page_title: Landings at Cape Torokina
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Landings at Cape Torokina / Battle
caption_attribution_description: English: A Japanese plane plunges into the sea ahead of the U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Columbia (CL-56), as she steams in column with other cruisers during the attack on Bougainville, 1-2 November 1943. Note the 6"/47 gun turrets, with six-inch shell casings on deck below them. The sailor in the left foreground is spotting from the 5" DP dual mount behind the forward 6" turrets.
context_page_description: The Landings at Cape Torokina, also known as Operation Cherryblossom, took place at the beginning of the Bougainville campaign in World War II. The amphibious landings were carried out by elements of the United States Marine Corps in November 1943 on Bougainville Island in the South Pacific, as part of Allied efforts to advance towards the main Japanese base around Rabaul under Operation Cartwheel. Coming in the wake of Allied successes at Guadalcanal and in the central Solomons, the landings were intended to secure a beachhead with the purpose of establishing several bases from which to project air and naval power closer towards Rabaul, in an effort to neutralize the large Japanese force that had been established there.
  In the months leading up to the operation, Japanese airpower on Bougainville was degraded by Allied air strikes, while small parties of Allied reconnaissance forces landed around Bougainville and the surrounding islands to gather intelligence. On 1 November, a landing force based around the US 3rd Marine Division, reinforced with various supporting elements, landed at Empress Augusta Bay, on the western side of Bougainville.
context_section_description: The three transport divisions began forming at different locations throughout late October: Transdiv "A" at Espiritu Santo, Transdiv "B" at Guadalcanal and Transdiv "C" at Efate. Troops were embarked at each location between 28 and 30 October and, in an effort to hide their intentions, different approach routes were taken by each division. On the morning of 31 October, the three divisions rendezvoused at sea and began their approach to Bougainville from southwest of the Solomons. To confuse Japanese reconnaissance aircraft, the convoy conducted a feint towards the Shortland Islands until night fell. Pre-war charts of Bougainville proved to be quite inaccurate, and although aerial reconnaissance and information gathered from submarine patrols had been used to update these, they remained imperfect, particularly with respect to longitude. The charts were also missing details of underwater obstructions and, as a result, the escorting minesweepers hit several uncharted shoals during the approach. One of the APAs, American Legion also later ran aground on an uncharted shoal.
  After the transports arrived at the transport area off Empress August Bay, at 07:10 hours on 1 November, the first wave disembarked and went ashore aboard a large number of LCVPs. The landing was at 12 pre-designated beaches along an 8,000-yard (7,300 m) front northwest of and including Cape Torokina and Puruata Island, extending as far as Koromokina Lagoon. As the Marines came ashore, a force of 31 US Marine aircraft, staging out of Munda, attacked Japanese positions on the landing beaches. Meanwhile, overhead a force of 40 USAAF and RNZAF fighters provided cover, while bombers attacked the Japanese airfields at Kahili and Kara, nearby. Heavy, but ultimately ineffective naval gunfire was also brought down ahead of the assault. The 9th Marines assaulted the northwestern beaches while the 3rd Marines took the southeastern beaches and the cape itself. The 3rd Marine Raider Battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel Fred D. Beans, captured Puruata Island, about 1,000 yards (910 m) northwest of the cape, against a well entrenched Japanese force. After being ejected from their pillboxes and trenches, the survivors escaped into the interior of the island. Mopping up operations began on 2 November.
  Because of the possibility of an immediate Japanese counterattack by air units, the assault was planned to ensure a smooth landing that would allow the transports to withdraw quickly. Some difficulty was experienced in landing southeast of the cape, while the three beaches directly to its northeast  were found to be completely unsuitable for landing craft to get ashore. Heavier than expected seas also hampered the initial waves, resulting in the loss of a large number of landing craft. Nevertheless, the initial assault wave, which consisted of 7,500 Marines, proceeded relatively smoothly and landed successfully by 07:30 hours. These troops pushed ashore through small dry corridors of land and began clearing defenders from the dense scrub. The 2nd Marine Raider Battalion used search dogs to locate Japanese troops hiding in the undergrowth, and by 11:00 hours, the Marines had seized the lightly defended area. Some resistance continued until nightfall, by which time the beachhead was firmly secured.
  During the landing, fire from the Japanese mortars and artillery briefly held up the Marines, and resulted in some disorganization amongst those coming ashore. Shelling from the Japanese 75 mm gun destroyed four landing craft and damaged ten others until a lone effort from a single Marine restored the situation for the Americans. At the cost of his life, Sergeant Robert A. Owens from Company A, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, approached the gun emplacement, entered it through the fire port, and drove the crew out the back door. Owens was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for this action.
  In response to the landing, a large force of Japanese aircraft (44 fighters and nine dive bombers) was scrambled from Rabaul, arriving over Empress Augusta Bay at 07:35 hours. These were intercepte
caption: A Japanese plane plunges into the sea ahead of the light cruiser USS Columbia, as she steams in column with other cruisers during the attack on Bougainville, 1–2 November 1943.
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