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Location
Harbor of Port
Moresby, Papua New Guinea's
capital city. The harbor was
well established prior to WWII, including the seaplane base. During
the war several ships were important to history, including
the sinking of the MV MacDhui by Japanese air raid. Other nearby
bays in the Port Moresby area: Idlers
Bay, Joyce Bay and Bootless
Bay.
Port Moresby Flying Boat Base (Quantas
Flying)
Prewar flyingboat base used by RAAF flyingboats durin the war and postwar. Disused since 1966 when Qantas discontinued service.
PBY Catalina Serial Number A24-5
Sunk April 24, 1942 at its moorings after Japanese bombing raid
Tatana Island
Island inside Fairfax Harbor.
American forces built a causeway to the mainland. The causeway was built
by a US Army 96th Engineering Battalion (Colored) [Negro troops]. During the war, Liberty Ships
docked at the island and were unloaded. The
causeway was one vehicle wide. Post war, this causeway has been widened.
Napa
Located
halfway down the peninsula, and the far side of Fairfax Harbor,
across from Port Moresby
town. At the start of the war, Napa Napa was a mooring
for RAAF Catalinas. Later,
it serviced RAN and USN small vessels requiring maintenance Port Moresby. By late 1943, the area was developed by the 2nd Australian Engineers servicing watercraft.
In
2002 it was developed as a oil
refinery facility, run by InterOil. At that same time, divers surveying
for the factory discovered a PBY Catalina wreck in the water, one
of two sunk by Japanese Zeros on February 28, 1942 air raid.
PBY Catalina
Either A24-3 or A24-6, sunk by
Japanese Zeros February 28, 1942
MV
MacDhui
Sunk by Japanese bombing on June 18, 1942
A-20G Havoc Serial
Number 43-9626
Pilot Jesser, crashed March 18, 1944
Ammunition Dump
Small arm ammunition dump (.303, 30 and 50 Caliber) rounds in wooden boxes dumped at this location. In 2005, the site was discovered by locals that were free diving to it to recover shells, to set off as 'fireworks' and sell the brass cases. Today, there are far fewer remaining on the muddy bottom.
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Last Updated
October 1, 2009
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