1942-09-15
I-19's attack, 15 September 1942
Southeast of Guadalcanal
Task Force 61 was southeast of Guadalcanal. The submarine I-19 fired a spread that hit three ships. Two, possibly three, torpedoes hit Wasp in the gasoline tanks and magazines. She was abandoned. Lansdowne scuttled her, and she went down by the bow about 2100. One torpedo hit the destroyer O'Brien in the bow. She stayed afloat and foundered on 19 October on the way to Pearl Harbor. One torpedo struck North Carolina below the armor belt abreast Turret I and tore a hole about 32 by 18 feet. She took a 5½-degree list and was not sunk. Hornet was in the formation and the torpedoes passed ahead of her. Northampton was there. Anderson, screening Hornet, stood by North Carolina. Helena stood by Wasp and took off survivors.
Sunk in this fight
One ship.
Created for this encyclopedia, not a scanned historical map. Base map: Natural Earth, public domain; the coast is generalized. North is up. Not a surveyed track. The red pin, 12°25' S, 164°08' E, is Wasp's loss position on 15 September 1942, from uboat.net. The amber pin, 12°18' S, 164°15' E, is where I-19 first heard heavy screws at 0950, from the Japanese ship history on combinedfleet.com. It is before she attacked. It is not where she fired. Guadalcanal is about 250 miles to the northwest, off the map.
