Rekata Bay

During the war, the Japanese Imperial Navy constructed a seaplane base at Rekata Bay in the middle of 1942.

It was used by R-Area Air Force as a forward base for offensive operations, mainly the nightly Washing Machine Charlie raids on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal.

It was also used as an emergency landing and ditching area for aircraft damaged during the Battle of Guadalcanal.

The base was defended by 3,100 troops of the 7th Combined Special Naval Landing Force and III Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 6th Division.

6 Squadron RNZAF finally visited the abandoned base on 28 August 1945, losing a man, who was possibly taken by a saltwater crocodile.

Map of Santa Isabel Island .
The Japanese seaplane base under attack, in August 1943.