1942-11-15
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, battleship night
Off Savo Island, Guadalcanal
This is the second night of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 14-15 November 1942, not the cruiser fight of the 13th. Lee, in Washington, had South Dakota astern and four destroyers ahead: Walke, Benham, Preston, and Gwin. Kondo was coming to shell Henderson Field, with his flag in Atago, Takao and Kirishima behind him, Nagara and Sendai, and nine destroyers. The Japanese cruisers and destroyers sank Walke and Preston, wrecked Benham, and damaged Gwin. Kirishima and the cruisers then hit South Dakota more than two dozen times. She was not sunk. Washington had not been seen. She opened with 16-inch guns at about 8,400 yards and wrecked Kirishima, who capsized at 03:25. Washington was not hit. Ayanami was sunk by battleship gunfire, credited to Washington. Tanaka's transports were not in the night fight.
Sunk in this fight
5 ships.
The night action, 14-15 November 1942. United States Strategic Bombing Survey, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, 1946, Appendix 47, chart 7. Public domain. The sheet does not print a north arrow. Savo is on the right and Cape Esperance is at the bottom. The time zone on the sheet is minus 11. It labels the U.S. battleships as B1 and B2 and does not name them. It labels the Japanese main body, Kirishima falling out, Terutsuki, and Asagumo. The sheet spells that destroyer Terutsuki. It also marks B3 and B4, a reinforcement group, and the 2nd Destroyer Squadron, and does not name those ships. It does not mark a sinking.
Japanese destroyers, 14-15 November 1942. United States Strategic Bombing Survey, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, 1946, Appendix 47, chart 8. Public domain. The sheet does not print a north arrow. Cape Esperance is at the lower right. The time zone on the sheet is minus 11. It names Nagara, Oyashio, Kagero, Destroyer Division 15 as Asagumo and Terutsuki, and a sweeping group as Ikazuchi, Samidare, Hatsuyuki, and Shirayuki. The sheet spells that destroyer Terutsuki. It marks B1 at 0129 and again at 0244 and does not spell out the letter. It does not mark a sinking.
Tracks around Savo, 14-15 November 1942. United States Strategic Bombing Survey, The Campaigns of the Pacific War, 1946, Appendix 47, chart 6. Public domain. The sheet does not print a north arrow. Savo is in the middle and Cape Esperance is at the bottom. The time zone on the sheet is minus 11. It names Uranami and Ayanami, marked (D). It marks two cruisers and four destroyers, one cruiser and three destroyers, and one cruiser and one destroyer, and does not name them. It does not mark a sinking.
