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Place in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea
Finschhafen
is a town 80 kilometers (50 mi) east of
Lae
on the
Huon Peninsula
in
Morobe Province
of
Papua New Guinea
. The town is commonly misspelt as
Finschafen
or
Finschaven
. During World War II, the town was also referred to as
Fitch Haven
in the logs of some U.S. Navy men.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
The area was charted by the British navigator Captain
John Moresby
in 1873?74.
[2]
Moru in Finschhafen 1884?1885. Sketch by
Otto Finsch
Finschhafen was surveyed in 1884 by the German scientist and explorer
Otto Finsch
who gave his name to the town.
[2]
A town was built in 1885 as part of the colony of
German New Guinea
and was named after the discoverer (-hafen = -harbour). In 1886,
Johann Flierl
and two other
Lutheran
missionaries settled in the area, creating a Mission station at Simbang. A malaria epidemic in 1891 caused the town to be abandoned by the German plantation owners and government officials. It was resettled afterward and was claimed by the Germans in 1894.
[2]
It was finally abandoned in 1901.
Finschhafen was occupied by the
Imperial Japanese Army
on 10 March 1942 during World War II. Australian forces recaptured the town at the
Battle of Sattelberg
during the
Huon Peninsula campaign
on 2 October 1943. The US built
Naval Base Finschhafen
in 1943-1944.
[3]
[4]
Transport
[
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]
The city is served by
Finschhafen Airport
, built by US military during WW2; it has no scheduled air service as of 2023.
On 2 February 2012, the passenger boat
MV
Rabaul Queen
, which had 350 or more passengers on board, sank 9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi) away from the town, killing six people, injuring seven, and leaving at least 100 but possibly over 300 missing.
[5]
[6]
[7]
Climate
[
edit
]
Finschhafen has a
tropical rainforest climate
(Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round. Unlike many places in Papua New Guinea, Finschhafen and the southern part of
Huon Peninsula
experience a rainfall maximum during the south-east monsoon (low sun season) because the Huon mountains block the north-westerly winds during the high sun season. The variation in Finschhafen is more than Lae because of stronger rain-shadow from the north-west monsoon winds.
Climate data for Finschhafen
|
Month
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Year
|
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
|
30.4
(86.7)
|
31.2
(88.2)
|
30.7
(87.3)
|
30.4
(86.7)
|
29.6
(85.3)
|
28.7
(83.7)
|
28.0
(82.4)
|
28.6
(83.5)
|
29.2
(84.6)
|
29.3
(84.7)
|
30.4
(86.7)
|
30.3
(86.5)
|
29.7
(85.5)
|
Daily mean °C (°F)
|
26.5
(79.7)
|
27.0
(80.6)
|
26.8
(80.2)
|
26.4
(79.5)
|
26.0
(78.8)
|
25.4
(77.7)
|
24.9
(76.8)
|
25.2
(77.4)
|
25.7
(78.3)
|
25.8
(78.4)
|
26.4
(79.5)
|
26.4
(79.5)
|
26.0
(78.9)
|
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
|
22.7
(72.9)
|
22.8
(73.0)
|
22.9
(73.2)
|
22.4
(72.3)
|
22.5
(72.5)
|
22.2
(72.0)
|
21.9
(71.4)
|
21.8
(71.2)
|
22.2
(72.0)
|
22.3
(72.1)
|
22.4
(72.3)
|
22.6
(72.7)
|
22.4
(72.3)
|
Average
precipitation
mm (inches)
|
133
(5.2)
|
112
(4.4)
|
144
(5.7)
|
287
(11.3)
|
426
(16.8)
|
561
(22.1)
|
589
(23.2)
|
496
(19.5)
|
449
(17.7)
|
398
(15.7)
|
264
(10.4)
|
222
(8.7)
|
4,081
(160.7)
|
Source: Climate-Data.org
[8]
|
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
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]
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International
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National
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Other
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