Shelling of Newcastle
Part of thePacific War,World War II
Date 8 June 1942 Location Newcastle, New South Wales Result indecisive
Belligerents
Empire of Japan	Australia
Commanders and leaders
Matsumura Kanji
Strength
One submarine	Coastal artillery
Casualties and losses
None	One house damaged, no casualties

TheShelling of Newcastle was conducted by theJapanese submarineI-21 in the early hours of 8 June 1942. The bombardment followed theattack on Sydney Harbour on 31 May, and was conducted shortly afterI-24 shelled theEastern Suburbs ofSydney. During the attackI-21 fired 34shells atNewcastle, including eight illumination rounds, but caused little damage. The Australian gunners atFort Scratchley fired four shells at the submarine, but scored no hits.

During 1942 and 1943Imperial Japanese Navysubmarines conducted a number of patrols along Australia's east coast.^[1] On 16 May 1942 the submarineI-29 attacked theSoviet freighterWellen 50 miles (80 km) south-east of Newcastle, but did not cause any damage to the ship. In response, a naval force was dispatched from Sydney to attempt to locate the submarine and ships were not permitted to sail between Newcastle and Sydney for 24 hours. On 23 MayI-29'sfloatplane flew over Newcastle and Sydney searching for shipping which could be attacked bymidget submarines.^[2]

On the night of 31 May three Japanese midget submarinesattacked shipping in Sydney Harbour. The ultimate aim was to sink theUnited States Navy Heavy CruiserUSS Chicago, although unsuccessful in this objective, the attack did result in the sinking of the accommodation shipHMASKuttabul. All three midget submarines were however lost in the attack.^[3] Following this raid, the large submarines which had launched the midgets attacked shipping off the east coast; these included two attacks on ships near Newcastle on the night of 3 June. At 10:18 pm the coastal steamerAge was shelled byI-24 35 miles (56 km) south-east ofNorah Head; she did not sustain any damage and docked at Newcastle at 1 am the next day. At about midnight on 3 June the coasterIron Chieftain was torpedoed and sunk byI-24 near whereAge had been attacked.^[4][5]

During the early hours of 8 JuneI-24 andI-21 carried out brief bombardments of Sydney and Newcastle respectively. The purpose of these attacks was to generate what historian David Jenkins has called an "air of disquiet" rather than inflict significant damage on targets in the two cities.^[6] Between 00:15 and 00:20I-24 fired ten shells which landed in the suburbs ofBellevue Hill,Rose Bay andWoollahra. Only one of these shells exploded, and they caused little damage and only injured one person. While theSydney Harbour defences spottedI-24's gun flashes, the submarine ceased its attack and submerged before the Australian gunners could open fire on it.^[7]

I-21 began her bombardment of Newcastle two hours after the attack on Sydney. At this time the submarine was 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from Newcastle, and was sailing eastwards as her 140 mm (5.5 in)deck gun was stern-mounted. Prior to the attack the submarine's gun crew had prepared 34 rounds of ammunition; these comprised 26 conventional rounds and eight illumination rounds.^[8] The target of the attack was theBHPNewcastle Steelworks in the city.^[9]

Between 2:15 am and 2:31 amI-21 fired 34 shells at Newcastle. These rounds landed over a wide area, however, and caused little damage.^[9] Only one of the 20 conventional shells exploded, causing damage to a house on Parnell Place. Another shell damaged a nearbytram terminus but did not explode.^[10] At 2:28 am the guns atFort Scratchley near the entrance to Newcastle's harbour opened fire onI-21. The submarine's commanding officer, Commander Matsumura Kanji, continued the bombardment for another three minutes as he believed that it would take time for the Australian gunners to locate the submarine. By the time the attack concluded the fort's two guns had fired two salvos each, but none of the four shells struckI-21.^[9][10]

I-21 andI-24 were not attacked by Allied ships during or after their bombardments as no anti-submarine warfare-capable vessels were available in either port.^[11] While one person was injured by falling masonry and debris in Sydney, there were no casualties in Newcastle.^[12] Although the bombardments caused little damage, they were successful in generating concern among Australians.^[6]

• Carruthers, Steven L. (2006).Japanese Submarine Raiders, 1942 : A Maritime Mystery (Revised ed.). Narrabeen, NSW: Casper Publications.ISBN 0-9775063-0-4.
• Gill, G. Hermon (1968).Royal Australian Navy 1942–1945.Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy. Canberra: Australian War Memorial.
• Jenkins, David (1992).Battle Surface : Japan's Submarine War Against Australia 1942–44. Milsons Point, NSW:Random House.ISBN 0-09-182638-1.
• Stevens, David (2005).A Critical Vulnerability: The Impact of the Submarine Threat on Australia's Maritime Defence 1915–1954(PDF). Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs (No. 15). Canberra: Sea Power Centre – Australia.ISBN 0-642-29625-1.

• Jones, Terry; Carruthers, Steven (2013).A Parting Shot: Shelling of Australia by Japanese Submarines 1942. Narrabeen, NSW: Casper Publications.ISBN 9780977506347.

• Conflicts in 1942
• 1942 in Australia
• History of Newcastle, New South Wales
• Military attacks against Australia
• Australia–Japan military relations
• Battles and conflicts without fatalities
• 1940s in New South Wales

• Articles with short description
• Short description with empty Wikidata description
• New South Wales articles missing geocoordinate data
• All articles needing coordinates
• Articles missing coordinates without coordinates on Wikidata