Battle of Guadalcanal
A morning patrol reports at 0630 a force of 4 cruisers and 3 destroyers 150 miles west of Guadalcanal. This is Adm Mikawa force: the heavy cruisers Chokai, Kinugasa, Suzuya, and Maya; the light cruisers Isuzu and Tenryu and 6 destroyers. The first US strike is launched at 0715 - 5 dive bombers and 6 torpedo bombers. The dive bombers attack the Maya and hit her on the port side starting fires. Torpedo planes attack the Kinugasa and put 4 torpedoes into her causing her to burn heavily. 2 search planes from the Enterprise arrive about this time and report in. They trail the force waiting for a strike. Having to leave because fuel is low, both put bombs in the Kinugasa. They head for Henderson for fuel. At 1030 16 planes from the Enterprise find the Japanese ships and dive on them with bombs. The Isuzu is damaged seriously and more hits are made on the Kinugasa which sinks a little later.
Early in the morning Japanese transports sail with destroyer escorts. Adm Tanaka is leading in his flagship Hayashio. They are attacked at dawn by B-17s and carrier planes but no damage is done. 3 planes are brought down. Tanaka soon receives word of Mikawa's encounter with US planes. He thinks he is to have the support of Mikawa's force, but Mikawa has lost 1 ship and has 3 damaged. Feeling he can not carry out his mission satisfactorily, Mikawa heads back to Shortland.
The Japanese supply force consists of 11 army transports and cargo ships. They have all the heavy equipment of the 38th Army Div aboard. At 11am 19 dive bombers and 7 torpedo bombers come into view. Tanaka orders a smoke screen and the transports to take evasive aciton. The pilots are not confused. One group takes one column of ships and another the other. The Sado Maru, carrying troops and staff of the 38th Div, is crippled by bombs. Torpedo bombers sink the Canberra Maru and the Niagara Maru. After the planes leave, Tanaka supervises the rescue of survivors and sends the Sado Maru with destroyers Amagiri and Mochizuki back to Shortland.
Later in the morning Tanaka's force is attacked by Cactus Air Force planes sinking the Brisbane Maru. More bombers come over a little later, score more hits but do not sink any. Tanaka calls for air cover which he receives. Another attack from Henderson comes in, is attacked by Zeros but escorting F4Fs keep them away from the bombers. The Shinanogawa Maru and the Arizona Maru are sunk. Just before dark another attack comes in and sinks the Naku Maru. The destroyer Suzukaze takes off survivors just before she sinks. By nightfall 6 of the 11 transports have been sunk, 1 is on its way back to Shortland, 400 of the troops have been killed but, 5,000 have been rescued by Tanaka's destroyers. Tanaka gathers what is left and heads toward Guadalcanal knowing he will not get there now until almost sunup on the 15th. Just before midnight a relief force comes up in the form of Adm Kondo's ships which assume the guardian role.
Early in the evening, Adm Lee with the battleships Washington and South Dakota and 4 destroyers, is moving around western end of Guadalcanal about 9 miles from shore. The Americans have one serious problem, a lack of training. The 4 destroyers are from 4 different destroyer divisions and there is no division commander aboard. They were chosen for task because they had more fuel than any others. As they move west of Savo they can see the burning transports. Lee orders a course change that will take them down The Slot. He wants to reach Kondo's force as quickly as possible but he does not know where they are. As Kondo approaches Savo he sends the light cruiser Sendai and 3 destroyers ahead as a screen. At 2210 the Sendai is about 10 miles northeast of Savo. Her lookouts spot Adm Lee's ships 5 miles off their port bow moving southeast. Adm Shintaro Hashimoto in charge of the scouts, detaches the destroyers Ayanami and Uranami to go around western side of Savo and if possible attack the battlehips. He sends a quick report to Kondo who then sends the cruiser Nagara and 4 destroyers west of Savo, while the main force turns south, 1 BB, 2 cruisers and 2 destroyers.
At 2300 Washington's radar spots a blip on the screen and begins tracking it. It is the cruiser Sendai and is 9 miles away. The Washington tracks the blip until it is 6 miles away and launches salvo of 9 16-in shells. The Sendai is not hit but makes smoke and retires at high speed northward with the destroyer Shikinami.
The Japanese destroyers Ayanami and Uranami are moving along the south shore of Savo when they are sighted by the American destroyers Benham, Preston and Walke. Walke opens fire with her 5-in guns, the other two quickly follow. The destroyer Gwin is last in line and she spots the cruiser Nagara and opens fire on her. The Japanese ships respond and put shells into the Gwin which is damaged bad enough to seek protection on the safe side of the battleship Washington. The Japanese are proficient in their torpedo attacks as usual but the Americans are not. The Walke, hit by many shells, tries to fire her torpedoes. The Benham fires at any target she can. The Preston fires at the Nagara which does not hurt the cruiser. Her return fire knocks out both firerooms and the after stack, and soon wrecks amidships. Then the torpedoes hit. The Walke's forecastle is blown off; the Benham's bow blown off. The South Dakota has an electrical failure and her effectiveness is reduced to almost nothing. At 2330 three separate groups are in fighting actions between Savo and Guadalcanal. The Japanese destroyer Ayanami is badly damaged by American shells. Five minutes later all 4 American destroyers are out of action and the South Dakota temporarily so. The Walke sinks just after this, her depth charges exploding beneath the survivors reducing their number. The Benham limps through the survivors but is too badly hurt to help. The Preston ablaze internally, sinks a few minutes later. The Gwin comes through at that moment but is further damaged by the Preston's exploding depth charges. The Washington, unhurt, is speeding into battle. The crew throws life rafts into the sea as she hurries on. The South Dakota regains power at 2345 but immediately has more trouble. A blast from one of her guns sets fire to airplanes on the fantail catapaults. The next salvo blows the planes overboard.
The South Dakota is the next object of more that 30 Japanese torpedoes which all miss. Next, under enemy searchlights, with all the Japanese ships firing at her, she takes serious punishment. The Washington having held fire a few minutes to make sure it was enemy, opens on the Kirishima. The Washington fires rapidly and soon Kirishima is wrecked, steering gone, upper works destroyed and ablaze. The South Dakota and the Washington fire also on Atago and Takao, guided by enemy searchlights, but the South Dakota soon moves out of the fight, her radar out and one main turret damage.
Just after midnight Lee turns north and the Japanese hasten to respond. Their task is to save the transports and the Washington is going for them. Lee moves west to draw the Japanese warships away from the cripples. The Gwin escorts the bowless Benham to Espiritu Santo but she never makes, is abandoned and is sunk by gunfire. Lee concludes the Japanese have turned their transports around so he heads south and is joined by the South Dakota. Kondo abandons the bombardment plan and scuttles the Kirishima northwest of Savo, then heads north. The destroyer Ayanami, badly damaged in the fight, is also scuttled.
While the battle proceeds Tanaka turns the transports around. Instructing his three escorting destroyers, not encumbered with casualties, to join the fight, but by this time it was over. Tanaka then turns to complete his mission, the landing of reinforcements at Guadalcanal. He heads for Tassafaronga. The plan calls for landing them between midnight and two, enough time for everyone to get clear before having to worry about American bombers. Tanaka knew that plan was no good at this point, it was too late. He thinks about running the transports aground, so he consults the higher ups. Mikawa says absolutely not, but Kondo says go ahead, so he doesid. When Tanaka sees them grinding ashore, he turns and takes his destroyers to The Slot as fast as possible hoping to avoid tje American air search of the morning.
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