November 12, 1942 - The Guadalcanal battle breaks out, changing the face of the Pacific battle

It was only at the end of the war that the United States realized that it had suffered much more damage than Japan and had lost its greatest tactics ever.

November 12, 1942 - The Battle of the Battle of Guadalcanal begins to change the face of the Pacific battle completely

C donated Guadalcanal , the codename of the Allied is Operation Watchtower , which took place from August 7, 1942 to February 9, 1943 on Guadalcanal and the surrounding area in the Solomon Islands of the Pacific Front in World War II . The dispute is fierce both on land, on the sea and in the air; This campaign was the first major Allied attack against the Japanese Empire after a long period of defense. The best point of this campaign was the naval battle of Guadalcanal - one of the fiercest battles in the Second World War - which took place from November 12, 1942 to November 15, 1942. The naval battle included many air strikes and artillery fights between the ships for four days, most of them near Guadalcanal and all of which involved Japanese efforts to infiltrate the island. This battle was the highlight of the only two US Navy admins who died during the war.

Describe the naval battle of Guadalcanal in the night.

It all began on August 8, 1942, with 11,000 troops of the Allied forces controlling Tulagi, the neighboring islands, and a Japanese-built airport at Lunga Point later called Henderson . To protect the airport, US Marines set up a defensive perimeter around Lunga Point. The reinforcements were transported to two months later, increasing the number of US troops at Lunga Point to 20,000. In response, the Japanese General Command assigned the 17th Army, a corps-sized unit stationed at Rabaul under the command of Lieutenant General Hyakutake Harukichi, to recapture Guadalcanal. The 17th Army units began moving to Guadalcanal on August 19 to defeat the Allied forces from the island.

The Japanese army planned another attack on Guadalcanal in November 1942, but there must be reinforcements before the plan could be implemented. The army asked Yamamoto to help send reinforcements to the island and assist them in the assault on the Allied forces trying to secure Henderson Airport. To support reinforcements, Yamamoto assembled 11 large transport ships to transfer 7,000 troops of the 38th Infantry Division and ammunition, food and Rabaul heavy equipment to Guadalcanal. He also sent warships from Truk to the fleet of November 9, including two battleships. The two battleships Hiei and Kirishima were armed with explosion-proof explosive bullets (fragile shells) used to bombard Henderson on the night of November 12 and November 13, to destroy the airport and the fleet of aircraft stationed there. , enabling large and slow transports to Guadalcanal to safely deploy troops the next day. The fleet will receive orders from the flagship Hiei that Vice Admiral Abe Hiroaki is leading.

Battleship Kirishima.

Abe Hiroaki's fleet set up a team 110 km north of the Indispensable Strait and began to advance to Guadalcanal on 12/11, intending to arrive early in the morning of November 13. The slower transport convoy with 11 or 12 destroyers commanded by Tanaka Raizo began to enter the waters of New Georgia Sound from Shortlands as planned to visit Guadalcanal on the night of November 13.

In addition to the two battleships, Abe's fleet included Nagara's light cruiser and 11 destroyers divided into two groups. The group of destroyers No. 10 was commanded by the lack of naval general Kimura Susumu, the No. 4 destroyer group commanded by the navy general Takama Tamotsu. The Shigure, Shiratsuyu and Yugure destroyers served as a rear guard in the Russell Islands when Abe's fleet entered the waters around Savo Island north of Guadalcanal.

US reconnaissance planes found the Japanese fleet approaching and signaled a warning to the Allied commander. Upon receiving the Richmond K.Turner warning, it gathered and separated all ships that could fight out of the convoy to protect shore forces on Guadalcanal from possible Japanese attacks and landings. At the same time, ordered transports to withdraw from the area at sunset on November 12.

Admiral Daniel Callaghan, who was a few days older, had been appointed commander, though Norman Scott had more experience. Callaghan prepares to engage the Japanese fleet at night in a fierce battle. Callaghan's navy, consisting of two heavy cruisers San Francisco and Portland, three light cruisers, Helena, Juneau and Atlanta, and eight other destroyers. Admiral Callaghan commanded on San Francisco.

Film footage of campaign Guadalcanal.

When it reached Guadalcanal, the Japanese fleet entered a large and dense rainstorm, due to the complex formation of Abe's obscure fleet of Japanese fleet split into several groups. The US fleet formed a long line around the Savo Sea with the destroyers standing before and after the defensive line and the cruisers standing in the middle. The distance between the destroyers with the cruisers was 730m, between the cruisers and each other was 640m and between the destroyers together was 460m. Five ships were equipped with new sensor radar systems and had long range, but Callaghan decided not to let them stand in front of the defensive line, and did not choose any ships to be their flagship. Callaghan does not disseminate combat action plans for captains in its fleet.

At about 1:25 on November 13 in the pitch-black condition due to the heavy thunderstorms and the moon, the Japanese fleet entered the strait between Savo and Guadalcanal, ready to bombard Henderson Airport. Some US ships discovered Japanese ships at 01h24 but had communication problems to inform Callaghan, because of the lack of synchronous operation and the quality of the radio system they were equipped with. suffered, as well as a lack of discipline in communication communication.

A few minutes later the two forces almost simultaneously saw each other, but both Abe Hiroaki and Daniel J.Callaghan hesitated to order their ships to attack immediately. Abe is almost surprised because the enemy fleet is so close that it is impossible to decide whether he should order a temporary withdrawal so that the battleships have enough time to replace the explosive ammunition (used for shelling) into bullets. anti-ship, or continue to move forward. He decided to continue on, while Callaghan was about to slam the Japanese fleet but was confused because he only received incomplete information, and because the Japanese fleet was divided into small groups, so he issued orders to confuse the fleet, and he generally took too much time before acting.The US fleet of ships began to decay, contributing to Callaghan delaying the order of shooting, to determine and rearrange the formation . Meanwhile, Japanese ships were watching in the middle of the US lineup, the captains of both sides were anxiously waiting for the order to fire.

Shelling pictures from the US Navy ship.

At 1:48 Akatsuki and Hiei turned two searchlights into the Atlanta just 2.7 km (the direct firing range of large large gunboats). Several ships of the two sides started firing at each other. Realizing that his forces were surrounded by Japanese ships, Callaghan ordered " odd number ships to fire on the starboard side, even numbered ships to the port" , only before the battle broke out. The ship was not assigned a number, and the warship formation was inherently chaotic. All remaining unburnt ships of the United States fired, some other ships had to change their targets to meet Callaghan's orders. The two forces are intertwined, firing melee artillery at each other in a chaotic manner like the naval battles of the previous centuries. The Monssen pilot described the battle " as if it were a riot in the bar when the lights were turned off ." Meanwhile, Robert Leckie, a US Marine soldier who witnessed the battle on Guadalcanal, recounted: " Bright, high-intensity and bright red flares. Huge flares of splashes of light ripped through the night. in the orange light . The sea was like a polished glass stone on which the warships were released, motionless, centered on the circles spread like falling stones. down the mud ".

The naval battle of Guadalcanal was adapted on HBO's series The Pacific television series.

After 40 minutes of fighting with each other, the two sides began to separate and cease fire at 2:26 after Abe and Captain Gilbert Hoover (Captain of the Helena and the highest commander of the Flower fleet. I survived until then) ordered a ceasefire. On Admiral Abe's side, there was a battleship, a light cruiser and four light destroyers with only four damaged destroyers. The US side has only a light cruiser and a destroyer is still able to resist. Although Abe may not have noticed, the situation did not allow his fleet to bombard Henderson Airport and completely destroy the US fleet, creating a safe zone to land reinforcements and supplies. . Whatever the reason, Abe ordered an armistice and pulled all the ships out of the area , though Yukikaze and Teruzuki were still there to help Hiei.

At about 3 pm on November 13, Yamamoto postponed the landing plan of the convoy and all returned to Shortlands to wait for new orders. When dawn popped three crippled Japanese ships, Hiei, Yudachi and Amatsukaze and three other paralyzed ships of the US, Portland, Atlanta and Aaron Ward, located offshore around Savo Island. Bobolink tugboat circled around New Georgia Sound waters all day 13/11 to assist US ships and survivors as well as report the shooting of all Japanese survivors. floating on the water. Because of the confusion about the nature of the battle, the United States thought it had sunk at least seven Japanese ships. Plus the withdrawal of Japan made the United States believe that it had won.It was only at the end of the war that the United States realized that it had suffered much more damage than Japan and had lost its greatest tactics ever.

This is Japan's last major naval battle in trying to retake Henderson Airport or encircle the surrounding sea. The US Navy succeeded in re-supplying its forces at Guadalcanal, including bringing the two divisions to them at the end of December 1942. The inability to neutralize Henderson caused all Japanese attempts to fail against US forces attacking Guadalcanal. Japan's final rebellion was at the end of the Guadalcanal campaign on February 9, 1943 when Japan evacuated all forces from all islands in the Ke campaign. The victory of the campaign Guadalcanal helped the Allies consolidate elsewhere in the area and helped end the Second World War when Japan surrendered. US President Franklin Roosevelt commented after seeing the outcome of the battle: "It seems to have been a turning point in the war."