Phaseolus
WKR
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Today in the Pacific: 12-15 November 1942
Enterprise is the lone carrier left available to the United States Navy. Yorktown was lost at Midway, Hornet and Wasp were sunk near Guadalcanal. Saratoga was damaged by a torpedo and is back in the States for repair. Enterprise is damaged and only has one elevator operational.
THE NAVAL BATTLE OF GUADALCANAL
At the very moment American infantry and Marines are cleaning out Japanese stragglers at Koli Point, east of Henderson Field, a Japanese naval squadron approaches. Radar stations place the Japanese between Savo Island and Cape Esperance at the northern tip of Guadalcanal. Today, a furious naval battle breaks out in what is already being called “Iron Bottom Sound” for the number of sunken ships lying on the ocean floor.
U.S. forces include the carrier Enterprise, the battleships Washington and South Dakota, the cruisers San Francisco, Pensacola, Portland, Helena, Juneau, Atlanta, Northampton, and San Diego (note that battleships are named after states; cruisers after cities), 22 destroyers, and 7 transports. Seventy-nine aircraft are aboard the Enterprise. Another 194 are based on Guadalcanal and the New Hebrides.
The Japanese fleet includes the aircraft carriers Junyo and Hijo, with 95 total aircraft, the battleships Hiei, Kirishima, Kongo, and Haruna, the cruisers Atago, Takao, Sendai, Nagara, Tone, Chokai, Kinugasa, Suzuya, Maya, and Tanryu, 30 destroyers, 14 submarines, and 11 transports. 215 aircraft from New Britain support the fleet.
For three days the battle rages and the outcome is devastating for both sides: America loses the light cruisers Atlanta and Juneau and 7 destroyers, while the cruisers San Francisco, Portland, and Helena, the battleship South Dakota, and 4 destroyers are damaged.
The Japanese battleships Hiei and Kirishima are sunk, along with the heavy cruiser Kinugasa, 2 destroyers, and 7 of the 11 transports that intended to land over 10,000 reinforcements on Guadalcanal.
This naval engagement, fought mostly at night, will be Japan's final attempt to dislodge the Americans from Guadalcanal. Though the losses on both sides are horrific, America (especially the Marines) benefit because, in the end, Japan will be able to unload only 4,000 men and a few tons of supplies at Tassafaronga.
Enterprise is the lone carrier left available to the United States Navy. Yorktown was lost at Midway, Hornet and Wasp were sunk near Guadalcanal. Saratoga was damaged by a torpedo and is back in the States for repair. Enterprise is damaged and only has one elevator operational.
THE NAVAL BATTLE OF GUADALCANAL
At the very moment American infantry and Marines are cleaning out Japanese stragglers at Koli Point, east of Henderson Field, a Japanese naval squadron approaches. Radar stations place the Japanese between Savo Island and Cape Esperance at the northern tip of Guadalcanal. Today, a furious naval battle breaks out in what is already being called “Iron Bottom Sound” for the number of sunken ships lying on the ocean floor.
U.S. forces include the carrier Enterprise, the battleships Washington and South Dakota, the cruisers San Francisco, Pensacola, Portland, Helena, Juneau, Atlanta, Northampton, and San Diego (note that battleships are named after states; cruisers after cities), 22 destroyers, and 7 transports. Seventy-nine aircraft are aboard the Enterprise. Another 194 are based on Guadalcanal and the New Hebrides.
The Japanese fleet includes the aircraft carriers Junyo and Hijo, with 95 total aircraft, the battleships Hiei, Kirishima, Kongo, and Haruna, the cruisers Atago, Takao, Sendai, Nagara, Tone, Chokai, Kinugasa, Suzuya, Maya, and Tanryu, 30 destroyers, 14 submarines, and 11 transports. 215 aircraft from New Britain support the fleet.
For three days the battle rages and the outcome is devastating for both sides: America loses the light cruisers Atlanta and Juneau and 7 destroyers, while the cruisers San Francisco, Portland, and Helena, the battleship South Dakota, and 4 destroyers are damaged.
The Japanese battleships Hiei and Kirishima are sunk, along with the heavy cruiser Kinugasa, 2 destroyers, and 7 of the 11 transports that intended to land over 10,000 reinforcements on Guadalcanal.
This naval engagement, fought mostly at night, will be Japan's final attempt to dislodge the Americans from Guadalcanal. Though the losses on both sides are horrific, America (especially the Marines) benefit because, in the end, Japan will be able to unload only 4,000 men and a few tons of supplies at Tassafaronga.
