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Guadal Naval Battle in the first phase
Recapture Guadalcanal Island It is difficult to reach the sky
Encouraged by the "great victory" of the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, Emperor Hirohito issued an instruction: The island is a place where the Japanese and American armies fought fiercely, and it is also an important fortress of the Imperial Navy. I hope our army can recover the island as soon as possible.
In fact, in private, Yamamoto and his chief of staff Ugaki have concluded that it is difficult to climb to the sky to regain Guadalcanal.
The Army returned with three consecutive attempts and returned with a crushing defeat. The US military's garrison is increasing again. How could the fourth attack be successful?
On Guadalcanal Island, Colonel Omaru, Chief of Staff of Yubu, had to admit the same reality.
On the one hand, Komaru hopes that the fact that the Maruyama Division has been destroyed will not be discovered by the US military, otherwise the US military will take the initiative to attack and annihilate all the Japanese troops on the island;
On the other hand, Komaru's suggestion is: if you want to eliminate the US military on the island, unless you send out a whole division's troops, plus heavy artillery , tanks, as well as a large amount of ammunition and supplies. Moreover, the main force of the Army Air Force must be drawn from Kanto Army to fully support it.
In order to achieve this unrealistic goal, the Japanese army could only grit their teeth and continue to increase troops on the island.
Tanaka Rai San's unyielding "Tokyo Express" managed to transport more than 20,000 soldiers ashore in mid-October and the first week of November.
However, the rapid increase in troops made the Japanese army more susceptible to air strikes and sea shelling. It is not easy to hide more than 20,000 soldiers and supplies in the jungle and valley.
The more you fight, the more powerful the "Cactus Air Force"
"Cactus Air Force" attacks their camps, strongholds and supply points day after day, throwing bombs at suspicious places, or launching deadly strafing. Sometimes the Japanese army was air strike dozens of times a day, and the remaining soldiers hid in the forest and didn't even dare to light the fire.
From the evening of October 29 to the 30th, the US military also let the enemy taste the naval gun bombardment.
"Atlanta" light cruiser and four destroyers bombarded the Japanese camp on Cape Cruise for eight hours.
Five days later, the cruisers "San Francisco" and "Helena" fired fire at the Japanese stronghold in Cape Corey, blowing up all the newly piled up there. The Japanese troops who were temporarily camping there were forced to retreat into the jungle.
Due to hunger and disease, the number of troops in the jungle will gradually decrease. At this time, the number of Japanese troops on Guadalcanal increased greatly and needed more food, but the logistics could not be afforded.
In November 1942, the US military dragged the Japanese corpse out of the bunker.
On November 1, van der Grift ordered an attack westward, aiming to capture the command of the 17th Army (near the coast, located in Cape Cruise) and seize the recently unloaded materials from the enemy's island on Savo.
The 6th battalion of the 5th Land Regiment, led by Colonel Merritt Ederson, carried out this arduous raid. The Japanese army dropped 400 bodies and retreated to the other side of the Poha River.
The further advancement of the US military was firmly held back by the new Japanese reinforcements constantly transported to the ashore.
As time goes by, the US military's strength on the island continues to increase, and the advantages of both land and air irreversibly tend toward the Americans.
A Japanese Zero Fighter Pilot captured by local natives, facing the legendary "life-cannibalism", the 19-year-old is extremely scared.
Japanese fighter jets were about to fly from Rabaul . The long voyage (1,200 miles round trip) exhausted the pilot's physical strength and reduced the possibility of them returning to the base.
In extreme cases, the Japanese pilot received an order to make an emergency landing at sea near the islands occupied by the Japanese army. What is quite black humorous is that no one can guarantee that they can return to the base from the forced landing location. General
, this mission is tantamount to suicide
November 11-12, the newly arrived transport fleet of the US Navy was racing against time to unload personnel and supplies on the beach of Guadalam. Japanese planes have been raiding, but the damage caused is minimal.
On the morning of November 12, the US military discovered a powerful Japanese fleet that was heading towards Guadalam . This was the Japanese army commanded by Major General Abe Hiroyi to attack the fleet. His mission was to launch artillery suppression at Henderson Airport, prevent its aircraft from taking off, and ensure that the transport fleet landed on Guadalcanal Island safely.
Japanese "Hirui" battleship
The fleet led by Abe is strong: 2 battleship , 1 light cruiser, and 14 destroyers (the famous Xiangrui " Snow Wind " is among them). Their mission was mainly to cover the largest reinforcement force of the Japanese army, the main force of the 38th Division and other troops to reinforce Baiwu. There were about 12,000 people and about 10,000 tons of supplies.
The Japanese military intends to send only one large transport fleet to transport all reinforcements to Guadao at one time. The fleet consists of 11 transport ships and some cargo ships, and 12 destroyers escort it.
The Abe fleet, which was opening the road in front, knew nothing about the situation of the US military. All he thought about was to sneak to Guadao to blow up Henderson Airport while it was dark, so that the reinforcements on the next day could safely get ashore.
The US military's intentions are: either to shell Henderson Airport; or to attack the US transport fleet moored on the sea near Guadao - the fleet carries 6,000 soldiers, 105mm and 115mm caliber howitzers, various types of ammunition and rations.
After learning the news, the US military quickly allowed all 6,000 soldiers to land. Although two-thirds of the materials still had no time to unload the goods, they did not dare to stay for a long time and could only retreat south quickly.
General Turner handed over his cruiser and most of the destroyers to General Callahan to command, staying to fight the upcoming Japanese fleet.
Without battleships, Callahan's 13 warships could not compete with the Japanese army at all. But if they can cause some damage to the enemy, it will at least prevent the island's Marines from being bombarded by a 14-inch heavy naval gun.
Calaghan was the captain of the "San Francisco". The crew loved him very much and always called him "Uncle Dan"
According to the plan, the fleet led by General Kincaid will arrive the next day to destroy the enemy's planned large force to land.
American officers who knew that the Japanese army had battleships all looked solemn - "It seems a bit funny to fight battleships with several destroyers and cruisers."
Casin Young is the captain of Callahan's flagship "San Francisco". He said bluntly: "General, this mission is tantamount to suicide."
At midnight on November 12, Callahan lined up the fleet in a column and quietly sailed into Iron Bottom Bay . It was a dark night, cloudy and there was no moon in the sky. Although the ships were only 500 yards apart, in the ink-like night, the soldiers could hardly recognize the other ships in the fleet.
General Abe did not imagine the overnight battle at all. After all, the US military does not have battleships in this sea area, so it is hard to come and challenge the cruiser if he gives him a few courages.
The Japanese army took the lead with the two battleships "Hirui" and "Kijima", six destroyers and a light cruiser for cover. In order to guard against the attack of torpedo , Abe drove the two battleships in a single row, and the Changliang light cruiser led six destroyers including the "Snow Wind" and "Tianjin Wind" to form a semicircular warning circle in front.
In front of the guard circle, the destroyers of "Shiyu", "Chaoyun", and "May Rain" act as the left vanguard; the destroyers of "Xifeng" and "Chunyu" act as the right vanguard.
Japanese "Xifeng" destroyer
The entire formation of the Japanese army was purely to defend torpedo attacks and bombard Henderson Airport. The battleship with the greatest power of artillery is strictly surrounded in the center. Once the enemy encounters, the firepower advantage cannot be exerted.
After midnight, the mountains on Guadalcanal are already vaguely visible. Japanese ground observers on the island reported via radio that no enemy ships were found near Cape Longa.
So Abe decided to launch a shelling attack and ordered all the main guns of the two battleships to be replaced with thin-shelled three-type incendiary bombs.
The Japanese army gradually revealed their whereabouts. The light spots on the U.S. radar show that the enemy is located in the northwest, with a distance of between 27,000 yards and 32,000 yards.
The Japanese army seemed to divide the fleet into two parallel columns, consisting of four and six ships, and Callahan was leading his men towards the gap between the two fleets. When the radar's detection distance dropped to about 1,100 yards, U.S. military lookouts discovered for the first time a blurry outline moved between northern islands.
At 1:24 am on November 13, the Helena discovered that the Japanese ship was in a horseshoe formation, guarding the two main battleships, and reported to the San Francisco through the call between the ships: "The enemy ship was found. The contact position was 312 to 310, and the distance was 27,000 yards to 32,000 yards." In order to seize the T-head, Callahan ordered the column to change its course and head north.
melee! Fierce battle! Fight to the death!
1:41, the first destroyer, the watchtower of the Cushing, suddenly discovered that two Japanese destroyers suddenly jumped out of the darkness, right in front of the Cushing! To avoid a collision, the Cushing turned left suddenly, but unexpectedly brought a severe chain reaction to the ships behind him.
USS Cushing destroyer
cruiser Atlanta also made a sharp turn, and Callahan on the San Francisco behind asked, "What are you doing?"
"Avoid our destroyer." The cruiser captain replied.
Japanese ship bridge is also in chaos. After discovering the enemy ship, Abe ordered the gunners of the "Hairui" and "Kijima" to replace the incendiary bomb with armor-piercing bomb .
In addition to the officers and soldiers who were on the same mission, all the crew members of the "Hirui" were dispatched together, scrambling to remove the three-type bullets and stack them on the deck. The darkness enveloped the chaotic warships, and every minute was extremely long. The enemy ship only needs one shell to hit the incendiary bomb pile, and the "Hirui" will immediately turn into a giant torch.
Suddenly, the Japanese army in the sky at night, bomber dropped a large number of flares - this was to illuminate the target on the shore of the fleet.
The dark night was torn apart by the strong light of the flares. The US military observation post found in a terrifying manner that the Japanese fleet that had just disappeared was right in front of the US military, and the two sides had almost become a group.
Schematic diagram: At the same time, discover the opponent - open fire!
The Japanese fleet seemed to have just discovered the US military. The muzzles pointed to the southwest direction were swiftly turning. Almost instantly, both sides opened fire at the same time, and the sea surface suddenly opened, and dozens of water columns soared into the sky. The battle quickly turned into a melee, with the ship deviating from its position and firing at the enemy indiscriminately.
1:49, the searchlight of the Hiei pierced the darkness and shone on the bridge of the Atlanta about 5,000 yards ahead. The US ship responded quickly and set off more than ten water columns in front of the Hiei. The Hiei was not to be outdone and fired a volley with a 14-inch caliber cannon. The 1-ton shell hit the Atlanta, destroying the bridge, and killing everyone led by General Scott , with only one staff member survived.
Callahan ordered "The odd warship fired to the right, and the even warship fired to the left", but at this time it was already hard to distinguish between us. The shells flew over from all directions, and the warships fought back in all directions. From time to time, the battlefield was illuminated by searchlights, flash bombs, , firelights from the muzzle, flares, tracer bombs and yellow flashes generated by ship explosions.
Melee
Where you can see are ships burning and exploding under the night sky, the two fleets fought chaotic at close range, and they were hard to solve. It can be called the most chaotic naval battle since the outbreak of Pacific War .
American warships cannot guarantee that they are hitting enemy ships, and can only fire at any target that looks like Japanese warships. During the melee, a group of torpedoes fired by the Japanese army hit the Atlanta, almost blowing it away from the sea. The ship can only escape from the battle sequence.
US military's "Atlanta" light cruiser.
The US military's intership radio calls have been overloaded and there was chaos, so not all warships received instructions from the tactical commander. The destroyers changed their course and faced the enemy ships with both sides, disrupting the formation of the US military.
At 1:51 a.m., Callahan ordered a temporary ceasefire to determine which ships were their own ships. But all ships are fighting each other.
The shelling of the US ship has temporarily stopped. The Kirishima, together with at least four other Japanese ships, fired huge shells at the US flagship "San Francisco".
"Aim at the big guys and shoot!" Callahan ordered all ships, "Fight the big guys first!"
"San Francisco" turned right and separated from the friendly ship, but found himself facing the huge 14-inch caliber muzzle of the "Hirui" battleship.
It fired first and hit the opponent, but the "Hirui"'s reaction was very slow, probably because it could not fill in the bullet quickly.
Then, several U.S. destroyers also encountered this behemoth. The US destroyer used the pitch angle limit of the Hiei turret to rush up to fight in close combat.
The Cushing launched six torpedoes at a distance of 1,200 yards from the Hiei, and probably hit three.
Then, the "Chushing" was illuminated by a searchlight, and nearby Japanese warships opened fire at it at the same time. The destroyer was riddled with holes and ignited a fire. It was abandoned on the sea. The "Obannon" (also translated as "Obannon") also fired three torpedoes at it. The towering chief of the "Lafite" and the "Hirui" were only a few hundred yards apart, and they were almost knocked over by the giant ship. It fired two torpedoes, but failed to detonate when it hit the hull of Hiei, and then it fired several 5-inch shells into the Hiei bridge.
US destroyers besiege the "Hirui".
"Stret" fired nine rounds of 5-inch shells - a total of 36 shells - toward its bridge at 1,000 yards from the Hiei. The Stratt passed by just 500 yards in front of the bow of the Hiei ship, close enough to clearly see the Japanese sailors on fire running on the deck.
The entire Hiei ship turned into a sea of fire, with explosions one after another, and many crew members jumped into the sea from the deck, and the burning wreckage fell on the surrounding ships one after another.
These brave destroyers quickly paid the price - the "Lafite" was severely damaged and it was only a matter of time before it sank; the "Obannon" turned sharply to avoid this friendly ship. After the "Monsen" destroyer sank the Japanese "Aki" destroyer, he turned on the searchlight to search for other enemy ships, and then exposed that he lost his combat effectiveness under the concentrated attack of the Japanese warships and began to sink at dawn.
USS "Obannon" destroyer.
The "Paton" destroyer was hit by a torpedo and was blown in half. The two hulls drifted in different directions for a while, and then they sank within a few seconds. Only about 40 crew members survived, swimming hard between its wreckage and the oil slime on the sea. Some of them were run over and drowned by other ships, and some were killed or injured by shells that fell nearby.
USS Patton destroyer.
"Portland" and " Juno " were both hit by torpedoes and are doing their best to drive away from the battlefield. The rudder of the Portland and the propeller were both damaged and turned around randomly, but it still managed to fire several shells at the damaged Shiyu-class destroyer in the south of Savo Island. It kept circling around the sea until it was dragged back to Tulaji the next day by a US warship.
The Helena was less damaged than most friendly ships and fired at all strange ships out of the starboard side.
Schematic diagram
"San Francisco" floated in the center of the battlefield. It was scarred but not sunk, so all the remaining ammunition on the ship was shot towards the "Hirui".
The Hiei fired several large-caliber shells at the San Francisco as a counterattack, one of which hit the starboard bridge, killing General Callahan and most of his staff.Captain Yang and the deputy captain were both seriously injured and died a few hours later.
A surviving senior officer came to the cab and found that there was no one alive. He began to search for General Callahan and his staff, but "it was found that they were all in a pile of bodies on the right side of the signal station, obviously dead."
Navy Major Bruce McCandless, a general officer on the ship, began to sail to Cape Esperance and take the severely damaged cruiser away from the battlefield. The main gun of the "San Francisco" fired round after round until the Japanese artillery fire made it unable to fire again.
Schematic diagram
At 2 a.m., Abe's flagship "Hirui" had already been hit by dozens of shells, so he had to turn left and sail north accompanied by Kirishima. The naval battle lasted less than half an hour, but it left a burning wreckage on the Tied Bay Strait.
"Atlanta" and two destroyers are gradually sinking. Among the US ships leaving the battlefield, only one is not damaged. On the Japanese side, one destroyer sank and the other was paralyzed on the sea. The Hiei speed has dropped significantly, and it is impossible for it to escape from the range of American aircraft before sunrise.
At dawn, a terrifying scene appears in the morning light. Iron bottom bay is full of burning ship wreckage, oil and floating bodies.
One by one, one by one, wasted ships floating on the water, and the damaged superstructure was inserted tilted and obliquely on the sea. Many ships' turrets fell down and hung on the hull. Hundreds of survivors were soaked in oil, holding on to the wreckage on the water, and shouting for help.
The boat shuttled back and forth in it and rescued them one by one. With a few exceptions, the Japanese sailors in the water refused to accept rescue, and some people would rather drown than be captured. Someone saw the Hiei sailing slowly towards the north of Savo Island under the care of several small ships, and its rudder obviously failed.
Lieutenant George of the Ponney was sent to rescue the survivors near Atlanta - its entire superstructure was blown away, and the three turrets in the front have been blown up like broken egg boxes mixed with twisted and deformed cannon barrels. Its main deck was almost flooded with water, and the crew were huddled in the dirty wreckage.
Survivor was taken away by landing craft . A blasting team boarded the ship and placed explosives in the engine compartment. Shortly after 8 a.m., the "Atlanta" sank.
Callahan's choice to break into the enemy ships head-on prevent Henderson Airport from a devastating blow, but also pay the price of hundreds of lives - including General Scott and Callahan himself.
And the suffering of the US military has not yet ended.
"Helena" is the least damaged of all US cruisers participating in combat, leading six severely damaged ships toward the Sirac Strait. The San Francisco was severely damaged and everyone thought it could no longer travel - someone counted it from another ship, which had 26 bullet holes in its hull.
Survivors held a hasty ceremony to give sea burials to the dead.
Part of the hull of the Juno has sunk into the water, and the deck is almost full of water. It can only move forward at 13 knots, and the rudder reacts slowly.
The US military's "Juno" destroyer is covered with anti-submarine camouflage. At 1:00:00, a few miles east of Guadalcanal Island, the Japanese I-26 submarine fired a torpedo, hit its port side and detonated the torpedo warhead inside its ammunition depot. The explosion was extremely powerful, and even the people standing on the deck of the "San Francisco" were shocked.
Other people on board saw the entire barrel of the 5-inch gun, along with most of the superstructures of the "Juno", being blown into the air. A huge yellow smoke filled the surroundings, and for a few minutes people couldn't even see its location. Gradually, the smoke dissipated from the sea, and the other people on the boat scanned the sea again, but no trace of the "Juno" was seen again.
"No stick, a mast, a ship or a lifebuoy, and I can't see a person," recalled an officer of the Stratt. "I looked nervously, wanting to see a head, or a corpse; but as the smoke dissipated, I saw nothing."
Captain Gilbert Hoover, seeing the other ships in danger, calmly decided to let the remaining troops of the special mixed fleet continue to sail along the route. Later officers said they did not believe that anyone on the Juno survived, and that the idea was recognized by dozens of witnesses. Therefore, these warships did not leave any life rafts on the scene.
In fact, although the "Juno" sank, 120 people did not sink with the ship at that time. They relied on three rafts connected by life ropes and drifted on the sea for five days, one after another.
On November 18, ten survivors were washed up on the beach of Santa Catalina Island . Almost all members of the "Juno" were killed, with about 700 deaths, including the famous " Sullivan Five Brothers ".
kills all the air attack
At dawn, General Kincaid sent a large-scale air search force, but found nothing. So he sent his torpedo bomber squadron to land at Henderson Airport and obeyed General Vandergrift's command.
The "Cactus Air Force" whose strength has been strengthened has transferred its anger to the burning "Hire" drifting north of Savo Island. The once arrogant battleship was hit by 85 shells and was attacked by six or seven torpedoes. The turret at the rear has been blown to pieces and hung weakly on one side of the ship.
Smoke poured out from its damaged superstructure and front turret. The "Avenger" torpedo bomber on " Enterprise " dropped several torpedoes at the "Hirui", one hit the port side and the other hit the starboard side.
There are also several fighter jets from Henderson Airport that also attacked the smoke-prone waste ship. But it is a very stubborn battleship. By sunset, the Hiei is not only floating on the sea, but also moving forward.
However, at dawn on November 14, the shadow of the "Hairui" was missing on the sea, and only a huge oil trace with a diameter of nearly two miles remained on the sea. Abe determined that the warship was irrescued, and ordered the emperor's photo to be transferred to the escort "Naoliang" destroyer, the sailors sank the warship on their own.
For Yamamoto, the loss of a battleship was undoubtedly a heavy blow, but this was not enough to shake his firm will to protect 11 transport ships landed on Guadalam .
The Japanese army was determined to "completely paralyzed" Henderson Airport. On the evening of the 14th, another terrifying "Tokyo Express" attacked: cruisers and destroyers headed south at full speed along the "Trough Sea" and continued to bomb the airport for 37 minutes. For the Marine Corps members, this is indeed a terrible experience.
The torpedo speedboats that arrived from Tulaji Island fired several torpedoes at the enemy fleet and drove them away. However, the US military only lost 18 aircraft, the runway was slightly repaired, and it was able to be put into use the next morning.
15 at 9:49 am: An reconnaissance aircraft of the Enterprise discovered a large-scale Japanese fleet in the north of New Georgia Island, which was heading towards Guadalcanal at a speed of 14 knots. The pilot saw the destroyer and "multiple enemy transport ships."
11 transport ships sailed to Guadalam under the escort of 11 destroyers, and had already walked halfway. The destroyer commander was the smart Major General Tanaka Rai San. He ignored the fleet that had been discovered by two dive bombers of the "Enterprise" in the morning and ordered the ships to continue south along the narrow waters.
Tanaka has no choice - if you don't get reinforcements and supplies, Baiwu will definitely die.
General Van der Grift ordered the transport ship to be the primary target of attack for the Allied forces. In the afternoon of that day, every fighter jet that could take off at Henderson Airport was filled with oil and ammunition, and flew to the "Trough Sea" to attack.
The pilots did not control the destroyer and concentrated their firepower on the transport ship.That afternoon was "the busiest and craziest afternoon at Henderson Airport. Navy pilots and their Marine Brothers fought together, and the ground crew members also made superhuman contributions, allowing the SBD fearless dive bomber and TBF 'Avenger' torpedo bombers to continuously carry bombs and torpedoes between the airport and the attack target."
Defensible bomber
The bombing of American aircraft lasted throughout the day, and it was a cold massacre that was killed.
The 10th fighter squadron led by Jimmy Flatley dived down at a 60-degree angle, and at the same time, it used the 0.50-inch caliber machine gun to shoot a transport ship full of soldiers. The Japanese troops on the ship jumped into the sea one after another to avoid the fierce attacks of American fighter jets.
Later that afternoon, a team of B-17 bombers who arrived from San Espiritu Island also joined the battle. The torpedo dropped by the TBF Avengers torpedo bomber hit a 10,000-ton transport ship. The torpedo exploded the middle of the transport ship and overturned it, and the ship sank within a few minutes.
Schematic diagram
The plane hovering over flew over the wreckage low above the wreckage and frantically shot at the Japanese soldiers struggling to survive on the water. After the torpedo was thrown by the torpedo, the driver and the rear-seat machine gunners also joined the feast of the massacre.
"The sea was full of rafts and boats floating between oil residue , driftwood and other things. When we fired, three transport ships were still floating on the sea. We, together with those fighter , were straggling at these transport ships, small boats in the water and everything else we could see."
There were a large number of Japanese corpses floating on the sea. The blood of the Japanese army almost dyed the entire sea red, and the air was filled with smoke, burnt and blood. The escort fleet in the field could only rescue the Japanese army who fell into the water at all costs. According to statistics afterwards, nearly 5,000 people were salvaged from the 6 sunken transport ships alone. These soldiers basically had nothing except military uniforms.
A considerable number of pilots felt "extremely proud" about this attack. The battle report of the Enterprise pointed out that there was "orderly destruction" in this battle.
November 14, the Japanese fleet attacked Henderson Airport at night. The photos were taken from the Atagawa: Kirishima (front) and Kaohsiung (back).
Before the sun set, six transport ships had sank, one of which had lost its ability to move, and the remaining four were under the escort of four destroyers, sneaked into the twilight and headed towards Guadalcanal Island.
Yamamoto Iroko Order Kondo Nobutake personally led the battleship "Kijima", two heavy cruisers , two light cruisers and a team of destroyers, and once again headed south along the Solomon Islands Strait to attack. Henderson Airport seems to be doomed this time.
However, this time the Japanese army's opponent was the battleship. . .
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