Location
Lat 11° 0' 0S Long 166° 15' 0E. Island located near Santa Cruz Island.

Santa Cruz Airport (Graciosa Bay Airport / Luova Airport)
Located on the western side of Graciosa Bay . Built postwar.

Graciosa Bay
Bay located on the north coast of the island's eastern end.

A detachment of VP-23 and VP-11 with PBY-5 Catalinas operating from seaplane tenders USS Mackinac, arriving August 20, 1942 and USS Ballard used it as a temporary seaplane anchorage. Removable mooring buoys were installed for the PBY Catalinas and a fueling boat for the aircraft while their crews lived aboard ship. From this location, PBYs flew reconnaissance missions northward over the Solomons Islands. During September, the tenders returned to Espiritu Santo.

PBY-5 Catalina Tail 23-P-11
Pilot Geritz force landed August 23, 1942

PBY-5 Catalina Tail 11-P-1
Pilot Enloe force landed September 9, 1942

Japanese Missions Against Graciosa Bay
August 31- September 12, 1942

References
Thanks to Jim Sawruk for additional information
The Pacific Theater: island representations of World War II page 262, 263-264
"The excitement caused by the U.S. Navy activities soon took an ominous turn. One day a PBY returned trailing smoke. After landing safely, it taxied straight to the shore, where it was beached near a village. Just as the crew had safely abandoned it, the aircraft exploded. On another day, another, another returning aircraft sank in shallow water before it could be beached... The two aircraft that were now out of action were among those that had been hit, and because their hulls had been holed, their crews had tried to beach the planes before they sunk in Graciosa Bay.
"The anticipated Japanese attack finally came. At the time, the aircraft were away on patrol, so the attack was directed toward the ship. The ship fired back, and witnesses believed that the attack was beaten off. There was apparently one casualty: a local boy about five or six years old, who had been paddling about the ship, was struck in the face by a bomb fragment. He made it back to shore and recovered from his injuries, but he lost one eye. Shortly after the attack, the ship weighed anchor and left Graciosa Bay not to return. The remains of two damaged PBYs that were hit by enemy fire are still visible, one on the beach and one in shallow water. Both have been stripped clean of every fragment that could be man hammered and cut away, but they are testaments to to that memorable war action in Graciosa Bay."

Mohawk Bay
In early October 1942, the Japanese Navy decided to establish a secret refueling point for the R Area Air Force's E13A1 Jakes at Mohawk Bay. Initially, it is planned for the Kunikawa Maru deliver the first three Jakes, but does not put to sea due of a machinery breakdown.

Contribute Information
Do you have photos or additional information to add?

Last Updated
May 14, 2011