Finschhafen

Finschhafen, town and port at the tip of Huon Peninsula, eastern Papua New Guinea, southwestern Pacific Ocean. The three-basin harbour, an inlet of the Solomon Sea, was charted by the British navigator Capt. John Moresby in 1873–74. Named for German explorer Otto Finsch, the town was claimed by Germany in 1894 and served as German colonial administrative headquarters until virulent fevers forced its abandonment at the close of the 19th century. Finschhafen was subsequently the site of a large Lutheran mission station before World War II and was a Japanese air base in 1942–43. Retaken by Australian forces, it was made an Allied military base. The many structures erected by those military combatants lie abandoned and neglected. Finschhafen ships some coffee and copra to Lae.