Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

The **Naval Battle of Guadalcanal**, sometimes referred to as the **Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island**, the **Battle of the Solomons**, the **Battle of Friday the 13th**, or, in Japanese sources, the **Third Battle of the Solomon Sea** (第三次ソロモン海戦*Dai-san-ji Soromon Kaisen*), took place from 12–15 November 1942, and was the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles American and Imperial Japanese forces during the months-long Guadalcanal Campaign in the Solomon Islands during World War II. The action consisted of combined air and sea engagements over four days, most near Guadalcanal and all related to a Japanese effort to reinforce land forces on the island. (Wikipedia)

## Battle

### **First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (13 November)**

The US Navy fleet, consisting of 2 heavy cruisers (*San Francisco* and *Portland*), 4 light cruisers (*Helena, Santa Monica, Atlanta* and *Juneau*) and eight destroyers (*Cushing*, *Laffey*, *Sterett*, *O'Bannon*, *Aaron Ward*, *Barton*, *Monssen*, and *Fletcher)* steamed in a straight column in Savo Sound, with an intention to intercept the expected Japanese naval attack and landing and protect American troops ashore. Approaching Savo Sound was a large Japanese naval force: Battleships *Hiei* and *Ishikari*, light cruisers *(Insert some RFP ship)* and *Nagara*, as well as 11 ~~trash waifus~~ destroyers (*Samidare*, *Murasame*, *Asagumo*, *Teruzuki*, *Amatsukaze*, *Yukikaze*, *Ikazuchi*, *Inazuma*, *Akatsuki*, *Harusame*, and *Yūdachi*). The Japanese forces had broken up into various groups approaching from multiple directions by an intense rain squall.

Admiral Daniel Callaghan had intended to "cross the T" of the Japanese fleet. However, the American fleet was having much issue with communicating. The scattering of the Japanese force had also not been expected. As a result, the forces became increasingly split up and disorganized and began to overlap, and sighted each other for the first time at effectively point blanc range.

At 0148 hours, American cruiser *Atlanta* was illuminated by searchlights from destroyer *Akatsuki* and the new fast battleship *Ishikari* which were leading the vanguard of the Japanese force. At least 6 American ships - *Laffey*, *O'Bannon*, *Atlanta*, *San Francisco*, *Portland*, and *Helena* opened fire on *Akatsuki* which had drawn attention to herself, and the destroyer quickly exploded and sank. The *Santa Monica* was unable to open fire due to her position further back in the American line. Meanwhile, *Atlanta* became the primary target of the Japanese. She was straddled by 14" and hit by 6.1" fire from *Ishikari* as well as possibly shells from Japanese destroyers and light cruisers she attempted to turn away.

Meanwhile, *Santa Monica* and destroyers *Fletcher* and *Sterett* had made a turn northeast, and crossed ahead of the *Ishikari* force. They detected what first appeared like 3 Japanese warships - It turned out to be the fast cruiser *Kuzuryu* leading Japanese destroyers including *Harusame* and *Yudachi.* The searchlight on *Yudachi* which was launching the feared "Long Lance" torpedoes into the American line immediately gave her identity away. At 0200 hours, the Japanese flotilla was suddenly alerted by a wall of flame that they had enemies on both sides. Fire from *Fletcher* and *Sterett* but mostly *Santa Monica* rained down on *Yudachi*. 6" shell splashes completely obscured *Yudachi* as *Santa Monica*'s opening salvoes fell short, but the American gunners quickly found their mark. Under the pressure of literal walls of shells coming in every 8 to 10 seconds from the Americans, *Yudachi'*s bridge and mast collapsed, her main battery turrets underwent unscheduled disassembly, and her machinery rooms were shredded. The killing blow was a 6" shell hit to the aft torpedo tubes which set off *Yudachi*'s remaining Type 93 torpedoes, tearing her in half, although her front end would remain afloat for a fair amount of time.

Left in complete shock at the complete, swift devastation brought upon *Yudachi*, *Harusame* slowed in the water. Destroyers *Samidare*, *Murasame* and *Asagumo* immediately directed their fire at the *Santa Monica* which turned hard to port anticipating a torpedo attack. *Santa Monica* turned her searchlight upon *Kuzuryu*. To the surprise of the Americans, *Kuzuryu* heavily resembled *Atlanta* and *Santa Monica* did not fire.

Meanwhile, the real *Atlanta* was faring badly, having been hit by not only Japanese gunfire but also a "Long Lance" from destroyer *Ikazuchi*. Without power and under fire, *Atlanta* began to drift back southeast into the American line of fire. USS *San Francisco* which had thus far been firing at *Ishikari* (with little effect against the battleship's respectable armor) suddenly noticed gunfire to her starboard side. *Kuzuryu* had opened fire on the confused *Santa Monica*, riddling her upper forecastle,and both ships were crossing ahead of *Ishikari*. Meanwhile, the crippled *Atlanta* was drifting ahead of those two cruisers and with her funnel collapsed, she possibly resembled *Kuzuryu* due to the poor visibility. To make matters worse, *Kuzuryu* passed *Juneau.*

An awkward pause in fire from both sides began. *Ishikari* stopped firing her secondary batteries at the American destroyers harassing her and instead made a turn to port, bringing her 10 big 14" main battery guns to bear at the 4 cruisers. A stream of 5" shells from the Americans plinked harmlessly off *Ishikari* as her guns trained from one target to the next, trying to figure out what to shoot.

Not accidentally wanting to fire on *Kuzuryu*, *Ishikari* pointed her guns towards *Santa Monica,* the only ship that was definitively American. *Santa Monica*'s crew panicked and an order was given to increase speed, putting *Kuzuryu* in *Ishikari*'s line of fire and outrunning *Ishikari*'s guns. The crew of *Kuzuryu* attempted to torpedo *Santa Monica -* one set of tubes was launched too early to arm, the other set passed aft of *Santa Monica* and headed straight for *Juneau*. *Santa Monica* fired back into *Kuzuryu,* disabling her engine rooms and detonating two Type 93 torpedoes on the Japanese cruiser's deck and setting her ablaze. *San Francisco,* now sure of *Kuzuryu*'s identity, fired at the Japanese light cruiser, but accidentally hit the drifting *Atlanta.*

*USS* *Helena* and *Portland*, now heading further northwest, fired on the 4 Japanese destroyers still tailing *Santa Monica* and *Kuzuryu,* and the destroyers launched a wave of torpedoes at the two American ships. *Kuzuryu*, under fire from the already crippled *Atlanta,* *Juneau*, *San Francisco* and *Santa Monica*, suffered an explosion in her forward magazine and began to sink by the bow. One of her torpedoes then hit *Juneau.* *Santa Monica* then turned her fire upon *Ishikari* and poured fire into her pagoda mast and bridge. Her shells also hit one of *Ishikari*'s thinly protected 6.1" secondary turrets and caused ammunition being loaded into the guns to explode. *Ishikari,* ablaze, began to turn to starboard to fire at the fast *Santa Monica*. Unknown to the Japanese crew, this not only took *Ishikari* across the top of the American line... but she was, to the horror of the 4 Japanese destroyers, running headlong into the torpedoes fired at *Helena* and *Portland.*

A furious exchange of fire began between *Ishikari* and *Santa Monica*, where much of *Ishikari'*s upper works were mangled by the sheer volume of fire. *Santa Monica* also took a severe beating- 14" shell exploded close by in the water and jammed her rudders, while multiple hits from 6.1" shells penetrated her upper hull and superstructure. 3 of her 5"/38 dual-purpose secondary guns were destroyed, and 2 of her main battery turrets disabled. At speed, hull plates were torn off *Santa Monica* and some of her frames warped. Destroyers *Laffey* and *O'Bannon* launched torpedoes at *Ishikari*'s starboard side and drove past her bow, also firing into her superstructure. Out of 6 torpedo hits scored, only two exploded, but this caused *Ishikari* to slow and swing violently as *Santa Monica* slipped into her blind spot. *Ishikari* turned her guns instead upon *San Francisco* and smashed the heavy cruiser, incapacitating most of the bridge staff. Suddenly, an explosion rocked *Ishikari* on the other side, as one of the Japanese "Long Lances" fired earlier scored friendly fire (And ironically balanced out her flooding, although her aft magazines were flooded and put out of action as the bulkhead breached). Although slowed to only 15 knots and flooding aft, *Ishikari* continued to fire with high density but questionable accuracy.

**(insert paragraph on Ishikari doing stuff as she sinks, resulting in all the historical losses)**

Meanwhile, *Helena* and *Portland* had accidentally strayed into the northern groups of destroyers which were trying to flank the American line, while the *Santa Monica*, still with her rudder wrecked, was coming round uncontrollably at high speed behind the destroyers. The three cruisers poured intense but inaccurate fire into the Japanese destroyer line, but details of damage caused are vague. *Portland* was hit by torpedoes possibly fired from *Amatsukaze* and her gunfire finished off the barely-floating bow of *Yudachi. Santa Monica* accelerated and narrowly dodged a spread of torpedoes fired by *Yukikaze.* It is likely many Japanese destroyers took at least moderate damage. *Fletcher* and *Sterett* continued to press the attack with *Helena* as *Santa Monica* slipped into darkness.

The rear of the Japanese fleet consisting of the battleship *Hiei* leading *Kirishima* as well as several escorting destroyers had until now been firing fairly blind, and possibly caused moderate damage. However, observing only chaos, explosions and ships of unknown identity on fire from stem to stern, they proceeded north.

As dawn broke over Savo Strait, the mangled wreck of *Ishikari* was revealed, and she sank by her stern at 0730 AM on the morning of 13 November. Other Japanese forces had already been ordered to leave the Strait and the landing was called off. Efforts to save *Atlanta* failed and she was abandoned and sank at 1500. *Portland* with her engine and steering knocked out was towed to safety. The battered *Santa Monica*, drifting in the north of the strait, was helped out by *Helena.* *San Francisco* was able to steam under her own power despite being hit over 40 times.

*Most historians appear to agree that Abe's decision to retreat represented a strategic victory for the United States. Henderson Field remained operational with attack aircraft ready to deter the slow Imperial transports from approaching Guadalcanal with their precious cargoes. Plus, the Japanese had lost an opportunity to eliminate the U.S. naval forces in the area, a result which would have taken even the comparatively resource-rich U.S. some time to recover from. Reportedly furious, Admiral Yamamoto relieved Abe of command and later directed his forced retirement from the military. (Wikipedia)*

### **Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (14 November)**

Battleships *Tsushima* and *Kirishima,* supported by heavy cruisers *Atago* and *Takao* and light cruisers *Nagara* and *(Insert RFP ship)* as well 9 destroyers, including some which had survived the previous engagement, approached Guadalcanal via Indispensable Strait around midnight on 14 November, aiming to shell the American positions. New battleships *Washington* and *South Dakota*, older prototype tusslecruiser *Ringgold,*and light cruiser *Aurora* leading a flotilla of 4 destroyers were detached to patrol Savo Sound to intercept the new attack threat.  At 22:55 on 14 November, radar on *South Dakota* and *Washington* began picking up the Japanese fleet approaching the sound at a range of around 18000m.

The faster American destroyer flotilla ran ahead of the flank consisting of Japanese destroyers and their light cruiser. *Aurora*, *Walke* and *Preston* opened fire, but gunnery was inaccurate. One Japanese destroyer was observed to be set ablaze, and the cruiser hit but not severely damaged. Lethal Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes cut through the American formation, causing heavy casualties. In the chaos of the engagement and in a bid to dodge enemy torpedoes reported by the destroyers, *Aurora’s* Captain ordered her up to maximum possible speed. She escaped without much initial damage minus a shell likely from a Japanese destroyer which carried away her search radar, the gunnery crew watched in disappointment as their directors shook uncontrollably at nearly 36 knots, fumbling any further attempt to engage the enemy ships in the area.

The Flotilla had borne the brunt of the initial contact, but allowed the larger ships under Lee to get into a more advantageous position. The Japanese force consisting of a light cruiser and multiple destroyers spotted Lee's force around 23:00, but misidentified the three capital ships as cruisers. Before the Japanese scouting force could effectively engage the main American column, they were quickly driven off by radar directed gunfire from *Washington* and *Ringgold* before disappearing from radar plotters.

As *Washington* passed through the area still occupied by the damaged and sinking U.S. destroyers, she engaged an enemy destroyer with her secondary battery. Following close behind, *Ringgold* was experiencing issues with her main battery turret, although she opened fire with her secondary battery on the smaller Japanese units. Behind the cruiser, *South Dakota* suddenly suffered a series of electrical failures, reportedly during repairs when her chief engineer locked down a circuit breaker in violation of safety procedures, causing her circuits repeatedly to fail, making her radar and most of her gun batteries inoperable. However, she continued to follow *Washington* and *Ringgold* towards the western side of Savo Island.

As the Americans came out of the maneuver, a single unknown contact was detected on *Washington’s* radar plotter. Initially believing this to be a Japanese cruiser, Admiral Lee ordered all ships in the line to open fire before the ship was able to engage them with torpedoes. Admiral Lee later noted that the gunnery of the battleline was excellent in this short engagement, *South Dakota’s* gunnery hit the cruiser on her second salvo, showering the cruiser in shrapnel and tearing the entire prow from the cruiser with two 16 inch AP shells. *Ringgold’s* rate of fire was staggering and while partially unsubstantiated, an officer aboard *South Dakota* reported *Ringgold’s* 6 inch secondary battery “easily reached over 10 rounds per minute” and she reported two 6 inch shell hits on the cruiser, one of which started a fire on the rear deck.

Admiral Lee quickly called off the gunfire when it was realized the ship they had engaged was the retreating *Aurora*, who’s communication and mobility was both hindered from her earlier engagement. *Aurora* was ordered to retreat from the battlefield. *Aurora*'s machinery had already been put under strain by her earlier maneuver, and she slowly limped away.

When the Japanese main force engaged the force of two American battleships and one cruiser, total confusion rapidly erupted. Illuminated by the sheer volume of fire flowing from her guns, *Ringgold* was a suitable target for the Japanese force. Bringing her main turret to bear, *Ringgold* managed to straddle the *Tsushima* on her third salvo before a massive explosion rocked the ship. While it is currently unknown if this explosion was caused by enemy fire or due to reported improper storage of munitions outside of the magazines, post war reports believe due to where the ship broke, there was an explosion in the 12 inch turret. The already blinded *South Dakota* was showered in shrapnel, damaging her upper works and lodging the main bell of *Ringgold* into the aft superstructure.

Now illuminated by the remains of *Ringgold*, *South Dakota* became the target of most ships of the Japanese force. At ranges of 6,000 yards and lower, *South Dakota* was rapidly caught in a hail of gunfire from *Kirishima*, *Tsushima* and the accompanying cruisers. After a rapid flurry of hits near ‘B’ turret one of which penetrated the faceplate, killing the majority of personnel within but was contained within the turret. Magazines were ordered to be flooded shortly after, a decision which likely saved the ship. Multiple 14 inch shell hits were recorded in the belt, penetrating through the belt and causing major damage to the ships internals. After the ‘X’ turret’s barbette was penetrated, *South Dakota* had lost two turrets, nine 5 inch secondary batteries and almost all of her above deck electronics and fire control systems.

The Japanese ships had continued to concentrate their fire on *South Dakota* and none had detected *Washington* approaching to within 9,000 yards. From this close range, *Washington* suddenly hit the Japanese task force with a barrage of deadly accurate shells, causing confusion within the formation. In the span of seven minutes, the *Tsushuma* was struck by at least fifteen 16-inch and around thirty 5-inch shells, thoroughly gutting the ships propulsion and causing violent fires to erupt in ‘B’ turret. Following a large explosion amidships sometime later, the ship rapidly sunk while Japanese cruisers tried to rescue survivors. The destroyer *Ayanami* was struck by 5 inch shell fire from *Washington*, with one shell hitting the Type 93 “Long Lance” torpedoes on deck, starting a fire which raged out of control, eventually leading to an explosion which tore the ship in half, sinking with nearly all hands.

Shortly trying to engage *Kirishima*, *Washington* managed to land a handful of 16 inch shells on the battlecruiser. Most shells simply slammed through the superstructure while the other penetrated the casemate belt, destroying multiple 6 inch guns and setting a fire inside the ship. Now realizing the position of their attacker, a number of the escorting Japanese destroyers gave chase and fired torpedoes, however fine maneuvering on the part of *Washington’s* crew managed to avoid all of the torpedoes.

As *Kirishima* rapidly disengaged and tried to move to a safe distance, she collided with *Aurora* who unknowingly was crossing her path. While neither ships detected or engaged each other afterwards, *Kirishima* suffered heavy damage to her bow and *Aurora'*s stern collapsed, taking the steering gear with it. Rapid and effective damage control saved the ship, but she effectively lost all ability to maneuver on her own accord.

*Washington* found *South Dakota* and *Aurora* later that morning, both in an extremely sorry state. *South Dakota’s* upper works had been riddled, her funnel thoroughly holed while her bow was warped and bent due to shell holes and fires. *Prometheus* and her crew worked around the clock to make *Aurora* and *South Dakota* seaworthy for their return to the United States for meaningful repairs. *South Dakota's* crew casualties were 397 killed and 267 wounded. There was no survivors found from *Ringgold*, making her the largest US warship ever lost with all hands.