Dangerous Operations in The South Pacific
For the next eight months, Sonoma towed ships between the ports of the South Pacific Ocean. Based at Noumea, New Caledonia, she visited the Fiji Islands, the New Hebrides Islands, Australia, and New Guinea, both at Milne Bay and Buna. On 3 September 1943, she arrived off Lae, New Guinea, to participate in her first combat operation and, in the afternoon, was straddled by four bombs-near misses-and sprayed by shrapnel during a raid by seven Japanese twin-engine bombers. Later on, she cleared the area for Morobe Bay, Papua New Guinea. Sonoma's scrapes with Japanese air power continued through the month of September as she operated in the vicinity of Lae. She came under attack on the 12th, the 21st, and the 22d, and assisted in splashing one enemy on the 12th. For the remainder of 1943, she operated in and around Buna Harbor at Papua, New Guinea.
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