Battle of Savo Island, August 9, 1942
Excerpt from ’An Ocean of Fire: The Pacific War 1941–1944’ – Joe Chevalier – BBG Publishing.
Between 00:44 and 00:54, the lookouts of Mikawa’s ships reported the presence of the USS Blue 9 km in front of the Japanese column. To avoid the USS Blue, Mikawa altered the course of his fleet to pass north of Savo Island, reducing speed to reduce the wakes left by his vessels and make them less visible.
At 01:00, the lookouts spot the USS Ralph Talbot about 16 km away. Japanese ships continued on their way while pointing more than 50 guns at the USS Blue, ready to fire if the American ship detected them. When the USS Blue turns around, because she has reached the end of its patrol route, she is actually less than 2 km from Mikawa’s fleet and does not even realize it. The 8th fleet accelerates.
At 01:26, Mikawa released and allowed his ships to act independently of his flagship.
At 01:36, Mikawa ordered a general attack. At the same time, the Yūnagi at the end of the Japanese column turned around because she had lost sight of the rest of the column.
Shortly after the Japanese spotted the USS Jarvis on the port side, she was damaged by the previous day’s air attacks and without a radio left Guadalcanal for repairs in Australia. The Furutaka fired several torpedoes at the American destroyer, but all of them passed by. Japanese ships pass within 1,100 m of the Jarvis without the latter noticing anything.
Two minutes later, the Japanese saw the destroyers and allied cruisers of the Southern Group about 15 km away, their silhouettes flashing in front of the lights of the burning George F. Eliott transport.
At 01:38, the Japanese cruisers began launching their torpedoes towards the South group. At the same time, the Chokai lookouts spot the ships of the North group at about 16 km. Imitated by the rest of the column; the Chokai positioned itself to face this new threat while preparing a gun battle against the South group. The USS Patterson, which was on alert because its commander had taken the report received at the end of the day seriously, spotted Kinugasa 5 km ahead of him. It immediately sends an alert message by radio and light signals ’Alarm! Alarm! Alarm! Unknown ships entering the area!’ The USS Patterson accelerates at full speed and fires flare shells towards the Japanese column. The commander ordered torpedoes to be fired, but his order was covered by the sound of his own ship’s guns. At the same time, Japanese seaplanes launched flares in the direction of HMAS Canberra and USS Chicago. Captain Getting of HMAS Canberra ordered to accelerate at full speed to position himself between the Japanese and the transport ships while giving the order to fire on all visible targets. Less than a minute later, Canberra was hit by several shells from the Chokai and Furutaka, and the Aoba and Kako also fired for the next three minutes. The Canberra was hit at least twenty-four times by large-calibre shells, killing the artillery officer, fatally injuring Getting and destroying the engine rooms, depriving the ship of electricity even before it had fired a single shell.
The cruiser is immobilized, on fire and unable to fight the fire or pump water out of the flooded compartments.
The crew of the USS Chicago went on alert and Captain Bode was pulled out of his deep sleep, the latter ordered illuminating shells to be fired on the Japanese column, but the shells did not work.
At 01:47, a Kako torpedo hit the bow of the USS Chicago, the shock wave damaged the main battery control systems. A second torpedo hit Chicago without exploding and a shell destroyed the mast, killing two sailors. The USS Chicago then sailed west for forty minutes, abandoning the transports it was supposed to protect, while opening fire with its secondary artillery on Japanese ships, but causing only minor damage to Tenryu. Bode then commits the unforgivable: he does not assume his command and does not even signal to his allies that he is leaving the combat zone.
Meanwhile, the USS Patterson engaged in an artillery duel with Mikawa’s fleet and received a shell on the rear, killing ten sailors and causing damage. As it sailed along the east coast of Savo while firing, the Patterson lost sight of the Japanese column. The USS Bagley, which spotted the Japanese column shortly after the Patterson and Canberra, turned completely to the side before firing several torpedoes at the Japanese.
At 01:44, as Mikawa’s ships advanced towards the Allied fleet to the north, the Tenryu and Yubari separated from the column and headed further west. The Furutaka to avoid a collision with HMAS Canberra decided to follow the Yubari and Tenryu. The Allied fleet in the Northeast was then about to be wrapped up and attacked on both sides.
Although the crews of the Allied cruisers in the North group were asleep at the beginning of the Japanese attack, they observed the explosions south of Savo Island and received the message from the USS Patterson, but it took them some time to prepare for battle. At 01:44, the first torpedo bursts were fired by Japanese ship. At 01:50, the Japanese shone powerful spotlights on the American cruisers and immediately opened fire. The USS Astoria spotted the Japanese cruisers, her captain who was sleeping ordered a ceasefire for fear of hitting allied ships, he ordered the firing to resume less than a minute later. The Chokai nevertheless adjusted its fire and the Astoria was hit by several shells and caught fire. Between 02:00 and 02:15, the Aoba, Kinugasa and Kako joined the Chokai in firing. The Astoria engine room was hit, the burning ship came to rest. The last of the main turrets tries to destroy the projector of Kinugasa, but misses it and touches by chance the front turret of the Chokai which is put out of action.
At the same time, the captain of the cruiser USS Quincy ordered the combat jolt and ordered to open fire, but the gunners were not ready. Within a few minutes the Quincy was caught under the crossfire of Aoba, Furutaka and Tenryu and caught fire. The captain of the USS Quincy ordered to charge towards the Japanese column, but as he turned to put himself in the right position, the ship was hit by two torpedoes from the Tenryu. However, the Quincy managed to launch a torpedo that hit the Chokai map room less than six metres from Admiral Mikawa and killed 36 Japanese sailors. At 02:10, Japanese shells killed or wounded almost all the crew on the Quincy’s bridge, including the captain. At 02:16, the cruiser was hit by a torpedo from the Aoba, the last guns of the Quincy ceased to fire.
The Quincy’s first gunner in-chief sent to the bridge to ask for orders recounts: ‘When I arrived on the bridge, I saw three or four people still standing in the middle of a pile of dead bodies. In the command post, the only person standing was the steward who was desperately trying to control the starboard list and bring it to port. He told me that the captain, who at that time was lying near the helm, had told him to ground the ship and that he was trying to head for Savo Island, 6 km to port. I passed through the room to look to port and spot where the island was and noticed that the vessel was listing rapidly to starboard and was starting to sink from the bow. At that moment, the captain straightened up and fell back, apparently dead, without having said anything but a moan.’
The USS Quincy sank at 02:38.
At 01:50, USS Vincennes is reluctant to fire for fear of hitting Allied ships. She was immediately targeted by the Kako and retaliated. After the Vincennes had received several shells, Captain Frederick L. Riefkhol ordered to accelerate, but suffered heavy damage from two Chokai torpedoes. Kinugasa then joined the Chokai and was hit by a shot from the Vincennes that caused slight damage to its propulsion. In the process, the American cruiser received 74 shells and at 02:03 was hit by a torpedo from the Yubari which destroyed its boilers. The USS Vincennes came to rest, destroyed by the flames and listing to port. At 02:16, Riefkohl ordered a general evacuation; the ship sank at 02:50.
At 02:16, Mikawa’s fleet ceased firing and moved north of Savo Island with minor damage. The Furutaka, Tenryu and Yubari came face to face with the USS Ralph Talbot, opened fire and seriously damaged her, but she managed to escape thanks to the rain that hindered visibility.
The attack is over; the Americans knocked out by the Japanese are recovering. However, they are not at the end of their troubles.
At 03:00, Admiral Ugaki transmitted the orders to his fleet: ’To all ships, the destroyers Arashiro and Asachiro will position themselves at Cape Esperance to take Captain Monzen’s men on board. All other ships must continue at full speed towards the American landing zone near the Tenaru River, the bad weather will cover our approach. We will then bombard the landing area and its surroundings to destroy the equipment already landed and eliminate as many enemy soldiers as possible. We will then continue our movement towards the landing fleet to destroy the transport ships. Transport must remain our priority.’ The Arashiro and Asachiro are positioning themselves on patrol near Cap Esperance and are preparing to embark the soldiers who should not be long in coming.
At 04:00, the USS Patterson positioned herself near HMAS Canberra to assist in firefighting.
At 04:30, masked by heavy rain, Admiral Matome Ugaki appeared at the head of the 1st Battleships Division (Yamato, Nagato, Mutsu) and the 2nd Battleships Division (Ise, Hyuga, Fuso, Yamashiro) escorted by the 5th Cruiser Division (Hagumo, Myoko, Nachi) and 2 Destroyer Squadron (Light Cruiser Jintsu and destroyers Arashiro, Asachiro, Oshio, Michishiro) and places its ships in firing position to strike the American landing zone. The entire fleet concentrated its fire for 5 minutes on the landing area, then widened the target area to create chaos in the ranks of American soldiers on the island.
At 04:42, Japanese ships were within gun range of American transport ships. The ships fired all their guns for 6 minutes. Several transport ships exploded or caught fire masking the visibility of both sides. The American ships damaged in the previous clash make perfect targets for the Japanese. Thus the already severely damaged USS Ralph Talbot received fifteen shells, was shaken by a strong explosion and broke in two. The burning HMAS Canberra was hit by three torpedoes, one of which did not explode, and the ship sank at 05:06. The bridge of the USS Chicago was hit by a shell that killed Captain Bode.
At 04:50, the destroyers USS Bagley and Patterson rushed towards the enemy fleet and fired several torpedoes at the Japanese ships, one of which would hit the Yamato without causing any major damage to her.
At 04:52 Admiral Ugaki ordered the ships to turn back to return to the Cape Esperance area while maintaining fire on the American fleet. The Patterson and Bagley, which had been hit several times, turned back to join the rest of the fleet. At 04:56, the Bagley is hit by five shells from the Yamato, the ship stops sharply and heels quickly. The order to abandon the ship is immediately given. Meanwhile, USS Chicago is hit by a torpedo that aggravates the damage she suffered.
At 05:00, the USS Patterson was positioned 100 metres from the Bagley and sent boats to rescue the crew of the ship that threatened to explode. This happened at 05:09, the flames had reached the ammunition stocks and the Bagley was shaken by a series of secondary explosions followed by the main one. Much shrapnel wounds sailors aboard the boats and causes some injury and damage aboard the USS Patterson.
At 05:16, USS Blue came face to face with the Japanese fleet, which was less than two kilometres away. The Americans do not have time to realize what is happening, that a steel storm is sweeping through the ship. The latter broke in two and sank at 05:18, leaving only eleven survivors to be rescued by USS Jarvis. Of the 23 transport ships, only 5 are still intact and 2 severely damaged will run ashore where their cargo will be unloaded as best as they can. The other 15 transports are lost. The 1st Marine Division was bled blank by Japanese ship gunfire and reported 968 dead or dying and more than 2,300 wounded.
Excerpt of ‘Helmet for My Pillow’ by Marines 1st Class Bob Leckie
‘We were on a ridge several kilometres inland, with a perfect view of the fleet’s anchorage area. We were in our holes in front of this damn jungle, we had lost a man a few minutes earlier. A fool who had just peed and who didn’t give us the password. He was shot at least four times in the chest and two in the head. When the naval battle began, we were all awakened, it was like a July 4th. Gun flares and illuminating shells illuminated the night, but we could not distinguish the ships from each other. Parker was convinced that the Navy was beating the Japs, I told him he might be too optimistic… I wish I was wrong. The fighting stopped, but two hours later hell fell on the beaches below, a fleet in the northwest was pouring a flood of steel into the area, a few shells did not pass far from us either. Later, a few more exchanges of fire took place with our fleet and then nothing more. At sunrise, we reached the beach, the only ships still present were wrecks, the beach had been ploughed. Almost all our supplies had been destroyed, the rest on the sea bed or left with Turner who left us here. The beach defenders were either dead or badly shaken. This scene was terrifying, we survived hell … a hell that was only the first.’
