Hara wrote later, ‘Strategically the enemy had won because the Abe force failed to deliver a single incendiary shell to Guadalcanal airfields.’ Abe and Nishida faced a secret court of inquiry. They offered no defense for their actions or their mistakes. Both were forcibly retired, allowed their pensions but barred from public office.

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Second-guessers were at work on both sides. Callaghan and his sailors had shown ample determination and valor, but closer inspection revealed that Callaghan’s moves were highly questionable. Admittedly, Callaghan’s team was an ad hoc force, but he made no real battle plan. He did not communicate with his subordinates and wasted one, Scott. Orders like ‘Give them hell’ made good copy, but were not sound tactics. Callaghan did not use radar well, relied on one radio channel, which broke down, and wasted time.

Abe’s mistakes were just as great. Not expecting a surface battle, he loaded the wrong ammunition. He wasted time in the engagement, too, deploying his ships poorly. Worst of all, he had lost his nerve and fled at the moment the American defenses failed, thus snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

None of this affected Hara, who was still struggling to bring home his crippled Amatsukaze on the morning of the 13th. By 3 a.m., Hara had his wounded ship doing 20 knots, but Amatsukaze was skidding around like a wounded man. Ten men handled the rudder. Hara personally took the conn. He had to shout into the voice tube to be heard, and sweat poured down his face.

At dawn, three American planes swooped in on Hara’s ship. Amatsukaze fired back with her only working gun. The Americans dropped their bombs early and flew off. A few minutes later, a ship steamed up. Hara, afraid it was American, realized the only thing he could do was ram it. But the intruder turned out to be the Japanese destroyer Yukikaze.

Yukikaze was en route to help Hiei and asked Hara if Amatsukaze needed assistance. Hara said no and headed north, plodding at 20 knots and zigzagging. Hara fretted about American submarines and airpower, but none appeared.

At 3 p.m., Amatsukaze crossed paths with a naval squadron under Vice Adm. Takeo Kurita, which was heading south. Kurita’s sailors manned the rails to cheer Amatsukaze. Hara did not take the cheers. He felt responsible for Amatsukaze’s 43 dead.

It was time to do something about that. The bodies were wrapped in canvas and dropped into the sea amid snappy salutes, mournful bugle calls and Buddhist ritual.

Last came Warrant Officer Iwata’s body. Suddenly Hara left the bridge–the first time since sailing on the 9th–and placed his uniform jacket around Iwata’s body. ‘Rest in peace,’ Hara said to his friend and protégé.

As Iwata’s body was committed to the ocean, the sun set, flaring red on the horizon. Amatsukaze headed north. Hara, exhausted, stumbled into his bunk. The battered destroyer and its crew were out of the game.

But the game was not over yet. The Americans had blunted Japan’s drive on Guadalcanal, not turned the tide. That night, the Japanese would try again.

This article was written by David H. Lippman and originally appeared in the November ‘97 issue of World War II magazine.

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