5896
October 17th, 1942
Guadalcanal - The 6th Marines arrive at Tetere without incident. The men disembark very quickly, the equipment and ammunition will take longer.
In exchange, the transports will re-embark the men of the 1st Raider Battalion and the Parachute Battalion of the Marines, who have been severely tested during the August-September battles. In the short term, it is planned to bring in the 8th Marines and the rest of the support elements of the 2nd Division in exchange for the most heavily damaged elements of the 1st Division.
In the medium term, the US Army is was to send the Americal Division (or 23rd US Division) to the island, including three regiments (132nd, 164th and 182nd) who are training in New Caledonia.
.........
Tulagi - The Australian AMCs Westralia, Kanimbla and Manoora land the 9th Brigade of the AMF: 1st and 45th Infantry Battalions, University of Sydney Battalion, 1st Battalion Royal Australian Artillery (RAA) armed with 18 pounders (plus a reinforcement of gunners without guns), and finally 1st Divisional Fire Control Company. The 9th Brigade is accompanied by a Mixed Armored Company composed of half a dozen Valentine tanks and as many Sentinel (or "Australian Cruiser") tanks, equipped with a 25-pounder gun.
The 9th Brigade relieves the 28th Brigade (13th, 17th and 18th Infantry Battalions and 9th Artillery Battalion, RAA, which gives up its 25 pdr to the artillerymen who had just landed). Its mission, in addition to ensuring the security of the Tulagi base, is to make sure that there are no Japanese on Florida Island.
After this mission, the three AMCs will go to Sydney to complete their transformation into LSI. Their seven 6-inch guns will be removed and replaced by a single 4 or 6 inch gun and an abundance of flak. The internal fittings will allow the transport of 900 to 1,400 men in arms and ten to twenty landing craft (Landing Crafts) depending on the ship. This new conversion will be completed in January
Fiji Islands - The Combined Fleet Headquarters in Truk decides to destroy "the American battleship stationed in Fiji" (it seems that they are unaware that it is the North Carolina and that the ship is badly damaged). A special Betty force is concentrated for this purpose at Rabaul. The diary of Commander Matsuura (22nd Air Flotilla), published in 1975 under the title Ship Killers, tells the story.
"Finally we were going to implement our new tactics. With the reserve aircraft, we had 24 G4M1/M2s at our disposal. Six aircraft were designated as bombers and target markers with flares. The 18 others carried torpedoes - we could not do more, as we only had 18 devices to launch Type 91 torpedoes in shallow water. We had to stop in Buin to refuel, because even with auxiliary tanks, the G4M2s would be at the extreme limit of their range.
The port charts showed that only a single file approach could be used.
We had lost many experienced pilots in the South China Sea, but the survivors had trained their replacements and we had trained intensively in the preceding months. The flight to Buin was routine, with all planes arriving at sunset. After take-off from Buin, two planes suffered mechanical problems and had to return (a torpedo carrier had a hydraulic failure preventing it from retracting its gear, a target marker had an engine failure); their crews were very bitter about this blow of fate which deprived them of an opportunity to show their worth. The rest of the flight went smoothly, the navigators earned their pay and we approached Vitu Levu shortly after midnight. The two planes equipped with radar detectors signaled that we were probably spotted and we started to watch out for the night fighters. Two planes were indeed engaged by fighters, but managed to lose them [NDE - There were no night fighters in Fiji at that time].
Shortly after 01:00 local time, the target markers began to illuminate the shoreline of the city and harbor and the target became visible. Lt. Takachi, who commanded the planes, reported that a large ship was moored alongside the battleship and that the flak was weak and inaccurate compared to what he had experienced in the China Sea against the Royal Navy.
As was appropriate, my plane was the first to attack. I was able to drop my torpedo without incident and the flak did not bother me much. The rear gunner signaled a hit on target and a great satisfaction filled my mind, rather than the ecstatic exultation felt in the China Sea. This was the second time one of my torpedoes had hit an enemy ship. It was my job. I had to climb steeply to avoid the hills behind the harbor, and then I turned around to observe the attack of my subordinates. Since I knew where to look, the planes were clearly visible and most of the torpedoes went in. Unfortunately, three of my G4M were hit. Two of them crashed into the harbor and the third one, in flames, hit the enemy battleship, lighting it up with a brilliant flame and helping the last four aircraft to aim. It was a warrior's death, the sight of which was an inspiration to us all."
Out of 17 aircraft, 15 are able to launch and the results are not as good as Matsuura imagines. Although the target was stationary, only six torpedoes hit (note that the third plane shot down did not crash on the battleship, but on the pier).
Two torpedoes hit the large workshop ship Vulcan, moored alongside the battleship. The Vulcan capsizes and sinks. Four torpedoes actually hit the battleship, two at the stern and two in the center, on the starboard side (as opposed to the torpedoes that hit the ship during the second battle of Savo Island). These impacts cause great damage and two massive waterways. Worse: the terrible shocks demolish the repairs that had made it possible to start pumping out the water filling the ship. While the three tugs present (two American and one Dutch) rush to the scene, several internal bulkheads give way and the North Carolina sinks. In shallow water, it is true: when the hull hit the bottom, the main deck was still just above the water.
Luckily, this time there are no fatalities among the crew of the North Carolina! Of the late North Carolina, since the US Navy finally admitted that repairs would be an absurd waste of resources and that the ship was lost (constructive total loss).
However, the episode is not entirely negative for the Americans. Indeed, it resulted, in the Solomons, by a three-day halt to the raids on Guadalcanal, just as the 6th Marines and the 9th Brigade of the AMF arrived. The Allies did not expect so much!
In addition, the Sea-Bees at Henderson Field take advantage of the lull to repair and consolidate their runways.
Guadalcanal - The 6th Marines arrive at Tetere without incident. The men disembark very quickly, the equipment and ammunition will take longer.
In exchange, the transports will re-embark the men of the 1st Raider Battalion and the Parachute Battalion of the Marines, who have been severely tested during the August-September battles. In the short term, it is planned to bring in the 8th Marines and the rest of the support elements of the 2nd Division in exchange for the most heavily damaged elements of the 1st Division.
In the medium term, the US Army is was to send the Americal Division (or 23rd US Division) to the island, including three regiments (132nd, 164th and 182nd) who are training in New Caledonia.
.........
Tulagi - The Australian AMCs Westralia, Kanimbla and Manoora land the 9th Brigade of the AMF: 1st and 45th Infantry Battalions, University of Sydney Battalion, 1st Battalion Royal Australian Artillery (RAA) armed with 18 pounders (plus a reinforcement of gunners without guns), and finally 1st Divisional Fire Control Company. The 9th Brigade is accompanied by a Mixed Armored Company composed of half a dozen Valentine tanks and as many Sentinel (or "Australian Cruiser") tanks, equipped with a 25-pounder gun.
The 9th Brigade relieves the 28th Brigade (13th, 17th and 18th Infantry Battalions and 9th Artillery Battalion, RAA, which gives up its 25 pdr to the artillerymen who had just landed). Its mission, in addition to ensuring the security of the Tulagi base, is to make sure that there are no Japanese on Florida Island.
After this mission, the three AMCs will go to Sydney to complete their transformation into LSI. Their seven 6-inch guns will be removed and replaced by a single 4 or 6 inch gun and an abundance of flak. The internal fittings will allow the transport of 900 to 1,400 men in arms and ten to twenty landing craft (Landing Crafts) depending on the ship. This new conversion will be completed in January
Fiji Islands - The Combined Fleet Headquarters in Truk decides to destroy "the American battleship stationed in Fiji" (it seems that they are unaware that it is the North Carolina and that the ship is badly damaged). A special Betty force is concentrated for this purpose at Rabaul. The diary of Commander Matsuura (22nd Air Flotilla), published in 1975 under the title Ship Killers, tells the story.
"Finally we were going to implement our new tactics. With the reserve aircraft, we had 24 G4M1/M2s at our disposal. Six aircraft were designated as bombers and target markers with flares. The 18 others carried torpedoes - we could not do more, as we only had 18 devices to launch Type 91 torpedoes in shallow water. We had to stop in Buin to refuel, because even with auxiliary tanks, the G4M2s would be at the extreme limit of their range.
The port charts showed that only a single file approach could be used.
We had lost many experienced pilots in the South China Sea, but the survivors had trained their replacements and we had trained intensively in the preceding months. The flight to Buin was routine, with all planes arriving at sunset. After take-off from Buin, two planes suffered mechanical problems and had to return (a torpedo carrier had a hydraulic failure preventing it from retracting its gear, a target marker had an engine failure); their crews were very bitter about this blow of fate which deprived them of an opportunity to show their worth. The rest of the flight went smoothly, the navigators earned their pay and we approached Vitu Levu shortly after midnight. The two planes equipped with radar detectors signaled that we were probably spotted and we started to watch out for the night fighters. Two planes were indeed engaged by fighters, but managed to lose them [NDE - There were no night fighters in Fiji at that time].
Shortly after 01:00 local time, the target markers began to illuminate the shoreline of the city and harbor and the target became visible. Lt. Takachi, who commanded the planes, reported that a large ship was moored alongside the battleship and that the flak was weak and inaccurate compared to what he had experienced in the China Sea against the Royal Navy.
As was appropriate, my plane was the first to attack. I was able to drop my torpedo without incident and the flak did not bother me much. The rear gunner signaled a hit on target and a great satisfaction filled my mind, rather than the ecstatic exultation felt in the China Sea. This was the second time one of my torpedoes had hit an enemy ship. It was my job. I had to climb steeply to avoid the hills behind the harbor, and then I turned around to observe the attack of my subordinates. Since I knew where to look, the planes were clearly visible and most of the torpedoes went in. Unfortunately, three of my G4M were hit. Two of them crashed into the harbor and the third one, in flames, hit the enemy battleship, lighting it up with a brilliant flame and helping the last four aircraft to aim. It was a warrior's death, the sight of which was an inspiration to us all."
Out of 17 aircraft, 15 are able to launch and the results are not as good as Matsuura imagines. Although the target was stationary, only six torpedoes hit (note that the third plane shot down did not crash on the battleship, but on the pier).
Two torpedoes hit the large workshop ship Vulcan, moored alongside the battleship. The Vulcan capsizes and sinks. Four torpedoes actually hit the battleship, two at the stern and two in the center, on the starboard side (as opposed to the torpedoes that hit the ship during the second battle of Savo Island). These impacts cause great damage and two massive waterways. Worse: the terrible shocks demolish the repairs that had made it possible to start pumping out the water filling the ship. While the three tugs present (two American and one Dutch) rush to the scene, several internal bulkheads give way and the North Carolina sinks. In shallow water, it is true: when the hull hit the bottom, the main deck was still just above the water.
Luckily, this time there are no fatalities among the crew of the North Carolina! Of the late North Carolina, since the US Navy finally admitted that repairs would be an absurd waste of resources and that the ship was lost (constructive total loss).
However, the episode is not entirely negative for the Americans. Indeed, it resulted, in the Solomons, by a three-day halt to the raids on Guadalcanal, just as the 6th Marines and the 9th Brigade of the AMF arrived. The Allies did not expect so much!
In addition, the Sea-Bees at Henderson Field take advantage of the lull to repair and consolidate their runways.