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- This article is about the town. For the volcanic caldera within which it lies see Rabaul caldera.
Rabaul was the capital of East New Britain province, on New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea, until 1994. It was built within the caldera of a large volcano, and was always vulnerable to an eruption. In 1994, a particularly large eruption destroyed much of Rabaul town. The new capital, Kokopo, is just 20 km away, and the new airport is at Tokua, a little further away on the far side of the caldera. These settlements around the edge of the caldera are often collectively referred to as Rabaul.
Rabaul has good diving and snorkeling sites and a spectacular harbour, and was slowly becoming a popular tourist destination before the eruptions. There are still several diving operators based there.
History
In 1910 Germany relocated its headquarters to the new town of Rabaul. It was given the name Rabaul, as this means mangrove in Kuanua (the local language) and the town was built on a reclaimed mangrove swamp.
Britain was awarded New Guinea from the German Empire after the First World War. Rabaul subsequently became the capital of the Territory of New Guinea. Before World War II, Rabaul was being developed into a regional base.
World War II
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor it was apparent that Rabaul would come under attack. By December 1941 all women and children were evacuated. In January 1942 Rabaul was heavily bombed, and on January 23 the Battle of Rabaul began with the landing of thousands of Japanese marines.During their occupation the Japanese developed Rabaul into a much more powerful base than the British had planned. The Japanese army dug many kilometres of tunnels as shelter from the Allied air forces. By 1943 there were about 110,000 Japanese troops based in Rabaul.
On April 18 1943, Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, the architect of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, was shot down and killed by U.S. fighter planes after taking off from Rabaul. Japanese communications describing Yamamoto's flight itinerary were decrypted allowing the hastily dispatched fighter contingent.
Instead of capturing Rabaul, the Allied forces bypassed it by establishing a ring of airfields on islands around it. Cut off from resupply and under constant air attack, the base became useless. The Japanese held Rabaul until they surrendered at the end of the war in August 1945.
The war made a lasting impression on Rabaul. There is still much military debris in the harbour, on the land and buried in the hills.
Volcanic eruptions
Rabaul's proximity to its volcanos has always been a source of concern. In 1878 an eruption caused the formation of Vulcan in the harbour.
In 1937 two volcanos, Tavurvur and Vulcan, erupted killing 507 people and causing enormous damage. Following this the Australian administration for the Territory of New Guinea decided to move its headquarters to the safer location of Lae.
In 1983 and 1984 the town was ready for evacuation when the volcanos started to heat up. Nothing happened until 19 September 1994, when again Tavurvur and Vulcan erupted, destroying the airport and covering most of the town with heavy ashfall. Most of the buildings in the eastern half of Rabaul collapsed due to the weight of ash on their roofs.
The last eruption prompted the relocation of the provincial capital to Kokopo.
External links
"Rabaul"