The Night the Giants Rode-Naval Battle of Guadalcanal Part 2a with Jon Parshall

The fight the night before, 13-14 November had beaten both naval forces down. US forces had been beaten to a bloody pulp, as had the Japanese. Yet despite the beating, the Japanese still held a significant numerical advantage. As Jon said last episode, the Japanese still held 3-4 BBs in reserve and had yet to commit them to the fight around Guadalcanal, for who knows what reasons. The US on the other hand, quite literally were scraping the bottom of the barrel. That’s not to say that the battleships sent to IBS were scows, not at all, but Halsey was hesitant to commit his battleships to the close waters off Savo, but honest to God had no choice at this time BUT to commit them. Let’s talk about Halsey’s decision to send the battleships to IBS. BB56 was designed to be a long range sniper, not a close range brawler. She was designed in the 1930’s with limitations on armor and gunnery. The USN decided in the 1930’s to throw out their previous slow battleship designs, heavy on armor, heavy on firepower and low on speed, for more modern designs that emphasized gunnery, speed and cruising range. The culmination of this decision was the North Carolina class battleship, of which BB56 was the last of two. She was fast by BB standards, capable of bending on upwards of 28-30 knots with a breeze behind her, but did not have the armor to withstand hits from weapons of her own size, that being 16 inch rifles. Washington’s companion, the USS South Dakota BB57, carried the same rifles, but carried more armor, had a smidgen less speed, but had negligible torpedo protection in order to pack on more armor to withstand the hits from 16 inch rifles like she packed herself. All that being said, the decision to send his 2 BBs, literally all he had left, to deal with another heavy Japanese surface force in the claustrophobic, torpedo infested waters of IBS was incredibly ballsy…but did he really have a choice? Ching The man who was in command of the battleships was quite honestly the perfect choice to be in that slot. Naval Academy Class of 1908, his fondness of asian culture and desire to serve in the asiatic theater earned him the nickname “Ching”. Ching was an avid shooter. He absolutely loved firearms of all sorts, even building a few of his own from scratch. He joined and shot on the Naval Academy rifle team multiple times, eventually competing in the 1920 Summer Olympics. In those games, Lee earned 5 (!) gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze in team events, consistently shooting in the top three in every event. His record of 7 medals for the olympics would not be topped until 1980. The majority of his early service was in BBs, Cruisers, including command of USS Concord, and a destroyer division command. In 1942 he was promoted to rear admiral. In the interwar years, Lee served on many Bureau of Ordnance boards, practicing naval gunnery, experimenting with powder calculations, windage, fire control systems theory and practical usage of heavy naval rifles. To say that he was an expert marksman and an expert regarding naval gunnery would be an understatement. In 1942, Lee was considered the US Navy’s foremost expert on anything regarding gunnery and accuracy. A fanatic for anything that aided in gunnery, Lee was a quick advocate and an even quicker study on the new radar sets entering USN service in the late 30’s early 40’s. He advocated that the Navy should start a new school for the instruction of radar and also was a very vocal advocate for the new technology’s installation aboard BBs, CA, and CLs. His subordinates absolutely adored him, and in a statement you will probably never hear again, so did Admiral King. Admiral Nimitz, upon sending him to Guadalcanal stated, “Now we’ll see what a real fighter can do.” Initially taking BB57 as his flagship, Lee was forced to transfer to what would become his “home” for the majority of the war, USS Washington when SoDak ran aground almost as soon as she got into theater. The move to “Big Wash” would be fortuitous for all the reasons we are about to see. USS Washington BB56 had a core crew that would have made any ship blush in envy. Her skipper Glenn Davis was absolutely loved by the crew, he was genteel, caring and whip smart. With him he had a core of officers that turned 56 into an absolute machine of efficiency. LCDR Edwin Hooper, a graduate of MIT, was the ship’s fire control officer and assistant gunnery officer. Like Lee, he was an advocate of superior marksmanship, dove head first into ballistics and trajectory of heavy rifles, and was a firm believer in radar’s abilities. He and ADM Lee got along like a pair of long lost cousins. The gunnery officer, CDR Harvey Walsh, LCDR Harry Seeley, main battery spotting officer, CAPT Jonas PLatt, secondary battery officer and even LCDR Ed Schanze, navigator and radar officer all routinely met with and discussed gunnery and radar with ADM Lee aboard BB56. The “Gun Club” as it was dubbed, was probably the foremost grouping of gunnery minded individuals in the US Navy, let alone on one ship. BB56, under Davis and at the direction of Hooper and Walsh, had rigorously trained their main battery crews to an efficiency level that had not been seen before aboard an American battleship. Walsh relentlessly trained his gunnery crews to be as fast as possible when loading the 16 inch rifles. Normal 16 inch rifles could be loaded in a time span between 25-30 seconds. Washington’s gun crews had the practice down to 15. Absolutely devastating, earth shaking firepower ability in literally the perfect hands. Washington took delivery of her SG radar system when ADM Lee was aboard. Lee personally supervised the installation of the interior monitoring sets and laid them out in a compartment next to the flag bridge so he could monitor it all the time, using the new technology to plot fall of shot when training. Talk about Lloyd Mustin and Atlanta taking fire from BB56 in training Lee had Walsh and Hooper calibrate 56’s guns to such a degree that when she fired in Atlanta’s wake from 35,000 yards, 56’s shells all landed in Atlanta’s wake, not over or short, but directly on target. Mustin said, “Those 2700 pound armor piercing projectiles were going to be very bad news for anybody they were ever aimed at.” The Fight draws near Japanese ships, 14 in number, were assigned to bombard Henderson Field yet again on the night of 14-15 November under the direction of ADM Kondo. 1 BB Kirishima 2 CAs Takao, and Atago 2 CLs Nagara, Sendai 9 DDs The US force, designated Task Force 64 was under the command of ADM Lee and consisted of: 2 BBs, Washington and South Dakota 4 DDs, Walke, Preston, Benham and Gwin It should be noted that the 2 BBs had only operated together for a very short time, and had never operated with these specific DDs before. The DDs were chosen from different divisions based on their fuel status only. TF64 aligned itself in column formation, with the DDs in the lead, followed by BB56 and BB57 bringing up the rear. At around 1300, Lee received a message from Halsey that, essentially, gave Lee a free hand to do whatever he needed to do, gave him complete freedom of action for his “excursion”. At 1600, Lee received a sighting report from submarine USS Trout that identified the Japanese bombardment force and mentioned a Japanese BB in that same force. Knowing that the Japanese force would not reach the Savo area until around 2300, Lee waited before making his approach into the patrol area. Moments after getting the report, he gave it to CAPT Davis who got on the ship’s pa system and stated, “We are going into an action area. We have no great certainty what forces we will encounter. we may be ambushed. A disaster of some sort may come upon us. But whatever it is we are going into, I hope to bring all of you back alive. Good luck to all of us.” The men aboard the big battlewagons, aware that they were going to tangle with the Japanese, were beginning to get a bit edgy. The previous night, Japanese cruisers had bombarded Henderson relentlessly, ADM Kondo, for whatever reason, was sure that Henderson would be silenced and he would have little to worry about in the waters offshore. He was wrong. The night, unlike the Friday the 13th battle, was clear and moonlit by a quarter moon, enough to see visually, but also enough darkness to hide if need be. As the battleships eased into the sound, radio watch picked up a transmission that has now become famous: Unknown voice aboard a US PT Boat confirmed they were tracking a target in the sound… TF 64: “This is Lee.” PT: “Who is Lee?” At this, ADM Lee grabbed the handset and broadcast himself in the clear: “Cactus, this is Lee. Tell your big boss Ching Lee is here and wants the latest information.” PT Boat Skipper: “There go two big ones, but I don’t know whose they are.” Lee: “Refer your big boss about Ching Lee, Chinese, catchee? Call off your boys.” PT: “Identity established. We are not after you.” Lee: “Peter Tare, this is Lee. Stand clear, we are coming through.” Well, stand by, Glenn, here they come Aboard BB56, the radar picture began to take shape as Kondo’s force entered the sound. At around 2230 hours on November 14, the SG radar system aboard the Washington indicated targets north-northwest making 21 knots in two columns at a range of 18,000 yards. As the news was relayed to Lee, he smiled, looked at CAPT Davis and said, “Well, stand by, Glenn, here they come.” Such coolness under fire, and a supreme confidence in his and his crew’s abilities… Davis gave the order to load the main battery, and aboard both 56 and 57, the weapons were loaded and trained to starboard as the radar tracked the incoming targets… Kondo had arranged his ships in 3 groups actually Kirishima, Atago and Takao were the center group Nagara and 6 DDs were the screening force Sendai and 3 DDs were the sweeping force ordered to sweep the sound for any US ships It was this third group that 56 was tracking at this time… At 2313 hours, the waiting ended. When the enemy was visually sighted from the Washington at a range of 11,000 yards, Admiral Lee called South Dakota ’s Captain Gatch over the radio and gave him permission to fire. Lee put the radio down, turned to Davis and ordered, “Open fire when ready.” When the indicator lights in main battery plot flashed green, Harvey Walsh gave the order, “Open Fire.” Both 56 and 57 opened fire within seconds of each other. 56’s first salvo was an over, less than 30 seconds later her next salvo was a straddle, her third salvo showed a flicker on the radar scope, indicating a hit which actually did not occur on Sendai. The Japanese, aware of the presence of American ships, but unaware of the presence of American battleships seemed to panic at the sight of enormous geysers of water sprouting around Sendai. SoDak’s radio snoopers heard “Japanese voices, excited and very numerous.” Sendai and her escorts, put about and got the hell out of there… At 2322 hours, the American van of DDs engaged Japanese DDs and Nagara of the screening force. Within 10 minutes, both Walke and Preston are hit by accurate Japanese gunfire, and of course, torpedoes. Preston may have also been a victim of BB56’s secondary battery fusillade DD Benham has her bow blown off by a Long Lance and sinks later the next day. DD Gwin is hit in her engine spaces and retires from the fight ADM Lee orders all of his remaining DDs to retire at 2348, leaving the 2 US BBs as the only opposition. Japanese DD Ayanami is taken under fire by BB56’s secondary battery and is repeatedly hit and eventually sinks Credit for her sinking goes to BB56 and her secondary battery, although she actually shares credit with DD Gwin South Dakota in a world of trouble At roughly the same time that all this is happening, SoDak goes dark. SoDak’s after turret had just fired when all of a sudden, power went out across ship. The ship’s chief engineer had tied down the circuit breakers, against regulations, and when the main battery went off, the concussion was such that it tripped the breakers in series, knocking power out throughout the ship. At this time, BB56 turns to avoid running through the scattered remnants of her DD escort, and when she does she passes behind the burning wrecks, keeping out of the Japanese eye. As she does, her crewmen on deck throw life rafts and life jackets to the Americans bobbing in the water. Supposedly a 56 sailor hears a survivor holler, “Get after em Washington!” as she passes through the debris at 26 knots… The blind SoDak turns as well to avoid the wrecks, but she turns to the outside of the burning hulks and when she does, the burning US DDs silouhette her for all of the world to see. 3 minutes after SoDaks power failed, it was restored. It is said that the confusion aboard caused Gatch’s ship to become a tactical punching bag, but who knows… The Japanese execute a series of confusing maneuvers, both in response to the attack on the US DDs and the report of US BBs in the sound by visual detection. In the ensuing maneuvers, Kondo’s screening and sweeping force both move out of effective range for the fight, leaving Kirishima and the two CAs alone Kirishima turns on her searchlight and illuminates SoDak. When this happens, SoDak immediately takes heavy enemy fire, especially from Takao and Atago, as they pour 8 inch fire into her upper-works setting her afire from 5,000 yards. At the same time, Kirishima finally opens fire (announcing her presence) and hits SoDak in her after turret essentially knocking it out as it doesn’t respond any longer. Her main battery out of commission again because of another power failure, her secondaries bark in local control and do score hits on Atago but do little damage. SoDak eventually does restore power again and unleashes her main battery at Kirishima. It is unknown, but unlikely, that she hit her. In the pounding, SoDak takes at least 26 hits, mostly 8, 6 and smaller caliber hits in her upper works that started many fires and threatened her secondary powder magazine. She also suffers 1 14 inch hit in her after turret. Having taken a beating and on fire, Gatch orders SoDak to come about and retreat from the area. He does this without telling Lee by the way. Washington slays the giant As all of the previous mentioned action is happening, BB56’s radar had steadily been tracking a large target off her starboard beam. Lee was aware that SoDak was blacked out and he was concerned that the target might actually be SoDak as 56’s radar had lost track of her because of poor placement aboard ship. When Kirishima switched her searchlights on, the target was confirmed visually as hostile. At a range of only 8,400 yards BB56 emerged from the cover of her burning DD escort and unleashed a full nine gun broadside at Kirishima Shell splashes in the water caused Hank Seeley to believe they had missed the target. AAR stated that the first salvo missed, but 2019 underwater surveillance confirmed that Kirishima suffered several below the waterline hits, including the recorded “miss” from 56’s first salvo. Because of his supposed “miss”, Seeley nudges the main battery up a smidge and 56’s second salvo, which was fired less than 20 seconds after the first, slammed into Kirishima’s superstructure, obliterating her third level bridge and everyone in it. Washington ’s third salvo was deadly accurate. Five of Washington ’s shells struck Kirishima amidships, with one shell penetrating below her waterline, causing massive flooding. The five amidships hits blew open bulkheads, penetrated well inside the ship, and exploded in close proximity to Kirishima ’s secondary battery-ammunition magazine, causing ship-threatening fires and leaving 30-foot holes in the deck near the casemates. Another salvo from Washington scores more hits. Another below the water line blast causes more internal flooding, and yet more below water line hits occur. Another hit penetrates the steering room causing severe damage inside, and yet another detonates through her stern and helps to jam the rudder. As the distance continues to close, 56’s secondaries join in on the beating and pour 5 inch shell fire into Kirishima’s superstructure, even scoring 2 hits on her hull that do little to no damage. No one knows amount of damage done by the secondaries, but it had to have been frightful. Kirishima manages to return fire at Washington, but misses, her 14 inch shells passing through 56’s rigging, tearing down some of her signal flags and nothing more. An inch is as good as a mile… Kirishima spotters say they hit BB56 at least 10 times with the main battery, yet don’t touch her in reality. Through the melee of noise, smoke, and fire, ADM Lee said, “If you can see anything to shoot at, go ahead.” The leviathan’s 16-inch guns opened up again, striking Kirishima at a range of 7,850 yards. Two shells struck the forward 14-inch turret of Kirishima at the same time, destroying the weapon. More shells found their mark up forward as even more shells struck farther aft, the coup de grace a 16-inch shell exploding under Kirishima ’s keel, permanently jamming her rudder 80 degrees to starboard and eliminating all control of the vessel as Kirishima tries to retire and shows her stern to Washington. Utterly beaten to a bloody pulp, Kirishima begins to circle helplessly, still taking hits from Washington’s guns. Post war wreck analysis confirmed at least 21 16 inch shell hits on Kirishima’s hull and what could be seen of her upper-works (which isn’t much). Kirishima slides down by the bow as she is scuttled and detonates under her forward barbettes absolutely destroying the forward part of the ship. Kondo orders a withdrawal as BB56 tracks a cruiser with her forward turrets and a DD with her after turret. Lee, still not knowing the location of SoDak does not allow the main battery to open fire. Kondo orders a torpedo attack as his ships withdraw, torpedoes pass close to BB56, but all miss her. At 0033 Lee orders a retirement still observing torpedoes in her wake. By 0110 the Japanese were gone… End of battle… SoDak suffers 38 men KIA, and a further 60 wounded. Washington suffers 1 punctured eardrum and 1 hand abrasion The US DDs suffer losses in excess of 200 KIA. Japanese casualties are unclear, but were excessive. Had Lee not shot the Japanese to pieces, they would have bombarded Henderson and the troop convoy inbound would have likely unloaded relatively unmolested. Regardless, Tanaka orders his convoy to continue south, where they eventually run aground, those that survive the coming aerial onslaught the following day. Implications on the rest of the campaign…