Reconnaissance reports having found Rabaul crowded with ships and more than 200 enemy aircraft parked on its airfields, Mitchells of the 498th Bomb Squadron, 345th Bomb Group attacked shipping in Simpson Harbor on 2 November, 1943. Bombers were first to parafrag floating targets, then drop 100-pound bombs ignited with phosphorous - "Kenney's Cocktails" - that laid a covering mist to screen incoming low-level B-25s from anti-aircraft installments. Success of the subsequent bombing attack on 2 November depended on neutralizing the defensive firepower. Among the targets "parafragged" was an H8K 1 Emily Flying Boat.
