Shortland Island & Shortland Islands archipelago, seen from space

Shortland Island (once known as Alu) is the largest island of the Shortland Islands archipelago, in the Western Province of Solomon Islands, at 7°3′S 155°45′E / 7.050°S 155.750°E / -7.050; 155.750 (Shortland Island).

The original name was a Melanesian word,[1] while the current name was given to the island by Royal Navy officer John Shortland in 1788. Shortland was the naval commander of a 1777–79 voyage by the First Fleet to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay, Australia.[2]

World War II

On March 30, 1942, war ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy entered Shortland Harbour and landed two special naval landing force platoons and met no resistance. One platoon remained in the area to begin establishing Shortland Harbour Seaplane Base.[3]

The Allies considered invading the seaplane base in August 1943, but chose instead to bypass the Shortlands for Bougainville Island and the Treasury Islands, leaving the Shortlands under Japanese control until the war's end.

On January 8, 1944, an Allied force of two light cruisers and five destroyers bombarded the installations on Shortland Island.[4] In March 1944, planes from the USAAF's 70th Fighter Squadron used reconnaissance photographs taken by the 17th Reconnaissance Squadron to strike the seaplane base, claiming eight float planes and an IJN destroyer.[5] On 20 May 1944, USS Montpelier (CL-57) received light damage from return fire when she and two other light cruisers, along with eight destroyers, bombarded shore installations on Shortland.[4]

References

  1. ^ Ray, Sidney Herbert (1926). Comparative Study of the Melanesian Island Languages. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. p. 584. ISBN 978-1-107-68202-3. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  2. ^ McMartin, Arthur (1967). "Shortland, John (1739 - 1803)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 2. Melbourne: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. pp. 442–443. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  3. ^ "Map of target area including Faisi Island and Shortland Island". United States Army Air Force, 13th AF. Pacific Wrecks. 1943-04-11. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  4. ^ a b Cressman, Robert (2000). "Chapter VI: 1944". The official chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-149-3. OCLC 41977179. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  5. ^ Rohfleisch, Kramer J. (1950). "Chapter 7: The Central Solomons". In Craven, Wesley Frank; Cate, James Lea (eds.). Vol. IV, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944. The Army Air Forces in World War II. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 211–212. OCLC 769332570. Retrieved 2020-03-28.


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