Allied Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands 1942 – Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Part 2) – Friday the Thirteenth

Allied Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands 1942 – Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Part 2) – Friday the Thirteenth

Vol. 1 No.12

November 13, 2013

            It was now just after midnight on the morning of Friday, 13 November 1942, the last day of life for eight ships and many hundreds of sailor including two rear admirals. At 0124 Helena made radar contact with the enemy formation which appeared as two “blips” at distances of 27,000 and 32,000 yards and bearing 310˚ and 312˚ respectively. Callahan maintained a course of due north and did not change course to starboard and cross the enemy’s “T” as he had planned. Valuable time passed, without any call to action, as the two forces continued on a collision course, closing at nearly 40 knots.

On board San Francisco, Callahan, blind for want of an adequate radar image, was further handicapped by having to make range and bearing requests of his seeing-eye dog Helena, via the overtaxed talk between ships (TBS) radio. As the distance closed the American’s radar advantage evaporated and so did the element of surprise.

At 0145 Callahan finally gave the order to “Stand By to Open Fire”. Cushing, the lead destroyer, then turned suddenly hard to port, after sighting Japanese destroyers just 3000 yards distant, throwing the column into disarray. Five minutes passed before the order to open fire was given but not before a Japanese destroyer searchlight latched on to Atlanta. The misnamed “Lucky A” was deluged with 14-inch shells and destroyer gunfire, killing Admiral Scott and everyone on the bridge. Destruction of the light antiaircraft cruiser would have been complete and instantaneous had the battleship hoists be loaded with armor piercing shells instead of thin skinned, high explosive bombardment rounds.

The element of surprise lost, Callahan chose to block and block hard. The America column split Abe’s formation in two as the CTO ordered even ships in column to action on the port and odd ships to starboard. From then on, the two forces mingled like minnows in a bucket.

 Destroyers Cushing, Laffey and O’Bannon tangled with Hiei at ranges so close that the battleship could not depress its guns enough to hit them with 14-inch shells. In return the Americans sprayed Hiei’s pagoda-like superstructure with 1.1-inch anti-aircraft and 20mm machine gun fire.

At that moment Callahan issued the order to “Cease firing own ships” fearing that in the melee the Atlanta, dead in the water, had drifted into the heavy cruiser’s shell fire. The conjecture that some of San Francisc’s struck Atlanta was later confirmed by the presence of green dyed shell fragments on Atlanta’s deck.

San Francisco was the first to suffer during the cease fire as Kirishima, on her starboard hand, dealt a heavy blow killing Admiral Callahan and Captain Young. The next three ships in line; Portland, Helena and Juneau, came to San Francisco’s defense trading salvos with the battlewagon and checking fire as their range became fouled by friendly ships. In these moments both Portland and Juneau were struck by single Japanese torpedo. 

Admiral Abe, having disposed of a cruiser (Atlanta) and two destroyers (Cushing and Laffey) and feeling uncomfortable, his bridge being sprayed with machine gun fire, ordered a general retreat.

In the van of the American column Fletcher, with its superior radar, ignored the cease fire order and continued to engage the battleships with gun fire as range began to open. Several destroyers attempted a coordinated torpedo attack but their fish were chasing the Japanese tails and failed to score any hits.

As dawn broke on the thirteenth, a different type of struggle raged as damage control parties on both sides attempted to save their damaged ships. Atlanta, Portland and Aaron Ward drifted as Cushing and Monssen burned , all within sight of the disabled Yudachi. To the northeast of Savo Island, Hiei and Yukikaze struggled to get underway and escape the inevitable early morning airstrike. Both ships would be sunk later that day by the very planes Abe’s bombardment had intended to destroy.

Allied Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands 1942 – Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Part 1) – Night Cruiser Actions

Allied Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands 1942 – Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (Part 1) – Night Cruiser Actions

Vol. 1 No.11

November 12, 2013

“Sons of heroes, call forth the steel!”

 - Celtic mythology

By dusk on 12 November Admiral Norman Scott, the victor at Cape Esperance, flying his flag in Atlanta, and Admiral Daniel J. Callahan, in San Francisco, were on their own. The nearest reinforcements were Admiral Thomas Kinkaid’s carrier task force, built around Enterprise with battleships Washington and South Dakota, then 325 miles away.

Callahan, senior to Scott, assumed command and formed his ships into a long snaking column reminiscent of line-of-battle from the age of Nelson. Callahan probably chose this formation because it had worked so well for Scott a month earlier. It facilitated communication between ships and eased navigation in restricted waters. Being outgunned, Callahan wanted to use his superior radar and maneuver his column to cap the enemy’s “T” and engage the Japanese at the greatest range possible.

There were several faults in Callahan’s plan. The two commands ever worked together before the afternoon, so a battle plan should have been issued, but none was. The column formation would not allow the destroyers in the rear to employ their primary anti-ship weapon by conducting a torpedo attacks. Finally, placing the ships with the newer more capable SG radar - Helena and Fletcher - eighth and last in the column, would delay the earliest possible enemy radar detection. The fact that the OTC (Officer in Tactical Command) did not fly his flag on either of these ships meant that additional time for communications between ships would be required to fully understand the unfolding tactical situation.

The core of Admiral Hiroaki Abe’s bombardment group, consisting of battleships Hiei and Kirishima, cruiser Nagara and six destroyers had left the Japanese anchorage at Truk Lagoon on the 9^th. The force was joined by five more destroyers near Shortlands and together steamed southward down The Slot, passing to the west of Savo Island and into Iron Bottom Sound.

That night Abe intended to kill marines, so his ship’s magazines were filled with thin skinned, high-explosive shells in order to inflict the most damage on Henderson Field and its aircraft. Despite the warning by Japanese headquarters on Guadalcanal of the presence of five American cruisers and eight destroyers in the Sound, Abe was clearly not concerned about a surface action as his formation resembled a flock of migrating geese.

Allied Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands 1942 – Naval Battle of Guadalcanal – Preliminaries

Allied Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands 1942 – Naval Battle of Guadalcanal – Preliminaries

Vol. 1 No.10

November 12, 2013

“My pride in you is beyond expression. No honor for you could be too great.” - Admiral William Halsey

To the men who fought and died in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

During the night of 11 November and past noon on the following day, seven combat loaded freighters disembarked 11,000 troops and much need supplies of food and ammunition on Guadalcanal. The transports arrived in two separate group escorted by Admiral Norman Scott in Atlanta, with four destroyers, and Admiral Daniel J. Callahan, in San Francisco, with three cruisers and five destroyers. Admiral Halsey also sent Admiral Kinkaid’s carrier task force built around Enterprise, with battleships Washington and South Dakota to the Solomons because a particularly noxious “Tokyo Express” had also been spotted. The Japanese force, reported by long-range search planes, was Admiral Hiroaki Abe’s bombardment group of battleships Hiei and Kirishima, cruiser Nagara and six destroyers. The absence of transports led Halsey to believe the Japanese intended to bombard Henderson Field. This is exactly Abe’s plan the hoists of the battleship’s combined 16 14-inch guns and 32 6-inch guns were loaded with thin skinned high-explosive shells to inflict the most damage on the airfield. Abe reasoned that any American surface ships in Iron Bottom Sound after dark could be swept aside by his destroyer’s deadly Long Lance 24-inch torpedoes.

By 1317 on the 12^th Scott’s contingent of transports had unloaded successfully, and Callahan’s charges were about half empty when coastwatchers on Buin warned of a formidable force winging its way down “The Slot” to attack the vulnerable transports. The transports immediately stopped unloading and got underway in order to clear the sound before the twin engine bombers, with fighter escort arrived

The opening salvo of the Naval Battle for Guadalcanal did not go well for the Japanese. Henderson Field Wildcats and steady 5-inch gunfire from the antiaircraft cruisers Atlanta and Juneau’s 12 duel mounts ensured that few of the Betty bombers returned with little damage to the Americans.

By dusk on the 12^th the all the transports had departed the area with their escorts - destroyers lightly damage or low on fuel. This left only Scott, the victor at Cape Esperance and Callahan to face the Japanese onslaught. Enterprise and the two battlewagons, under Admiral Willis Lee, were still too far away to help.

Allied Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands 1942 – This Day in History: The Gettysburg Address

Allied Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands 1942 – This Day in History: The Gettysburg Address

Vol. 1 - Special Issue

November 19, 2013

(Repost)

"…We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

On this day, 150 years ago, the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was dedicated. President Abraham Lincoln delivered in two minutes what would become one of the most widely known speeches, the Gettysburg Address.

Arrow identifies President Lincoln

Photo: The Library of Congress, Alexander Gardner

Source: http://military.discovery.com

US Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands- 1942: Origin of ship’s name

US Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands- 1942: Origin of ship’s name

Vol. 1 No.4

September 27, 2013
(Reposted)

USS Ballard AVD-10 (ex DD-267), 1919-1946

Warranted a midshipman on 24 February 1809 and still holding that rank, Edward J. Ballard served as fourth lieutenant in Chesapeake on June 1, 1813 when that American frigate challenged the British man of war HMS Shannon outside Boston harbor. Most of Chesapeake's crew had been recently recruited, and most of her officers were newly assigned to the ship. As a result of this inexperience and of the crew's lack of training as a team, the Americans were quickly bested in the ensuing battle. During the engagement, a cannon shot took off Ballard's right leg close to his body, and he died shortly afterwards. On 2 June 1813, the day following the action, the Navy Department -which had not yet heard of the action promoted Ballard to lieutenant.

Source: Department of the Navy – Naval Historical Center, “Online Library of Selected Images,” [accessed September 27, 2013]. 

Allied Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands – 1942: The Guadalcanal Landings

Allied Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands – 1942: The Guadalcanal Landings

Vol. 1 No.2

August 8, 2013

(Reposted)

Operation Watchtower, the fist amphibious landing undertaken of soldiers and sailors of the United States since 1898, began on 7 August 1942. The assaults on the southernmost islands of the Solomon chain were accomplished in broad daylight and achieved complete surprise.

The island of Guadalcanal had been targeted after reconnaissance by B-17 Flying Fortresses from Nouméa revealed the Japanese were building a landing strip – the future Henderson Field. Completion of the airfield would allow twin engine bombers to reach the headquarters of the Commander of the South Pacific on the island of Espiritu Santo Vice Admiral Ghromly.

Tulagi, on the nearby Florida Island, some fifteen miles distant, was targeted because its protected harbor was ideal for a seaplane anchorage and motor torpedo boat base. The landings were accomplished primarily by the 1100 Marines of the 1^st Division embarked in fifteen transports. The airfield on Guadalcanal was secured by 1600 on the 7^th, as the 2000 Japanese, mostly construction troops, fled into the jungle. The landing at Tulagi was unopposed.

This ended the first day of the campaign for the Solomon Islands. General Douglass MacArthur described this chain of parallel islands running roughly northwest to southeast, separated by a narrow channel nicknamed “The Slot,” as the road to the principal Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. If The Slot was the highway, then Guadalcanal was the toll booth and the Allies had caught the watchman napping. While all went well on the first two days, the Japanese, despite their defeat at Coral Sea and Midway, still a formidable fleet and a flotilla of aircraft to contest the landings.

Allied Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands – 1942: Coincidences in History

Allied Naval Operations in the Solomon Islands – 1942: Coincidences in History

Vol. 1 No.1

August 6, 2013 (Reposted)

On 20 November 1942, the Ballard (AVD-10) rescued the last survivor of the torpedoed light cruiser Juneau (CL-52). Of the more than 100 sailors who miraculously survived the detonation on the ship’s port side beneath the bridge, only ten were saved. Three survivors paddled their raft to a nearby island where they were rescued by friendly natives and a European trader and later, a PBY Catalina flying boat recovered six others. The last, the sole survivor of one raft, was plucked from the water by the old three stack destroyer and converted seaplane tender.¹

Almost 700 sailors of the Juneau, including the five Sullivan Brothers, died in the initial explosion or succumbed to the elements while on life rafts awaiting rescue.

The sinking was a national tragedy in era that was steeped in family tragedy and inspired the Oscar nominated film “The Fighting Sullivans” starring Anne Baxter.

^1.        Samuel Eliot Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal: August 1942 – February 1943, vol 5 of History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1959), 257.