply dump on the southern side of Nassau Bay on 29 June. The amphibious landing force was known as MacKechnie Force.
's, two requisitioned Japanese barges of the 2nd Engineer Special Brigade, and one Landing Craft Mechanized
of the 532nd Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment took the other 770 men of the 1st Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment on board at Mageri Point. The landing force was organized into three waves.
With rough seas, heavy rain, and poor visibility the landing force lost escort PT-68 after leaving Mort Bay. PT-142 with Lieutenant Commander
Barry K. Atkins
lead the first wave of landing craft out of Mort Bay and due to poor visibility obscuring the offshore island guide lights the first wave overshot Nassau Bay by up to 3 miles. Time was taken turning around and finding the convoy again.
At Nassau Bay, a platoon of D Company, 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion
of the 17th Brigade, from Mubo
set landing markers to guide the landing craft into the beachhead. As the first wave with PT-142 arrived at Nassau Bay, PT-143 arrived with the second wave landing craft. The landing craft intermingled and landed on the same stretch of beach in 10 to 12 foot pounding surf. The landing craft were pushed far up on the beach, with seventeen unable to get off the beach and were broached and filled with water. The Landing Craft Mechanized, unloading a bulldozer and was able to proceed back out to sea and retrieved the troops off PT 142 and then returned to the beach, where it became swamped. The landing had been unopposed with 770 men landed at Nassau Bay. The landing craft breached were wrecked and most of the radios were damaged by salt water. PT-143 returned to Morobe advanced PT Base, while PT-142 and PT-68 provided seaward protection.
The garrison of 300 Imperial Japanese troops, had retreated after Commander Torashige Tsukiokare was killed by a bomb in his Headquarters that day and fled into the jungle, believing that the bulldozer was a tank.
The third wave of landing craft with PT-120 arrived hours after the first two waves and decided not to land until the surf abated. They took shelter in a cove down the coast, until the storm had subsided and returned to Nassau Bay but failed to find the beachhead. The wave returned to Mageri Point.
During the first night A and C Companies, 162nd Infantry Regiment, established defence lines 300 yards north and south, respectively, of the landing beach. The Australian platoon of 'D' Company, 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion defended the western flank. No contact was made with the Imperial Japanese that night.
At dawn on June 30, the beach was cleared of all ammunition, equipment, and supplies. Machine guns salvaged from the wrecked landing craft were set up in the beach defenses. 'C' Company marched south to the Tabali River just west of Cape Dinga to try to link up with the Papuan Infantry Battalion
which was located to the south of Cape Dinga. 'A' Company patrolled north to the south arm of the Bitoi River and ran into enemy mortar and machine gun fire and was halted. Patrols reported the enemy present in some strength. 'A' Company with D Company of 2/16th Australian Infantry Battalion attempted to strike the Japanese western flank but was stopped. D Company of 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion ran out of ammunition and was relieved by a detachment of engineers from the crews of the wrecked landing craft. Two platoons of 'C' Company rushed up from the south to join 'A' Company and at 1500 started forward and by 1650 had moved past the scattered Japanese opposition to reach the south arm of the Bitoi River.
Upon receiving word of the invasion in Lae, General Hatazō Adachi
, ordered 150 men of III/66th Battalion south from Salamua. The Papuan Infantry Battalion began attacking the rear of the Japanese detachment of III/102nd Battalion at Cape Dinga and began moving toward the Nassau Bay beachhead. At 1630 on June 30, the remainder of 'C' Company defending the southern flank reported that Japanese troops were crossing the Tabali River just south of its position, and was ordered to withdraw to the southern densive flank of the beachhead and hold a line between the beach and a swamp a short distance inland. Before the remainder of C Company could withdraw, Japanese troops attacked its rear and flank and fought its way north, losing the commander and four men on the way.
The beachhead defense line at the beach, utilising engineers, part of Australian 'D' Company, and headquarters were hastily prepared. At dusk 'C' Company platoon reached the southern perimeter of the beachhead defense line. The Imperial Japanese attacked the defensive line in a series of attacks lasting all night, with machine gun, mortar, rifle and grenade fire against the beachhead defensive positions. Small parties of Japanese soldiers attempted to infiltrate the positions, however where beaten off. The Japanese withdrew before sunrise on July 1. Patrols hunted down straggling Japanese during the morning.
The eastern most company of the 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion advanced to the coast near the southern arm of the Bitoi River, driving off a company of Japanese. Further patrols found that the Japanese defenders north of Nassau Bay had withdrawn.
On 2 July, the third wave of landing craft with PT-120 reached Nassau Bay. PT-120 also strafed two Japanese held villages to the south of Nassau Bay near Cape Dinga. Further landing craft hauled by trawlers also arrived at Nassau Bay. The eastern most company of 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion make contact with the northern perimeter of American troops at the south arm of the Bitoi River. Patrols by C Company, 162nd Infantry Regiment found Japanese defenders at Cape Dinga had been evacuated.
Four 75mm Pack Howitzer M1
artillery guns were unloaded on July 3, together with reinforcements. MacKechnie Force patrols out at heads towards Napier.
By July 4, more than 1,400 troops were ashore. PT-120 & PT-152 carried 140 troops to Nassau Bay, which were transferred to shore by landing craft. On July 6, PT-120 & PT-149 transfer another 135 troops and escort 11 landing craft to Nassau Bay.
New Guinea campaign
The New Guinea campaign was one of the major military campaigns of World War II.Before the war, the island of New Guinea was split between:...
of World War II between June 30 - July 6, 1943. United States forces sought to capture a beachhead
Beachhead
Beachhead is a military term used to describe the line created when a unit reaches a beach, and begins to defend that area of beach, while other reinforcements help out, until a unit large enough to begin advancing has arrived. It is sometimes used interchangeably with Bridgehead and Lodgement...
for a supply point to shorten the supply line for the proposed attack on Salamaua
Salamaua
Salamaua was a small town situated on the north-eastern coastline of Papua New Guinea part of Morobe province. The settlement was built on a minor isthmus between the coast with mountains on the inland side and a headland...
as part of the Salamaua-Lae campaign
Salamaua-Lae campaign
The Salamaua–Lae campaign was a series of actions in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. Australian and United States forces sought to capture two major Japanese bases, one in the town of Lae, and another one at Salamaua. The campaign to take the Salamaua and Lae area began with the Australian...
.
Background
Recommended by Commander Morton C. MummaMorton C. Mumma
Rear Admiral Morton Claire Mumma was a senior officer in the United States Navy.He was born on 24 August 1904 at Manila, Philippine Islands. Attending the United States Naval Academy, he graduated in the class of 1930....
to South West Pacific Area
South West Pacific Area
South West Pacific Area was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific theatres of World War II, during 1942–45...
GHQ
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
that a beachhead at Nassau Bay would greatly shorten the supply line for Australian and American troops for the proposed attack against Salamaua.
During the night of June 28, 1943 the 162nd Infantry Regiment
162nd Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 162nd Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the Oregon Army National Guard with headquarters in Springfield, Oregon. In January, 2006 as part of the Army's transformation towards a modular force, the 1st Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment was inactivated...
's Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon placed lights upon islands lying offshore between Nassau Bay and Mageri Point to guide the invasion flotilla. Colonel Archibald R. MacKechnie flew to the Bulolo Valley for a conference with General Stanley Savige
Stanley Savige
Lieutenant General Sir Stanley George Savige, KBE, CB, DSO, MC, ED , was an Australian Army soldier and officer who served in World War I and World War II, rising to the rank of lieutenant general....
to discuss the proposed landings. 'D' Company of the 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion
2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion
The 2/6th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army that served during the Second World War. It was raised at Puckapunyal, Victoria on 25 October 1939 as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force, and was attached to the 17th Brigade of the 6th Division. The 2/6th fought in...
from Lababia Ridge was required to march to the mouth of the Bitoi River to divert Japanese attention from Nassau Bay. Also, one platoon of 'D' Company 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion was sent to the landing beach to set up lights to guide the landing craft. 'A'Company of the Papuan Infantry Battalion
Papuan Infantry Battalion
The Papuan Infantry Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army formed on 27 May 1940 in the territory of Papua, during World War II, in order to fight the Japanese. The unit was slow in forming, with its first members posted in March 1941. By 1942 it consisted of only three...
, reconnoitered to Cape Dinga just south of Nassau Bay for the southern flank.
Prior to the landing the USAAF Fifth Air Force
Fifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....
's B-25s bombed Imperial Japanese strong points along the Bitoi River, and A-20s pounded a supply dump on the southern side of Nassau Bay on 29 June. The amphibious landing force was known as MacKechnie Force.
Landing
Combined elements of Colonel MacKechnie's American 162d Regiment as well as Australian units, known as the MacKechnie Force embarked from Mort Bay at dusk on June 29, 1943. PT boats PT-142, PT-143, PT-120 of the Seventh Fleet took aboard 210 men of the 1st Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment, with PT-68 providing escorted. Twenty-nine LCVPLCVP
The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins of Louisiana, United States, based on boats made for operating in swamps and marshes...
's, two requisitioned Japanese barges of the 2nd Engineer Special Brigade, and one Landing Craft Mechanized
Landing Craft Mechanized
The Landing Craft Mechanized or Landing Craft Mechanical was a landing craft designed for carrying vehicles. They came to prominence during the Second World War when they were used to land troops or tanks during Allied amphibious assaults....
of the 532nd Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment took the other 770 men of the 1st Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment on board at Mageri Point. The landing force was organized into three waves.
With rough seas, heavy rain, and poor visibility the landing force lost escort PT-68 after leaving Mort Bay. PT-142 with Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (United States)
Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...
Barry K. Atkins
Barry K. Atkins
Rear Admiral Barry Kennedy Atkins was an officer of the United States Navy best known for his achievements as a destroyer captain in World War II....
lead the first wave of landing craft out of Mort Bay and due to poor visibility obscuring the offshore island guide lights the first wave overshot Nassau Bay by up to 3 miles. Time was taken turning around and finding the convoy again.
At Nassau Bay, a platoon of D Company, 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion
2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion
The 2/6th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army that served during the Second World War. It was raised at Puckapunyal, Victoria on 25 October 1939 as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force, and was attached to the 17th Brigade of the 6th Division. The 2/6th fought in...
of the 17th Brigade, from Mubo
Mubo
Mubo is a village located inland from Salamaua, in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. Mubo was occupied by the Imperial Japanese on 14 May 1943 during the Second World War. Australian Army forces libertaed the village in July 1943....
set landing markers to guide the landing craft into the beachhead. As the first wave with PT-142 arrived at Nassau Bay, PT-143 arrived with the second wave landing craft. The landing craft intermingled and landed on the same stretch of beach in 10 to 12 foot pounding surf. The landing craft were pushed far up on the beach, with seventeen unable to get off the beach and were broached and filled with water. The Landing Craft Mechanized, unloading a bulldozer and was able to proceed back out to sea and retrieved the troops off PT 142 and then returned to the beach, where it became swamped. The landing had been unopposed with 770 men landed at Nassau Bay. The landing craft breached were wrecked and most of the radios were damaged by salt water. PT-143 returned to Morobe advanced PT Base, while PT-142 and PT-68 provided seaward protection.
The garrison of 300 Imperial Japanese troops, had retreated after Commander Torashige Tsukiokare was killed by a bomb in his Headquarters that day and fled into the jungle, believing that the bulldozer was a tank.
The third wave of landing craft with PT-120 arrived hours after the first two waves and decided not to land until the surf abated. They took shelter in a cove down the coast, until the storm had subsided and returned to Nassau Bay but failed to find the beachhead. The wave returned to Mageri Point.
During the first night A and C Companies, 162nd Infantry Regiment, established defence lines 300 yards north and south, respectively, of the landing beach. The Australian platoon of 'D' Company, 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion defended the western flank. No contact was made with the Imperial Japanese that night.
At dawn on June 30, the beach was cleared of all ammunition, equipment, and supplies. Machine guns salvaged from the wrecked landing craft were set up in the beach defenses. 'C' Company marched south to the Tabali River just west of Cape Dinga to try to link up with the Papuan Infantry Battalion
Papuan Infantry Battalion
The Papuan Infantry Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army formed on 27 May 1940 in the territory of Papua, during World War II, in order to fight the Japanese. The unit was slow in forming, with its first members posted in March 1941. By 1942 it consisted of only three...
which was located to the south of Cape Dinga. 'A' Company patrolled north to the south arm of the Bitoi River and ran into enemy mortar and machine gun fire and was halted. Patrols reported the enemy present in some strength. 'A' Company with D Company of 2/16th Australian Infantry Battalion attempted to strike the Japanese western flank but was stopped. D Company of 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion ran out of ammunition and was relieved by a detachment of engineers from the crews of the wrecked landing craft. Two platoons of 'C' Company rushed up from the south to join 'A' Company and at 1500 started forward and by 1650 had moved past the scattered Japanese opposition to reach the south arm of the Bitoi River.
Upon receiving word of the invasion in Lae, General Hatazō Adachi
Hatazo Adachi
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.-Early career:Adachi was born into an impoverished samurai family in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1890...
, ordered 150 men of III/66th Battalion south from Salamua. The Papuan Infantry Battalion began attacking the rear of the Japanese detachment of III/102nd Battalion at Cape Dinga and began moving toward the Nassau Bay beachhead. At 1630 on June 30, the remainder of 'C' Company defending the southern flank reported that Japanese troops were crossing the Tabali River just south of its position, and was ordered to withdraw to the southern densive flank of the beachhead and hold a line between the beach and a swamp a short distance inland. Before the remainder of C Company could withdraw, Japanese troops attacked its rear and flank and fought its way north, losing the commander and four men on the way.
The beachhead defense line at the beach, utilising engineers, part of Australian 'D' Company, and headquarters were hastily prepared. At dusk 'C' Company platoon reached the southern perimeter of the beachhead defense line. The Imperial Japanese attacked the defensive line in a series of attacks lasting all night, with machine gun, mortar, rifle and grenade fire against the beachhead defensive positions. Small parties of Japanese soldiers attempted to infiltrate the positions, however where beaten off. The Japanese withdrew before sunrise on July 1. Patrols hunted down straggling Japanese during the morning.
The eastern most company of the 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion advanced to the coast near the southern arm of the Bitoi River, driving off a company of Japanese. Further patrols found that the Japanese defenders north of Nassau Bay had withdrawn.
On 2 July, the third wave of landing craft with PT-120 reached Nassau Bay. PT-120 also strafed two Japanese held villages to the south of Nassau Bay near Cape Dinga. Further landing craft hauled by trawlers also arrived at Nassau Bay. The eastern most company of 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion make contact with the northern perimeter of American troops at the south arm of the Bitoi River. Patrols by C Company, 162nd Infantry Regiment found Japanese defenders at Cape Dinga had been evacuated.
Four 75mm Pack Howitzer M1
M116 howitzer
The 75mm Pack Howitzer M1 was designed in the United States in 1920s to meet a need for an artillery piece that could be moved across difficult terrain. The gun and carriage was designed so that it could be broken down into several pieces to be carried by pack animals...
artillery guns were unloaded on July 3, together with reinforcements. MacKechnie Force patrols out at heads towards Napier.
By July 4, more than 1,400 troops were ashore. PT-120 & PT-152 carried 140 troops to Nassau Bay, which were transferred to shore by landing craft. On July 6, PT-120 & PT-149 transfer another 135 troops and escort 11 landing craft to Nassau Bay.