Blackett Strait is a waterway in the Western Province

Western Province (Solomon Islands)

Western Province is the largest of the provinces of the Solomon Islands. The area is renowned for its beautiful tropical islands, excellent diving and snorkelling, coral reefs and WWII wrecks, ecotourism lodges, and head-hunting shrines...

 of the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

. It lies between the islands of Kolombangara

Kolombangara

Kolombangara is an island in the New Georgia Islands group of the Solomon Islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean...

 to the north, and Arundel Island

Arundel Island

Arundel Island is an island, part of the New Georgia Islands in the Solomon Islands. It is located between Kolombangara and New Georgia, at . It is separated from Kolombangara by Blackett Strait....

 (Kohinggo) to the south. It connects Vella Gulf

Vella Gulf

Vella Gulf is a waterway in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. It lies between the islands of Vella Lavella to the northwest, Kolombangara to the southeast, and Ghizo to the south...

 to the west with Kula Gulf

Kula Gulf

Kula Gulf is a waterway in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. It lies between the islands of Kolombangara to the west, Arundel Island to the southwest, and New Georgia to the south and east. To the north, it opens into New Georgia Sound...

 to the east.

During the Solomon Islands campaign

Solomon Islands campaign

The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, during the first six months of 1942...

 in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the Battle of Blackett Strait

Battle of Blackett Strait

The Battle of Blackett Strait was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on 6 March 1943 in the Blackett Strait, between Kolombangara islands and Arundel Island in the Solomon Islands....

 was fought here between the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

 and the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 on the night of 5–6 March 1943.

An unnamed engagement between a small American PT boat force and Japanese destroyers on 2 August 1943 became famous in the U.S. when John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

's PT-109

Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109

PT-109 was a PT boat last commanded by Lieutenant, junior grade John F. Kennedy in the Pacific Theater during World War II...

 was rammed by a destroyer, and saved by locals Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana

Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana

Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana were indigenous people of Solomon Islands, of native Melanesian descent, who found John F. Kennedy and his surviving PT-109 crew following the boat's collision with the Japanese destroyer Amagiri near Plum Pudding Island on 1 August 1943...

in a dugout canoe.