Battle of Guadalcanal
During the afternoon the Japanese 11th Air Fleet sends 25 torpedo bombers supported by 8 Zeros to attack American shipping bringing in supplies forcing the ships to get under way. 20 F4Fs and 8 P-39s engage the Japanese and drive them off claiming to have shot down 16 bombers and 5 fighter to a loss of 3 F4Fs and 1 P-39. The cruiser San Francisco and the destroyer Buchanan are damaged, but no transports. The transports re-anchor at 1525 to continue unloading. To avoid destruction by approaching enemy warships Adm Turner decides to withdraw all the cargo ships and transports. The warships would remain to engage approaching enemy. At 1815 the cargo ships and transports withdraw, escorted by destroyers. The cargo ships McCawley and President Jackson had been completely unloaded; 80% of President Adams' cargo; 50% of Crescent City's; 40% of Betelgeuse's; and 20% of Libra's. All 6,000 troops have been landed which include, from Scott's group, the 1st (Marine) Aviation Engineer Battalion, ground crews of the 1st Marine Air Wing and some marine replacements. From Turner's ships: 1,300 marine replacements, 372 naval personnel, L Battery, 11th Marines (155-mm howitzers), some men from the 164th Infantry, and the 182nd Regimental Combat Team. The 182nd Regimental Combat Team consists of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 182nd Infantry; the 245th Field Artillery Battalion (105-mm howitzers), plus engineer, medical, quartermaster and ordnance personnel, a total of 3,358 men.
During the morning American planes raid Shortland Island at dawn and bomb transport ships but cause no damage. At 1800 11 Japanese transports move south to the edge of Lunga Roads and wait. During the night 2 Japanese battleships are to bombard Henderson Field. On their way they are escorted by 2 divisions of destroyers. 3 American attack cargo ships lie in Lunga Roads unloading having been brought safely to the island by Adm Scott's task force. A second group of transports under Adm Turner is on the way guarded by Adm Daniel Callaghan's task force of cruisers and destroyers. The carrier Enterprise is at Noumeá being repaired but her escort force including 2 battleships and 4 destroyers is detached and sent to sea under Rear-Adm 'Ching' Lee. Adm Turner's information suggests the Japanese have 2 battlehips, 4 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and 12 destroyers heading for Guadalcanal. To defend the US transports, Callaghan has only 2 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and 8 destroyers.
Rear-Adm Koki Abe is in command of the Japanese force sent to bombard Henderson Field. He orders his ships to assume a double half-ring formation which the Japanese use to fight off air attacks. 5 destroyers are spread in an arc 5 miles ahead of the cruiser Nagara. 6 others take the same position relative to the cruiser but closer in. The battleships Hiei and Kirishima come up behind them about a mile apart. During the afternoon the weather changes from sunny to overcast to rain. The ships steam ahead at 18 knots. The rain comes down so hard the ships can not see each other. The ships' commanders wonder if their speed will decrease because of the weather, but Abe said speed must be maintained in order to get to Guadalcanal and begin their mission on time. A scout plane from the Hiei reports more than a dozen ships off Lunga.
These are Callaghan's ships and at present in a long column. The destroyers Cushing, Laffey, Sterett, and O'Bannon lead. Next come the cruisers Atlanta, San Francisco, Portland, Helena, and Juneau. Behind them the destroyers Aaron Ward, Barton, Monssen, and Fletcher. This disposition has been adopted because it had been successful for Adm Scott at Cape Esperance. Callaghan and staff did not know the reason for Scott's success was purely accidental, crossing of the enemy T when neither force was aware of the other. The ship with the best effective radar is the San Francisco, but she is in the middle of column. The destroyers out front have the worst radar of all.
At 2200 the transports off Lunga are sent over to Tulagi for protection. Callaghan moves up through Lengo Channel into Iron Bottom Sound. The weather is clear but they are moving toward the rainsquall that hide Abe's ships and the weather worsens. The storm is going to cause trouble for the bombardment force so Abe decides to get out. He orders a 180 degree turn by all ships and slows their speed to 12 knots. This ought to get them clear and let the southbound squall run on. They can follow it and carry out the bombardment with high explosive, quick-fused shells they had brought to use this night. At 2340 the squall passes by and Abe orders his ships to turn 180 degrees again and resume their original run to Guadalcanal, now under clear skies. The fast run through the storm has caused ships to separate into two major groups. They run down until Savo Island. The army on Guadalcanal reports the weather has cleared and no enemy ships can be seen off Lunga. Abe is tortured by indecision. He is only 12 miles offshore. To carry out the bombardment the guns need to be loaded with the high explosive one-ton shells that are filled with antipersonnel bombs and incendiary charges. If he is to engage warships, he should be loading his gun with armor-piercing shells.
At 0124 the radar operator on the American cruiser Helena reports 2 columns of ships one behind the other. 3 minutes later Callaghan orders his column to change course and head directly toward the enemy. At 0130 the Helena announces enemy off her port bow, 9 miles away steaming at 23 knots. The Americans speed at 18 knots. With the radar advantage the Americans see Japanese before the Japanese can see them. Callaghan issues no orders to fire or to launch torpedoes as the ships come in range.
At 0142 Abe's indecision ends. The destroyer Yudachi reports the enemy has been sighted. A moment later the Hiei sights 4 warships 5 degrees to starboard, about 6 miles away. Admiral orders the bombardment shells be replaced with armor-pierceing shells. He decides not to turn away from the enemy while the change iss made.
Had Callaghan ordered his ships to open fire when coming into range they could have had an advantage as the Japanese were in no condition to return fire. As it was, he gives the Japanese 8 minutes extra to change the shells. Since the American ships are moving in a straight line, they can only fire forward. This could have been changed immediately had Callaghan ordered his ships to turn 90 degress right or left to bring their batteries to bear and would have crossed the T. He does not. At 1345 Callaghan issues orders to stand by to open fire.
The two forces virtually overrun each other. The destroyer Yudachi sees an American destroyer bearing down on them in the darkness. He does not fire, as he is still changing ammunition. The American destroyer Cushing's captain, Lt-Cmdr Edward N. Parker, turns left when sighting Yudachi narrowly avoiding a collision. This leads the American line into a confusing maneuver that have the US ships nearly piling up on one another as they turn sharply to 315 degrees.
The Hiei's searchlight begins probing the night. It falls on the bridge of the cruiser Atlanta. The gunnery officer of the Atlanta waits no longer for an order and shouts 'Commence firing. Counter-illuminate.' The range is not quite a mile. The Atlanta opens fire; 30 seconds later the Hiei returns fire. One shell lands on the bridge of the Atlanta and kills Adm Scott and all the other men on bridge except one. Then comes the command from the flagship to open fire. The Hiei is so close that the 5-in guns of 4 American destroyers prove effective. Some shells go over the battleship and threaten the destroyer Amatsuke on other side. The Atlanta is hit many time by shells from the Hiei but is finished by Japanese destroyers which launch torpedoes with their usual efficiency. One or more hit the Atlanta and she stops cold in the water out of the fight.
On the night of the 12th Adm Tanaka and his 11 destroyers are scheduled to bring 6 army transports and 5 cargo ships to Guadalcanal. Since the bombardment does not occur, this move is postponed until the 14th which will give Adm Kondo time the shell the field.
Carlson's forces occupy the village of Asamana and discover a Japanese bivouac area for at least a battalion with assembly points for the different units marked with signs on trees. He attacks the Japanese several times over the next two days.
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