Battle of Vella Lavella (naval) 1943
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 6 October 1943 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1943 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Nearest landmass | At sea (nearest continent: Oceania) | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Oceania | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Pacific War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Empire of Japan, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -7.5000, 156.2333 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Vella Lavella (第二次ベララベラ海戦, Dainiji Berarabera kaisen) was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II fought on the night of 6 October 1943, near the island of Vella Lavella in the Solomon Islands. It marked the end of a three-month fight to capture the central Solomon Islands, as part of the Solomon Islands campaign.
The battle took place at the end of the ground campaign on Vella Lavella, as the Japanese sought to evacuate the 600-strong garrison from the island. The garrison had become hemmed into a small pocket on the northern end of the island around Marquana Bay. While a force of around 20 auxiliary ships and barges evacuated the stranded soldiers, a force of 9 Japanese destroyers fought a short, but sharp engagement with 6 US Navy destroyers to the north of the island, thus diverting attention from the evacuation. As a result of the engagement, the Japanese evacuation effort was successfully concluded. Each side lost one destroyer sunk.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Vella Lavella (naval) (revision 1370592340), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Vella Lavella (land) 1943 · 51 km
- Battle off Horaniu 1943 · 58 km
- Battle of the Treasury Islands 1943 · 76 km
- Battle of Vella Gulf 1943 · 78 km
- Battle of Kula Gulf 1943 · 105 km
- Battle of the Hongorai River 1945 · 107 km
Other battles of the Pacific War
- Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands 1942
- Fall of Singapore 1942
- Indian Ocean raid 1942
- Koli Point action 1942
- Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 1942
- Battle of Arawe 1943
- Battle of Attu 1943
- Battle of Bairoko 1943
- Battle of Blackett Strait 1943
- Battle of Kolombangara 1943
All 56 battles of the Pacific War →
Browse more: battles at sea · Oceania · World War II era battles