Guadalcanal 72 Years On

[kham]

All the Marines W. of Matanikau, raid complete, pull back over the river. During the fighting of Oct 7-9, the Marines had 65 KIA, 125 wounded. About ***700*** J. were killed in that ravine, about 70 near Matanikau mouth. (according to a J. officer's diary captured later) 700. Similar to the losses J. suffered at ilu creek or Bloody Ridge! (Same retarded plan, expect same results. Shove face into chipper-shredder and fail then blame it on "lack of fighting spirit" )
Although the IJN and Marines have rough equality in numbers on 'canal, many men are in poor health. The 700 killed in that ravine were about 1/3rd of the *healthy* IJA on 'canal! - "The Rising Sun" John Toland (not counting last night's TE)

[kham]

est Hyakutake keeps meeting soldiers who've been on the island for previous attacks. They're in appalling shape. Eyebrows falling off! Haven't had bowel movements in 3 weeks. Many on the verge of death. Hyakutake realizes the situation on 'canal is far worse than he had thought. He requests more troops and supplies. The disaster around Matanikau (Marine's spoiling raid worked!) force Tsuji and Konuma to revise their plan. The original plan was for the main assault on H. to be across the Matanikau. Now it's obvious the Marines have that too well defended. The attack will be postponed 10 days and use the newly constructed Maruyama trail for a 2 pronged attack from the S. This will be preceded by a regimental sized diversionary attack across the Matanikau a few hours earlier.

est Hyakutake is ready to start his offensive. He has most of the Sendai division, remnants of the 35th inf. brigade, and advance forces of the Nagoya division. His 150mm howitzers are the heaviest arty on 'canal Most of the units shown here are available.

Note that cooperative natives never mentioned the Maruyama trail to the Marines. The J. were cutting that trail in parts of the island so horrible that the natives never went there! --- The trail is 20-24" wide.

est 30 Hamps (short range Zeros) arrive at Buin. *Now* Yamamoto schedules the fast transport convoy. It will arrive at 'canal Oct 15. est H. air power is disrupting TE runs. Adm. Mikawa asks Rabaul to do something drastic.

[kham]

est P-39x12 arrive H. P-39s are mostly the same as P-400s. They have 2 .50 and 4 .30 cal MGs and a whomping big 37mm cannon (the p-400 has a high velocity 20mm). The 37's low muzzle velocity annoys pilots. They say the trajectory is like throwing grapefruit underhand. Takes practice to get hits.

est Adm Scott and TF 64, after weeks of training, patrol Iron Bottom Sound - ready to ambush tonight's Tokyo Express. And... there's no TE run tonight. Adm. Mikawa is preparing a *big* TE run for Oct 11.

est Adm. Scott and TF 64 withdraw from Iron Bottom Sound before daylight. They don't want to tempt Rabaul based bombers. Adm. Mikawa orders a heavy air raid to suppress H. before the TE arrives off Cape Esperance tonight

[kham]

Answering Hyakutake's request for more troops and supplies a big TE run departs Shortlands. Seaplane tenders Nisshin and Chitose, DDx6. They carry 4 150mm Howitzers, 2 field guns, supplies and 728 troops. (Chitose pictured. Nisshin is same design) Note the cranes at the rear of Chitose. That's how they can quickly unload heavy artillery or tanks - DDs can't. This is seen as a very important TE run so extra effort is being put into defending it. Rabaul will go ALL OUT to suppress H. Adm. Mikawa will bombard H. with CAx3, DDx2 while the TE is unloading to make sure the TE can make a clean getaway the next day. Mikawa does not know there is a TF (Scott's) in the area looking for a fight. IJN has been unopposed at night for weeks.

est Marines raid J. outposts near Aola bay. 35 J. and 3 Marines die. The Mysterious Ishimoto is killed!

*HUGE* IJN fleet departs Truk to support the October Offensive. It dwarfs the Hornet TF. They'll patrol NE of the Solomons and N. of Santa Cruz while waiting for the right time to strike at USN CVs. They seek... Decisive Battle! (**there's a psychological term for the same, repeated, monomaniacal behavior....)

B-17s spot TE near Shortlands. They're reported as CAx2, DDx6. (the big seaplane tenders *do* look similar to CAs)

[kham]

est After last week's ass-kicking, Rabaul tries something new. This massive raid is in two waves. First, a 17 Zero fighter sweep. The 2nd wave has 27 Bettys and 30 Zeros. Man Plans, God Laughs. The weather ruins the new plan. The sweep barely makes contact with the defenders. The main raid (2nd wave) is scattered en route by the weather. Coastwatchers missed this one. Radar spotted it 138 miles out. That was barely enough time for some F4Fs to get to a useful altitude. F4Fx17 intercept. Some of the new P-39s try to help but they can't climb high enough. 18 Bettys arrive at 'canal below the cloud ceiling and 2 veteran Marine F4F squadrons pounce on them. The raid is broken up, their bombs fall short. F4Fs shoot down 6 Bettys, cripple one. The cripple descends. The Army's Capt. Sharstein can't fly high enough for the main action in his P-39 but he can get to the cripple - and he shoots it down. 2 Zeros shot down. 1 F4F splashes down - pilot saved. 1 P-39 and pilot MIA The bombing was ineffective. The Maximum Effort raid to suppress H. is a bust.

[kham]

est (*very* est) Goto's bombardment force sets off from Shortlands. They take a roundabout course to avoid the usual recon flights. Adm. Goto doesn't expect a fight. USN has been avoiding Iron Bottom sound at night lately. B17s spot incoming TE. Reported, again, as CAx2, DDx6 *No strike* is sent from H. Geiger has intel about incoming bombardment (vague on time) and doesn't want to risk bombers coming back to a cratered air strip. OR he thinks the chance of scoring hits is too low. (there are Zeros covering the TE) It depends on what book you read!

Ghormley is tired of all these H. bombardments and TE reinforcements. He has Adm. Scott, who had been covering the convoy carrying 164th Regt, take CAx2, CLx2, DDx5 to intercept the TE.

est Capt. John Smith, F4F ace, departs 'canal with 19 kills. The squadron he commanded claimed 83 enemy planes during its time on 'canal.
Also leaving today, F4F ace Marion Carl. Carl had 15 1/2 kills over 'canal. Carl fought again over the Solomons in 1943 and also flew combat in Korea and Vietnam.

The incoming TE is spotted by recon about 100 miles from 'canal. Goto's bombardment force is *not* spotted. He's avoiding the slot.

[kham]

est the IJN are SERIOUS about defending the TE today. 6 Zeros remain overhead even though they don't have enough fuel to return to base! After sunset they'll ditch and DDs will pick up the pilots. The DDs only recover 1 pilot.

Goto's bombardment force is now 110 miles from 'canal. In Scott's TF, CL Helena and Boise have the best radar - SG. Scott's ship, CA San Francisco, has older radar. (**SG Radar again, is the radar most people imagine; the PPI Scope) There a rumor, false, that IJN can detect the older radar. Scott has ordered San Francisco's radar turned off most of the time. Scott will use the USN's favorite column formation. Even with all the recent practice they still haven't had time to do other formations. At least column formation is simpler. Any ships to the left or right are presumed enemy and can be fired on.

Battle of Cape Esperance - the Ships.
Scott tries to launch his 4 cruiser's float planes. Only 1 works. CA Salt Lake City's float plane catches fire. The flames are visible 50 miles away! Adm. Goto sees the fire - assumes it's some sort of signal fire set by IJA on the beach. USN comms are a problem tonight. TBS - talk between ships radio introduced in 1940 - its proper usage is still being figured out. If coded messages were sent via TBS there was a delay due to encoding and decoding. Also, it ***only allows for one person to talk at a time.*** (**TBS is another anacronym for VHF radio - eg bridge-to-bridge radio voice talk)

TF 64 is off Cape Esperance - goes into column formation. TF 64 approaches Cape Esperance from the SW. Goto's ships are 40 miles away to the NW, not far behind the TE. (**80,000 yards) Scott's float plane spots incoming J. force approaching from the NW, heading to the passage between Savo and Cape Esperance. Reports of 1 large, 2 small ships* (the TE). Scott postpones a move on this sighting - he's looking for bigger game. *it's very dark. Scott is thinking about the CAx2, DDx6 reports from 8 hours earlier. Goto's force is headed for Lunga. This puts them on a direct course for Scott's TF. At this moment, neither Goto or Scott has any idea the other force is around.

Your Map of the Battle to Come.

[kham]

CL Helena, Boise have the best radar available - SG. It's new and operators are still unfamiliar with it. Adm. Scott doesn't trust it. IJN still has their elite lookouts with the best night optics in the world. (** And Scott,is one of the smarter admirals....Jesus H Christ...) Scott plans to search around Savo Island to look for screening warships, then head back to the location tipped by float plane. CL Helena has a radar contact! Her Capt. waits for confirmation* and doesn't report it immediately. *darn new fangled radar! He might have waited as long as 15 minutes before calling it in (sources disagree). He does report the info - not sure exactly what time. (**1/4 hr even so, say closure at 40 knots...do the math yourself... )

Here's where TBS becomes a problem. People are cautious about using it since they know if they talk, nobody else can talk. And a critical order might come at any second. Goto's ships approach Savo island. IJN is overconfident since USN hasn't been opposing them (in surface battles) lately. Not only does Goto not know USN ships are in the area, he doesn't even have his ships at battle stations! The USN and IJN ships are 29,000 yards apart. Neither side is aware of the other yet (Since Helena hasn't reported her contact yet) CL Helena picks up 3 blips, approaching at 35-40 mph. reports it. CLs Helena, Boise and DD Duncan now have radar contact with the IJN ships. Scott thinks those contacts are his own DDs which are way out of position since the botched course reversal.

[kham]

est Most USN ships are aiming their guns at the contacts.
On Helena, Capt Hoover wonders why they haven't opened fire yet. IJN are approaching at 1,000 yards a minute Hoover sends a contact report. (** )
Lookouts on Goto's ships see (USN) ships. Goto assumes they're the TE ships. CL Boise sends a contact report using the term "5 bogies".

Goto's lookouts *identify* the ships they see as USN ships. Goto is skeptical - orders his ships to flash id signals. TF 64 has crossed Goto's "T". (**anyone want to cue up the James Horner music?)

CL Helena sends "Interrogatory Roger" which means Request permission to open fire. As all hell breaks loose, Adm. Scott and Adm. Goto are both surprised!

Adm. Scott orders a cease fire (**!! AGAIN, with the stupidity. Who the fuck does he imagine is out here? An excursion to Pismo Beach??)

[kham]

San Francisco's gunnery spotters see a ship only 1,400 yards away. Scott talks to the commander of the DD squadron, Tobin. DD Farenholt is between the USN cruisers and the IJN. DD Duncan is amongst the IJN ships. She fires torps at CA Furutaka. Duncan absorbs many gun hits - is fatally damaged. After shooting at Furutaka, Duncan fires at DD Hatsuyuki. Duncan tries to head out of trouble but is shot up before she can make it. NOW Scott understands the situation. The J. are retreating NW and Scott will pursue. USN is in column again - 4 Cruisers in front followed by DDx3. Scott orders a ceasefire. He wants an exchange of recognition signals to reorganize before the finishing attack. The IJN aren't waiting! DD Duncan is on fire. She's a shambles and there's nobody to give orders. The short cease fire gives the IJN enough time to reorganize and execute a fighting retreat.