Battle of Cape St. George

U.S. destroyer Charles Ausburne operating in the Solomon Islands around 1943.

Date	25 November 1943
Location	Near Buka Island, north of Bougainville
Result	U.S. victory

Belligerents

Commanders and leaders

Strength

5 destroyers

Casualties and losses

None

3 destroyers sunk,
1 destroyer damaged,
647 killed

The Battle of Cape St. George was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II fought on 25 November 1943, between Cape St. George, New Ireland, and Buka Island (now part of the North Solomons Province in Papua New Guinea). It was the last engagement of surface ships in the Solomon Islands campaign.

Americans had landed troops on Bougainville on 1 November 1943. This posed a threat to the Japanese base on Buka Island to the north, and 900 Japanese Army troops were embarked on the destroyers Amagiri, Yūgiri and Uzuki under the command of Captain Katsumori Yamashiro and were sent to reinforce the garrison, escorted by the destroyers Ōnami and Makinami under the command of Captain Kiyoto Kagawa. The United States Navy learned of the convoy and sent Captain Arleigh Burke's Destroyer Squadron 23 composed of Destroyer Division 45 (Charles Ausburne, Claxton, and Dyson) under Burke's direct command and Destroyer Division 46 (Converse and Spence) under the command of Commander B Austin to intercept it.