The battleship South Dakota was quickly pounced on as well and endured a terrific shelling. Willis Lee, an adept seaman and master of radar.Īs the Americans intercepted the Japanese, the four destroyers were badly mauled. Their saving grace was their commander, Rear Adm. Most of the ships had never operated together as a unit. Halsey dispatched two battleships and four destroyers from his carrier’s escort. They sent a battleship, four cruisers, and nine destroyers and this time were accompanied by troop transports intent on landing men and materiel on the island to retake the airfield. 14 once again sent a force to attack Henderson Field.
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The Japanese weren’t done though and on the night of Nov. Also read: The reason Japanese battle ships dwarfed American ships during WWII Most importantly though, the Americans had saved Henderson Field. Both were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, along with three other sailors in the battle. Both Admirals Callaghan and Scott had also been killed. Two cruisers and four destroyers joined their sisters at the bottom of the sound. The Americans had once again paid dearly. The engagement had cost the Japanese one battleship and one destroyer, along with damage to nearly every other ship.
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The battleship Hiei blew two American destroyers out of the water before being incapacitated herself.Īfter 40 minutes of intense fighting, the two sides broke contact. Ships fired on one another with virtually flat trajectories. The situation quickly deteriorated and turned into the naval equivalent of knife-fight in an alleyway at night. When Callaghan realized he was surrounded by the enemy, he gave a simple order to his column: “Odd ships fire to starboard, even ships fire to port!”ĭespite being outgunned and mismatched, the American ships unleashed a maelstrom of fire on the Japanese. In the confusion of the night, the two forces nearly ran right into each other. Scott who, a month earlier, had turned back the Japanese at the Battle of Cape Esperance. The first night of the battle, November 13, 1942, saw an inferior American force intercept a larger Japanese force intent on shelling Henderson Field. Often called the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the incident was actually two separate battles on back-to-back nights. Undeterred, the Tokyo Express continued down the Slot and into the carnage of Ironbottom Sound.Ī month after the action at Cape Esperance, the Japanese and Americans would square off once again. The engagement cost the Americans one of their destroyers with damage to two other ships. In a quick, violent action at close range the American ships sent a Japanese cruiser and destroyer to the bottom, heavily damaged another cruiser, and killed the Japanese commander. The American ships hit the unsuspecting Japanese with everything they had. Norman Scott deftly commanded his ships in a ferocious night time engagement. This time the Americans had a surprise of their own for the Japanese thanks to a bad radio call between American commanders.ĭespite the confusion, Rear Adm.
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The American and Japanese navies would meet again in October 1942, in what became known as the Battle of Cape Esperance. The USS Chicago left its bow on the bottom as well.
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USS New Orleans, after surviving Guadalcanal, lost her bow in a battle in December 1942. (Photo: U.S.