A U.S. Navy task force turns back a Japanese naval force off Bougainville in the night

In the dark hours of November 2, 1943, a U.S. Navy task force met an Imperial Japanese Navy formation in Empress Augusta Bay and turned it away. The day before, Allied forces had landed at Cape Torokina on Bougainville, a foothold meant to cut Japanese supply lines and open the way toward Rabaul. The landings were still thin, and the ships off the beach were the only cover. By dawn the Japanese had pulled back, and the beachhead stayed in Allied hands…