(Photo Credit: 2)
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz: the Pacific War’s essential man.
(Photo Credit: 3)
Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley wasn’t Nimitz’s first choice to command South Pacific naval forces. His remote leadership style and tight nerves would lead to his relief by Halsey.
(Photo Credit: 4)
Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, victorious at Coral Sea and Midway, took heat for his cautious employment of his carriers off Guadalcanal.
(Photo Credit: 5)
Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, commander of amphibious forces, had a virulent disagreement with Fletcher over how Operation Watchtower should be run.
(Photo Credit: 6)
Rear Admiral John S. McCain, commander of land-based naval air forces in the South Pacific.
(Photo Credit: 7)
An F4F Wildcat prepares to launch from the Wasp in support of Watchtower, August 7, 1942.
(Photo Credit: 8)
Before dawn, the heavy cruiser Vincennes opens fire on Japanese positions on Guadalcanal. She went down in glory two nights later.
(Photo Credit: 9)
Captain Frederick L. Riefkohl, commanding officer of the Vincennes and Task Group 62.6.
(Photo Credit: 10)
The Astoria, in the early days of Operation Watchtower.
(Photo Credit: 11)
Astoria gunners in drills, spring 1942.
(Photo Credit: 12)
Captain William G. Greenman commanded the Astoria before her loss, then ran Guadalcanal’s makeshift naval base.
(Photo Credit: 13)
The Astoria, shown in Hawaiian waters in July 1942, prepares to recover a floatplane using her starboard-side crane.
(Photo Credit: 14)
The last photo of the Quincy, caught in the glare of Japanese searchlights, down by the stern in the Battle of Savo Island.
(Photo Credit: 15)
Rear Admiral Gunichi Mikawa, victor in the Battle of Savo Island.
(Photo Credit: 16)
Captain Samuel N. Moore, commander of the Quincy, was killed in action.
(Photo Credit: 17)
The Quincy in the South Pacific, August 1942.
(Photo Credit: 18a)
Two U.S. destroyers, the Blue and the Patterson (U.S. Navy)
(Photo Credit: 18b)
Chicago sailors cut away bow plating damaged by a Japanese torpedo, August 10, 1942.
(Photo Credit: 19)
Captain Howard D. Bode of the Chicago was among many who performed poorly at Savo Island. He would bear more than his share of the blame.
(Photo Credit: 20)
Two U.S. destroyers, the Blue (left) and the Patterson, assist the burning HMAS Canberra on the morning of August 8. She could not be saved.
(Photo Credit: 21)
Lloyd M. Mustin (shown here as a rear admiral), served as assistant gunnery officer in the Atlanta.
(Photo Credit: 22)
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Imperial Combined Fleet, believed he would find his decisive battle off Guadalcanal.
(Photo Credit: 23)
Rear Admiral Norman Scott (shown here as a captain) taught the Navy’s light forces how to fight.
(Photo Credit: 24)
The light cruiser Boise in a South Pacific port, late August 1942.
(Photo Credit: 25)
Captain Robert G. Tobin (right) commanded Scott’s destroyers in the Battle of Cape Esperance. Here he receives the Navy Cross from Admiral William F. Halsey.
(Photo Credit: 26)
The antiaircraft cruiser Atlanta (foreground) maneuvers with four destroyers from Task Force 16, July 10, 1942.
(Photo Credit: 27)
The destroyer Farenholt, shown here in August 1942, took a beating from friendly fire on October 11.
(Photo Credit: 28)
Radar first came to the fleet in 1941. Once the fighting sailors learned how to use it, the new technology would change everything.
(Photo Credit: 29)
The SG radar, with its 48-inch by 15-inch parabolic transmitter, was the first to employ the familiar circular display. Used for search, fire control, or navigation, it gave commanders an unprecedented picture of the enemy at night.
(Photo Credit: 30)
Major Joseph Foss, the executive officer of VMF-121 at Henderson field, arrived in October and became the USMC’s leading fighter ace of WW2.
(Photo Credit: 31)
Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift, USMC, paid all costs to hold Henderson Field against repeated Japanese assault from air, land, and sea.
(Photo Credit: 32)
Marine tanks prowl the killing field near Alligator Creek, where Colonel Ichiki’s detachment was slaughtered on August 21.
(Photo Credit: 33)
Lieutenant Colonel Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller (shown here, second from left, in January 1944 with his regimental staff on Cape Gloucester) worked closely with the Navy in defense of Marine positions on Guadalcanal.
(Photo Credit: 34)
The SBD Dauntless served as the principal ship killer of the Cactus Air Force while Henderson Field’s Wildcats controlled the skies of the Slot by day.
(Photo Credit: 35)
Nimitz with Vandegrift. Nimitz boosted morale with his September visit to Guadalcanal.
(Photo Credit: 36)
As the Wasp burns in the background, the destroyer O’Brien is rocked by a torpedo from the submarine I-19.
(Photo Credit: 37)
Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka led the Tokyo Express, as the Japanese seaborne reinforcement runs to Guadalcanal became known.
(Photo Credit: 38)
The Wasp sank quickly. Japanese submarines were nowhere more effective than off Guadalcanal.
(Photo Credit: 39)
The destroyer Laffey brought hundreds of Wasp survivors home to Espiritu Santo. An Atlanta-class AA cruiser is in the background.
(Photo Credit: 40)
In the Battle of Santa Cruz, the South Dakota (left) churns a heavy wake. A Japanese plane takes the plunge while the Enterprise takes a bomb.
(Photo Credit: 41)
The damaged Hornet under tow from the Northampton, October 26, 1942. Another Japanese air strike is inbound to finish her.
(Photo Credit: 42)
Chaplain James Claypool (facing camera, at left) presides over burials at sea on the South Dakota after the air battle off Santa Cruz.
(Photo Credit: 43)
Daniel J. Callaghan, shown here as a captain, served on Robert Ghormley’s staff before returning to the fighting fleet.
(Photo Credit: 44)
Many argued the newly outfitted Helena should have served as Callaghan’s flagship.
(Photo Credit: 45)
The Atlanta: a welterweight ship with a middleweight’s jab.
(Photo Credit: 46)
Captain Gilbert C. Hoover
(Photo Credit: 47)
The Portland paid her freight on Friday the 13th.
(Photo Credit: 48)
Captain Laurance T. DuBose, shown here as a rear admiral in 1943, maneuvered the Portland out of a jam.
(Photo Credit: 49)
Captain Samuel P. Jenkins, shown in 1946.
(Photo Credit: 50)
Lieutenant Robert D. Graff, signal officer in the Atlanta.
(Photo Credit: 51)
Yard workers at Mare Island tend to the Portland’s massive torpedo wound.
(Photo Credit: 52)
The battleship Hiei, shown in dry dock in 1942.
(Photo Credit: 53)
Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo led Japanese forces against Admiral Callaghan in the Cruiser Night Action, November 13, 1942.
(Photo Credit: 54)
The Juneau alongside the Aaron Ward in New York shortly after their commissionings, March 19, 1942.
(Photo Credit: 55)
Captain Cassin Young (right) replaced Charles H. McMorris as commander of the San Francisco. He had received the Me
dal of Honor from Admiral Nimitz in April 1942.
(Photo Credit: 56)
Captain Lyman K. Swenson, commander of the Juneau, was among more than 700 lost when she was torpedoed on November 13.
(Photo Credit: 57)
Four of the Sullivan brothers were killed when the Juneau exploded. George died later at sea.
(Photo Credit: 58)
Damaged after battle with Callaghan’s force, the Hiei burns and bleeds oil while evading attack from B-17 bombers the following day. She limped toward home but disappeared that night.
(Photo Credit: 59)
The Cushing led Callaghan’s column—and paid the price.
(Photo Credit: 60)
The Laffey battled the Hiei at point blank range.
(Photo Credit: 61)
The Aaron Ward was heavily damaged the night of Friday the 13th.
(Photo Credit: 62)
Recruits at Bainbridge, Maryland, undergo testing, 1943.
(Photo Credit: 63)
New sailors at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, October 9, 1942.
(Photo Credit: 64)
Metalworkers at a Chrysler plant in Detroit turn out 40 mm gun tubes.
(Photo Credit: 65)
The battleship Washington off New York City, preparing to leave for the Pacific, August 1942.
(Photo Credit: 66)
Willis A. Lee reports to the USS Washington at Tongatabu, September 14, 1942.
(Photo Credit: 67)
The South Dakota, July 1942.
(Photo Credit: 68)
The South Dakota’s secondary battery roars.
(Photo Credit: 69)
The South Dakota took a beating from Japanese cruisers on the night of November 14 but returned as a legend, hailed in the press as “Battleship X.”
(Photo Credit: 70)
Note the effects of the blast, and the patches in the hull below the large hole.
(Photo Credit: 71)
A 14-inch shell from the Kirishima splintered the South Dakota’s deck and disabled turret three.
(Photo Credit: 72)
The Walke was one of three destroyers sacrificed in the cause of Willis Lee’s victory.
(Photo Credit: 73)
The Barton, shown on her commissioning day at Boston Harbor, May 29, 1942.
(Photo Credit: 74)
South Dakota sailors bow their heads in memory of sailors lost in the Battleship Night Action, November 14–15, 1942.
(Photo Credit: 75)
Halsey said it was Scott’s and Callaghan’s bravery that got him his fourth star. He takes the oath from his chief of staff, Captain Miles Browning.
(Photo Credit: 76)
The Japanese transport Kinugawa Maru, beached on Guadalcanal after attack by Cactus Air Force fliers on November 15.
(Photo Credit: 77)
Nearly sunk in the Battle of Cape Esperance and with her bow bearing a large patch, the Boise returns to Philadelphia for repairs, November 20, 1942.
(Photo Credit: 78)
Captain Edward J. “Mike” Moran (right) hosts Admiral King aboard the Boise.
(Photo Credit: 79)
A Boise sailor inspects heavy splinter damage to a bulkhead.
(Photo Credit: 80)
Her proud crew claimed six enemy ships.
(Photo Credit: 81)
Captain Moran stands in front of the Boise’s battle-worn gun barrels.
(Photo Credit: 82)
Battle damage to the San Francisco’s hangar area, looking slightly aft from port to starboard.
(Photo Credit: 83)
The battered San Francisco enters San Francisco Harbor, December 11, 1942.
(Photo Credit: 84)
Closeup with sailors (Fox Movietone News, © University of South Carolina)
(Photo Credit: 85)
Glimpsed through a shell hole in a gun shield, Admiral Nimitz comes aboard the San Francisco.
(Photo Credit: 86)
Nimitz inspects the damaged bridge with Lieutenant Commander Herbert E. Schonland.
(Photo Credit: 87)
Lieutenant Commander Bruce McCandless received the Medal of Honor for conning the San Francisco after her senior officers were killed.
(Photo Credit: 88)
McCandless comforts the father and aunt of Admiral Callaghan.
(Photo Credit: 89)
The heavy cruiser New Orleans, her entire bow shorn away by a Long Lance torpedo, undergoes temporary repairs at Tulagi after the November 30 Battle of Tassafaronga.
(Photo Credit: 90)
Exuberant San Francisco sailors meet the press.
(Photo Credit: 91)
The PT-109 heads for shore with 94 survivors of the Northampton. In the background, the New Orleans, with the Maury standing by, fights for her life. John F. Kennedy would take command of the PT boat in April 1943.
(Photo Credit: 92)
Admiral Arthur J. Hepburn conducted the official inquest into the causes of the defeat at Savo Island. Scapegoats were duly found.
(Photo Credit: 93)
Eugene Tarrant, photographed March 5, 2007 in San Francisco, served as captain’s cook in the San Francisco.
(Photo Credit: 94)
The New Orleans returns to Pearl Harbor with a false bow and her forward eight-inch guns removed.
(Photo Credit: 95)
What victory looks like: Guadalcanal boasts a new wharf and several cranes to assist in unloading supplies.
(Photo Credit: 96)
Ghormley with Eleanor Roosevelt at Pearl Harbor, 1943. Ghormley’s relief was wrongly thought the consequence of the defeat at Savo Island. Nimitz believed he was having a nervous breakdown.
(Photo Credit: 97)
The sailors of the PT boat fleet fought gallantly in the Solomons, but the press still felt the need to sensationalize their capabilities.
(Photo Credit: 98)
After a taste of victory, the Navy learned how to play the PR game. Captain Gatch of the South Dakota confers with journalist Sidney Shallet in July 1943.
(Photo Credit: 99)
Lieutenant Hugh M. Robinson (left) and Lieutenant John M. Searles (right) display the scorecard for Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3: thirteen hits on Japanese ships in four months of work.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In three years of research and two of writing, I’ve accumulated several file cabinets full of debts to acknowledge. It’s always a pleasure to do so.
I am again indebted to Tracy Devine, senior editor at Bantam Books, for a thousand small things and maybe two dozen larger ones toward the rehabilitation of my first and second drafts into prime form. Richard B. Frank, the author of the Guadalcanal campaign’s definitive history, reviewed a draft of this manuscript, generously applying his vast expertise to save me from a number of embarrassments. Any remaining errors are mine to own.
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
Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal Page 54