page_title: USS Washington (BB-56)
section_title: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
hierarchical_section_title: USS Washington (BB-56) / Service history / Pacific operations / Guadalcanal campaign / Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
caption_attribution_description: English: Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kirishima at Tsukumowan, Japan.
context_page_description: USS Washington (BB-56) was the second and final member of the North Carolina class of fast battleships, the first vessel of the type built for the United States Navy. Built under the Washington Treaty system, North Carolina's design was limited in displacement and armament, though the United States used a clause in the Second London Naval Treaty to increase the main battery from the original armament of nine 14 in guns to nine 16 in guns. The ship was laid down in 1938 and completed in May 1941, while the United States was still neutral during World War II. Her initial career was spent training along the East Coast of the United States until after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, bringing the United States into the war.
  Washington was initially deployed to Britain to reinforce the Home Fleet, which was tasked with protecting convoys carrying supplies to the Soviet Union. She saw no action during this period, as the German fleet remained in port, and Washington was recalled to the US in July 1942 to be refitted and transferred to the Pacific.
context_section_description: As Lee's task group approached Guadalcanal, his Japanese counterpart, Admiral Nobutake Kondō steamed to meet him with his main bombardment force, consisting of the fast battleship Kirishima, the heavy cruisers Takao and Atago, and a destroyer screen. While en route, TG 16.3 was re-designated as TF 64 on 14 November; the ships passed to the south of Guadalcanal and then rounded the western end of the island to block Kondō's expected route. Japanese aircraft reported sighting Lee's formation, but identification of the ships ranged from a group of cruisers and destroyers to aircraft carriers, causing confusion among the Japanese commanders. That evening, American reconnaissance aircraft spotted Japanese warships off Savo Island, prompting Lee to order his ships to general quarters. The four destroyers were arrayed ahead of the two battleships. The American task force, having been thrown together a day before, had not operated together as a unit, and both of the battleships had very limited experience shooting their main battery, particularly at night.
  At around 23:00 on 14 November, the leading Japanese destroyers in a screening force commanded by Shintarō Hashimoto sent ahead of Kondō's main force spotted Lee's ships and turned about to warn Kondō, while Washington's search radar picked up a Japanese cruiser and a destroyer at about the same time. The ships' fire control radars then began tracking the Japanese vessels and Lee ordered both of his battleships to open fire when ready. Washington fired first with her main battery at 23:17 at a range of 18,000 yd (16,000 m) while her secondary guns fired star shells to illuminate the targets, followed shortly by South Dakota. One of the Japanese destroyers, Ayanami, revealed her position by opening fire on the American destroyer screen, allowing Washington to target her, inflicting serious damage that disabled her propulsion machinery and started a major fire.
  Shortly thereafter, at about 23:30, an error in the electrical switchboard room knocked out power aboard South Dakota, disabling her radar systems and leaving the ship all but blind to the Japanese vessels approaching the force. By this time, Hashimoto's ships had inflicted serious damage on the American destroyer screen; two of the destroyers were torpedoed (one of which, Benham, survived until the following morning) and a third was destroyed by gunfire. Washington was now left essentially alone to engage the Japanese squadron, though they had yet to actually detect her presence. While Washington's captain, Glenn B. Davis, kept his ship on the disengaged side of the flaming wrecks of the destroyer screen, South Dakota was forced to turn in front of one of the burning destroyers to avoid a collision, which backlit her to the Japanese ships, drawing their fire and allowing Washington to engage them undisturbed.
  At 23:35, Washington's SG radar detected Kondō's main force and tracked them for the next twenty minutes. At 23:58, South Dakota's power was restored and her radar picked up the Japanese ships less than 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) ahead. Two minutes later, the leading Japanese ship, Atago, illuminated South Dakota with her search lights and the Japanese line promptly opened fire, scoring twenty-seven hits. Washington, still undetected, opened fire, allocating two of her 5-inch guns to engage Atago and two to fire star shells, while the rest joined her main battery in battering Kirishima at a range of 8,400 yards (7,700 m). Washington scored probably nine 16-inch hits and as many as forty 5-inch hits, inflicting grievous damage. Kirishima was badly holed below the waterline, her forward two turrets were knocked out, and her rudder was jammed, forcing her to steer in a circle to port with an increasing starboard list.
  Washington then shifted fire to Atago and Takao, and though straddled the former, failed to score any significant hits; the barrage nevertheless convinced both cruisers to turn off their search lights and reverse course in an attempt to launch torpedoes. At 00:13, the two cruisers fired a spread of
caption: The Japanese battleship Kirishima, Washington's opponent off Guadalcanal
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