Rabaul was the most heavily defended base in the South Pacific. On November 5, 1943, carrier aircraft from USS Saratoga and USS Princeton struck its Simpson Harbor anchorage, catching a powerful Imperial Japanese Navy heavy cruiser force at anchor and forcing its withdrawal to Truk. Six days later, a second American strike helped destroy the carrier air groups Japan rushed in to replace it. Japan's carrier air power at Rabaul was annihilated within days — and never fully rebuilt before the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

This documentary covers the full campaign that broke Japan's South Pacific air arm: the Bougainville landings and the night action at Empress Augusta Bay, Task Force 38's November 5 strike on the heavy cruisers Atago, Maya, Mogami, and Takao, Japan's transfer of the Zuikaku, Shokaku, and Zuiho carrier air groups to Rabaul under Operation RO, and the November 11 follow-up strike by Task Force 38 and Task Force 50.3 — Saratoga, Princeton, Essex, Bunker Hill, and Independence — flying SBD Dauntlesses, TBF Avengers, and F6F Hellcats against the most fortified base in the South Pacific.

Built from after-action reports, ship war diaries, and squadron loss records — not the highlight-reel version of the Pacific War.

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