Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal: Turning Point in the Pacific War

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Washington was heading home, too. At 4 a.m., a weary Ray Hunter was relieved of the deck after 24 hours straight as officer of the deck, but the ship was still at general quarters, so he stayed on the bridge. At 6:49 a.m., when the ship secured from general quarters, Hunter staggered down to his bunk.

Crewmen came out on deck and found expended 5-inch shell casings lying all over the decks. Hal Berc rubbed his eyes in the morning sunlight, caught the sight of dawn rays glancing off Old Glory, fluttering from the mainmast, and felt proud. The only hit the ship had taken was a 5-inch shellhole in the air search radar.

At 9:51, Lee’s lookouts spotted South Dakota coming up, leaking oil and signaling ‘We are not effective.’ She took station ahead of Washington, and her leaking oil entered Washington’s evaporators, polluting Washington’s water lines for months. That evening, three destroyers arrived to shepherd the big ships home.

The battle was still not over. Kondo ordered Tanaka to get his transports to their anchorage and beach them. Tanaka complied, but Mikawa objected, saying beaching would only make landing troops more difficult. During the pre-dawn hours of November 15, discussions between the admirals filled Japanese naval airwaves. In the end, Yamamoto himself endorsed the beaching plan. At 4 a.m., four transports ran aground. At 4:30 a.m., Tanaka took his destroyers home. Most were still jammed with soldiers from the earlier battles.

The maneuvers were watched by shipwrecked Walke and Preston sailors, still awaiting rescue. At 5:55 a.m., they watched as seven dive bombers attacked the beached transports. Ten minutes later, planes from Enterprise came in, blasting transports and unloaded gear.

Finally the U.S. destroyer Meade turned up and raked the freighters for 42 minutes, starting fires on all four. After that, Meade pulled 266 Walke and Preston survivors out of the drink.

Meade missed two survivors from Walke, Seaman Dale E. Land and Machinist’s Mate Harold Taylor. After two days and nights in the water they reached Guadalcanal, but behind Japanese lines. They trekked eastward, stealing food from Japanese bivouacs. After finding a Japanese rifle and ammunition bandolier, they took up a sideline of sniping, killing a number of Japanese. Taylor lost his life in the struggle to survive, but Land, who staggered to within shouting distance of U.S. lines and was picked up, delirious, with a temperature of 106, did recover from his ordeal.

Radio commentators on both sides were delirious, too, as they claimed victory. Japan’s claims were immense: eight cruisers, five destroyers, and two battleships damaged. This alleged triumph cost Japan one battleship, one cruiser and three destroyers, with damage to seven transports.

Japan’s Domei News Agency crowed: ‘The American naval debacle in the Solomon area signified land hostilities on Guadalcanal have passed the decisive stage, having sent to the sea bottom 10,000 officers and men, more than half its battleships, almost all aircraft carriers, more than half its cruisers. The United States can no longer hope to carry out a large-scale counteroffensive against Japan.’ This report was posted on Washington bulletin boards and resulted in laughter.

The United States reported sinking one battleship, five cruisers and five destroyers in exchange for two light cruisers and six destroyers. After the battle, when Lee and Gatch discussed the after-action report, Gatch asked Lee to confirm some outrageous battle claims by South Dakota. Lee was astounded at the request and refused.

But South Dakota got most of the credit for the outcome of the battle. The ship went to New York for repairs, and Gatch described his ship’s role to The Saturday Evening Post, which published the story of ‘Battleship X’–a code name given because the Navy did not want South Dakota’s name in print. A book about the incident followed, infuriating Washington sailors.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Conflicts, Naval Battles, World War II

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