Unless otherwise indicated, all times mentioned in the narrative are local time on Guadalcanal, or GMT–11. American reports use three times zones variously, GMT, GMT–11, and GMT–12, which was local time in Fiji and New Zealand. Japanese reports use Tokyo time (GMT–9).
Note that 12 noon Greenwich Mean Time is 11 p.m. local (GMT–11) and midnight GMT–12.
Prologue: Eighty-two Ships
Battle lessons: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action of USS Salt Lake City Against Japanese Surface Naval Units, Night of October 11–12, 1942, Off Savo Island, Solomon Islands,” 26; COMINCH, “Battle Experience, October 1942,” 20–28. “They will live a long time”: Michener, Tales of the South Pacific, 3.
PART I:
Sea of Troubles
1: Trip Wire
“The Pacific: Of itself”: Courtney, “We Must Win the Pacific,” 67. Martin Clemens on Guadalcanal: Lord, Lonely Vigil, 22–23. “If I lose control”: Sears, “A Coastwatcher’s Diary.” Pacific strategy: Stoler, Allies in War, 79. “The air is saturated”: London, “The Terrible Solomons,” 78. Geography of southern Solomons, Commander, Naval Base Guadalcanal, “History of U.S. Naval Advanced Base Guadalcanal, 1942–1945,” 19; Soule, Shooting the Pacific War, 52–53. Characterization of Nimitz: Ernest Eller, quoted in Elarco Productions, The Nimitz Story. “Tell Nimitz”: Potter, Nimitz, 11. “An unshared front”: Courtney, “We Must Win the Pacific,” 15. “One of the few people I know”: Larrabee, Commander in chief, 389. “Go back and vote”: Potter, Nimitz, 10. “You always wanted to command”: Ibid., 11–12. “Subconsciously he sought”:Buell, Master of Sea Power, 11. “Sometimes my bark”: Glover, Command Performance with Guts, 34. King’s view of Fletcher: Butcher, “Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher,” 73. “Undoubtedly these acts”: King, “Target Practice on Whales and Other Marine Mammals,” 1. “His greatest weakness”: Baldwin, “Confidential Notes,” January 25, 1944. “So tough he shaved”: Graybar, “Admiral King’s Toughest Battle,” 39. “One thing that might help”: Ferrell, The Eisenhower Diaries, 48, 50. “If only I could keep him tight”: Larrabee, Commander in Chief, 356. “You are requested to read”: Buell, Master, 177. “I will be lucky to last six months”: Nimitz to Mrs. Nimitz, March 22, 1942. “It must be constantly reiterated”: Stoler, Allies and Adversaries, 78. “The whole question of whether”: Ibid., 85. “I sent an order to Admiral Nimitz”: King to Edson, September 29, 1949, 2. “We would nowhere be acting”: Stoler, Allies, 82. “We should turn to the Pacific”: Ibid. “Stop the enemy”: King to Edson, September 29, 1949, 2–4. “Turn our backs”: Stoler, Allies, 82. “A lot of islands”: Ibid., 85. “We failed to see”: Buell, Master,192. “Congressmen are receiving”:Newsweek, “The Periscope” (column), January 12, 1942, 7. “King’s war is”: Stoler, Allies, 88.
2: A Great Gray Fleet
“On calm days”: Graff, “World War II Writings, Document 7.” Launching of Atlanta: Leavelle, “The Log of the Mighty A,” March 24, 1943; Mustin interview, 184–185. “With the same pride”: Leavelle, “The Log,” March 24, 1942. Atlanta’s radars: Mustin interview, 453–459. “A rather dull tableau”: Leavelle, “The Log,” March 25, 1943. “To my artist’s eye” and “a glorious hoax”: Shaw, Beside Me Still, 81–82. “I think the answer”: Ibid., 97. “What he jammed”: Vandegrift, Once a Marine, 18. “Absolutely essential to stop” and “King’s reiteration of”:King, Fleet Admiral King, 388. “Must be conducted”: Ibid, 387. Boundary between SOPAC AND SOWESPAC: COMINCH to CINCPAC, July 3, 1942 (0221). “Three weeks ago”: Buell, Master of Sea Power,203. Repair of Task Force 1: Fuquea, “Task Force One,” 709–714. Fuel usage: Ibid., 716–717. “We’re up against a navy”: Mustin diary, May 14, 1942. “What in the world”: Weaver, “Some Reminiscences of the Pacific War.” “The knowledge of the geography”: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 1. “Since my arrival”: Ghormley to Frank Knox, October 11, 1940, Ghormley Papers. “Every day I was in London”: Ghormley, “The Tide,” 3. “Dissatisfied, proud, grasping”: Ibid., 6–7. “Robinson Crusoe should be required”: Gardner interview, 2.
3: The First D-Day
“We kept very quiet”: Kinkaid, Four Years of War, 192–194. “We were conscious of”: Tregaskis, Guadalcanal Diary, 8. “Loose talk is a stupid habit”: Ghormley to SOPAC command, “Disclosure of Information,” 1. “I have smiled many times”: Soule, Shooting the Pacific War, 44. Changes to Japanese code groups: Showers, speech, Nimitz Symposium 2007; Frank, Guadalcanal, 38–41. “I informed him”: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 100–101. “I had experienced”: Jones, The USS, Astoria (CA-34) and the Men Who Sailed Her, 30. “Monday, Monday, Tuesday”: Hirama, “Japanese Naval Preparations,” 66. “I never could figure out”: Custer, Through the Perilous Night, 94. “You will be governed”: Nimitz quoted in Hoyt, How They Won the War in the Pacific, 94. Invasion rehearsals in 1939: Larrabee, Commander in Chief, 178. “I saw that its shore”: Bennink, narrative, 2. “From an intelligence point of view”: Hough, History of U.S. Marine Corps, 242–243. “Some of us were”: Kinkaid, Four Years, 207. “Neither sharp nor perspicacious”: Loxton, The Shame of Savo, 18. Carrier air support controversy:Lundstrom, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, 333–337; Turner to Hepburn, “Answers to Questionnaire,” 6. “My Dutch blood”: Vandegrift, Once a Marine, 120. Richard Frank, annotation to author’s draft ms., April 12, 2010; see also Lundstrom, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, 373–374: “Fletcher envisioned another grim carrier battle soon.… Hindsight has obliterated the validity of Fletcher’s prudence.” “Who is closely acquainted”: Turner to King, “Strategic Deployment,” 3. “You son of a bitch”: Loxton, The Shame of Savo, 71; Lundstrom, Black Shoe, 336. “I sent Dan Callaghan”: Ghormley to Nimitz, July 29, 1942, 3. “At first there was a mast”: Calhoun, Tin Can Sailor, 51. Early U.S. South Pacific strategy: Braisted, The United States Navy in the Pacific, 1909–1922, 522–523; SOPAC, “South Pacific Strategy,” 7–8. Logistics: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 62. “Pounded flat into baked mud”: Crenshaw, South Pacific Destroyer, 43. “Almost every French civilian”: SOPAC, “South Pacific Strategy,” 10. “The war in our area”: Ghormley to McCain, May 19, 1942, 3. “I think our actual deficiencies”: Ghormley to Nimitz, July 29, 1942, 2–3. “If an enemy lay beyond”: Hough, History, 4–5. “God was with us”:Smoot interview, 92. “Vague, black and shapeless”: Custer, Through, 104. “Like a purple lump”: Kittredge, untitled narrative, 11. “What the hell”: Custer, Through, 104. “All hands man your battle stations” and disposition of cruiser screen: Crutchley, “Operation Watchtower,” 11–12 (Hepburn Report Annex, 65). “The pervasive mud”: Jones, WW2, 48. “Amazing panorama”: Lord, Lonely Vigil, 40. “UNDER INFORMATION YOU PLAN”: Ghormley to Fletcher, August 2, 1942 (0240). “Enemy strength is overwhelming”:McGee, The Solomons Campaigns, vol. 2, 30. Lieutenant Snell’s flag: Bureau of Naval Personnel, Information Bulletin, September 1942, 60.
4: Nothing Worthy of Your Majesty’s Attention
“It is nothing worthy”: Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain, 104. Japanese reaction to landings: Ohmae, “The Battle of Savo Island,” 1260–1267; Ugaki, Fading Victory, 177. “Absolutely no concern with the Solomons”: Ohmae, “The Battle,” 1267. Japanese intelligence deficiencies:Kotani, Japanese Intelligence in World War II, 155, 161–162. “Magnificent curtain”: Commander, Task Group 62.6 “Operation Watchtower—the Capture and Occupation by United Nations Forces of Tulagi and Guadalcanal,” 18. Be it ever so humble … “How can you beat”: Custer, Through the Perilous Night, 123. “Either these are Army pilots”: Ibid., 118. “How do you like that”: Ibid., 121–122.
5: Fly the Carriers
“Whenever he became disgusted”: Jones, The USS Astoria (CA-34) and the Men Who Sailed Her, 48. “I have seen him ‘blow up’ ”: Dyer, The Amphibians Came to Conquer, 1165–1166. “After dark, conditions” and “No small share” and “a failure on”: McGee, The Amphibians Are Coming! 19–20. “This was the Koro conference”: Vandegrift, Once a Marine, 129. “All knew that the enemy”: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 93. During carrier flight operations, speeds of twenty-five knots were necessary, according to Frank Jack Fletcher. ComCruPacFlt, “Preliminary Report—Solomons Islands Operations,” September 9, 1942, 3. “It is the opinion”: MacArthur to King, July 8, 1942 (1020). “The withdrawal of the naval attached units”: King to Nimitz, July 2, 1942 (2154). “Marines cannot be dislodged”: Lundstrom, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral,383. HMAS Australia conference: Commander, Task Force 62, War Diary, 4; Kinkaid, Four Years of War, 233.
6: A Captain in the Fog
“His officers were scared”: Zarker interview. “He was short and stocky”: Backus interview, 93–94. Cruiser engineering performance: Fleet Maintenance Office, “Material and Engineering Performance Bulletin, Cruisers, Pacific Fleet,” 14. “Take charge of patrol”: Crutchley, “Explanatory Memorandum,” 9. “Aircraft reports 3 cruisers”: CINCPAC, “Grey Book,” August 8, 1942 (1025). “We will penetrate south”: Ohmae, “The Battle of Savo Island,” 1271–1272. “The Eighth Fleet is going”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 178. “I was satisfied with arrangements”:Turner to Hepburn, “Answers to Questionnaire” (Hepburn Report Annex, 272). “Warning—warning—plane”: USS Ralph Talbot, “Preliminary Report of Action,” 1. Errors by USS Blue and Chicago:LaCouture interview, 22; Bode, “Memorandum for Admiral Hepburn,” 2–3; Zarker interview: “The [Chicago’s] radar officer himself told me this at one of our reunions.” “Warning—warning—strange ships”: USS Chicago, “Action Against Enemy Forces …, ” 2; USS Astoria, Statement of Lt. Cdr. J. R. Topper, 1 (Hepburn Report Annex, 535). “A good course”: Bode to Hepburn, April 8, 1943, 2 (Hepburn Report Annex, 303). Damage to HMAS Canberra: HMAS Canberra, Executive Officer’s Report, August 12, 1943, 1–2 (Hepburn Report Annex, 337–338).
7: The Martyring of Task Group 62.6
Nimitz “ultra secret” warnings: Nimitz to Task Force Commanders, August 6, 1942 (2336) (Hepburn Report Annex, 670). Turner’s instructions to Crutchley: Turner to Crutchley, August 8, 1942 (1920) (Hepburn Report Annex, 677). “The search radar was operating”: USS Quincy,“Preliminary Report,” 2. “The more I insisted” and “The OOD and the”: Jones, The USS Astoria (CA-34) and the Men Who Sailed Her, 115–116. “Great display of light”: USS Vincennes, “Report of Action Between” (Hepburn Report Annex, 399–400). “I didn’t know”: Jones, The USSAstoria, 179. Explosions mistaken for depth charges: USS Astoria, “Battle of Savo Island,” 13 (Hepburn Report Annex, 488). Contact between Japanese and U.S. ships: Bates and Innis, “The Battle of Savo Island,” 152. “Action port! Load”: Statement of M. Dunkleberger, in USS Astoria, “Statements of Surviving Personnel” (Hepburn Report Annex, 581). “Fire every damn thing you got!” Statement of L. F. Hager, in USS Astoria, “Statements,” (Hepburn Report Annex, 596). “Who sounded the general alarm?”: Donald A. Yeamans, in Jones, The USS Astoria. “It was there.… I was suddenly cool”: Custer, Through the Perilous Night, 125. “Surprised to see”: Lt. Jack Gibson, in Jones, The USS Astoria, 131. “A stupid set up”: Eldred E. Bloodworth, in Jones, The USS Astoria, 100–101. “The Astoria was shuddering” and “One more crossing”: Lt. Jack Gibson, in Jones, The USS Astoria, 131–132. Flammable conditions on cruisers: COMINCH, “Battle Experience, September 1942,” 11–15; Bureau of Ships, “USS Quincy, USS Astoria and USS Vincennes, Report of Loss in Action,” 18; Akers interview, 1. “In a few minutes”: Custer, Through, 132–135. “An ideal torpedoman”: Tanaka, “Japan’s Losing Struggle for Guadalcanal,” part 1, 698. “There were explosions everywhere”: Ohmae, “The Battle of Savo Island,” 1275. “Times in the above narrative”: Hepburn, “Report of Informal Inquiry,” 16. “There are men” and “blown clear through” and “I sat there and listened”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 94–95. “A roar like an express train”: Ibid., 132. “An overtone of muffled sounds”: Custer, Through, 126. “A crushing explosion … Look out for my leg”: Ibid., 132–135. “In flashes of light”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 132. “Steel piercing steel”: Ibid., 103. “A shambles”: USS Quincy, “Report of the Engagement,” 8. “I found it in a shambles”: Ibid., 2 (Hepburn Annex, 442). “Gas jetted high”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 120, quoting article in The Daily Astorianfrom August 6, 1981. “Our ship was blazing”: Robert H. Atchinson, in Jones, The USS Astoria, 98. “All communications were shot away”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 132–133. “He could not have been more”: Ibid., 146. “We sat there while the fire roared”: Ibid., 133. “One of our crew”: Ibid., 105. Damage control on Astoria: USS Astoria, Statement of Lt. Cdr. J. R. Topper, 7 (Hepburn Report Annex, 541). “Hey, man, I just made chief”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 105–106.
8: Burning in the Rain
“Report situation.… Chicago south of Savo”: HMAS Australia, “Night Action Off Savo,” 2. “Its searing light revealed”: Soule, Shooting the Pacific War, 3. “Huge balls of red fire”: Custer, Through the Perilous Night, 166–167. “Out all lights”: HMAS Canberra, Engineer’s Preliminary Report, 3. “I was greatly impressed”: Ohmae, “The Battle of Savo Island,” 1278. “To remain in the area by sunrise”: Ibid., 1276. “We were all shocked”: Ibid., 1275. “He was everywhere”: Custer, Through, 160. “Men naturally responded”: USS Astoria, Report of Engineering Department, 22. “The rescue of these three men”: USS Astoria, “Executive Officer’s Memorandum,” 4. “I stood for a moment”: Jones, The USS Astoria (CA-34) and the Men Who Sailed Her, 133–134. “Shaking with cold and fright”: Ibid., 129–130. “Able-bodied men”:Custer, Through, 139. “One of the most horrible sights”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 137. “Off her slanting side”: Custer, Through, 142. “The day was beautiful”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 189. Sinking of Astoria: USS Astoria, “Battle of Savo Island”, 7–12. “These were endless hours”:Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 104. “Most of them were young kids”: Bennink, narrative, 8. “If the San Juan had been up there”: Rivero interview, 125. “I couldn’t help but”: Smoot interview, 98. “Without information except”: Kinkaid, Four Years of War, 279. “Blackest day of the whole war”: Lundstrom, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, 398. U.S. fatalities were Quincy: 370, Vincennes: 332, Astoria: 216, Canberra: 85, Ralph Talbot: 11, Patterson: 8, Chicago: 2, per Newcomb, The Battle of Savo Island, 257. “Look what we’ve got here”: Custer, Through, 149–150. “A sound that I felt”: Ibid., 169. “That body burned in my dreams”: Jones, The USS Astoria, 105. “When he got to me”:Ibid., 50. “Don’t you say one word”: Powell interview. “The conceited British and Americans”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 181.
PART II:
Fighting Fleet Rising
9: A New Kind of Fight
“We drank a cocktail toast”: Nimitz to Mrs. Nimitz, August 10, 1942. “Obsessed with a strong feeling”: Turner, “Comment on Hepburn Report,” 9–10. Air search sectors: Frank, Guadalcanal, 91. “Could not be heard”: Ghormley to King, “CTF 62 Communications During the Occupation of Tulagi and Guadalcanal” (Hepburn Report Annex, 644). “Was completely uninformed”: Task Force 18, War Diary, August 9, 1942. “Had timely and accurate information”: Kinkaid, Four Years of War, 284. “The way these carriers operate”: Mustin diary, August 8. “Was always trying” and “Three times during the night”: Weschler interview, 88. “We had to be very careful”: Wylie, NWC interview, 58–59. “I can take any dumb son”: Wylie, USNI interview, 28. “Hey, Cap’n”: Wylie, NWC interview, 66. “They were highly motivated”: Ibid., 60. “The moon rose”: Soule, Shooting the Pacific War, 37. “The Nation has passed through”:Bureau of Navigation Bulletin, “Information for Naval Personnel,” February 1, 1942, 28. Navy muster rolls statistics: COMINCH, First Official Report to the Secretary of the Navy, March 1, 1944, 494. “They go to war because”: Hynes, quoted in The War, episode 1, first broadcast on PBS, September 23, 2007. “I thought I was in a forest” and “Well, this doesn’t make”: Hagen, Nimitz interview, 3–5, 25–26. “As a bunch”: George T. Sullivan, undated letter, on display, NMPW. Sullivan brothers’ early life: Satterfield, We Band of Brothers, 23–29; Associated Press, “Five Iowa Brothers,” 10. “I guess our minds are made up”: Satterfield, We Band, 55. “Magic box”: Brown, A Radar History of WWII, 248. “There wasn’t any real training”: Rivero interview, 104. “A narrow man” and “Our flag officers”: Baldwin, “The Naval Defense of America,” 454–455. “Neither I nor”: Turner, “Comment on Hepburn Report,” 7–8. Operation of SG and SC radar: Brown, A Radar History of WW II, 237, 248. Radar in the Aaron Ward:Hagen 7, 10; Hagen, Nimitz interview, 6–7. “It is to be hoped that”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: August and September 1942,” 11-10–11-11. “The war has been variously termed”: Commander, Naval Base Guadalcanal, “History of U.S. Naval Advanced Base Guadalcanal,” 137. Preparation of Espiritu Santo: Gardner interview, 2; Ghormley to King, “Advance Bases, South Pacific Area.” “A gleam in Ghormley’s eye”: Dyer, The Amphibians Came to Conquer, 257. “It was dry”: Eller interview, 578–579. “There is going to be a”: Mustin diary, August 13. “They’re so goddamned scared”: Ibid., August 9. “I wish to God”: Ibid., August 11. “All their fleet”: Baldwin, “The Naval Defense of America,” 455–456. “Our planes had come”: Larrabee, Commander in Chief, 281. “That night we went to bed”: Soule, Shooting, 81.
10: The Tokyo Express
“Our real enemy is Germany” and “We have gained”: Sherwood, Roosevelt and Hopkins, 622. “Foresaw grave difficulties”: Tanaka, “Japan’s Losing Struggle for Guadalcanal,” part 1, 687, 690. Combat on Guadalcanal: Reeder, Fighting on Guadalcanal, 13; Merillat, Guadalcanal Remembered, 86. “A housefly’s attacking”: Tanaka, “Japan’s Losing Struggle,” part 1, 691. “We watched these awful machines”: Tregaskis, Guadalcanal Diary, 125. “We thought it was just”: Mangrum interview, 2.
11: A Function at the Junction
“Rough guess”: Wheeler, Kinkaid, 252. “Indications point strongly”: Quoted in Prados, Combined Fleet Decoded, 371. “Old Lexington and Yorktown”: Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, 92. “First ones spotted”: Mustin diary, August 24, 1942. “Men on other ships”: Leavelle, “The Log of the Mighty A,” March 28, 1943. “First plane missed”: Mustin diary, August 24. Damage-control efforts on Enterprise: Stafford, The Big E, 164. “My worst fears”: Tanaka, “Japan’s Losing Struggle for Guadalcanal,” part 1, 693–694. “Everyone is withdrawing but the Marines”: Merillat, Guadalcanal Remembered, 114. “Consider situation critical”: Ghormley to Nimitz, August 25, 1942 (0330). “We have made good start”: Nimitz to King, August 25, 1942 (2241). “Until the strength” and “For the present”: Ghormley to Nimitz, August 29, 1942 (0310). On August 30, Vandegrift informed Ghormley that F4Fs were the only planes that could meet Japanese bombers effectively at altitude. He had just eight of them. Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 18. “Surface craft, unless heavily protected”: Ghormley to Stark, June 11, 1941. “It is apparent that landing”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 193. “Greatest immediate threat to success”: Ghormley to MacArthur, August 25, 1942 (0320). “Perfect failure”: Ugaki, Fading, 197. Japanese reinforcements: General Headquarters, Far East Command, Monograph No. 98, 17–19. “Like a house in a severe earthquake”: Lundstrom, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, 471–472. “Sounds like there’s a function at the junction”: Leavelle, “The Log,” March 28, 1943. “What saved Guadalcanal”: Merillat, Guadalcanal Remembered, 112.
12: What They Were Built For
“It seemed we were on the fringe”: Barham, The 228 Days of the United States Destroyer Laffey (DD-459), 56–57. Cactus Air Force operations: Smith interview, 3–4, 13; Mangrum interview, 9–10, 14. “They come right up”: Fike interview, 12. “Certainly the means”: Ibid., 6–7. “So dumbfounding”: Tanaka, “Japan’s Losing Struggle for Guadalcanal,” part 1, 696. “It was difficult”: Mangrum interview, 9–10. “Let’s give Cactus the wherewithal”: Nimitz to King, September 1, 1942 (2331). “Appears enemy is building up”: Vandegrift to Turner, September 1, 1942 (2313). “Leaves much to the initiative” and “Keep in mind that”: Ghormley to SOPAC task force commanders, September 9, 1942 (1018). “I cling to the fond hope”: Mustin diary, September 9, 1942. “A tremendous step forward”: Musicant, Battleship at War, 10. “I have to spill this to somebody”: Ghormley to Nimitz, September 7, 1942, Ghormley Papers. “What could I say” and “Jim, you’ve got a bad case”: Albion and Connery, Forrestal and the Navy,105–106. “Boys, I’ve got a surprise”: Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 108. “Criticism of basic concepts”:Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain, 119. “Unless Guadalcanal is settled”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 200. “Situation as I view it today”: Ghormley to Nimitz, September 11, 1942 (0516). Battle of Edson’s Ridge: Frank, Guadalcanal, 237–241. “Sharks were everywhere”: Richardson, “My War,” unpaginated. “They didn’t want anybody to know”: Weschler interview, 101–102. “I guess he and Captain Gatch”:Backus interview, 133–134.
13: The Warriors
Norman Scott: U.S. Naval Academy, Lucky Bag, 1911. “Made things so miserable”: Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, 148 n. “Kind of like a junior Halsey”: Graff interview. Gunnery exercises: Chief of Naval Operations to Commander, Battleships, Battle Force, January 19, 1942; Crenshaw, South Pacific Destroyer, 39–40. “I did not know, from actual contact”: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 24. “It was the way”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 24–25. “For the next two weeks”: Spencer, The War Years: Hellfire and Glory, 51–52. “The best simulation of action”: USS Salt Lake City, “Offset Battle Practice.” “Outstanding development of the war” and “We are still not getting”: CINCPAC, “Gunnery Bulletin No. 2–42,” June 6, 1942, 1–2. “Quite a lot of technique”:Mustin interview, 456. Internal gunnery communications: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action, Night of October 11–12, 1942,” 18. “With a sickening thump”: Spencer, The War Years, 53. “In trying to give you an idea”: Ibid., 52. “Quick and slick as precision machinery”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 23. “He’ll be a Helena man”: Ibid., 25–26. “We knew things were going”: Howe interview, 15. “In his leather jacket”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 27. “The Helena craved action”: Ibid., 12. “We want to be consistent”: Ibid., 2. “Have you ever heard”: Ibid., 19–20. “The whole ship is enveloped”: Ibid., 22–23. “Too short a time to justify”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: August and September 1942,” 14–4. “His training section was constantly”: Eller interview, 565–566. “Had practically lapsed”: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 87. “It is continually proved”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: August and September 1942,” 12–25. “Scott had balls”: Graff interview.
14: The Devil May Care
So this is war: Smoot interview, 95. Nimitz court-martial: Hoyt, How They Won the War in the Pacific, 39. “My gunnery officer saw”: Smoot interview, 95. “The sky was soon crisscrossed”: Thomason, quoted at www.destroyerhistory.org/benson-gleavesclass/ussmonssen/thomason_03.html. Smoot and Puller: Smoot interview, 101. When the first rescue boats were taken under heavy fire, a coxswain named Samuel B. Roberts volunteered to serve as a decoy. He steered his small craft directly toward the Japanese lines and drew their fire. His initiative was successful, and the marines were evacuated. But as Roberts was about to move beyond range of the enemy guns, his boat was hit and he was mortally wounded. Roberts was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. The destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) was christened in his honor. For more on that ship and its own epic story, see Hornfischer, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. “As the first marines appeared”: Thomason, quoted at www.destroyerhistory.org/benson-gleavesclass/ussmonssen/thomason_03.html. Douglas Munro: Hough, History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations I, vol. 1. 316–317. “Everything we could do”: Smoot interview, 101–102.
15: The Visit
“Today, September is going to pass”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 221. Laffey’s stores: USS Laffey, Deck Log for March 31, 1942. “So far removed from the critical area”: Nimitz to Ghormley, October 8, 1942, Ghormley Papers. “We recognized the fact that”:Arnold, Global Mission,322–323. “It was obvious that”: Ibid., 340–342. “I presented the need for aircraft”: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 126–127. Combined Chiefs of Staff planning: Hayes, The History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in World War II, 183–186. “Under constant pressure”: Hoyt, How They Won the War in the Pacific, 151–152. “My God, what are we going to do”: Potter, Nimitz, 236. “If the Japanese desired”: Ghormley, “The Tide,” 126–127. “I never saw an admiral before”: Hal Lamar, in Elarco Productions, The Nimitz Story. “Planes are too expensive”: Hoyt, How They Won, 153. “I feel that our present operations”: Ibid., 158. “Such a blow cannot”: Ibid., 162. “Satisfied in every way … It was just the kind of trip”: Trumbull, “Nimitz Confident After Pacific Trip,” 6. “When this war is over”: Vandegrift, Once a Marine, 171–172. “Have striking force operate”: Ghormley to Scott, October 5, 1942 (1202) (CINCPAC Command Summary II, 891).
16: Night of a New Moon
USS San Francisco’s “scarlet letter”: Spencer interview. “New-type heavy units” and “mystery ship”: Ghormley to MacArthur and Fitch, October 8, 1942 (1035). “A steady, chattering stream”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 32. Japanese October dispositions: Frank, Guadalcanal,374–375. “Battles can only be won”: USS Quincy, Action Report, 3 (Hepburn Report Annex, 443). “Surface ships should be employed”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: Solomon Islands Actions, August and September 1942,” 12–47. Surface battle doctrine: Hone, “U.S. Navy Surface Battle Doctrine,” 71–72. Scott’s battle plan: Commander, Task Group 64.2, “Memorandum for Task Group 64.2,” October 9, 1942, 1; see also Scott’s Memorandum Number Two, October 10, 1942, and Scott to Ghormley, October 4, 1942 (0600). “Any qualified watch officer”: Crenshaw, South Pacific Destroyer, 56. “The two lines on the chart”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 34. “As grim as his guns” and “Captain seem to be worried?”: Ibid., 34–35. “We’ll catch it sure” and “The Japs would strike”: Ibid., 31. “We were moving west”: Ibid., 36. Pass the word from gun to gun: Morris, “Pick Out the Biggest,” 36. “There was little to do”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 36. “Well, sir, these islands”:www.usssanfrancisco.org. “Dumpy and fat”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 39. “One large, two small vessels”: CTG 64.2, “Report of Night Action,” 1. “The only indication”: Weems, “Solomons Battle Log,” 83. “Execute to follow”: USS Salt Lake City, Action Report, 6.
17: Pulling the Trigger
“Column left”: Commander, Task Group 64.2, “Report of Night Action,” 3; Crenshaw, Naval Shiphandling, 179. “Are you taking station”: McCalla, “Report of Action,” TBS Log, 2. “Do not rejoin”: CTG 64.2, “Memorandum for Task Group 64.2.” “Ships visible”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 43. “The night had been still”: Ibid., 46. “The second never touched the water”: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action of USS Salt Lake City Against Japanese Surface Naval Units, Night of October 11–12, 1942, Off Savo Island, Solomon Islands,” 8. “Pick out the biggest” and “Daddy, I want to go home”: Morris, “Pick Out the Biggest,” 45. “I felt a wildly exultant joy”: Weems, “Solomons Battle Log,” 85. “I AM AOBA” and “Bakayaro!”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 238. “Cease firing, all ships”: USS McCalla, “Report of Action,” TBS Log, 2; the Salt Lake City recorded, “Cease firing, our ships.” “Report of Action,” 7. “Rapid fire, continuous. … Begging your pardon, Admiral”: Spencer interview. “It took some time to stop”: CTG 64.2, “Report of Night Action,” 3. “Every time he could train”: Richardson, “My War,” unpaginated. “How are you? … Twelve is okay”: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action,” 7. “Stood there transfixed”: Richardson, “My War.” “Almost immediately she was observed”:USS Duncan, “Detailed Report of Action of USS Duncan During Engagement with Japanese Forces Off Savo Island, 11–12 October 1942,” 4.
18: “Pour It to ’Em”
“Getting hotter than a Joe Louis fight”: Morris, “Pick Out the Biggest,” 52. “Fired at Boise unopposed”: USS Boise, “Action Off Cape Esperance,” 8. “The fuze hasn’t gone off”: Morris, “Pick Out,” 58–60. “The battle had been a game”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 53. “Take it easy, son”: Ibid., 60. “Outta my way!”: Morris, “Mike Moran’s Men,” part 1, 51. Damage to Salt Lake City: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action of USS Salt Lake City Against Japanese Surface Naval Units, Night of October 11–12, 1942, Off Savo Island, Solomon Islands,” 16, 19, 23–24. “The enemy was silenced”: Commander, Task Group 64.2, “Report of Night Action,” 4. “D491 v D456”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: Solomon Islands Actions, October 1942,” 20–27. “Detail one of your boys”: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action,” 12. “ENGAGED ENEMY WEST OF SAVO”: Scott to Ghormley, October 11, 1942 (1528). “And the navigator pushed”: McCandless letter, Proceedings, 123. “Rather too sensitive … If we do not approve”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 226. Loss of Furutaka: IJN Furutaka, “Action Record”; also Lacroix and Wells, Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War, 309. “Bow end looked cooked”: Lundstrom, The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, 297. “As we pulled into harbor”: Barham, The 228 Days of the United States Destroyer Laffey (DD-459), 66. “Little things, remembered now in detail”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 60. “Crude night firing practices”: CTG 64.2, “Report of Night Action,” 7. “The rapidity and accuracy”: USS Boise, “Action Off Cape Esperance,” 1. “Throughout the ‘Night Battle’ ”: Japanese General Headquarters, Far East Command, Monograph No. 98, 35. “Restrict telephone circuits”: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action,” 25–30.
PART III:
Storm Tide
19: All Hell’s Eve
“Admiral Ghormley treated me like a son”: MacDonald interview, 203–204. “The ship and crew members”: Brodie, A Guide to Naval Strategy, 278. 11th Air Fleet strength: Lundstrom, The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, 293–294. Damn that plane.…“Outside, a thousand rockets”: Soule, Shooting the Pacific War, 111–112. “The exploding gunfire”: Kennedy, Fearless Warrior, 64. “The air was filled”: Lundstrom, The First Team, 301. “Our single light bulb swayed” and “Again the earth heaved”: Soule, Shooting, 111–112. “It seemed as if all”: Frank, Guadalcanal, 317. “Daylight disclosed”: Soule, Shooting, 113. “But luckily the teleradio”: MacKenzie, “Report on Coast-Watching,” 21–22. “The Marines at the airport”: Wolfert, Battle for the Solomons, 64. “It was the hopelessness”: Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 116. “We don’t know whether”: Miller, The Cactus Air Force, 121. “The situation is critical”: Ghormley to Nimitz, October 14, 1942 (1410). “It became immediately obvious”: MacKenzie, “Report,” 22. “Security our position”: Nimitz to King, October 15, 1942 (2235). “I have resigned myself”: Agawa, The Reluctant Admiral, 335. “It now appears”: Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, 178. “Can use no more aircraft”: Fitch to Ghormley, October 15, 1942 (0921). “The Japs have the run”: Merillat, Guadalcanal Remembered, 181–182. “I don’t think we have”:Lundstrom, The First Team, 311.
20: The Weight of a War
“Call it what you will”: Mustin diary, October 15. “There were lots of lessons” and “He was the perfect example”: Mustin interview, 515. “Magnificently trained” and “They didn’t come down”: Ibid., 546. “The Japanese must not be”: Trumbull, “Nimitz Confident After Pacific Trip,” 6. “He was almost despairing.”: Baldwin interview, 344–345. “Assume you will make Ghormley”: King to Nimitz, “Grey Book,” July 2, 1942 (2154). “I think he had a premonition”: Weaver, “Some Reminiscences,” 9. “The situation demands”: Vandegrift to Ghormley, October 16, 1942 (0025). “Urgently need this area”: October 15, 1942 (0246). “This appears to be all out”: Ghormley to Nimitz, October 16, 1942 (0440). “Overwhelming need for strength”: Nimitz to Commander, Task Force 8, October 16, 1942 (2221). “One of the few times” and “The situation looked very dark”: Eller interview, 585. “It was evident to all of us”: Layton, “And I Was There,” 461. “Too immersed in detail”: Nimitz to Mrs. Nimitz, October 17, 1942. “We wasted no time”: Layton, “And I Was There,” 461–462. “In view Ghormley’s”: Nimitz to King, October 16, 1942 (0937). “It was a sore mental struggle”: Nimitz to Mrs. Nimitz, October 17, 1942. “Approved”: King to Nimitz, October 16, 1942 (0245). “I fudged this”: Baldwin interview, 349–350, 353–354. “Not once during the entire visit”:New York Times, “Admiral’s Tribute to Wounded,” 3. “Dear Ghorm”: Scott to Ghormley, October 22, 1942, Ghormley Papers. “They were just delighted”: Mustin interview, 520.
21: Enter Fighting
“You will take command”: Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 109. “I have always insisted on”: Ibid., 137. “We were absolutely elated”: Musicant, Battleship at War, 88. “During wartime it’s important”: Graff interview. “The Enterprise is now operating”:COMSOPAC, “Operational History of the South Pacific,” 4. “A real old salt”: U.S. Naval Academy, Lucky Bag, 1904. “We would take the top”: Soule, Shooting the Pacific War, 122. “He was a fighting man”: Custer, Through the Perilous Night, 43–44. “From the American admiral”: Hoyt, How They Won the War in the Pacific, 165–166. “Boiling oil.”…“You go to hell!” COMSOPAC, “Operational History,” 3. “Brilliant in common sense”: Mustin interview, 528. “The officers and chiefs”: Halsey, Admiral, 140. “COMPLETE WITH BLACK TIE”: Ibid., 139. “I would like to see it”: Hoyt, How They Won, 172. “As I dug into my new job”: Halsey, Admiral, 136. “The maximum possible urgency”: Halsey to Vice OpNav, October 21, 1942 (0517). “You are well aware of”: Hoyt, How They Won, 172. “What do we get in exchange?” and “We will continue to protect you”: Halsey, manuscript, 369–370; Potter, Bull Halsey, 184; Schom, The Eagle and the Rising Sun, 408–410. “If we are defeated”: Hayes, The History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in World War II, 191. “Today—our Saturday”: Nimitz to Mrs. Nimitz, October 24, 1942. “Tired, hungry”: Nimitz to Mrs. Nimitz, October 24, 1942. “The view expressed”: Hurd, “Pacific Command Shake-Up Is Laid to Guadalcanal Crisis,” 1, 41. “What did I do that was wrong?” Nimitz to Robert L. Ghormley, Jr., January 27, 1961. “Complete lack of offensive use … I presume most of us”: Hoyt, How They Won, 168. “When history is written”: Weaver, “Some Reminiscences,” 10. “My anxiety about the Southwest Pacific”: Arnold, Global Mission, 355.
22: “Strike—Repeat, Strike”
“Something is in the air”: Merillat, Guadalcanal Remembered, 226–227. “Smash anything we find”: Mustin diary, October 25, 1942. Japanese forces: Frank, Guadalcanal, 374–376; Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, 206–207. “The victory is already”:Frank, Guadalcanal, 341–342. “2300 BANZAI!”: Ibid., 354. “This settled everything”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 245. “Having inferior forces”: Hoyt, How They Won the War in the Pacific, 171. “They began to echo”: Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 116. “Are we going to evacuate or hold?” and “I can hold”:Halsey, Admiral, 117. “If Vandegrift had fired an arrow”: Richard B. Frank, email to author, September 24, 2009. “Carrier power varies”: Halsey, Admiral, 120. “Strike—Repeat, Strike”: Lundstrom, The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, 349.
23: Santa Cruz
U.S. aircraft strength: Lundstrom, The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, 353. “pROCEED WITHOUT hORNET”: Moore, The Buzzard Brigade, 29. “Drove the guns into the stops”: Grahn interview. “It was beneath the dignity”: Claypool, God on a Battlewagon, 5; Backus interview, 126. Backus disputed Morison’s description of the South Dakota as an “abominably dirty” ship, 200 fn. “Forasmuch as the spirit”: Claypool, God, 7. “In their borrowed clothes”: Ibid., 6–9. “Men have to have something”: Ibid., 74. “I wish we had as many carriers”: Nimitz to Mrs. Nimitz, October 27, 1942. “Numerically or tactically” and “Considering the great superiority”: Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain, 134.
24: Secret History
Pilot and aircrew casualties: Scouting Squadron 3, “Report of Operations at Guadalcanal Island,” 1–4. “Have received most earnest attention”: Turner to Vandegrift, October 29, 1942. King’s lasciviousness: Buell, Master of Sea Power, 78–79, which elaborates, “Women avoided sitting near him at dinner parties because his hands were too often beneath the table. King’s interest in women led him into a number of extramarital affairs.” “Enemy offensives since September 15”: Halsey to Commander, Task Force 42, October 30, 1942. Japanese supply requirements and capacity: Parshall, “Oil and the Japanese Strategy in the Solomons.” “In the end, one side or”: Hurd, “Navies Manoeuvre for Big Stakes in Solomons,” E3. “We won”: Graybar, “Admiral King’s Toughest Battle,” 39. “So far as I’m concerned”: McCormick, “King of the Navy,” 20. Chicago Tribune incident: Toland, The Rising Sun, vol. 1, 427. “So mismanaged was”: Graybar, “Admiral King’s,” 40. “I spoke more frankly”: Baldwin interview, 356–359. The angry captain was Charles R. “Cat” Brown (see Samuel B. Griffith to Charles R. Brown, October 10, 1962, and Griffith to Hanson W. Baldwin, October 10, 1962, Baldwin Papers). “The Boise fired on six targets”: USS Boise, “Report of Action,” 1; Fox Movietone News, “Hero ‘Battleship X’ Revealed to Be the USS South Dakota” (newsreel). “There was every reason to believe”: Graybar, “Admiral King’s,” 42–43. “There was no one in Washington”: Baldwin interview, 361–362.
25: Turner’s Choice
“In the half dawn” and “He couldn’t thank us enough”: Leavelle, “The Log of the Mighty A,” March 29, 1943. November 4 naval bombardment: USS Helena, “Report of Shore Bombardment,” 1–3; Turner to Nimitz, November 7, 1942 (2358). “I know we haven’t got much”: Eller interview, 590. “It wasn’t the noise”: Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 123. “The gunners fired as though”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 67. “For operations against Jap light forces”: Scott to Halsey, November 8, 1942 (0020). Pensacola’s problems: Holbrook, The History and Times of the USS Portland, 175. “He spent a great deal of time”: Mustin interview, 523. Japanese plans: Frank, Guadalcanal, 429. U.S. estimates: Turner to Callaghan, “Letter of Instructions Concerning Future Operations of Task Force 67,” quoted in COMINCH, “Battle Experience: November 1942,” 27-17, 27-18. “It looks this time”: Hoyt, How They Won the War in the Pacific, 182–183. “We must establish local naval superiority”: Baldwin, “Lessons of the Solomons Campaign,” 3.
26: Suicide
“I heard about all the plans”: Tarrant interview. Turner’s order to Callaghan: Turner to Callaghan, November 12, 1942 (0133), quoted in Nimitz, “Preliminary Report of Action, 12–13 November 1942,” 3. “He said to me, ‘Yes’ ”: Tarrant interview. “The wind carried their voices”:Bennett interview. “Calm, unemotional, resolute”: Bennett, “Callaghan Was Calm …, ” 18. “We were all prepared to die”: Whitt interview. “All hell seemed dancing”: www.siprep.org/about/si_history_brief.cfm. Callaghan, Virgil, and Dante: Murphy, Fighting Admiral,www.microworks.net/pacific/library/fa-chapter1.htm. Joe Foss interception: SOPAC, “Naval Air Combat Intelligence Report,” November 8–12, 1942; COMINCH, “Battle Experience: November 1942,” 27-8. “An old-time cavalry deployment”: McCandless, “The San Francisco Story,” 37. “With this beautifully clear view”: Mustin interview, 564. “Seemed to literally hammer them”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: November 1942,” 28-8. “I just had time”:Wallace quoted at www.modelwarships.com/features/words/Wallace/Wallace.html. “We heard them yelling”:Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 71. “To set his ship down” and Betty versus DD: Leavelle, “The Log of the Mighty A,” March 30, 1943. “There was no comment”: Jack Slack quoted in Parrent, Third Savo, 60. “Almost pathetically”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 72–73. “I got him over my shoulders” and “How he got into”: Wallace, www.usssanfrancisco.org. “A delaying action”: COMSOPAC, “Operational History of the South Pacific,” 19. Turner wrote Callaghan, “At White Poppy (Nouméa) is Task Force 16. I have no knowledge as to its future movements.” COMINCH, “Battle Experience: November 1942,” 27-17, 27-18. “God’s burning finger”: Melville, Moby-Dick, 579. “This is suicide, you know”: Hammel, Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea, 112. “You will not fear”: Bible, Psalm 91, New International Version. “If Callaghan had had”:Mustin interview, 571, 574. “Only to show disparity”: Bennett interview. “You’re in no condition”: Bennett interview. “I was praying”: Howe interview, 21.
27: Black Friday
“A place of bitter struggles”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 255. Volunteer Attack Force usage: Dull, Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 256–257. “In all the years of” and “This blessed squall”: Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain, 138. “Small island” and “Prepare for gun”: Ibid., 140. “A blackness so thick” and “Where in the hell”: Hartney, “The Story of the Juneau,” 2. U.S. approach: USS Cushing, “Report of Engagement,” 1; USS Helena, “Action Off North Coast,” 17. “When we finally had”: Graff interview. “As uncomplicated as”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 84. “We knew the bearing”: Hagen interview. “Solution! Enemy course 107”: Calhoun, Tin Can Sailor, 75. “I said a short prayer”: McKinney, CL-51 Revisited, 39. “There is a ship crossing”: USS Cushing, “Report of Engagement,” 1. “What do you make of it”: USS Helena,Extracts from Helena’s TBS Log for 0142. “Shall I let them have”: Ibid., 1441 GCT. “There in the starlight”: Mustin interview, 576. “What are you doing, Sam?”: USS Portland, “Night Action Between Task Force 67.4 and Japanese Forces, November 13, 1942,” 3. Turn ninety degrees left: The Portland’s action report states at 0146, “At about this time, column movement 90 degrees L to 270 degrees was believed ordered.” The Helena’s TBS log indicates at 0149, “Changed course to left. Hard left rudder.” “PROBABLE ENEMY SHIPS IN SIGHT”: Frank, Guadalcanal, 440. “There was a stampede”: Hara, Japanese, 141.
28: Into the Light
“The light seemed high”: Cochran, “Recollections.” “Counter-illuminate!”: Graff interview; Morison manuscript, p. 6, has Nickelson ordering counter-illumination; but Graff, who was there, states that Jenkins ordered counter-illumination and that Nickelson exclaimed as indicated. See also Leavelle, “The Log of the Mighty A,” March 31, 1943. “Action port”: USS Atlanta, “Engagement with Japanese Surface Forces Off Guadalcanal,” Encl. D, Paragraph 4. “You couldn’t help but see”: Mustin interview, 579. “Odd ships commence fire”: USS Portland, “Night Action Between Task Force 67.4 and Japanese Forces, November 13, 1942,” 3. “A display of futility”: Mustin interview, 585. “It was disorganized”: Becton, The Ship That Would Not Die, 9. “A roar so constant”:Barham, The 228 Days of the United States Destroyer Laffey (DD-459), 81–82. “It was so close”: Hale, letter to author, 2. “She was only about”: Barham, 228 Days, 81–82. “So close Hank could have”: Becton, The Ship, 9. “The whole world suddenly” and “The Laffey was designed”: Barham, 228 Days, 84. “The next second”: Ibid., 84–85. “I could see that”:Hale, letter to author, 2. “The air was full”: Barham, 228 Days, 89. “I gulped”: Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain, 114. “A form of firecracker”: USS Sterett,“Report of Action on Night of November 12–13, 1942,” 7. “A ghostly gray”: Ibid., 4. “Oh, you poor”: Calhoun, Tin Can Sailor,78–79. “It was as if a huge” and “The number-four handling room”: Parrent, Third Savo, 32. Damage to Sterett: USS Sterett,“Report,” 2, 6. Citations of Sterett’s crew: Ibid., 11–15.
29: The Killing Salvo
“Should have sufficed”: McCandless, “The San Francisco Story,” 39. Callaghan may have realized that a close-range fight was the only way his cruisers could defeat battleships, but no evidence exists that this was his design. “At least four bursts of flame”:USS Portland, “Night Action Between Task Force 67.4 and Japanese Forces, November 13, 1942,” Encl. B, “Gunnery Officer’s Report,” 2. “Practically all of our shots”: USS Helena, “Action Off North Coast Guadalcanal,” 5. “The tracers from fifteen guns”:Luehman interview, 6. “Smoky orange bonfire”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 86. “The Atlanta’s turning left” and “First I had to swing”: McCandless, “The San Francisco Story,” 40–41. “Swept out of line”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 87. “A tremendous piiing”: Graff interview. “A monstrous column of water”: Mustin interview, 583. Second torpedo hit on Atlanta: Ibid., 581. “Like a pendulum”: Parrent, Third Savo, 47. “Stick a pillow in it”: Shaw, Beside Me Still, 107. “It was absolutely deafening”: Mustin interview, 582–583. Atlanta’s final range reading: McKinney, CL-51 Revisited, 45. Identification of San Francisco: Morton, Mustin, 197. “Some alarm on the port side” and damage to Atlanta: Mustin interview, 590; Leavelle, “The Log Mighty A,” April 1, 1943. My God, they got Scott: Graff interview. “Let’s get below”: Hammel, Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea, 255. “I hit, I’m pretty certain”: Moredock, quoted in National Geographic Society, The Lost Fleet of Guadalcanal. “I don’t know where I thought”: Graff interview. “Illuminated the firing ship”: Mustin interview, 588–589. “We were firing”: Gibson, “As I Remember,” 32. “Probably she drifted”:McCandless, “The San Francisco Story,” 41. The Atlanta’s William B. McKinney added, “Two years later I met the officer who had been in charge of Turret 3 on that heavy cruiser. He acknowledged that they had pumped out three three-gun salvos at what they first thought was a Japanese ship. Also, in later years, Bob Tyler [EM1/c] served on the same ship with the former San Francisco gunnery officer who conceded that all San Francisco’s main battery turrets had fired three salvos at Atlanta” (McKinney, CL-51, 49). “You could measure them”: Mustin interview, 590–591. “I continued to try our phones”: McKinney, CL-51, 40. “The smoke was so thick”: Ibid., 41. “Cease firing own ships”: USS Portland, “Night Action,” 4. “What is the dope”: Ibid., 3. One naval historian has claimed that Callaghan “gave the [cease fire] order deliberately to conceal the approach of his cruisers” and “hoped to use the extreme darkness of that particular night to his advantage.” See Hone, “Give Them Hell,” 190. I have found no evidence of this. “We fired at so many targets”: Harrison interview. “I watched, almost transfixed”: Casten, Our Ship: TheHelena, 60.
30: Death in the Machine Age
“I drank coffee by the gallon”: Halsey manuscript, 386–387; Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 126. “The concussion could be felt”: William Marshal Chaney, 1st Battalion, 147th Infantry RCT, quoted in Parrent, Third Savo, 24. “The star shells rose, terrible and red”: Leckie, A Helmet for My Pillow, 116–118. “All you could see”: Melhorn interview, 95. “Consciously or unconsciously”: Jones, WWII, 54. “Can we open fire”: USS Helena, “Action Off North Coast of Guadalcanal,” Encl. B, TBS log, 1500 GMT (0200 GMT –11), 3. “The duel about to begin” and “Two four-gun salvos hit”: McCandless, “The San Francisco Story,” 41. “We just put a nine-gun”: Hamilton interview. Hits claimed: USS San Francisco, “Action Report—Night Action—Nov. 12–13, 1942,” 2. “With a pagoda-like superstructure”: Spencer, The War Years, 76. “Just like a barroom brawl”: Trumbull, “Mortally Wounded U.S. Destroyer Torpedoed Japanese Battleship,” 5. “From bow to stern” and “Attempting to locate”: USS O’Bannon, “Report of Engagement with Japanese Units on Morning of November 13, 1942,” 3. “Seemingly everywhere”:McCandless, “The San Francisco Story,” 49. “The smell of burning flesh”: Bennett interview. “That failure kept me alive”: Arison, “A Battle to Remember.” “One instant I was fine”: Spencer, The War Years: Hellfire and Glory, 77. “I’ve lost steering control, sir!” McCandless, “The San Francisco Story,” 41–42. Schonland’s damage-control efforts: Schonland interview 1, 28–37. “This locker is too thin”: Spencer, email to author, February 4, 2009. “Mangled red meat” and “Get off of me”: Spencer, The War Years, 77. “Leaving Higdon” and “Against a midnight-blue”: McCandless, “The San Francisco Story,” 42–43. “Fighting by departments” and “We had good interior communications”: Ibid., 44–46.
31: Point Blank
Portland’s torpedo hit and exchange with Hiei: USS Portland, “Night Action Between Task Force 67.4 and Japanese Forces, November 13, 1942,” 4, 7, 8; Encl. B, gunnery officer’s report, 3. “Other ships, blazing”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 87. “Wallowing there”: Hartney, “The Story of the USS Juneau,” 3. “A weird, unforgettable pageantry”: Ibid., 4–5. “Chief, just get me going”: Barham, The 228 Days of the United States Destroyer Laffey (DD-459), 90. “My first reaction”: Ibid., 95. “That these disasters”:McCandless, “The San Francisco Story,” 42. “Like a huge apartment building”: Cook interview. “Don’t cheer, men”: Maclay, The Life and Adventures of Jack Philip, Admiral, USN, 254 n. Damage to Hiei: Tully, “Death of Battleship Hiei.” Kirishima’s withdrawal:Tokuno, USSBS interrogation, 2. “In the confused picture”:USS Portland, “Night Action,” 4. “Shell drunk” and “I hunched my back”: Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain, 149, 158. Damage to Helena: USS Helena, “Action Off North Coast of Guadalcanal,” 17; Luehman interview. “We’re going to take water”: Schonland interview 1, 32. “Rogers couldn’t see”: Bennett interview. “We were the only game” and “You move like”: Tarrant interview. “I am reluctant to compare”: Becton, The Ship That Would Not Die, 9. “Exploded and simply disappeared”: USS Fletcher, “Report of Action,” 4. “The ship, broken in two”:Hara, Japanese, 146. Damage to Aaron Ward: USS Aaron Ward, “Report of Action,” 6; Hagen, Nimitz Museum interview, 20; author interview. “Hey Joe, aren’t you glad”: Wylie, NWC interview, 72.
32: Among the Shadows
“Form 18. Course 092” and “Unable raise other big boys”: USS Helena, “Action Off North Coast of Guadalcanal,” Encl. B, TBS log, 4. “That sure looks like”: Howe interview, 23. “It seemed like everyone”: Heyn, “One Who Survived,” unpaginated. “We’ll fight her until”: Calhoun, Tin Can Sailor, 80–81. “Bodies, mattresses and other debris”: Parrent, Third Savo, 33. “We had not seen”: Calhoun, Tin Can Sailor, 84. “H-I-S H-I-S”: Gibson, “As I Remember,” 33. “Driven from my mind”: McCandless, “The San Francisco Story,” 50. “If you don’t want them shooting”: Gibson, “As I Remember,” 33. “Thank God the Helena”: Bennett interview. “Captain Hoover, may he live forever”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 93. “I hung on”: McCandless, “The San FranciscoStory,” 51. “You’re about to run aground”: Bennett interview, ECU. “A wholly unsatisfactory pillow”: Bennett, email to Johnny Johnson, April 2, 2005.
33: Atlanta Burning
Efforts to save the Atlanta: USS Atlanta, “Action Report,” Encl. C, Notes on Damage Control, Paragraph 12; Mustin interview, 602–610. “Plastered flat”: McKinney, CL-51 Revisited, 46. “It is a matter of wonder”: Ibid., 42. “Get off. She’s going to blow!” Ibid., 40–41. “Just don’t sink the ship”: Ibid., 43. “Took a little time”: Ibid., 51. “A horrifying spectacle”: Ibid., 55. “They were so deeply ingrained”: Mustin interview, 608. “The entire area was covered”: Kennedy, Fearless Warrior, 114. “As it came alongside”: Mustin interview, 605–606. “There were not very many”: Kennedy, Fearless, 114. “There was a general rush”: McKinney, CL-51, 44. “It’s not in my registry”: Parrent, Third Savo, 43–44. “We raised a cheer”: McKinney, CL-51, 45. Air attacks on Hiei: Lundstrom, The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, 477–480; Frank, Guadalcanal, 454; Moore, The Buzzard Brigade, 68–69. Decision to scuttle Hiei: Tully, “Death of Battleship Hiei”; Lundstrom, First Team, 482–483. “Boys, I don’t know”: Moore, Buzzard, 70.
34: Cruiser in the Sky
“I don’t know why”: Whitt interview; Satterfield, We Band of Brothers, 145. Body parts sweep: Spencer, The War Years: Hellfire and Glory, 71. “The ship was just”: Whitt interview. “Detailing the senior rates”: Jenkins, “A Real Belly Full,” 2. “Fellows were picking them up”: Whitt interview. Lt. Cdr. S. Yunoki, the Kirishima’s main-battery fire-control officer, confirmed that bombardment ammo was fired on the U.S. ships. Interrogation of Lt. Cdr. S. Yunoki, 191. “I never will be able”: Jenkins, “A Real,” 2. “The usual eruption”: USS Helena, “Report of Submarine Torpedo Attack on Task Unit and Sinking of USS Juneau,” 2. “Full right rudder”: Schonland interview 1, 41–42. “Loud crrrrrack”: Whitt interview. “De Long, she ain’t no more”: De Long, narrative, 1–2. “The Juneau didn’t sink”: McCandless, “The San Francisco Story,” 51. “Debris fell to such extent”: Hoover to Turner, November 14, 1942 (0001). “As we got up even”: Whitt interview. “Our ship rapidly keeled”: Jenkins, “A Real,” 3. “No one moved or spoke”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 95. “We often talked”: Parrent, Third Savo, 52. “The intrepid and seamanlike way”: Commander, Task Unit 17.5.4, “Report of Action in Coral Sea Area on May 8, 1942.” “Juneau torpedoed”: USS Helena, “Action Off North Coast Guadalcanal,” Encl. D. “Probably the most courageous”: Wylie, NWC interview, 79. “If we had tried”: Mustin interview, 610. “Here comes a bear”: Holbrook, The History and Times of the USS Portland, 195. “This is the American cruiser Portland”:Generous, Sweet Pea at War, 98. “There is a Japanese task force”: Melhorn interview, 98. PT boats seldom operated at the blistering speeds suggested by full-page ads in Collier’s and the other weeklies. They were very heavily loaded, with four torpedoes, several gun mounts, smoke-making apparatus, and wooden hulls that became sodden with water (Mustin interview, 651). At speed, they tossed a high rooster-tail wake that was clearly visible at night. Their captains thus preferred to stalk. “We always idled in with the mufflers down and tried to get in a shooting position,” said Charles Melhorn, whose boat, the PT-44, was in the posse that tangled with the Portland that night. “For the attack phase, the watchword was stealth” (Melhorn interview, 105). In At Close Quarters, 92, Bulkley referred to two PT boats being assigned to escort the Portland to Tulagi that night. No reference was made to a friendly fire incident with them. “If you challenge the wrong group” and “We thought that was pretty dirty”: Melhorn interview, 99. The next morning, Captain DuBose sent an officer to talk with the skippers at the PT boat headquarters. The young officers there confirmed they had sortied but denied firing torpedoes at a friendly vessel. Years later, speaking at a reunion of PT boat sailors in New York, DuBose related this story, then offered that he must have been mistaken and that surely there were no torpedoes fired at the Portland. After a few beats, several of the old hands reportedly jumped to their feet and said, “Oh, yes there were!” It was not a tale that Admiral Halsey was eager to publicize. According to Heber A. Holbrook, a San Francisco veteran, “The only explanation for its absence from the official records is that DuBose, perhaps on orders from Admiral Halsey, ordered it suppressed” (Holbrook, The History and Times of the USS Portland, 194–196). “Then we all dropped”: Parrent, Third Savo, 44.
35: Regardless of Losses
“This was the tightest spot”: Halsey manuscript, 383. “If any principle of naval warfare”: Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 128. Halsey’s orders to Kinkaid: Commander, Task Force 16, “Operations of Task Force 16,” 2. “What do you think” and “You can well imagine”: Weaver, “Some Reminiscences,” 11. “I had the feeling”: McKinney, CL-51 Revisited, 58. “The tension I felt”: Forrestal to Morison, October 22, 1948, quoted in Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, 263. “It was pretty awe-inspiring”: Bennett ECU interview. “What happened?”: Cochran, “Recollections,” 10. “I wasn’t near anyone”: Spencer, The War Years: Hellfire and Glory, 88–90. “There were some real hard feelings”: Heiberg interview, 10–11. “Task Force 67 is hereby dissolved”: Turner to Task Force 67, November 14, 1942 (2000). “Looks like all out attempt”:Nimitz to CTFs, November 14, 1942 (0359), quoted in Lundstrom, The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, 506.
PART IV:
The Thundering
Epigraph from Steinbeck, Once There Was a War, 172.
36: The Giants Ride
“The plan flouted”: Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 128. Battleship design and specs: Friedman, U.S. Battleships, 282–283. Gunnery practice: Fuquea, “Task Force One,” 732–733. “As you can imagine”: Backus interview, 147; ComBatDiv 6 to USS South Dakota, November 8, 1942 (0210). “He was not what you would”: Thomas C. Kinkaid to Evan E. Smith, April 9, 1962, Papers of Thomas C. Kinkaid. “He looked like an Arkansas farmer”: Eller interview, 484–485. Lee at the Olympics: Houston, “Stand Aside, This Is Ching.” “His conversation was so loaded”:Musicant, Battleship at War, 81–82. “It doesn’t take long”: Mustin interview, 510–511. “This is the captain”: Musicant, Battleship, 114. “All we can do”: Claypool, God on a Battlewagon, 12. “There go two big ones”: USS South Dakota, “Action Report, Night Engagement 14–15 November 1942, with Japanese Naval Units, Off Savo Island,” 4. “Refer your big boss”: Frank, Guadalcanal, 473.
37: The Gun Club
“Well, stand by, Glenn”: Musicant, Battleship at War, 118. “Then separate into ‘drops’ ”: USS Washington, “Action Report, Night of November 14–15, 1942,” 21. “Grouped together”: Reed, “A Recollection,” 7. “Radar has forced”: USS Washington, “Action Report,” 29. “I saw the Washington open fire”: Lundgren, “The Battleship Action, 14–15 November 1942,” 9, fn. 6. According to the Walke’s action report, the ship that hit the Preston was directly off her port beam. The Washington’s action report indicates that the battleship passed south of the sinking Preston at this same time, two hundred yards to the disengaged side, and that one of the Washington’s five-inch batteries, Mount 3 on the starboard side, had been “firing wild (training motor kicked out and the pointers were not matched). It was feared the mount might endanger own destroyers” (USS Washington, “Action Report,” 9). However, the extent of damage to the Preston suggests that ordnance much heavier than five-inch hit her. “Bodily out of the water”: USS Walke,“Report of Surface Engagement with Japanese Forces, November 15, 1942,” 2. “Get after ’em, Washington!”: Musicant, Battleship, 122. Damage to and withdrawal of Benham: USS Benham, “Report of Action,” 3–4. Power failure in South Dakota: USS South Dakota, “Action Report,” 5, 12. Sinking of Ayanami: Lundgren, “The Battleship Action,” 12, fn. 11, citing postwar interview with Cdr. Eiji Sakuma. “Our turret commander”: Claypool, God on a Battlewagon, 17. Damage to South Dakota: USS South Dakota,“Action Report,” 14; USS South Dakota, “Report of Gunfire Damage, Battle of Guadalcanal, 14–15 November 1942”; Backus interview, 141, 159. “At such times”: Claypool, God, 18. “Body-punching range”: Musicant, Battleship, 126. “Throwing fourteen-inch”: Backus interview, 153–154. Some naval historians consider the Washington’s duel with the Kirishima a foregone conclusion in favor of the U.S. ship. However, according to calculations by the naval weapons engineer Nathan Okun, at this close range the Washington’s twelve-inch armor belt was susceptible to penetration by a Japanese Type 91 armor-piercing projectile. The Washington’s sixteen-inch fire, in turn, had enough force to penetrate the Kirishima’s ten-inch belt, pass through the ship, and penetrate the belt on the other side going out, assuming the warhead did not detonate (Okun email to author, March 8, 2010). “I was amazed”: Musicant, Battleship, 126. “There is another ship” and “Kirishima is totally obscured”:Lundgren, “The Battleship Action,” 18. “Functioned as smoothly as”: ComBatDiv 6 (Lee), “Report of Night Action, Task Force 64, November 14–15, 1942,” 8. “At least ten hits were made”: Sanji Iwabuchi’s report. “They must have been mighty close”: Musicant, Battleship, 128. “We couldn’t make way”: Iwabuchi report. “If you can see anything”: USS Washington, “Action Report,” 10. Damage to Washington: ComBatDiv 6 (Lee), “Report of Action,” Encl. C, 2; USS Washington, “Action Report,” 36. Sinking of Kirishima: Lundgren, “The Battleship Action,” 24. “My men fought well”: Iwabuchi report. “I am not effective”: ComBatDiv 6, “Report,” Encl. C, 3–4. “This probably saved the battleships”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: November 1942,” 30–42. “In breaking up”: ComBatDiv 6, “Report,” 7. “War was declared”: Musicant, Battleship, 137. “Our battleships are neither”: ComBatDiv 6, “Report,” 8. “How are all the experts”: Hoyt, How They Won the War in the Pacific, 187. Reinforcements landed: Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal,285; Frank, Guadalcanal, 490.
38: The Kind of Men Who Win a War
“This ruled out any further sleep”: McKinney, CL-51 Revisited, 60–61. “Some of them were”: Heyn, “One Who Survived,” unpaginated. George Sullivan’s end: Satterfield, We Band of Brothers, 152–157. “Men like you”: Schonland interview 1, 50. Chick Morris at Nouméa: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 101–104. “Despite this officer’s”: Halsey manuscript, 395–396. “Reluctantly, I concurred”: Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 134. Rescue of Juneau survivors: Hartney, “The Story of the Juneau,” 11–12; Spruance to King, “Solomon Islands Campaign—Battle of the Solomons, 11–15 November 1942,” 12. “Efforts consistent”: Cdr. A. C. Jacobs, USNR, to Mr. J. S. Taylor, July 27, 1944, NARA. “It was lonely indeed”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 278. “By his daring” and “the behavior of”: Turner to Halsey, November 16, 1942 (1038). “Speaking for the Navy”: Knox to Halsey, November 17, 1942 (1434). “My deep thanks”: Halsey to Knox, November 18, 1942 (1140). “We have admiration”: Nimitz to Halsey, November 15, 1942 (0103). “We believe the enemy”: Vandegrift to Halsey, November 15, 1942 (0318). “During the past two weeks”: Sherwood, Roosevelt and Hopkins, 656.
39: On the Spot
“Step closer, son”: Bennett, www.usssanfrancisco.org/Bennet%20Jack%20CAPT.htm. “No sooner had the repair team” and “I wish I could recall”: Calhoun, Tin Can Sailor, 101–102. “After analysis of the situation”: Halsey to Nimitz, “Circumstances of Loss of Juneau,” November 22, 1942. Hoover’s response: Hoover to Nimitz, “Circumstances of Loss of Juneau,” November 28, 1942, 2. Browning’s boast: Casten, Our Ship: The Helena, C-4. “Under these conditions”: Nimitz to King, Third Endorsement of Halsey to Nimitz of November 22, 1942. “A confession of a grievous mistake”: Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 133–134. “CinCPac was in disagreement”: Halsey manuscript, 395–396. “Orders such as ‘Give them hell’ ”: U.S. Naval War College, Office of the President, “Comments on the Battle of Guadalcanal, November 11–15, 1942,” 5. “A study of the naval actions”: Ibid., 8. “There is no telling”: Ibid., 5. “Take advantage of our success” and “We cannot permit”: Kimball, Churchill and Roosevelt, 611, quoting draft message Churchill, R-186/3, not sent. “Our main amphibious operations” and “Having assumed this commitment”: Stoler, Allies and Adversaries, 96. U.S. troops in Pacific, Europe: Ibid., 293 fn. 51. Late-November naval dispositions:Halsey to all SOPAC commanders, November 23, 1942 (0612); Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, 291. “Must be amphibious”: Halsey to MacArthur, November 28, 1942 (0145). “Send one of these”: Halsey, Admiral, 132.
40: The Futility of Learning
“Ahhh, we are more”: Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain, 160. “A compromise dictated by necessity”: Halsey to Nimitz, First Endorsement of Commander, Task Force 67, “Report of Action Off Cape Esperance, Night of November 30, 1942,” 4. “I thought we had better”: Mustin interview, 650. Kinkaid’s relief: Lundstrom, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, 492–494. Lundstrom compares the grounds for Kinkaid’s relief with the grounds for Fletcher’s and argues that Fletcher got a raw deal. “About the last visual dispatch”: Wylie, NWC interview, 86. “A small wart”:USS Minneapolis, “Action Report for 30 November–1 December 1942,” Report of Radar Officer, 2. “REQUEST PERMISSION” and “the most stupid thing”: Wylie, NWC interview, 86. “CAN YOU SEND BOATS?”: Wright (CTF 67), “Report on Action Off Cape Esperance, Night of November 30, 1942,” Compilation of TBS Transmissions, 5 (this message sent at 1620 Z); Mustin interview, 631–632. “Belay supply schedule”: Hara, Japanese, 162. Damage to New Orleans:Wright, supplement to CTF 67 action report, 6; USS New Orleans, Report of the Executive Officer, action report, December 3, 1942, 1. New Orleans abandon ship canceled: Wristen, History of the United States Navy Ship New Orleans, 4–3. Hayter, Haines, and Forman: Brown, Hell at Tassafaronga, 131–132. “I wondered what he thought about”: Forgy, … And Pass the Ammunition, 212–213; see also Hartzell and Wristen, The USS New Orleans, An Amended History, 21–25. “The observed positions”: Wright, “Report on Action,” 9–10. According to Ernest M. Eller, who served CINCPAC as assistant head of gunnery and antisubmarine training officer, “The real factor that defeated all of our training in anti-torpedo operations was its high speed at long range. These Japanese torpedoes would run at about 45 or 46 knots and could go, I believe, eleven miles at that rate. Of course, our torpedo at that speed would run only three miles. We operated on the assumption that if we stayed outside of 10,000 yards until we fired, then we could maneuver and avoid the torpedoes because at a longer range we could set our torpedoes at about 25 or 26 knots. In all the night actions in which we received damage—and most of them we received very serious damage—it was because of this fact that we didn’t understand the torpedo and its capabilities.” Eller interview, vol. 2, 614–615. Submarine torpedoes at Tassafaronga: Halsey to King, First Endorsement of Wright, “Report on Action,” 1–2. “Picked off like mechanical ducks”:Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, 306. “Contributed greatly to the destruction”: Wright, “Performance of Duty in Action with Enemy,” 1–3. “He did nothing heroic”: Wristen, History, 4–3. Wristen added, “The award is an example of the pre-war Navy where the captain had to be awarded a medal equal to the highest one earned by one of his crew.” Status of Japanese on Guadalcanal: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 289, 301. “This was quite a feather”: Mustin interview, 653–654. “A fiasco which”: Ibid., 665–666. “The whole color of the war”: Ibid., 666.
41: Future Rising
Guadalcanal leading nowhere: “It had no geographical relation to the course the war would later follow, neither to Nimitz’s central Pacific campaign nor to MacArthur’s return to the Philippines.” Larrabee, Commander in Chief, 257. “People were killed all around me” and “I just cried my heart out”: Graff interview. “This was a privilege”: McKinney, CL-51 Revisited, 69–70. “We hate the petty bickering”: Shaw, Beside Me Still, 104. “Years later I’d have nightmares”: Joslin, quoted in National Geographic Society, The Lost Fleet of Guadalcanal. “They gave this city a strange feeling”:San Francisco Chronicle, “The San Francisco Heroes’ Parade” 155, no. 155, 1. “They didn’t think”: O’Brien, Robert, “When the Proudest Veteran Came Home,” unknown publication, in Spencer, The War Years: Hellfire and Glory, appendix. “In the press”:Spencer, The War Years, 2:11. “Polishing off a battleship”: Davies, “Cruiser San Francisco, Home,” 1, 7. The Boise “sank six Japanese warships”: New York Times, “Boise Captain Gives Credit,” November 24, 1942. Gatch’s statement: Fox Movie Tone News, “Hero ‘Battleship X.’ ” “Victory has a hundred fathers”: Keyes, The Quote Verifier, 234–235. “Informal inquiry into the circumstances”: King to Forrestal, “Investigation of the Loss of the USS Vincennes, USS Quincy, USS Astoria, and HMAS Canberra,” 2. “He is not a colorful personality”: Baldwin, “A Sailor-Diplomat Runs Up His Colors,” SM9. “Dawn is about to break”: Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, 317. “Those who can stand”: Frank, Guadalcanal, 527. “It is unacceptable”: Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, 461. Operation KE and evacuation statistics:Frank, Guadalcanal, 595. “Total and complete defeat”: Patch to Halsey, February 9, 1943.
42: Report and Echo
“Full of the usual horror stories”: Shaw, Beside Me Still, 119. “I now see”: Ibid., 155. “As soon as I could talk”: Graff interview. “The requirement to be ready”: Mustin interview, 513. “Think creatively” and “There are no secrets”: Graff interview. “Something new the psychiatrists”: Custer, Through the Perilous Night, 223. “We have received news”: Ibid., 238–239. “You may not care”: Ibid., 241. “This young man”: Harrison interview. The Sullivans in Waterloo: Satterfield, We Band of Brothers, 199. “The most complete and lucid report”:Hepburn, “Report of Informal Inquiry into the Circumstances Attending the Loss of the USS Vincennes, Quincy and Astoria, and HMAS Canberra, on 9 August 1942, in the Vicinity of Savo Island (Solomon Islands),” 37.
43: The Opinion of Convening Authority
“No one man was responsible”: Weaver, “Some Reminiscences,” 14. “In every circle”: Livy, Book 44, chapter 22. A typescript of a fuller version of this quotation is contained in the Ghormley Papers, box 15, folder u. ECU. “The deficiencies which manifested”: Russell to King, “Memo for Admiral,” 2. In his command study of Admiral Fletcher, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, John Lundstrom argues that Fletcher should not be criticized for deciding to withdraw Task Force 61 because the decision was announced at a conference in advance of its execution. The record establishes that neither Nimitz nor Ghormley managed to referee this important disagreement among their subordinates. “Sheer stodgy unimaginative bureaucratic complacency”: Stone, “Brass Hats Undaunted,” September 8, 1945, in The Best of I. F. Stone, 90. “Too indefinite in regard” and “No special battle plan”: cited in Hepburn, “Report of Informal Inquiry into the Circumstances Attending the Loss of the USS Vincennes, Quincy and Astoria, and HMAS Canberra, on 9 August 1942, in the Vicinity of Savo Island (Solomon Islands),” Paragraph 79, 35. “Were faulty in requiring them”: Ibid., 35–36. “Only one plan”: Ibid., 41. “In my opinion”: Ibid., 44. “I have been accused”: Dyer, The Amphibians Came to Conquer, 372. “I have always hesitated”: Buell, The Quiet Warrior, 174–175. “There is generally a twilight zone” and “In my opinion the primary cause: Hepburn, “Report,” 52–53. “Far from impressive” and “there is only one instance”: Ibid., 54. “It would be difficult”: Ibid., 53. “Granting that the immediate cause”: King to Forrestal, September 14, 1943, 2. “It does not necessarily follow”: COMINCH, “Memorandum for Admiral,” 4. Bode’s demerits:New York Times,“Annapolis Hazers Punished,” 1. “Seemed to be under” and “He told me” and “It was one of the most pleasant”: Commandant, 15th Naval District, “Record of Proceedings of a Board of Investigation Convened at the U.S. Naval Station Balboa, Canal Zone, in the Case of Howard D. Bode, Late Captain, U.S. Navy,” Statement of Commander, USNR, April 20, 1943, 2–3. “Although there are probably”: Bode to Hepburn, April 8, 1943, 4 (Hepburn Annex, 305). “Within the past two weeks” and “Some time recently” and “I am writing a letter” and “I can find no expression” and “I am sure that”: Bode to Hepburn, April 18, 1943, 1–2. “It is the opinion of”: Commandant, 15th Naval District, April 24, 1943 1–2. “This Bureau concurs”: Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, “Second Endorsement to JAG report dated July 13, 1943, July 17, 1943, 1—.”
44: Ironbottom Sound
“The magnitude of the Solomons campaign”: Custer, Through the Perilous Night, 223. “Senior Marine Corps operations officers”: Pope, “ANZACs Criticize Ghormley Tactics,” 5. “Your father was relieved”: Nimitz to Robert L. Ghormley, Jr., January 27, 1961, Ghormley Papers. “Their hopes for a combined victory”: Weinberg, A World at Arms, 347–348. “We don’t claim to be prophets”:Collier’s, “The Idea Is to Win,” 70. “We have not begun”: Lee, “How Japan Plans to Win,” 74. “Unwilling to pay the price”: Weinberg, World, 344. The IJN’s perceived inferiority: Hirama, “Japanese Naval Preparations for World War II,” 63. “The outstanding feature”: Ohmae, “Japanese Commentary on Guadalcanal,” 59. Land fighting “decisive”; air and sea “ancillary”: Samuel B. Griffith, II, to Hanson W. Baldwin, January 17, 1961, Baldwin Papers. “If our surface forces”: Halsey manuscript, 397. “There were many courageous decisions”: Spruance to King, February 18, 1943, 25. “Purchased one night’s respite”: Frank, Guadalcanal, 461. “The key to Allied success”: Lundstrom, The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, 523. “We have come to expect”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: November 1942,” 27–15. “Training, TRAINING and M-O-R-E T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G”: Nimitz to King, “Solomons Island Campaign, 5th Battle of Savo,” 16. Issuance of Current Tactical Orders and Doctrine:Hone, “U.S. Navy Surface Battle Doctrine,” 72. Robert Graff quotations and trip to Solomons: Graff interview and Graff, “My Statement,” Graff Papers.