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

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So three Japanese daggers moved south. Kimura’s group, headed by Nagara, to the west of Savo, Ayanami on her own west of Savo, and Hashimoto’s group, headed by Sendai, east of Savo. They knew the Americans were there. They did not know the Americans had battleships.

The battleship crews were not napping. Washington gun boss Walsh sat ready in the upper conning tower and ordered his gunners to load their 16-inch weapons. The book said it could be done in 30 seconds. Washington’s gun crews did it in 14.

At 11 p.m., Washington’s radar located a target bearing 340 true, broad on the starboard bow, 18,000 yards away. Lieutenant Hank Seely, in his spotting tower, eyed Sendai with his main director. On Washington’s bridge, Ching Lee took a long drag on a Philip Morris and said to Davis, ‘Well, stand by, Glenn, here they come!’

At 11:17 Washington’s bridge ordered, ‘Open fire when ready.’ The ship’s electric bells rang twice, and blinding tongues of flame shot out of the main guns. Seconds later, the secondary 5-inchers opened up on the destroyer Shikinami.

Next, South Dakota fired on the same target. Her radiomen heard Japanese voices chattering on 13 stations. South Dakota’s action report claimed that Shikinami sank instantly. That was not the case, however. Hashimoto’s ships were unhurt. Sendai was straddled, so Hashimoto made smoke and wheeled north, regrouping for a more favorable moment to attack.

‘It looks like he’s turned around and beat it,’ Davis said to Lee on Washington’s bridge as they watched Hashimoto withdraw. Then Lee’s destroyers raced in to attack.

Seely watched the tin cans clash. It looked to him like the entire east coast of Savo erupted with white blobs of light. Actually, the Japanese destroyers Ayanami and Uranami were firing, and behind them were a cruiser and five destroyers, headed straight for Lee’s four tin cans.

The American destroyers lacked SG radar, night training and cohesion. Walke located Ayanami; Benham followed, while Preston spotted Nagara. Soon all four ships were firing at Nagara.

Kimura’s 5.5-inch guns, armed with flashless powder, hit back. He also fired torpedoes, but the range was too close. All missed.

Some Japanese shells did find their mark. Preston was heavily hit in the two firerooms, killing everyone there. The second stack toppled over into the searchlight platform, collapsing it onto the starboard torpedo tubes and igniting their contents. The area was soon a mass of blazing wreckage. The executive officer was killed, the forward guns jammed in train, and Preston began to settle into the sea.

Commander Max C. Stormes, Preston’s skipper, ordered abandon ship at 11:36. A minute later, the ship rolled over on her starboard side, then hung with her bow in the air for 10 minutes before sinking. Gone were 117 men (45 percent of the crew) and her captain.

On Washington, Seaman Naamen Berman, standing next to Lee, was stunned at the speed with which Preston went down. Sailors on Gwin watched, too, but had little time to grieve, as their ship was hit at 11:32 in the aft engine room. Superheated steam drove out the crews. The concussion unlatched torpedo restraining links, and Gwin’s fish slid harmlessly into the sea. Another shell hit her stern, splitting open two depth charges.

Shells hit Walke as her skipper, Commander Thomas E. Fraser, was swinging to launch torpedoes. At 11:38 she was hit by a Long Lance that exploded her No. 2 magazine and blew off the ship’s bow. Power and communications failed, and the ship blazed fiercely. Fraser ordered abandon ship. Four rafts got away safely, but as Walke sank, her depth charges exploded, killing 80–including Fraser.

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

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