The Naval Battles for Guadalcanal 1942
Page 11
The American offensive had been mounted sooner than the Japanese had expected, and as a result gained both tactical and strategic surprise. The Japanese, under Yamamoto’s direction, were slow to respond and Yamamoto never realized that this was his long-desired decisive battle against the US Navy. He let this opportunity escape his grasp, and as a result the available Allied strength proved just sufficient to defeat every Japanese attempt to gain victory. On the other hand, Halsey and Turner exhibited a clarity of purpose and a ruthlessness unmatched by the Japanese. In the end, their aggressiveness provided the measure of victory.
Looking at the surface battles covered in this book, the picture is also mixed. The Japanese were the undoubted victors of the first and last major naval battles of the campaign, though on both occasions they were heavily outnumbered. Savo Island set the tone for much of the campaign as the Japanese demonstrated their superior nightfighting tactics and equipment. However, despite the signal victory over the unprepared Allied surface forces covering the initial landing, the battle represented a massive lost opportunity for the Japanese. The final battle of the campaign in late November at Tassafaronga was impressive, but had come too late to have any more than tactical significance.
Chicago was the first American heavy cruiser damaged in the campaign; in January 1943, she was the last of six heavy cruisers to be sunk in the campaign during the battle of Rennell Island. This is Chicago on January 30, down by the stern after taking several aircraft torpedoes. (Naval History and Heritage Command, 80-G-38823)
The United States Navy possessed a revolutionary capability in radar. Even with this, only two battles during the campaign were clear American victories. In both of these, radar played an important, if not decisive role. At Cape Esperance, radar allowed Scott to surprise the Japanese. Just as Japanese surprise led to Allied disaster at Savo Island, the advantage gained by radar at Cape Esperance proved decisive. At the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Halsey broke all the rules by committing his only battleships in torpedo-infested waters. The gamble paid off because of the coolness and luck of Lee and the excellence of Washington’s radar-controlled 16in. guns.
Like no other battle, the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal fought on November 13 typified the intense struggle between the American and Japanese. This slugfest resulted in heavy losses on both sides, but the American losses, while heavier, served a greater purpose as they protected the airfield at the most crucial point in the campaign. The following day, aircraft from Henderson Field swung the entire campaign in the Americans’ favor when they sank the first Japanese battleship of the war and then devastated the large convoy of transports headed for the island. In this battle, as well as the entire campaign, it is difficult to deny that the Japanese performed better where surface battles were concerned. Surface actions resulted in 15 American and Australian ships being sunk – five heavy cruisers, one light cruiser and nine destroyers. In contrast only eight Japanese ships were lost to surface action – one battleship, one heavy cruiser and six destroyers. Hiei would have survived her wounds from November 13, but was finished off by aircraft from Henderson Field. In the final analysis, it was the application of American airpower that supplied the margin of victory.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Crenshaw, Russell, The Battle of Tassafaronga, Nautical and Aviation Publishing Company of America, Baltimore (1995)
Cook, Charles, The Battle of Cape Esperance, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis (1992)
Dull, Paul S., A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1941–45, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis (1978)
Frank, Richard B., Guadalcanal, Random House, New York (1990)
Fuller, Richard, Japanese Admirals 1926–1945, Schiffer, Atglen (2011)
Grace, James W., The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis (1999)
Hone, Trent, “‘Give Them Hell!’: The US Navy’s Night Combat Doctrine and the Campaign for Guadalcanal” in War in History (2006), Vol. 13 No. 2
Hara, Tameichi, Japanese Destroyer Captain, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis n.d.
Hornfischer, James D., Neptune’s Inferno, Bantam Books (2011)
Loxton, Bruce and Coulthard-Clark, The Shame of Savo, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis (1994)
Lundstrom, John B., The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis (1994)
——, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis (2006)
Morison, Samuel Eliot, The Struggle for Guadalcanal (Volume V of The History of United States Naval Operations in World War II), Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1975)
Newcomb, Richard F., The Battle of Savo Island, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York (1981)
O’Hara, Vincent P., The U.S. Navy Against the Axis, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis (2007)
Ohmae, Toshikazu, “The Battle of Savo Island” in The Japanese Navy in World War II, David C. Evans (ed), Naval Institute Press, Annapolis (2006)
Reardon, Jeff, “Breaking the U.S. Navy’s ‘Gun Club’ Mentality in the South Pacific” in The Journal of Military History 75 (April 2011)
Reynolds, Clark G., Famous American Admirals, Van Nostrand-Reinhold Company, New York (1978)
Tanaka, Razio, “The Struggle for Guadalcanal” in The Japanese Navy in World War II, David C. Evans (ed), Naval Institute Press: Annapolis, Maryland, 2006
Warner, Denis and Peggy, Disaster in the Pacific, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis (1992)
www.combinedfleet.com
The following Osprey titles are also useful for additional background to the battles:
Stille, Mark, New Vanguard 146: Imperial Japanese Navy Battleships 1941–45, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford (2008)
——, Campaign 214: The Coral Sea 1942, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford (2009)
——, Duel 22: USN Cruiser vs. IJN Cruiser, Osprey Publishing Ltd: Oxford (2009)
——, Campaign 226: Midway 1942, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford (2010)
——, New Vanguard 176: Imperial Japanese Navy Heavy Cruisers 1941–45, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford (2011)
——, New Vanguard 187: Imperial Japanese Navy Light Cruisers 1941–45, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford (2011)
——, Command 26: Yamamoto Isoroku, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford (2012)
——, Duel xx: USN Destroyer vs. IJN Destroyer, Osprey Publishing Ltd: Oxford (2013)
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