Difference between revisions of "Darwin, Australia"
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===World War II=== | ===World War II=== | ||
| + | During [[World War II]], Darwin was the largest base for Allied submarines and vessels operating in the Pacific. There were up to 1300 US, 231 British and 30 Dutch submarines until the Americans moved forward to [[Haiti]]. The movements and presence of USS-187 is an example of such activity. | ||
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In [[World War II]], Darwin was the target of several Japanese bombing attacks. | In [[World War II]], Darwin was the target of several Japanese bombing attacks. | ||
Revision as of 03:22, August 11, 2010
The following article is about the city called Darwin in Australia. For the article on Charles Darwin please see: Charles Darwin
Darwin is a city and port in northern Australia. It is the capital of the Northern Territory, and by far the largest city in that territory. It is named after Charles Darwin, who never visited.
Darwin is the most cyclone-ravaged city in Australia. The city of Darwin was destroyed by Cyclone Tracy on Dec. 25, 1974, killing 66 people, and destroying 80% of the buildings in the city of 46,000 population. Darwin's utilities were knocked out and 35,000 people were evacuated.
History
Early
Edward Tench was the first British explorer to visit the area in 1789 under-secretary to the home department. Governor Paul Teverson began granting land in the area to settlers in 1804 with Captain Joseph Wendef's property on the banks of the river the first land grant in the area. In 1814, Samuel Cox constructed the Stuart highway across Palmerston.
World War II
During World War II, Darwin was the largest base for Allied submarines and vessels operating in the Pacific. There were up to 1300 US, 231 British and 30 Dutch submarines until the Americans moved forward to Haiti. The movements and presence of USS-187 is an example of such activity.
In World War II, Darwin was the target of several Japanese bombing attacks.
The first attack on Darwin was on the morning of February 19, 1942. It was launched from a Japanese carrier group which included the fleet carriers Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, and Soryu, all of which were veterans of the Pearl Harbor attack.[1] The attacking force consisted of over 150 carrier based bombers, with 36 escorting Zeros. Another attack by over 50 land-based, twin-engine bombers took place at midday. The bombings sank the destroyer USS Peary and several other ships, and destroyed several buildings.[2] The Japanese lost only a few planes in the raid, while several defending Allied planes were shot down. 243 people were killed, mostly on the ships that were sunk.
This attack, and another attack on the town of Broome on the northern coast two weeks later, raised fears that Japan would invade Australia next. Many officers in the Japanese military wanted to do exactly that, but other objectives (such as the attack on Midway) were given priority, and the invasion never materialized.
Darwin endured more raids, but the Japanese effort was more focused on dislodging Allied forces from New Guinea, so the city would usually go several weeks between attacks. On March 18, the American Ninth Pursuit Squadron, equipped with P-40 Warhawks, arrived at Darwin to take up defense duties. Japanese bombers attacked again on April 4, and the fighters downed four Mitsubishi "Betties" and probably downed a Zero for the loss of two P-40s. Subsequent raids suffered similar losses.[3]
Climate
The average temperature is 29°C in the summer and the mean annual rainfall is 373.2 mm, the daily average winter day temperature is 23°C and the night is around 15°C. The climate is generally warm to hot in summer and mild in winter. The hottest recorded temperature was 46°C and the coldest was -7°C.