Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal

by James D. Hornfischer

  PART II:

  Fighting Fleet Rising

  9: A New Kind of Fight

  “We drank a cocktail toast”: Nimitz to Mrs. Nimitz, August 10, 1942. “Obsessed with a strong feeling”: Turner, “Comment on Hepburn Report,” 9–10. Air search sectors: Frank, Guadalcanal, 91. “Could not be heard”: Ghormley to King, “CTF 62 Communications During the Occupation of Tulagi and Guadalcanal” (Hepburn Report Annex, 644). “Was completely uninformed”: Task Force 18, War Diary, August 9, 1942. “Had timely and accurate information”: Kinkaid, Four Years of War, 284. “The way these carriers operate”: Mustin diary, August 8. “Was always trying” and “Three times during the night”: Weschler interview, 88. “We had to be very careful”: Wylie, NWC interview, 58–59. “I can take any dumb son”: Wylie, USNI interview, 28. “Hey, Cap’n”: Wylie, NWC interview, 66. “They were highly motivated”: Ibid., 60. “The moon rose”: Soule, Shooting the Pacific War, 37. “The Nation has passed through”: Bureau of Navigation Bulletin, “Information for Naval Personnel,” February 1, 1942, 28. Navy muster rolls statistics: COMINCH, First Official Report to the Secretary of the Navy, March 1, 1944, 494. “They go to war because”: Hynes, quoted in The War, episode 1, first broadcast on PBS, September 23, 2007. “I thought I was in a forest” and “Well, this doesn’t make”: Hagen, Nimitz interview, 3–5, 25–26. “As a bunch”: George T. Sullivan, undated letter, on display, NMPW. Sullivan brothers’ early life: Satterfield, We Band of Brothers, 23–29; Associated Press, “Five Iowa Brothers,” 10. “I guess our minds are made up”: Satterfield, We Band, 55. “Magic box”: Brown, A Radar History of WWII, 248. “There wasn’t any real training”: Rivero interview, 104. “A narrow man” and “Our flag officers”: Baldwin, “The Naval Defense of America,” 454–455. “Neither I nor”: Turner, “Comment on Hepburn Report,” 7–8. Operation of SG and SC radar: Brown, A Radar History of WW II, 237, 248. Radar in the Aaron Ward: Hagen 7, 10; Hagen, Nimitz interview, 6–7. “It is to be hoped that”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: August and September 1942,” 11-10–11-11. “The war has been variously termed”: Commander, Naval Base Guadalcanal, “History of U.S. Naval Advanced Base Guadalcanal,” 137. Preparation of Espiritu Santo: Gardner interview, 2; Ghormley to King, “Advance Bases, South Pacific Area.” “A gleam in Ghormley’s eye”: Dyer, The Amphibians Came to Conquer, 257. “It was dry”: Eller interview, 578–579. “There is going to be a”: Mustin diary, August 13. “They’re so goddamned scared”: Ibid., August 9. “I wish to God”: Ibid., August 11. “All their fleet”: Baldwin, “The Naval Defense of America,” 455–456. “Our planes had come”: Larrabee, Commander in Chief, 281. “That night we went to bed”: Soule, Shooting, 81.

  10: The Tokyo Express

  “Our real enemy is Germany” and “We have gained”: Sherwood, Roosevelt and Hopkins, 622. “Foresaw grave difficulties”: Tanaka, “Japan’s Losing Struggle for Guadalcanal,” part 1, 687, 690. Combat on Guadalcanal: Reeder, Fighting on Guadalcanal, 13; Merillat, Guadalcanal Remembered, 86. “A housefly’s attacking”: Tanaka, “Japan’s Losing Struggle,” part 1, 691. “We watched these awful machines”: Tregaskis, Guadalcanal Diary, 125. “We thought it was just”: Mangrum interview, 2.

  11: A Function at the Junction

  “Rough guess”: Wheeler, Kinkaid, 252. “Indications point strongly”: Quoted in Prados, Combined Fleet Decoded, 371. “Old Lexington and Yorktown”: Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, 92. “First ones spotted”: Mustin diary, August 24, 1942. “Men on other ships”: Leavelle, “The Log of the Mighty A,” March 28, 1943. “First plane missed”: Mustin diary, August 24. Damage-control efforts on Enterprise: Stafford, The Big E, 164. “My worst fears”: Tanaka, “Japan’s Losing Struggle for Guadalcanal,” part 1, 693–694. “Everyone is withdrawing but the Marines”: Merillat, Guadalcanal Remembered, 114. “Consider situation critical”: Ghormley to Nimitz, August 25, 1942 (0330). “We have made good start”: Nimitz to King, August 25, 1942 (2241). “Until the strength” and “For the present”: Ghormley to Nimitz, August 29, 1942 (0310). On August 30, Vandegrift informed Ghormley that F4Fs were the only planes that could meet Japanese bombers effectively at altitude. He had just eight of them. Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 18. “Surface craft, unless heavily protected”: Ghormley to Stark, June 11, 1941. “It is apparent that landing”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 193. “Greatest immediate threat to success”: Ghormley to MacArthur, August 25, 1942 (0320). “Perfect failure”: Ugaki, Fading, 197. Japanese reinforcements: General Headquarters, Far East Command, Monograph No. 98, 17–19. “Like a house in a severe earthquake”: Lundstrom, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, 471–472. “Sounds like there’s a function at the junction”: Leavelle, “The Log,” March 28, 1943. “What saved Guadalcanal”: Merillat, Guadalcanal Remembered, 112.

  12: What They Were Built For

  “It seemed we were on the fringe”: Barham, The 228 Days of the United States Destroyer Laffey (DD-459), 56–57. Cactus Air Force operations: Smith interview, 3–4, 13; Mangrum interview, 9–10, 14. “They come right up”: Fike interview, 12. “Certainly the means”: Ibid., 6–7. “So dumbfounding”: Tanaka, “Japan’s Losing Struggle for Guadalcanal,” part 1, 696. “It was difficult”: Mangrum interview, 9–10. “Let’s give Cactus the wherewithal”: Nimitz to King, September 1, 1942 (2331). “Appears enemy is building up”: Vandegrift to Turner, September 1, 1942 (2313). “Leaves much to the initiative” and “Keep in mind that”: Ghormley to SOPAC task force commanders, September 9, 1942 (1018). “I cling to the fond hope”: Mustin diary, September 9, 1942. “A tremendous step forward”: Musicant, Battleship at War, 10. “I have to spill this to somebody”: Ghormley to Nimitz, September 7, 1942, Ghormley Papers. “What could I say” and “Jim, you’ve got a bad case”: Albion and Connery, Forrestal and the Navy, 105–106. “Boys, I’ve got a surprise”: Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 108. “Criticism of basic concepts”: Hara, Japanese Destroyer Captain, 119. “Unless Guadalcanal is settled”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 200. “Situation as I view it today”: Ghormley to Nimitz, September 11, 1942 (0516). Battle of Edson’s Ridge: Frank, Guadalcanal, 237–241. “Sharks were everywhere”: Richardson, “My War,” unpaginated. “They didn’t want anybody to know”: Weschler interview, 101–102. “I guess he and Captain Gatch”: Backus interview, 133–134.

  13: The Warriors

  Norman Scott: U.S. Naval Academy, Lucky Bag, 1911. “Made things so miserable”: Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, 148 n. “Kind of like a junior Halsey”: Graff interview. Gunnery exercises: Chief of Naval Operations to Commander, Battleships, Battle Force, January 19, 1942; Crenshaw, South Pacific Destroyer, 39–40. “I did not know, from actual contact”: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 24. “It was the way”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 24–25. “For the next two weeks”: Spencer, The War Years: Hellfire and Glory, 51–52. “The best simulation of action”: USS Salt Lake City, “Offset Battle Practice.” “Outstanding development of the war” and “We are still not getting”: CINCPAC, “Gunnery Bulletin No. 2–42,” June 6, 1942, 1–2. “Quite a lot of technique”: Mustin interview, 456. Internal gunnery communications: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action, Night of October 11–12, 1942,” 18. “With a sickening thump”: Spencer, The War Years, 53. “In trying to give you an idea”: Ibid., 52. “Quick and slick as precision machinery”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 23. “He’ll be a Helena man”: Ibid., 25–26. “We knew things were going”: Howe interview, 15. “In his leather jacket”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 27. “The Helena craved action”: Ibid., 12. “We want to be consistent”: Ibid., 2. “Have you ever heard”: Ibid., 19–20. “The whole ship is enveloped”: Ibid., 22–23. “Too short a time to justify”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: August and September 1942,” 14–4. “His training section was constantly”: Eller interview, 565–566. “Had practically lapsed”: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 87. “It is continually proved”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: August and September 1942,” 12–25. “Scott had balls”:
Graff interview.

  14: The Devil May Care

  So this is war: Smoot interview, 95. Nimitz court-martial: Hoyt, How They Won the War in the Pacific, 39. “My gunnery officer saw”: Smoot interview, 95. “The sky was soon crisscrossed”: Thomason, quoted at www.destroyerhistory.org/benson-gleavesclass/ussmonssen/thomason_03.html. Smoot and Puller: Smoot interview, 101. When the first rescue boats were taken under heavy fire, a coxswain named Samuel B. Roberts volunteered to serve as a decoy. He steered his small craft directly toward the Japanese lines and drew their fire. His initiative was successful, and the marines were evacuated. But as Roberts was about to move beyond range of the enemy guns, his boat was hit and he was mortally wounded. Roberts was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. The destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) was christened in his honor. For more on that ship and its own epic story, see Hornfischer, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. “As the first marines appeared”: Thomason, quoted at www.destroyerhistory.org/benson-gleavesclass/ussmonssen/thomason_03.html. Douglas Munro: Hough, History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations I, vol. 1. 316–317. “Everything we could do”: Smoot interview, 101–102.

  15: The Visit

  “Today, September is going to pass”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 221. Laffey’s stores: USS Laffey, Deck Log for March 31, 1942. “So far removed from the critical area”: Nimitz to Ghormley, October 8, 1942, Ghormley Papers. “We recognized the fact that”: Arnold, Global Mission, 322–323. “It was obvious that”: Ibid., 340–342. “I presented the need for aircraft”: Ghormley, “The Tide Turns,” 126–127. Combined Chiefs of Staff planning: Hayes, The History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in World War II, 183–186. “Under constant pressure”: Hoyt, How They Won the War in the Pacific, 151–152. “My God, what are we going to do”: Potter, Nimitz, 236. “If the Japanese desired”: Ghormley, “The Tide,” 126–127. “I never saw an admiral before”: Hal Lamar, in Elarco Productions, The Nimitz Story. “Planes are too expensive”: Hoyt, How They Won, 153. “I feel that our present operations”: Ibid., 158. “Such a blow cannot”: Ibid., 162. “Satisfied in every way … It was just the kind of trip”: Trumbull, “Nimitz Confident After Pacific Trip,” 6. “When this war is over”: Vandegrift, Once a Marine, 171–172. “Have striking force operate”: Ghormley to Scott, October 5, 1942 (1202) (CINCPAC Command Summary II, 891).

  16: Night of a New Moon

  USS San Francisco’s “scarlet letter”: Spencer interview. “New-type heavy units” and “mystery ship”: Ghormley to MacArthur and Fitch, October 8, 1942 (1035). “A steady, chattering stream”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 32. Japanese October dispositions: Frank, Guadalcanal, 374–375. “Battles can only be won”: USS Quincy, Action Report, 3 (Hepburn Report Annex, 443). “Surface ships should be employed”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: Solomon Islands Actions, August and September 1942,” 12–47. Surface battle doctrine: Hone, “U.S. Navy Surface Battle Doctrine,” 71–72. Scott’s battle plan: Commander, Task Group 64.2, “Memorandum for Task Group 64.2,” October 9, 1942, 1; see also Scott’s Memorandum Number Two, October 10, 1942, and Scott to Ghormley, October 4, 1942 (0600). “Any qualified watch officer”: Crenshaw, South Pacific Destroyer, 56. “The two lines on the chart”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 34. “As grim as his guns” and “Captain seem to be worried?”: Ibid., 34–35. “We’ll catch it sure” and “The Japs would strike”: Ibid., 31. “We were moving west”: Ibid., 36. Pass the word from gun to gun: Morris, “Pick Out the Biggest,” 36. “There was little to do”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 36. “Well, sir, these islands”: www.usssanfrancisco.org. “Dumpy and fat”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 39. “One large, two small vessels”: CTG 64.2, “Report of Night Action,” 1. “The only indication”: Weems, “Solomons Battle Log,” 83. “Execute to follow”: USS Salt Lake City, Action Report, 6.

  17: Pulling the Trigger

  “Column left”: Commander, Task Group 64.2, “Report of Night Action,” 3; Crenshaw, Naval Shiphandling, 179. “Are you taking station”: McCalla, “Report of Action,” TBS Log, 2. “Do not rejoin”: CTG 64.2, “Memorandum for Task Group 64.2.” “Ships visible”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 43. “The night had been still”: Ibid., 46. “The second never touched the water”: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action of USS Salt Lake City Against Japanese Surface Naval Units, Night of October 11–12, 1942, Off Savo Island, Solomon Islands,” 8. “Pick out the biggest” and “Daddy, I want to go home”: Morris, “Pick Out the Biggest,” 45. “I felt a wildly exultant joy”: Weems, “Solomons Battle Log,” 85. “I AM AOBA” and “Bakayaro!”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 238. “Cease firing, all ships”: USS McCalla, “Report of Action,” TBS Log, 2; the Salt Lake City recorded, “Cease firing, our ships.” “Report of Action,” 7. “Rapid fire, continuous. … Begging your pardon, Admiral”: Spencer interview. “It took some time to stop”: CTG 64.2, “Report of Night Action,” 3. “Every time he could train”: Richardson, “My War,” unpaginated. “How are you? … Twelve is okay”: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action,” 7. “Stood there transfixed”: Richardson, “My War.” “Almost immediately she was observed”: USS Duncan, “Detailed Report of Action of USS Duncan During Engagement with Japanese Forces Off Savo Island, 11–12 October 1942,” 4.

  18: “Pour It to ’Em”

  “Getting hotter than a Joe Louis fight”: Morris, “Pick Out the Biggest,” 52. “Fired at Boise unopposed”: USS Boise, “Action Off Cape Esperance,” 8. “The fuze hasn’t gone off”: Morris, “Pick Out,” 58–60. “The battle had been a game”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 53. “Take it easy, son”: Ibid., 60. “Outta my way!”: Morris, “Mike Moran’s Men,” part 1, 51. Damage to Salt Lake City: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action of USS Salt Lake City Against Japanese Surface Naval Units, Night of October 11–12, 1942, Off Savo Island, Solomon Islands,” 16, 19, 23–24. “The enemy was silenced”: Commander, Task Group 64.2, “Report of Night Action,” 4. “D491 v D456”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: Solomon Islands Actions, October 1942,” 20–27. “Detail one of your boys”: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action,” 12. “ENGAGED ENEMY WEST OF SAVO”: Scott to Ghormley, October 11, 1942 (1528). “And the navigator pushed”: McCandless letter, Proceedings, 123. “Rather too sensitive … If we do not approve”: Ugaki, Fading Victory, 226. Loss of Furutaka: IJN Furutaka, “Action Record”; also Lacroix and Wells, Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War, 309. “Bow end looked cooked”: Lundstrom, The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, 297. “As we pulled into harbor”: Barham, The 228 Days of the United States Destroyer Laffey (DD-459), 66. “Little things, remembered now in detail”: Morris, The Fightin’est Ship, 60. “Crude night firing practices”: CTG 64.2, “Report of Night Action,” 7. “The rapidity and accuracy”: USS Boise, “Action Off Cape Esperance,” 1. “Throughout the ‘Night Battle’ ”: Japanese General Headquarters, Far East Command, Monograph No. 98, 35. “Restrict telephone circuits”: USS Salt Lake City, “Report of Action,” 25–30.

  PART III:

  Storm Tide

  19: All Hell’s Eve

  “Admiral Ghormley treated me like a son”: MacDonald interview, 203–204. “The ship and crew members”: Brodie, A Guide to Naval Strategy, 278. 11th Air Fleet strength: Lundstrom, The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, 293–294. Damn that plane. …“Outside, a thousand rockets”: Soule, Shooting the Pacific War, 111–112. “The exploding gunfire”: Kennedy, Fearless Warrior, 64. “The air was filled”: Lundstrom, The First Team, 301. “Our single light bulb swayed” and “Again the earth heaved”: Soule, Shooting, 111–112. “It seemed as if all”: Frank, Guadalcanal, 317. “Daylight disclosed”: Soule, Shooting, 113. “But luckily the teleradio”: MacKenzie, “Report on Coast-Watching,” 21–22. “The Marines at the airport”: Wolfert, Battle for the Solomons, 64. “It was the hopelessness”: Halsey, Admiral Halsey’s Story, 116. “We don’t know whether”: Miller, The Cactus Air Force, 121. “The situation is critical”: Ghormley to Nimitz, October 14, 1942 (1410). “It
became immediately obvious”: MacKenzie, “Report,” 22. “Security our position”: Nimitz to King, October 15, 1942 (2235). “I have resigned myself”: Agawa, The Reluctant Admiral, 335. “It now appears”: Morison, The Struggle for Guadalcanal, 178. “Can use no more aircraft”: Fitch to Ghormley, October 15, 1942 (0921). “The Japs have the run”: Merillat, Guadalcanal Remembered, 181–182. “I don’t think we have”: Lundstrom, The First Team, 311.

  20: The Weight of a War

  “Call it what you will”: Mustin diary, October 15. “There were lots of lessons” and “He was the perfect example”: Mustin interview, 515. “Magnificently trained” and “They didn’t come down”: Ibid., 546. “The Japanese must not be”: Trumbull, “Nimitz Confident After Pacific Trip,” 6. “He was almost despairing.”: Baldwin interview, 344–345. “Assume you will make Ghormley”: King to Nimitz, “Grey Book,” July 2, 1942 (2154). “I think he had a premonition”: Weaver, “Some Reminiscences,” 9. “The situation demands”: Vandegrift to Ghormley, October 16, 1942 (0025). “Urgently need this area”: October 15, 1942 (0246). “This appears to be all out”: Ghormley to Nimitz, October 16, 1942 (0440). “Overwhelming need for strength”: Nimitz to Commander, Task Force 8, October 16, 1942 (2221). “One of the few times” and “The situation looked very dark”: Eller interview, 585. “It was evident to all of us”: Layton, “And I Was There,” 461. “Too immersed in detail”: Nimitz to Mrs. Nimitz, October 17, 1942. “We wasted no time”: Layton, “And I Was There,” 461–462. “In view Ghormley’s”: Nimitz to King, October 16, 1942 (0937). “It was a sore mental struggle”: Nimitz to Mrs. Nimitz, October 17, 1942. “Approved”: King to Nimitz, October 16, 1942 (0245). “I fudged this”: Baldwin interview, 349–350, 353–354. “Not once during the entire visit”: New York Times, “Admiral’s Tribute to Wounded,” 3. “Dear Ghorm”: Scott to Ghormley, October 22, 1942, Ghormley Papers. “They were just delighted”: Mustin interview, 520.