Solomon Islands is a country located in Oceania. According to AbbreviationFinder, SB is the two-letter ISO code of Solomon Islands, and SLB is the three-letter country abbreviation for Solomon Islands.
Yearbook 1997
Solomon Islands. According to Countryaah, the national day of Solomon Islands is July 7. Parliamentary elections were held in early August. For the 50 seats in Parliament, 345 candidates were in the line-up. When Parliament gathered at the end of the month, the Liberal Party leader, Bartholomew UlufaŹ¹alu, was appointed new Prime Minister. He got 26 votes to 22 for fellow contestant Danny Philip, who after the election succeeded former Prime Minister Solomon Mamaloni as leader of the Group for National Unity and Reconciliation.
Solomon Islands has been inhabited for the past 4000 years. The island’s original inhabitants were a Melanesian people whose social organization was simpler than among the peoples of other Pacific islands.
The first Europeans to arrive in the islands were Spaniards led by Alvaro de MendaƱa, who searched for El Dorado (Gold Country). In the 18th and 19th centuries, they converted the islands into slave labor reserves for sugar plantations in Fiji and Australia.
After the First World War, Britain converted the islands into a colony. Japan occupied the islands in 1942, and when World War II ended, Britain again occupied the islands and subdivided them, so that the 14,000 km2 eastern portion was subdivided into Australian administration and incorporated into Papua New Guinea.
Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) led by Solomon Mamaloni and Solomon Islands United Party (SIUP) was at the forefront of the struggle for independence. It culminated in 1976 when the islands gained internal autonomy. On May 21, 1975, Britain and the local government agreed to grant the islands independence and it was proclaimed on July 7, 1978.
Both the financial system and agricultural production are in foreign hands. Although attempts have been made to diversify the economy, the country’s economy remains highly dependent on the world market.
Solomon Mamaloni was elected prime minister in August 1981, after Parliament had decided to set up 5 ministries responsible for regional affairs. In addition, Parliament decided to prohibit the entry of nuclear-powered ships or aircraft into the country’s territory.
SOLOMON. – The Solomon’s Campaign during World War II. – The success obtained by the US forces with the landing on August 7, 1942 in Guadalcanal and Tulagi (see in this second App., I, p. 1098 and relative map) produced a situation of equilibrium on that island: the Americans occupied Lunga Airport (Henderson Field), of great strategic importance. But the Japanese troops had not been decisively defeated. Both warring sides sought to supply and reinforce their troops on the island, and prevent enemy supplies and reinforcements. Parallel to the land struggle, therefore, the struggle on the sea took place fiercely and incessantly, with a series of actions, the main ones of which are mentioned here.
Battle of Savo (9 August 1942). – The American landing was immediately followed by the intense reaction of the Japanese air forces from the land bases of the Rabaul sector. Having the Japanese air dominance, a team of their cruisers managed to carry out a night surprise in the waters of the Gulf of Savoy, between Guadalcanal and Florida, sinking three large American cruisers and one Australian, without any Japanese loss.
Battle of the Eastern Solomons (24 August 1942). – While the Japanese were protecting the arrival of a convoy in Guadalcanal there was a battle between aircraft carriers, in which the Japanese suffered the loss of a small unit of this type; the Americans achieved their strategic goal, because the Japanese, due to the losses and damage suffered in the transport ships and light ships, gave up on the convoy to continue.
Battle of Cape Esperance (12 October 1942). – Systematically the Japanese maintained communications with Guadalcanal, carrying troops aboard cruisers and destroyers. On the night of October 12, a Japanese group was attacked by surprise by another American, who, by adjusting the maneuver by means of the radar, normally cut the route of the Japanese formation, so as to achieve the classic ” t- cut “.
Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands (October 26, 1942). – The adm. WF Halsey, who in mid-October 1942 had assumed command of all American armed forces in the South Pacific, directed the naval operations with great audacity, although the Japanese fleet was vastly superior in every category of ships. This situation resulted in a very hard battle between aircraft carriers, which took its name from the Santa Cruz Islands; it was a tactical success for the Japanese fleet, as the American fleet sank an aircraft carrier and a destroyer, while the Japanese navy suffered no naval losses. But two Japanese aircraft carriers were temporarily taken out of service, and the two remaining efficient aircraft carriers suffered severe losses of aircraft and pilots. The Japanese navy was in increasing difficulty to replace aircraft,
Battle of Guadalcanal (13-14-15 November 1942). – Japanese troops on Guadalcanal Island lacked tanks and heavy artillery. Therefore the Japanese high command decided to send a convoy of 12 large steamers to the island at any cost.
Being aware of the enemy’s plans, Admiral Halsey decided to take the risk: he managed to get two convoys to Guadalcanal in a timely manner to reinforce the troops. Halsey was left with only one aircraft carrier (the Enterprise) which he ordered to take to the sea, although he could not fully repair the damage suffered and was able to move only at reduced speed. As the main American force could not get to Guadalcanal at the start of the Japanese offensive, the light forces that had escorted the convoys were assembled under the command of Admiral Callaghan, with orders to decisively engage the enemy bombing force, in the attempt. to delay the execution of the landing, to give time to the two battleships and the aircraft carrier to arrive and face the decisive action. So in the night on November 13, while the two Japanese battleships Hiyei and Kirishima (which made up the bombing force) with 15 destroyers, moved to attack the airport, collided with the American light team, consisting of 5 cruisers and 8 destroyers. A furious melee ensued; in the clash 2 Japanese and 2 American destroyers were sunk: all the American ships were seriously damaged and two admirals (Callaghan and Scott) died.
- Shopareview: Offers climate information of Solomon Islands in Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, covering maximum and minimum temperature for each of 12 months. Also includes when is best time to visit this country.
On November 14, the Japanese decided to advance the convoy towards Guadalcanal under the protection of fighter and destroyer aviation, but the steamers were attacked by American aircraft from the airport and the aircraft carrier; 8 steamers were set on fire, while the other four, despite having suffered damage, came to run aground on the beach of Tassafaronga, and under the air attacks began the landing operations. On the night of November 15, the Japanese battleship Kirishima with cruisers and destroyers arrived in the Gulf of Savo to protect the landing, but at the same time the two American battleships North Carolina and South Dakota arrived in the same waters, unbeknownst to the Japanese.with some destroyers. Thus a nocturnal battle between battleships took place; the Kirishima, hit, was immobilized and sank. On the American side, South Dakota was damaged. American aircraft completed the destruction of transport.
Battle of Tassafaronga (30 November 1942). – After the naval battle of Guadalcanal the Japanese situation on the island had become desperate, however at the end of November the American command had indications that the enemy was about to try a new supply by means of fast ships. A group of four large cruisers was destined to counter that attempt, which collided in the night on the 30 with a flotilla of 8 Japanese destroyers in front of the beach of Tassafaronga. The Americans opened fire with the radio telemetry: the Japanese destroyers did not respond to the fire but carried out the simultaneous launch of torpedoes, thus reversing the course and increasing speed. The numerous torpedoes sank one American cruiser and damaged the others.
Japanese retreat from Guadalcanal and American advance into the Solomons. – At the end of 1942 the United States Navy had passed the critical phase originated by the Pearl Harbor disaster; the increasing availability of American naval forces in the South Pacific made the Japanese situation in Guadalcanal unsustainable, so that in early February 1943, the Japanese withdrew their troops from the island by means of night towing by destroyers. After the abandonment of Guadalcanal, the Japanese made every effort to strengthen their situation in the central Solomons. But the Americans acquired aerial prevalence, and with successive landings established their dominance in New Georgia, taking over the Munda airport on August 5, 1943. The American advance into the Solomon Islands archipelago.