Japanese cruisers and destroyers under attack by US Navy dive bombers off Rabaul in November 1943
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Published 2022-01-12
The Allies of World War II conducted an air attack upon a cruiser force at the major Japanese base of Rabaul in November 1943. In response to the Allied invasion of Bougainville, the Japanese had brought a strong cruiser force down from Truk, their major naval base in the Caroline Islands about 800 miles north of Rabaul, to Rabaul in preparation for a night engagement against the Allied supply and support shipping.
Allied carrier- and land-based planes attacked the Japanese ships, airfields, and port facilities on the island of New Britain to protect the Allied amphibious invasion of Bougainville. As a result of the Rabaul raids, the Japanese naval forces could no longer threaten the landings. The success of the raid began to change the strongly held belief that carrier-based air forces could not challenge land-based air forces.
At 3:14 the vessel under attack is probably Chikuma, identifiable by her distinctive four forward twin turrets. She suffered near misses in this engagement and was only lightly damaged.
All Comments (21)
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I've been trying to find footage of this nature for a very very long time. This is the best dive bomber footage I've ever seen and really is an incredible window into the chaos that was dive bombing. Thank you so so much for uploading!
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Dude, thank you for not putting some obnoxious logo over this. Really enjoyable to watch.
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destroyer is Akizuki-class Wakatsuki(0:00 0:27 1:04 1:51 2:30 3:21 3:42 4:02) 2:55 is Shiratsuyu-class unknown (postscript. It seems that bow is crushed, so it's Samidare) cruisers is Tone-class Chikuma(3:14) and Takao-class Atago or Maya(2:17 3:00 probably Atago) bird's-eye view photo "80-G-89098" is easy to understand.
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After they have already expended their bombs they keep coming back around to strafe the decks and draw AA fire away from the aircraft that still had bombs to drop. There are aircraft below the camera POV diving on the ships with dashes of smoke from their guns behind the aircraft and no explosions once they pull out of their dive. Those aircraft have already expended their bombs but they're repeatedly flying back through the AA fire in order to eliminate the gun crews or at least make them keep their heads down while other aircraft are making their bomb runs. Incredible, selfless bravery from what are likely 20-ish year old aircrews.
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Wow, I thought I've seen ever piece of footage from the war until now!!! Thank you for posting this!!!
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It's amazing that the allies didn't have more midair collisions than they did! My grandfather who is 102 flew the P-51 & P-47 in Europe during WWII was in and had seen numerous midair collisions but the Germans were doing it to themselves however my grandfather was in a midair with his wingman strafing a train locomotive coming out of the run. Both made it back but the P-47 needed a new wing according to him!
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Another gem of unseen footage. Incomprehensible to imagine the courage of the flight crews. Father was a Royal Marine and mother a Wren in WW11. Ordinary people called upon to perform extraordinary acts. Truly, The Greatest Generation and we all owe them a debt of gratitude.
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The sheer bravery and determination of these young men is unimaginable today.
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We've seen so many films from WW II, nothing sustained like this. I literally held on to my chair seeing this the first time. How brave these men are.
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Depending on bomb size a near miss was as good as a hit as the concussion of the. Last would pop rivets and break welds on hulls and bulkheads. It's why today, all US Navy ships get shoxk testing done. Even equipment gets damaged in the concussion. Back in WWII steam lines broke, rudders stuck and engines were even knocked off their mounts. Anything that slowed or stopped the enemy was a good hit.
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Never forget how YOUNG most of these pilots were. Also, I remember seeing an interview years ago with Ken Burns about his "The War" documentary. He said for all the hundreds and hundreds of hours they spent looking through National Archive photos and film there was still much more to be found, some of which has never been seen since it was filed away decades ago after the war.
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This is very rare to seen any footage of this, keep it up!
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That is some tremendous video--never seen it before. Shows a couple of things: how hard it must have been to keep the target within parameters; they were probably flying through each other's frag patterns; the most dangerous person besides the Japanese might have been your wingman; and, finally what courage it must have taken to do that. My heart goes out to the rear gunner--must have been stomach wrenching. Callsign: "Steelballs"?
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Never before seen footage for me and most others. It really shows what an utter melee dive bombing was in this era. One thought that comes to my mind is if their single engine aircraft is struck with even a minor hit in an oil coiler or a fuel tank etc they would not be making it home. Even if they bailed out or ditched successfully and either found themselves in the sea far away from an island or close enough to swim to an occupied island. Death was probable in all scenarios. One minor hit or mechanical malfunction and you are done for. Yet there they are bravely flying headfirst into those AA batteries over and over like a swarm of angry hornets
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Amazing footage. EVERYTHING hung in the balance upon the shoulders of those brave young men. Lest we forget.
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The SBD was indeed the hammer of US NAVY during WW2. It’s interesting to watch the film taken from one aircraft at 1:26 when it has just finished his diving and the film at 4:05 , showing same moment but taken from another SBD, diving above. I’ve seen this vid before but never in full length and such a good quality, thank you man .
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No music crap, just the goods. Thank you so much!!
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3:33 you can see the amidships portside Type 96 mount firing. Crews on these mounts had the habit of holding fire until the target came close to maximize accuracy.
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Wow, this footage is so clear that you can see the 25mm AA guns firing.
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Great video. Those near misses are doing a lot of damage under the waterline of those ships. In many cases, the hydraulic pressure created by a near-miss can be just as bad or worse than a direct hit since it causes damage below the surface.
