heavy damage and killing 19 crewmen. was hit by two 500 lb bombs, causing heavy damage and killing 23 crewmen. was slightly damaged by several near-misses. One bomb struck near , which damaged an anti-aircraft gun and killed one crewman. Three destroyers were also lightly damaged. The strike had been a stunning success, effectively neutralizing Koga's cruisers as a threat to the Bougainville mission. Under the threat of additional airstrikes most of the Japanese warships departed for Truk the next day, practically ending Japanese naval presence in the area. Losses among the attacking aircraft were light. Two days later an additional carrier unit, Task Group 50.3 (TG 50.3) of the U.S. 5th Fleet, reached Halsey, arriving on 7 November. These ships were among the first wave of newly built U.S. Navy warships and had only recently become operational. Commanded by Rear Adm. Alfred E. Montgomery, the task group consisted of the fleet carriers and and the light carrier . Halsey used Montgomery's ships as well as TF 38 in a combined strike against Rabaul on 11 November. Sherman launched his strike from near Green Island, northwest of Bougainville, which attacked in bad weather at about 08:30. After its return, TF 38 retired to the south without being detected. Montgomery launched from the Solomon Sea southeast of Rabaul. Agano—which had remained at Rabaul after the 5 November strike—was torpedoed and heavily damaged in these attacks. The destroyer reportedly suffered a direct bomb hit while loading torpedoes near the mouth of Rabaul Harbor. She blew up and sank, killing 148 of her crew. In the wake of the raids the Japanese launched a series of counterattacks involving 120 aircraft against the U.S. carriers, but the force was intercepted and lost 35 planes without inflicting damage on Montgomery's ships. Not only had these raids succeeded in protecting the allies' recent gains, but they left Rabaul itself as an increasingly isolated outpost, difficult to supply and posing little danger to accelerating allied operations in the region. The capture of Bougainville and Buka brought Rabaul into range of land-based US Navy and Marine Corps tactical bombers for the first time, setting the stage for the pacification campaign intended to neutralize Rabaul that began on 17 December 1943. See also Neutralisation of Rabaul Notes References - neutral review of this book here: External links Account of U.S. Marine involvement in air war over Solomon Islands and