Neptune's Inferno

by James D. Hornfischer

  My sincerest thanks to Edward August and Channing Zucker of the U.S. Cruiser Sailors Association; Aileen Boyle; David J. Brouchoud; Evelyn Cherpak and Teresa Clements at the Naval War College; Robert J. Cressman; Jonathan Dembo, Martha Elmore, and Dale Sauter in the Special Collections Department at East Carolina University’s Joyner Library; Rebecca Doolin of the Owen County (Kentucky) Public Library; Robert L. Ghormley, Jr.; Eric Hammel; Carl T. Hartzell; Shawn Hennessy; Richard “Chief Johnny” Johnson; Brent Jones; Janis Jorgensen of the U.S. Naval Institute; Don Kehn; Aileen Kern; Gene Kirkland; Cathy Lloyd, Edward Marolda, Timothy Pettit, and Paul Tobin of the Naval Historical Center; Kelly Sullivan Loughren; John B. Lundstrom; Gregory Mackenzie; Bruce McCandless II; Dave McComb; Helen McDonald and Floyd Cox of the National Museum of the Pacific War; Mike Matheson; Jerry Miller at the National Association of Destroyer Veterans; Vincent O’Hara; Attilio Serafini; Sam Sorenson; Clifford C. Spencer; Paul Stillwell; Paul Terrill; Barrett Tillman; Anthony Tully; Jack Wallace; Frank Weimann; Greg Wilsbacher of the University of South Carolina Newsfilm Library; Steve Wiper; Hank Wristen; and John Wukovits.

  Special thanks to my longtime champion at Bantam Books, Nita Taublib, and to Angela Polidoro, assistant editor; Virginia Norey, designer; Shona McCarthy, production editor; Maggie Hart, production manager; and to the entire publishing team at Random House.

  This book is dedicated to Rear Admiral Charles D. Grojean. Anyone who knew the late, great submariner and executive director of the Admiral Nimitz Foundation in Fredericksburg, Texas, or who has visited the National Museum of the Pacific War there or attended one of the annual Nimitz Symposia, or ever had the chance to speak to this warm and inspiring man about almost any subject under the sun, will understand why.

  Without the love and understanding of my family, and its commodore, fleet master chief and first lieutenant, Sharon, nothing would really be possible.

  SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT TYPES OF

  THE GUADALCANAL CAMPAIGN

  Combat Aircraft

  U.S.

  Bell P-39/P-400 Airacobra Fighter

  Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Heavy bomber

  Consolidated B-24 Liberator Heavy bomber

  Consolidated PBY Catalina Flying boat

  Douglas SBD Dauntless Dive-bomber

  Grumman F4F Wildcat Fighter

  Grumman TBF Avenger Torpedo bomber

  Japan

  Betty (Mitsubishi G4M Type 1) Medium bomber

  Kate (Nakajima B5N Type 97) Torpedo bomber

  Mavis (Kawanishi H6K Type 97) Flying boat

  Val (Aichi D3A Type 99) Dive-bomber

  Zeke (Mitsubishi A6M Type 0) Fighter

  Rufe (Nakajima A6M2-N) Zeke floatplane variant

  Combat Ships

  BB Battleship CVL Light carrier

  CA Heavy cruiser CVS Seaplane carrier

  CL Light cruiser DD Destroyer

  CLAA Antiaircraft cruiser DMS Destroyer-minesweeper

  CV Aircraft carrier PT Patrol torpedo boat

  NAVAL BATTLES OF

  THE GUADALCANAL CAMPAIGN

  AUGUST 9, 1942

  The Battle of Savo Island

  Allied losses: heavy cruisers Vincennes, Quincy, Astoria, HMAS Canberra sunk; heavy cruiser Chicago, destroyers Patterson and Ralph Talbot damaged

  Japanese losses: heavy cruisers Chokai and Aoba damaged

  Allied KIA: 1,077

  AUGUST 24

  The Battle of the Eastern Solomons

  U.S. losses: carrier Enterprise damaged

  Japanese losses: light carrier Ryujo sunk; light cruiser Jintsu damaged

  U.S. KIA: 38

  OCTOBER 11

  The Battle of Cape Esperance

  U.S. losses: destroyer Duncan sunk; heavy cruiser Salt Lake City, light cruiser Boise, and destroyer Farenholt damaged

  Japanese losses: heavy cruiser Furutaka, destroyers Fubuki, Murakumo, and Natsugumo sunk; heavy cruiser Aoba damaged

  U.S. KIA: 163

  OCTOBER 25

  The Battle of Santa Cruz

  U.S. losses: carrier Hornet, destroyer Porter sunk; carrier Enterprise, battleship South Dakota, heavy cruiser Portland, AA cruiser San Juan, destroyers Smith, Hughes, and Porter damaged

  Japanese losses: carriers Shokaku, Zuiho, cruiser Chikuma, and four destroyers damaged

  U.S. KIA: 262

  NOVEMBER 13

  Cruiser Night Action (First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal)

  U.S. losses: AA cruiser Atlanta, destroyers Cushing, Laffey, Barton, and Monssen sunk; heavy cruisers San Francisco and Portland and destroyers Aaron Ward and Sterett damaged; AA cruiser Juneau damaged and later sunk

  Japanese losses: battleship Hiei, destroyers Akatsuki and Yudachi sunk; three destroyers damaged

  U.S. KIA: 1,439

  NOVEMBER 14–15

  Battleship Night Action (Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal)

  U.S. losses: destroyers Walke, Preston, and Benham sunk; battleship South Dakota and destroyer Gwin damaged

  Japanese losses: battleship Kirishima, destroyer Ayanami sunk; heavy cruiser Atago damaged

  U.S. KIA: 242

  NOVEMBER 30

  The Battle of Tassafaronga

  U.S. losses: heavy cruiser Northampton sunk; cruisers Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Pensacola damaged

  Japanese losses: destroyer Takanami sunk

  U.S. KIA: 395

  TOTAL NAVAL LOSSES AT GUADALCANAL

  SOURCE NOTES

  Unless otherwise indicated, all times mentioned in the narrative are local time on Guadalcanal, or GMT–11. American reports use three times zones variously, GMT, GMT–11, and GMT–12, which was local time in Fiji and New Zealand. Japanese reports use Tokyo time (GMT–9).

  Note that 12 noon Greenwich Mean Time is 11 p.m. local (GMT–11) and midnight GMT–12.

  Prologue: Eighty-two Ships

  Battle lessons: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action of USS Salt Lake City Against Japanese Surface Naval Units, Night of October 11–12, 1942, Off Savo Island, Solomon Islands,” 26; COMINCH, “Battle Experience, October 1942,” 20–28. “They will live a long time”: Michener, Tales of the South Pacific, 3.

  PART I:

  Sea of Troubles

  1: Trip Wire

  “The Pacific: Of itself”: Courtney, “We Must Win the Pacific,” 67. Martin Clemens on Guadalcanal: Lord, Lonely Vigil, 22–23. “If I lose control”: Sears, “A Coastwatcher’s Diary.” Pacific strategy: Stoler, Allies in War, 79. “The air is saturated”: London, “The Terrible Solomons,” 78. Geography of southern Solomons, Commander, Naval Base Guadalcanal, “History of U.S. Naval Advanced Base Guadalcanal, 1942–1945,” 19; Soule, Shooting the Pacific War, 52–53. Characterization of Nimitz: Ernest Eller, quoted in Elarco Productions, The Nimitz Story. “Tell Nimitz”: Potter, Nimitz, 11. “An unshared front”: Courtney, “We Must Win the Pacific,” 15. “One of the few people I know”: Larrabee, Commander in chief, 389. “Go back and vote”: Potter, Nimitz, 10. “You always wanted to command”: Ibid., 11–12. “Subconsciously he sought”: Buell, Master of Sea Power, 11. “Sometimes my bark”: Glover, Command Performance with Guts, 34. King’s view of Fletcher: Butcher, “Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher,” 73. “Undoubtedly these acts”: King, “Target Practice on Whales and Other Marine Mammals,” 1. “His greatest weakness”: Baldwin, “Confidential Notes,” January 25, 1944. “So tough he shaved”: Graybar, “Admiral King’s Toughest Battle,” 39. “One thing that might help”: Ferrell, The Eisenhower Diaries, 48, 50. “If only I could keep him tight”: Larrabee, Commander in Chief, 356. “You are requested to read”: Buell, Master, 177. “I will be lucky to last six months”: Nimitz to Mrs. Nimitz, March 22, 1942. “It must be constantly reiterated”: Stoler, Allies and Adversaries, 78. “The whole question of whether”: Ibid., 85. “I sent an order to Admiral Nimitz”: King to Edson, September 29, 1949, 2. “We would nowhere be acting”: Stoler, Allies, 82. “We should turn to the Pacific”: Ibid. “Stop the enemy”: King to Edson, September 29, 1
949, 2–4. “Turn our backs”: Stoler, Allies, 82. “A lot of islands”: Ibid., 85. “We failed to see”: Buell, Master, 192. “Congressmen are receiving”: Newsweek, “The Periscope” (column), January 12, 1942, 7. “King’s war is”: Stoler, Allies, 88.

  2: A Great Gray Fleet

  “On calm days”: Graff, “World War II Writings, Document 7.” Launching of Atlanta: Leavelle, “The Log of the Mighty A,” March 24, 1943; Mustin interview, 184–185. “With the same pride”: Leavelle, “The Log,” March 24, 1942. Atlanta’s radars: Mustin interview, 453–459. “A rather dull tableau”: Leavelle, “The Log,” March 25, 1943. “To my artist’s eye” and “a glorious hoax”: Shaw, Beside Me Still, 81–82. “I think the answer”: Ibid., 97. “What he jammed”: Vandegrift, Once a Marine, 18. “Absolutely essential to stop” and “King’s reiteration of”: King, Fleet Admiral King, 388. “Must be conducted”: Ibid, 387. Boundary between SOPAC AND SOWESPAC: COMINCH to CINCPAC, July 3, 1942 (0221). “Three weeks ago”: Buell, Master of Sea Power, 203. Repair of Task Force 1: Fuquea, “Task Force One,” 709–714. Fuel usage: Ibid., 716–717. “We’re up against a navy”: Mustin diary, May 14, 1942. “What in the world”: Weaver, “Some Reminiscences of the Pacific War.” “The knowledge of the geography”: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 1. “Since my arrival”: Ghormley to Frank Knox, October 11, 1940, Ghormley Papers. “Every day I was in London”: Ghormley, “The Tide,” 3. “Dissatisfied, proud, grasping”: Ibid., 6–7. “Robinson Crusoe should be required”: Gardner interview, 2.

  3: The First D-Day

  “We kept very quiet”: Kinkaid, Four Years of War, 192–194. “We were conscious of”: Tregaskis, Guadalcanal Diary, 8. “Loose talk is a stupid habit”: Ghormley to SOPAC command, “Disclosure of Information,” 1. “I have smiled many times”: Soule, Shooting the Pacific War, 44. Changes to Japanese code groups: Showers, speech, Nimitz Symposium 2007; Frank, Guadalcanal, 38–41. “I informed him”: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 100–101. “I had experienced”: Jones, The USS, Astoria (CA-34) and the Men Who Sailed Her, 30. “Monday, Monday, Tuesday”: Hirama, “Japanese Naval Preparations,” 66. “I never could figure out”: Custer, Through the Perilous Night, 94. “You will be governed”: Nimitz quoted in Hoyt, How They Won the War in the Pacific, 94. Invasion rehearsals in 1939: Larrabee, Commander in Chief, 178. “I saw that its shore”: Bennink, narrative, 2. “From an intelligence point of view”: Hough, History of U.S. Marine Corps, 242–243. “Some of us were”: Kinkaid, Four Years, 207. “Neither sharp nor perspicacious”: Loxton, The Shame of Savo, 18. Carrier air support controversy: Lundstrom, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, 333–337; Turner to Hepburn, “Answers to Questionnaire,” 6. “My Dutch blood”: Vandegrift, Once a Marine, 120. Richard Frank, annotation to author’s draft ms., April 12, 2010; see also Lundstrom, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, 373–374: “Fletcher envisioned another grim carrier battle soon.… Hindsight has obliterated the validity of Fletcher’s prudence.” “Who is closely acquainted”: Turner to King, “Strategic Deployment,” 3. “You son of a bitch”: Loxton, The Shame of Savo, 71; Lundstrom, Black Shoe, 336. “I sent Dan Callaghan”: Ghormley to Nimitz, July 29, 1942, 3. “At first there was a mast”: Calhoun, Tin Can Sailor, 51. Early U.S. South Pacific strategy: Braisted, The United States Navy in the Pacific, 1909–1922, 522–523; SOPAC, “South Pacific Strategy,” 7–8. Logistics: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 62. “Pounded flat into baked mud”: Crenshaw, South Pacific Destroyer, 43. “Almost every French civilian”: SOPAC, “South Pacific Strategy,” 10. “The war in our area”: Ghormley to McCain, May 19, 1942, 3. “I think our actual deficiencies”: Ghormley to Nimitz, July 29, 1942, 2–3. “If an enemy lay beyond”: Hough, History, 4–5. “God was with us”: Smoot interview, 92. “Vague, black and shapeless”: Custer, Through, 104. “Like a purple lump”: Kittredge, untitled narrative, 11. “What the hell”: Custer, Through, 104. “All hands man your battle stations” and disposition of cruiser screen: Crutchley, “Operation Watchtower,” 11–12 (Hepburn Report Annex, 65). “The pervasive mud”: Jones, WW2, 48. “Amazing panorama”: Lord, Lonely Vigil, 40. “UNDER INFORMATION YOU PLAN”: Ghormley to Fletcher, August 2, 1942 (0240). “Enemy strength is overwhelming”: McGee, The Solomons Campaigns, vol. 2, 30. Lieutenant Snell’s flag: Bureau of Naval Personnel, Information Bulletin, September 1942, 60.

  4: Nothing Worthy of Your Majesty’s Attention

  “It is nothing worthy”: Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain, 104. Japanese reaction to landings: Ohmae, “The Battle of Savo Island,” 1260–1267; Ugaki, Fading Victory, 177. “Absolutely no concern with the Solomons”: Ohmae, “The Battle,” 1267. Japanese intelligence deficiencies: Kotani, Japanese Intelligence in World War II, 155, 161–162. “Magnificent curtain”: Commander, Task Group 62.6 “Operation Watchtower—the Capture and Occupation by United Nations Forces of Tulagi and Guadalcanal,” 18. Be it ever so humble … “How can you beat”: Custer, Through the Perilous Night, 123. “Either these are Army pilots”: Ibid., 118. “How do you like that”: Ibid., 121–122.

  5: Fly the Carriers

  “Whenever he became disgusted”: Jones, The USS Astoria (CA-34) and the Men Who Sailed Her, 48. “I have seen him ‘blow up’ ”: Dyer, The Amphibians Came to Conquer, 1165–1166. “After dark, conditions” and “No small share” and “a failure on”: McGee, The Amphibians Are Coming! 19–20. “This was the Koro conference”: Vandegrift, Once a Marine, 129. “All knew that the enemy”: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 93. During carrier flight operations, speeds of twenty-five knots were necessary, according to Frank Jack Fletcher. ComCruPacFlt, “Preliminary Report—Solomons Islands Operations,” September 9, 1942, 3. “It is the opinion”: MacArthur to King, July 8, 1942 (1020). “The withdrawal of the naval attached units”: King to Nimitz, July 2, 1942 (2154). “Marines cannot be dislodged”: Lundstrom, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, 383. HMAS Australia conference: Commander, Task Force 62, War Diary, 4; Kinkaid, Four Years of War, 233.

  6: A Captain in the Fog

  “His officers were scared”: Zarker interview. “He was short and stocky”: Backus interview, 93–94. Cruiser engineering performance: Fleet Maintenance Office, “Material and Engineering Performance Bulletin, Cruisers, Pacific Fleet,” 14. “Take charge of patrol”: Crutchley, “Explanatory Memorandum,” 9. “Aircraft reports 3 cruisers”: CINCPAC, “Grey Book,” August 8, 1942 (1025). “We will penetrate south”: Ohmae, “The Battle of Savo Island,” 1271–1272. “The Eighth Fleet is going”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 178. “I was satisfied with arrangements”: Turner to Hepburn, “Answers to Questionnaire” (Hepburn Report Annex, 272). “Warning—warning—plane”: USS Ralph Talbot, “Preliminary Report of Action,” 1. Errors by USS Blue and Chicago: LaCouture interview, 22; Bode, “Memorandum for Admiral Hepburn,” 2–3; Zarker interview: “The [Chicago’s] radar officer himself told me this at one of our reunions.” “Warning—warning—strange ships”: USS Chicago, “Action Against Enemy Forces …, ” 2; USS Astoria, Statement of Lt. Cdr. J. R. Topper, 1 (Hepburn Report Annex, 535). “A good course”: Bode to Hepburn, April 8, 1943, 2 (Hepburn Report Annex, 303). Damage to HMAS Canberra: HMAS Canberra, Executive Officer’s Report, August 12, 1943, 1–2 (Hepburn Report Annex, 337–338).

  7: The Martyring of Task Group 62.6

  Nimitz “ultra secret” warnings: Nimitz to Task Force Commanders, August 6, 1942 (2336) (Hepburn Report Annex, 670). Turner’s instructions to Crutchley: Turner to Crutchley, August 8, 1942 (1920) (Hepburn Report Annex, 677). “The search radar was operating”: USS Quincy, “Preliminary Report,” 2. “The more I insisted” and “The OOD and the”: Jones, The USS Astoria (CA-34) and the Men Who Sailed Her, 115–116. “Great display of light”: USS Vincennes, “Report of Action Between” (Hepburn Report Annex, 399–400). “I didn’t know”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 179. Explosions mistaken for depth charges: USS Astoria, “Battle of Savo Island,” 13 (Hepburn Report Annex, 488). Contact between Japanese and U.S. ships: Bates and Innis, “The Battle of Savo Island,” 152. “Act
ion port! Load”: Statement of M. Dunkleberger, in USS Astoria, “Statements of Surviving Personnel” (Hepburn Report Annex, 581). “Fire every damn thing you got!” Statement of L. F. Hager, in USS Astoria, “Statements,” (Hepburn Report Annex, 596). “Who sounded the general alarm?”: Donald A. Yeamans, in Jones, The USS Astoria. “It was there.… I was suddenly cool”: Custer, Through the Perilous Night, 125. “Surprised to see”: Lt. Jack Gibson, in Jones, The USS Astoria, 131. “A stupid set up”: Eldred E. Bloodworth, in Jones, The USS Astoria, 100–101. “The Astoria was shuddering” and “One more crossing”: Lt. Jack Gibson, in Jones, The USS Astoria, 131–132. Flammable conditions on cruisers: COMINCH, “Battle Experience, September 1942,” 11–15; Bureau of Ships, “USS Quincy, USS Astoria and USS Vincennes, Report of Loss in Action,” 18; Akers interview, 1. “In a few minutes”: Custer, Through, 132–135. “An ideal torpedoman”: Tanaka, “Japan’s Losing Struggle for Guadalcanal,” part 1, 698. “There were explosions everywhere”: Ohmae, “The Battle of Savo Island,” 1275. “Times in the above narrative”: Hepburn, “Report of Informal Inquiry,” 16. “There are men” and “blown clear through” and “I sat there and listened”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 94–95. “A roar like an express train”: Ibid., 132. “An overtone of muffled sounds”: Custer, Through, 126. “A crushing explosion … Look out for my leg”: Ibid., 132–135. “In flashes of light”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 132. “Steel piercing steel”: Ibid., 103. “A shambles”: USS Quincy, “Report of the Engagement,” 8. “I found it in a shambles”: Ibid., 2 (Hepburn Annex, 442). “Gas jetted high”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 120, quoting article in The Daily Astorian from August 6, 1981. “Our ship was blazing”: Robert H. Atchinson, in Jones, The USS Astoria, 98. “All communications were shot away”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 132–133. “He could not have been more”: Ibid., 146. “We sat there while the fire roared”: Ibid., 133. “One of our crew”: Ibid., 105. Damage control on Astoria: USS Astoria, Statement of Lt. Cdr. J. R. Topper, 7 (Hepburn Report Annex, 541). “Hey, man, I just made chief”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 105–106.