Piercing the Fog - Air Force Historical Studies Office

Two of the coordinated air attacks on Rabaul in late 1943 by aircraft from the
Southwest Pacific Theater and the South Pacific Theater. Above, the ship in the
foreground in a Nachi-class heavy cruiser. It is pictured just getting underway. A
few minutes later, as it was steaming toward the mouth of the harbor, a 1,000-
pound bomb hit it amidship and turned the ship on its side. Below, the whole
shoreline of Simpson Bay on which the Rabaul airfields were located seems to be
ablaze after it was bombed and strafed. The all-important airfields are under the
smoke at the left side of the photo.
273