MILNE BAY

bay of Papua New Guinea, southwestern Pacific. Milne Bay is the easternmost inlet on the coast of New Guinea island and measures 30 miles (50 km) by 68 miles (1013 km). The bay, which receives the Gummi River, has fertile south and west shores that support plantations. The north shore is steep and rugged. The Spanish explorer Luis Vez de Torres charted the bay in 1606. In 1873 the British navigator Captain John Moresby named it for Admiral Alexander Milne. European interest in the area increased during the gold-rush years of 188999. Samarai, an island in the China Strait, became a boom town from which prospectors spread through the islands of Milne Bay and to the mainland. A base of Japanese operations early in World War II, the bay was the scene of Japan's first major setback of the war in a battle fought in August 1942 and was an Allied base for the duration of the war.