Bombing of Darwin

19 February 1942, Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory, Australia

Japanese victory; the harbour and airfield wrecked

To stop the Allies using Darwin against their landings on Timor and Java, the Japanese sent Nagumo's four carriers, the same that had struck Pearl Harbor, into the Timor Sea. On the morning of 19 February 1942 they launched 188 aircraft against the town and its harbour, where some 65 warships and merchant ships lay at anchor or alongside, and land-based bombers followed at midday. It was the largest attack ever made on Australia. In half an hour the dive bombers and level bombers sank nine ships in the harbour, among them the American destroyer Peary, which fought to the last, and the ammunition ship Neptuna, which blew up at the wharf; two more were sunk at sea that afternoon. The sloop Swan was damaged, and the airfield wrecked. Around 250 people were killed. The Japanese lost only a handful of aircraft.