Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal

by James D. Hornfischer

  The Story of the USS Salt Lake City, 1929–1946. Privately published cruise book, undated.

  Thomason, Chester C. (USS Monssen, electrician’s mate third class). Personal narrative, undated. Courtesy of Chester C. Thomason. www.destroyerhistory.org/benson-gleavesclass/ussmonssen/thomason_03.html (last page view February 2, 2009).

  Wallace, John G. (USS San Francisco, lieutenant junior grade). usssan francisco.org/Stories%20Of%20The%20Men.htm. (last page view March 4, 2010).

  Weaver, Charles W., Jr. (SOPAC operations staff, lieutenant). “Some Reminiscences of the Pacific War,” speech, Nashua Rotary Club, May 6, 1963. NWC.

  Wilde, E. Andrew (ed.). The USS Aaron Ward (DD-483) in World War II: Documents and Photographs. Privately published, 1998; revised 2001. www.destroyerhistory.org/benson-gleavesclass/ussaaronward/research483.html (last page view January 24, 2009).

  Wristen, Henry A. (ed.) (USS New Orleans, seaman first class). History of the United States Navy Ship New Orleans, CA-32 (incorporating the ship’s official reports). Revised edition, September 10, 2007. Revised again by Carl Hartzell and Hank Wristen, under the title An Amended History, November 2009.

  Books and Articles

  Abend, Hallett. Ramparts of the Pacific. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran, 1942.

  Agawa, Hiroyuki. The Reluctant Admiral: Yamamoto and the Imperial Navy. New York: Kodansha, 1982 (original Japanese edition 1969).

  Albion, Robert Greenhalgh, and Robert Howe Connery, with Jennie Barnes Pope. Forrestal and the Navy. New York: Columbia University Press, 1962.

  Aldrich, Robert. France and the South Pacific Since 1940. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993.

  Arnold, H. H. Global Mission. New York: Harper, 1949.

  Associated Press. “Boise Captain Gives Credit to His Crew,” New York Times, November 24, 1942, p. 8.

  ———. “Bridge Blasted from Battleship by U.S. Destroyer off Guadalcanal,” New York Times, January 13, 1943, p. 1.

  ———. “Five Iowa Brothers Lost in Pacific Battle,” New York Times, January 13, 1943, p. 10.

  ———. “5 Sullivans Died, Survivor Writes,” New York Times, January 15, 1943, p. 7.

  Baldwin, Hanson W. “A Sailor-Diplomat Runs Up His Colors” (Adm. Arthur J. Hepburn), New York Times, July 5, 1936, p. SM9.

  ———. “The Naval Defense of America,” Harper’s, April 1941, p. 449.

  ———. “Lessons of the Solomons Campaign,” New York Times, October 24, 1942, p. 3.

  ———. “Handling of the News of the War,” New York Times, November 23, 1942, p. 10.

  ——— (ed). The Navy at War: Paintings and Drawings by Combat Artists. New York: Morrow, 1943.

  Ballard, Robert D., with Rick Archbold. The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal: Exploring the Ghost Fleet of the South Pacific. New York: Warner, 1993.

  Bath, Alan Harris. Tracking the Axis Enemy: The Triumph of Anglo-American Naval Intelligence. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998.

  Battle Stations!: Your Navy in Action. New York: William H. Wise, 1946.

  Becton, F. Julian, with Joseph Morschauser III. The Ship That Would Not Die. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1980.

  Bennett, John E. “Callaghan Was Calm and Collected at Guadalcanal,” Shipmate, April 1996, p. 18.

  Bergerud, Eric M. Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific. Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 2001.

  Bix, Herbert P. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. New York: HarperCollins, 2000.

  Braisted, William Reynolds. The United States Navy in the Pacific, 1909–1922. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1971.

  Brodie, Bernard. A Guide to Naval Strategy (3rd edition). Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1944.

  Brown, Herbert C. Hell at Tassafaronga: The History of the Heavy Cruiser USS New Orleans (CA-32). Reston, V.: Ancient Mariners Press, 2001.

  Brown, Louis. A Radar History of World War II: Technical and Military Imperatives. Philadelphia, Pa.: Institute of Physics, 1999.

  Buell, Thomas B. The Quiet Warrior: A Biography of Admiral Raymond E. Spruance. New York: Little, Brown, 1974.

  ———. Master of Sea Power: A Biography of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King. New York: Little, Brown, 1980.

  Bulkley, Robert J., Jr. At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1962 (Naval Institute reprint, 2003).

  Butcher, M. E. “Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, Pioneer Warrior or Gross Sinner?” Naval War College Review, Winter 1987, p. 69.

  Calhoun, C. Raymond. Tin Can Sailor: Life Aboard the USS Sterett, 1939–1945. Annapolis: Naval Institute, 1993.

  Casey, Robert J. Torpedo Junction!: With the Pacific Fleet from Pearl Harbor to Midway. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1942.

  Chafe, William H. The Paradox of Change: American Women in the 20th Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.

  Chambliss, William C. “Recipe for Survival,” Naval Institute Proceedings, July 1944, p. 949.

  Claypool, James V. “God on a Battlewagon,” Chicago Tribune, May 7, 1944, May 9, 1944.

  ———. God on a Battlewagon. Philadelphia: John C. Winston, 1944.

  Collier’s, “The Idea Is to Win,” editorial, December 26, 1942, p. 70.

  Cook, Charles. The Battle of Cape Esperance: Encounter at Guadalcanal. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1968.

  Cooke, Alistair. The American Home Front, 1941–1942. New York: Atlantic Monthly, 2006.

  Coombe, Jack D. Derailing the Tokyo Express: The Naval Battles for the Solomon Islands That Sealed Japan’s Fate. Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1991.

  Courtney, W. B. “We Must Win the Pacific,” Collier’s, December 26, 1942, p. 15.

  Crenshaw, Russell S., Jr. Naval Shiphandling. Annapolis: Naval Institute, 1955.

  ———. The Battle of Tassafaronga. Baltimore: Nautical & Aviation Publishing, 1995.

  ———. South Pacific Destroyer: The Battle for the Solomons from Savo Island to Vella Gulf. Annapolis: Naval Institute, 1998.

  Custer, Joe James. Through the Perilous Night: The Astoria’s Last Battle. New York: Macmillan, 1944.

  Davies, Lawrence E. “Cruiser San Francisco Home; Took ‘Big Ones First’ in Fight,” New York Times, December 12, 1942. p. 1.

  ———. “Hero Gets Medal on San Francisco,” New York Times, December 13, 1942, p. 3.

  Davis, Kenneth S. FDR: The War President, 1940–43. New York: Random House, 2000.

  Davis, Stephen F., Jr. “Perfect in Every Respect,” Naval History, August 2008, p. 26.

  DeBlanc, Jefferson J. The Guadalcanal Air War: Col. Jefferson DeBlanc’s Story. Gretna, La.: Pelican, 2008.

  Dillard, Nancy R. “Operational Leadership: A Case Study of Two Extremes During Operation Watchtower,” February 7, 1997, Joint Military Operations Department, NWC.

  Dull, Paul S. A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy (1941–1945). Annapolis: Naval Institute, 1978.

  Dyer, George C. The Amphibians Came to Conquer: The Story of Adm. Richmond Kelly Turner. Washington: Dept. of the Navy, 1972. www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ACTC/index.html (last page view April 27, 2010).

  Evans, David C. (ed. and trans.). The Japanese Navy in World War II: In the Words of Former Japanese Naval Officers (2nd edition). Annapolis: Naval Institute, 1986.

  Ewing, Steve. American Cruisers of World War II: A Pictorial Encyclopedia. Missoula, Mont.: Pictorial Histories, 1984.

  Farr, Scott T. “The Historical Record, Strategic Decision Making, and Carrier Support to Operation Watchtower.” Master’s thesis. U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kans., 2003. www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA416432&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf (last page view October 30, 2009).

  Feldt, E. A. “Coastwatching in World War II,” Naval Institute Proceedings, September 1961, p. 72.

  Felker, Craig C. Testing American Sea Power: U.S. Navy Strategic Exercises, 1923–1940. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2007.

  Ferrell, Robert H. (ed.
). The Eisenhower Diaries. New York: Norton, 1981.

  Flynn, Thomas E. “Etajima, The Japanese Naval Academy,” Naval Institute Proceedings, December 1943, p. 1597.

  Forgy, Howell M., with Jack S. McDowell.… And Pass the Ammunition. New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1944.

  Forrestel, E. P. Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, USN: A Study in Command. Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, Director of Naval History, 1966.

  Frank, Richard B. Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. New York: Random House, 1990.

  Friedman, Norman. U.S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute, 1984.

  ———. U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute, 1985.

  Fuquea, David C. “Task Force One: The Wasted Assets of the United States Pacific Battleship Fleet, 1942,” Journal of Military History 61 (October 1997), p. 707.

  Garvey, John. San Francisco in World War II. San Francisco: Arcadia, 2007.

  Genda, Minoru. “Tactical Planning in the Imperial Japanese Navy,” Naval War College Review, October 1969, p. 45.

  Generous, William Thomas, Jr. Sweet Pea at War: A History of USS Portland. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2003.

  Gilbert, Alton Keith. A Leader Born: The Life of Admiral John Sidney McCain, Pacific Carrier Commander. Philadelphia: Casemate, 2006.

  Glover, Cato D. Command Performance with Guts. New York: Greenwich Book Publishers, 1969.

  Grace, James W. The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal: Night Action, 13 November 1942. Annapolis: Naval Institute, 1999.

  Graybar, Lloyd J. “Admiral King’s Toughest Battle,” Naval War College Review, February 1979, p. 38.

  Gunther, John. Roosevelt in Retrospect: A Profile in History. New York: Harper, 1950.

  Hailey, Foster. “Destroyer at Savo Sold Life Dearly,” New York Times, December 11, 1942, p. 10.

  ———. “With a Task Force in the Pacific,” New York Times, November 5, 1944, p. SM8.

  Halsey, William F., and J. Bryan III. Admiral Halsey’s Story. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1947.

  Hamilton, D. Lee. “Our Greatest Resource,” Naval Institute Proceedings, April 1943, p. 509.

  Hammel, Eric. Carrier Clash: The Invasion of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, August 1942. St. Paul, Minn.: Zenith Press/MBI, 2004 (derived/adapted from Guadalcanal: The Carrier Battles, Crown, 1987).

  ———. Starvation Island. New York: Crown, 1987.

  ———. Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea—The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 13–15, 1942. New York: Crown, 1988.

  ———. Guadalcanal: The U.S. Marines in World War II, A Pictorial Tribute. St. Paul, Minn.: Zenith, 2007.

  Hara, Tameichi, with Fred Saito and Roger Pineau. Japanese Destroyer Captain. New York: Ballantine, 1961.

  Harter, C. J. “Higher Education for Officers’ Stewards and Cooks,” Naval Institute Proceedings, March 1937, p. 321.

  Hartney, Joseph P. F., with Robert C. Fay. “The Story of the Juneau,” Our Navy, Mid-December 1943, p. 4.

  Hastings, Max. Nemesis: The Battle for Japan, 1944–45. London: Harper, 2007 (published in the U.S. under the title Retribution).

  Hayes, Grace Person. The History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in World War II: The War Against Japan. Annapolis: Naval Institute, 1982.

  Hayes, John D. “Admiral Joseph Mason Reeves, Part I,” Naval War College Review, November 1970, p. 48.

  Henderson, William C., Jr. Escape from the Sea: The USS Helena—Pearl Harbor to Kula Gulf and Beyond. Los Altos, Calif.: Henderson and Associates, 1995.

  Hersey, John. Into the Valley: A Skirmish of the Marines. New York: Schocken, 1943.

  Heyn, Allen Clifton. “One Who Survived,” American Heritage, June 1956, p. 65. www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1956/4/1956_4_64.shtml. (last page view March 7, 2010).

  Hirama, Yoichi. “Japanese Naval Preparations for World War II,” Naval War College Review, Spring 1991, p. 63.

  Holbrook, Heber A. The History of the USS San Francisco in World War II. Dixon, Calif.: Pacific Ship and Shore, 1978.

  ———. The History and Times of the USS Portland. Dixon, Calif.: Pacific Ship and Shore, 1990.

  Hone, Thomas C. “The Effectiveness of the ‘Washington Treaty’ Navy,” Naval War College Review, November–December 1979, p. 35.

  Hone, Thomas C., and Trent Hone. Battle Line: The United States Navy, 1919–1939. Annapolis: Naval Institute, 2006.

  Hone, Trent. “U.S. Navy Surface Battle Doctrine and Victory in the Pacific,” Naval War College Review, Winter 2009, p. 67.

  ———. “ ‘Give Them Hell!’: The U.S. Navy’s Night Combat Doctrine and the Campaign for Guadalcanal,” War in History 13, no. 2 (2006), p. 171.

  Hornfischer, James D. The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour. New York: Bantam, 2004.

  Hough, Frank O., Verle E. Ludwig, and Henry I. Shaw. History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, vol. 1: Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal. Washington, D.C.: Historical Branch, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1958.

  Hoyt, Edwin P. How They Won the War in the Pacific: Nimitz and His Admirals. New York: Weybright & Talley, 1970.

  Hurd, Charles. “Pacific Command Shake-Up Is Laid to Guadalcanal Crisis,” New York Times, October, 25, 1942, p. 1.

  ———. “Navies Manoeuvre for Big Stakes in Solomons,” New York Times, November 1, 1942, p. E3.

  Hutchinson, John A. Bluejacket: In Harm’s Way from Guadalcanal to Tokyo. New York: Vantage, 1995.

  Jacobsen, Philip H. “Intelligence Contributions to U.S. Naval Operations in the Pacific.” www.microworks.net/pacific/intelligence/stemming_tide.htm (last page view January 15, 2009).

  Jersey, Stanley Coleman. Hell’s Islands: The Untold Story of Guadalcanal. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2008.

  Jones, James. WWII: A Chronicle of Soldiering. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1975.

  Kennedy, Bill. Fearless Warrior: A Gunner’s Mate on the Beach at Guadalcanal. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1991.

  Keyes, Ralph. The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When. New York: Macmillan, 2006.

  Kilpatrick. Night Naval Battles in the Solomons. Pompano Beach, Fla.: Exposition, 1987.

  Kimball, Warren F. (ed.). Churchill and Roosevelt: The Complete Correspondence, vol. 1: Alliance Emerging, October 1933–November 1942. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1984.

  ———. The Juggler: Franklin Roosevelt as Wartime Statesman. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1991.

  King, Ernest J., and Walter Muir Whitehill. Fleet Admiral King: A Naval Record. New York: Norton, 1952.

  Kotani, Ken. Japanese Intelligence in World War II. Translated by Chiharu Kotani. New York: Osprey, 2009.

  Kurzman, Dan. Left to Die: The Tragedy of the USS Juneau. New York: Pocket, 1994.

  Lacroix, Eric, and Linton Wells, II. Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Annapolis: Naval Institute, 1997.

  Lanier, William D., Jr. “The Tyranny of Red Tape,” Naval Institute Proceedings, July 1942, p. 919.

  Larrabee, Eric. Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Lieutenants, and Their War. New York: Harper, 1987.

  Layton, Edwin T. with Roger Pineau and John Costello. “And I Was There”: Pearl Harbor and Midway—Breaking the Secrets. New York: William Morrow, 1985.

  Lea, Homer. The Valor of Ignorance. New York: Harper, 1909.

  Leavelle, Charles, with Lieutenant Edward D. Corboy (anonymously). “The Log of the Mighty A,” Chicago Tribune, in fourteen serial installments, March 21–April 3, 1943.

  Leckie, Robert. A Helmet for My Pillow. New York: Random House, 1957.

  ———. Challenge for the Pacific: Guadalcanal—The Turning Point of the War. New York: Doubleday, 1965.

  Lee, Clark. “How Japan Plans to Win,” Collier’s, May 22, 1943, p. 15.

  London, Jack. South Sea Tales, 1911.

  L
ord, Walter. Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons. New York: Viking, 1977.

  Loxton, Bruce, with Chris Coulthard-Clark. The Shame of Savo: Anatomy of a Naval Disaster. Melbourne, Australia: Allen & Unwin, 1994.

  Lundgren, Robert. “Kirishima.” Internet posting, NavWeaps Discussion Boards, May, 7, 2009. http://warships1discussionboards.yuku.com/topic/9460/t/Kirishima.html. (last page view January 27, 2010).

  ———. “Kirishima Sinks.” Internet posting, NavWeaps Discussion Boards, May 8, 2009. http://warships1discussionboards.yuku.com/topic/9460/t/Kirishima.html (last page view January 27, 2010).

  ———. “The Battleship Action, 14–15 November 1942,” June 19, 2009. www.navweaps.com/index_lundgren/index_lundgren.htm (last page view December 14, 2009).

  ———. “Kirishima Damage Analysis,” June 26, 2009. www.navweaps.com/index_lundgren/index_lundgren.htm (last page view December 14, 2009).

  Lundstrom, John B. The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942. Annapolis: Naval Institute, 1993.

  ———. Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: A Biography of Frank Jack Fletcher. Annapolis: Naval Institute, 2006.

  Maclay, Edgar Stanton. The Life and Adventures of Jack Philip, Rear Admiral, USN. New York: American Tract Society, 1904.

  McCandless, Bruce, with George Creel. “Mr. McCandless Takes Over,” Collier’s, January 30, 1943, p. 13.

  ———. “The San Francisco Story,” Naval Institute Proceedings, November 1958, p. 35.

  ———. Letter to the editor, Naval Institute Proceedings, May 1963, p. 120.

  McCormick, Robert. “King of the Navy,” Collier’s, January 16, 1943, p. 18.

  McDowell, John. “The Terrible Ordeal of the USS Juneau,” Sea Classics, March–April 1986, p. 18.

  McGee, William L. The Amphibians Are Coming: Emergence of the ’Gator Navy and Its Revolutionary Landing Craft (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in World War II, vol. 1). Santa Barbara, Calif.: BMC, 2000.

  ———. The Solomons Campaigns: Pacific War Turning Point, vol. 2: Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in World War II. Santa Barbara, Calif.: BMC, 2002.