1942-12-12
Loss of Teruzuki
Off Savo Island, Guadalcanal
Teruzuki was Rear Admiral Tanaka's flagship on a drum-supply run. Early on 12 December 1942, off Savo Island, American PT boats hit her stern with two torpedoes. She lost her rudder and a propeller shaft. The fire reached her depth charges and she sank. Nine men were killed. Tanaka was taken off. Historians do not agree which boats fired. The usual names are PT-37 and PT-40, and other accounts name different boats, so the hit is not pinned to one of them.
A diagram of how this fight went will go here.
