Sea-Power and The Air
The destruction of the Japanese convoy by American aircraft in the Bismarck Sea last week was a victory even more complete than that won in the Solomons last November. The convoy con- sisted of twelve transports, believed to have been carrying 15,000 so:diers, and ten escorting warships. It was completely wiped out by repeated attacks of shore-based American bombers protected by fighters. The enemy, so far from lacking air support, is reported to have used 150 aeroplanes, of which 102 were seen to have been Put out of action. Of the 136 American and Australian aeroplanes in action, all but four returned to their base. While the victory demonstrates once again the effectiveness of shore-based aeroplanes
in attacking warships at sea, it could not have been achieved without' excellent reconnaissance and determined combined fighting. The completeness of the success tends also to confirm the view that much of the Japanese Air Force is inferior both in material and in personnel as compared with the forces of the United Nations. The convoy appeared to be heading for Lae in New Guinea, where its safe arrival might have enabled the Japanese to undertake a counter. offensive in eastern Papua. The long string of islands, of which New Guinea, in the centre, is the largest, is really the front line between the Japanese and the United Nations based on Australia. The risks which the enemy have run with a view to gaining Guadalcanal and restoring their position in New Guinea are a measure of the importance of these islands either tor a Japanese offensive against Australia or an Allied counter-offensive against Japan.
