When did the Bombing of Darwin take place?
The Bombing of Darwin took place on the 19th of February 1942. Two separate Japanese air raids struck the town, its harbour, and its airfields, with the first wave arriving at 9:58 am.
Questions about Bombing of Darwin
Short answers, pulled from the story.
How many Japanese aircraft were involved in the Bombing of Darwin?
188 aircraft were launched in the first wave from four aircraft carriers, comprising 81 Nakajima B5N bombers, 71 Aichi D3A dive bombers, and 36 Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters. A second wave of 54 land-based medium bombers struck the RAAF base nearly two hours later.
How many people were killed in the Bombing of Darwin?
The death toll is disputed. The Lowe Commission estimated approximately 250 dead. A 2001 memorial plaque put the figure at 292, while author Peter Grose calculated at least 297 known dead and suggested the total may have been over 300. Some survivor accounts claimed far higher numbers, which professional historians have rejected.
Why was Darwin so poorly defended during the 1942 Japanese attack?
Darwin's anti-aircraft defences were limited to eighteen guns, and the gun crews had received little recent training due to ammunition shortages. There was no functional radar to provide early warning, none of the six Wirraways available as fighters were serviceable on the day, and no plan had been drawn up for how ships in the harbour should respond to an air raid.
Was the Bombing of Darwin worse than the attack on Pearl Harbor?
More bombs were dropped on Darwin (681 bombs weighing 114,100 kg) than on Pearl Harbor (457 bombs weighing 133,560 kg), but loss of life was much greater at Pearl Harbor, where more than 2,400 people died compared to approximately 236-300 at Darwin. The difference was attributed to the presence of capital ships at Pearl Harbor, including the catastrophic loss of a single battleship and its 1,177 men.
What happened to the Japanese aircraft carriers that attacked Darwin?
All four carriers that participated in the Bombing of Darwin, the Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, and Soryu, were sunk during the Battle of Midway in June 1942, less than four months after the Darwin raids.