Bombing of Darwin (February 1942)

Bombing of Darwin

Part of World War II, Pacific War

The explosion of an oil storage tank and clouds of smoke from other oil tanks hit during the first Japanese air raid on Australia's mainland, at Darwin on 19 February 1942. In the foreground is HMAS Deloraine, which escaped damage.

Date	19 February 1942
Location	Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Result	Japanese victory

Belligerents

Australia

United States

Japan

Commanders and leaders

Strength

31 aircraft
18 A/A Guns
1 Destroyer
1 Seaplane Tender
2 Sloops
4 Minesweeper/Corvettes
4 Boom Defence Vessels
9 Merchant ships/Transports
1 Hospital Ship
23 Auxiliary vessels
12 Pearling luggers

242 aircraft
4 Aircraft Carriers
2 Heavy cruisers
1 Light Cruiser
7 Destroyers
3 Submarines

Casualties and losses

236 killed
300–400 wounded
30 aircraft destroyed
11 vessels sunk
3 vessels grounded
25 ships damaged

2 killed
1 POW
4 aircraft destroyed

The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the town, ships in Darwin's harbour and the town's two airfields in an attempt to prevent the Allies from using them as bases to contest the invasion of Timor and Java during World War II.

Darwin was lightly-defended, relative to the size of the attack and the Japanese inflicted heavy losses upon Allied forces at little cost to themselves. The urban areas of Darwin also suffered some damage from the raids and there were a number of civilian casualties. More than half of Darwin's civilian population left the area permanently, during or immediately after the attack.

The two Japanese air raids were the first, and largest, of more than 100 air raids against Australia during 1942–43.

In 1942, Darwin – while it was the capital of the Northern Territory – was a small town with limited civil and military infrastructure. Due to its strategic position in northern Australia, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) had constructed bases near the town in the 1930s and the early years of World War II. Darwin's pre-war population was 5,800.

As early as August 1941 Darwin had been a key in the South Pacific air ferry route designed to avoid routes through the Japanese mandate in the central Pacific for bomber reinforcement of the Philippines. The first flight to use the route occurred when nine B-17D bombers of the 14th Bombardment Squadron (H) left Hawaii on 5 September and passed through Darwin 10–12 September. By October 1941 plans were underway to position fuel and supplies with two ships, including USAT Don Esteban, being chartered and actively engaged in that purpose when war came. By November 1941 Australia had agreed to allow the establishment of training bases, maintenance facilities, munitions storage, communications, and improvement of airfields, including at Darwin, to meet the needs of the B-17 bombers in Australia.

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