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

by James D. Hornfischer

  42: Report and Echo

  “Full of the usual horror stories”: Shaw, Beside Me Still, 119. “I now see”: Ibid., 155. “As soon as I could talk”: Graff interview. “The requirement to be ready”: Mustin interview, 513. “Think creatively” and “There are no secrets”: Graff interview. “Something new the psychiatrists”: Custer, Through the Perilous Night, 223. “We have received news”: Ibid., 238–239. “You may not care”: Ibid., 241. “This young man”: Harrison interview. The Sullivans in Waterloo: Satterfield, We Band of Brothers, 199. “The most complete and lucid report”: Hepburn, “Report of Informal Inquiry into the Circumstances Attending the Loss of the USS Vincennes, Quincy and Astoria, and HMAS Canberra, on 9 August 1942, in the Vicinity of Savo Island (Solomon Islands),” 37.

  43: The Opinion of Convening Authority

  “No one man was responsible”: Weaver, “Some Reminiscences,” 14. “In every circle”: Livy, Book 44, chapter 22. A typescript of a fuller version of this quotation is contained in the Ghormley Papers, box 15, folder u. ECU. “The deficiencies which manifested”: Russell to King, “Memo for Admiral,” 2. In his command study of Admiral Fletcher, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral, John Lundstrom argues that Fletcher should not be criticized for deciding to withdraw Task Force 61 because the decision was announced at a conference in advance of its execution. The record establishes that neither Nimitz nor Ghormley managed to referee this important disagreement among their subordinates. “Sheer stodgy unimaginative bureaucratic complacency”: Stone, “Brass Hats Undaunted,” September 8, 1945, in The Best of I. F. Stone, 90. “Too indefinite in regard” and “No special battle plan”: cited in Hepburn, “Report of Informal Inquiry into the Circumstances Attending the Loss of the USS Vincennes, Quincy and Astoria, and HMAS Canberra, on 9 August 1942, in the Vicinity of Savo Island (Solomon Islands),” Paragraph 79, 35. “Were faulty in requiring them”: Ibid., 35–36. “Only one plan”: Ibid., 41. “In my opinion”: Ibid., 44. “I have been accused”: Dyer, The Amphibians Came to Conquer, 372. “I have always hesitated”: Buell, The Quiet Warrior, 174–175. “There is generally a twilight zone” and “In my opinion the primary cause: Hepburn, “Report,” 52–53. “Far from impressive” and “there is only one instance”: Ibid., 54. “It would be difficult”: Ibid., 53. “Granting that the immediate cause”: King to Forrestal, September 14, 1943, 2. “It does not necessarily follow”: COMINCH, “Memorandum for Admiral,” 4. Bode’s demerits: New York Times, “Annapolis Hazers Punished,” 1. “Seemed to be under” and “He told me” and “It was one of the most pleasant”: Commandant, 15th Naval District, “Record of Proceedings of a Board of Investigation Convened at the U.S. Naval Station Balboa, Canal Zone, in the Case of Howard D. Bode, Late Captain, U.S. Navy,” Statement of Commander, USNR, April 20, 1943, 2–3. “Although there are probably”: Bode to Hepburn, April 8, 1943, 4 (Hepburn Annex, 305). “Within the past two weeks” and “Some time recently” and “I am writing a letter” and “I can find no expression” and “I am sure that”: Bode to Hepburn, April 18, 1943, 1–2. “It is the opinion of”: Commandant, 15th Naval District, April 24, 1943 1–2. “This Bureau concurs”: Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, “Second Endorsement to JAG report dated July 13, 1943, July 17, 1943, 1—.”

  44: Ironbottom Sound

  “The magnitude of the Solomons campaign”: Custer, Through the Perilous Night, 223. “Senior Marine Corps operations officers”: Pope, “ANZACs Criticize Ghormley Tactics,” 5. “Your father was relieved”: Nimitz to Robert L. Ghormley, Jr., January 27, 1961, Ghormley Papers. “Their hopes for a combined victory”: Weinberg, A World at Arms, 347–348. “We don’t claim to be prophets”: Collier’s, “The Idea Is to Win,” 70. “We have not begun”: Lee, “How Japan Plans to Win,” 74. “Unwilling to pay the price”: Weinberg, World, 344. The IJN’s perceived inferiority: Hirama, “Japanese Naval Preparations for World War II,” 63. “The outstanding feature”: Ohmae, “Japanese Commentary on Guadalcanal,” 59. Land fighting “decisive”; air and sea “ancillary”: Samuel B. Griffith, II, to Hanson W. Baldwin, January 17, 1961, Baldwin Papers. “If our surface forces”: Halsey manuscript, 397. “There were many courageous decisions”: Spruance to King, February 18, 1943, 25. “Purchased one night’s respite”: Frank, Guadalcanal, 461. “The key to Allied success”: Lundstrom, The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, 523. “We have come to expect”: COMINCH, “Battle Experience: November 1942,” 27–15. “Training, TRAINING and M-O-R-E T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G”: Nimitz to King, “Solomons Island Campaign, 5th Battle of Savo,” 16. Issuance of Current Tactical Orders and Doctrine: Hone, “U.S. Navy Surface Battle Doctrine,” 72. Robert Graff quotations and trip to Solomons: Graff interview and Graff, “My Statement,” Graff Papers.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Key

  NARA: National Archives and Records Administration (Archives II), College Park, Maryland

  NHC: Naval Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC

  NMPW: National Museum of the Pacific War, Admiral Nimitz Foundation, Fredericksburg, Texas

  NWC: Naval War College, Cushing Library, Newport, Rhode Island

  USNI: United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland

  Official Documents

  15th Naval District, Commandant, “Record of Proceedings of a Board of Investigation Convened at the U.S. Naval Station Balboa, Canal Zone, in the Case of Howard D. Bode, Late Captain, U.S. Navy,” April 20, 1943. NARA.

  Bureau of Naval Personnel, Navy Department. Information Bulletin, 1942. NARA.

  Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department. Information for Naval Personnel, 1942. NARA.

  Bureau of Ships, Navy Department. “Summary of War Damage to U.S. Battleships, Carriers, Cruisers, and Destroyers, 17 October 1941, to 7 December 1942,” September 15, 1943. NARA.

  Commander, Battleship Division 6 (or Task Force 64, Lee). “Report of Night Action, Task Force 64, November 14–15, 1942.” No serial, February 18, 1943. NARA.

  Commander, Battleships–Cruisers, Pacific Fleet. General Administrative Files, Flag Files (Blue 361), 1942–45 (including ship materials and engineering reports, fleet gunnery bulletins, and reports of offset gunnery exercises, September–December 1942). RG 313, 370/A/45/1, Boxes 1–26. NARA.

  Commander, Cruiser Division 5. “Report of Night Engagement of 30 November–1 December 1942.” No serial, December 4, 1942. NARA.

  Commander, Cruisers, U.S. Pacific Fleet (Fletcher). “Preliminary Report—Solomons Islands Operation.” Serial 0039N, September 9, 1942. NARA.

  Commander, Destroyer Division 9. “Action Report—Night of November 30, 1942–December 1, 1942, Off Savo Island.” Serial 020-S. December 4, 1942. NARA.

  Commander, Destroyer Squadron 10 (Stokes). “Engagement with Japanese Surface Units Off Savo Island, about 0200, November 13, 1942.” No serial, November 15, 1942. NARA.

  Commander, Destroyer Squadron 12 (Tobin). “Report of Action Off Savo Island, Solomons, Night of 11–12 October 1942.” Serial 022, October 23, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Report of Night Action Off Savo Island, November 13, 1942.” Serial 0033, November 27, 1942. NARA.

  Commander, Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla 1 (A. P. Calvert). “Summary of Motor Torpedo Boat Combat Action in the Solomon Islands, 13 October, 1942, to 2 February, 1943.” Serial 026, March 7, 1943. NARA.

  Commander, Scouting Squadron 3 (VS-3). “Report of Operations at Guadalcanal Island,” October 25, 1942. NARA.

  Commander, South Pacific Area (COMSOPAC) (Ghormley). “Most Secret Letter to Admiral Nimitz,” serial 0072, July 29, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Preliminary Report, Watchtower Operation.” Serial 0053, August 16, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Advance Bases, South Pacific Area.” Serial 0062, August 19, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Commander Task Force 62 Communications During the Occupation of Tulagi and Guadalcanal” (First Endorsement of CTF 62, “Despatch Reports of Operations”). Serial 00626, September 6, 1942, NARA.

 
; ———. Administrative History Appendices, 1942. Operational Archives, NHC.

  ———. “Events Leading Up to U.S. Attack on Solomon Islands, Etc.” (transcript of recording by Vice Adm. Ghormley). WWII Command File, January 22, 1943, Operational Archives, NHC.

  ———. “History of U.S. Naval Advanced Base Guadalcanal, 1942–1945,” undated, WWII Command File, Shore Establishments, NHC, Box 417.

  ———. (compiled by Lt. D. C. Rudd, Flag Plot, ComSoPac staff). “Operational History of the South Pacific,” undated (compiled in 1945), WWII Command File, Box 288. NARA.

  Commander, Task Force 16 (USS Enterprise). “Operations of Task Force 16 in the Action for the Defense of Guadalcanal, 12–15 November 1942.” Serial 0088, November 23, 1942. NARA.

  Commander, Task Force 18 (USS Wasp), War Diary, August 1942. NARA.

  Commander, Task Force 62 (Turner). “Despatch Reports of Operations During Occupation of Tulagi and Guadalcanal.” Serial 0051, August 16, 1942. NARA.

  ———. War Diary, July–August 1942. NARA.

  Commander, Task Force 67 (Wright). “Report on Action Off Cape Esperance, Night of November 30, 1942.” Serial 06, December 9, 1942. NARA.

  ———. Operation Plan No. 1-42. Serial 01, November 27, 1942. NARA.

  Commander, Task Group 62.6 (Crutchley). “Operation Watchtower—the Capture and Occupation by United Nations Forces of Tulagi and Guadalcanal.” No serial, August 13, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Explanatory Memorandum.” No serial, February 21, 1943. Hepburn Report Annex.

  Commander, Task Group 64.2 (Scott). “Memorandum for Task Group 64.2.” Serial 0012, October 9, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Memorandum Number Two.” Serial 0013, October 10, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Report of Night Action, 11–12 October 1942.” Serial 0014, October 22, 1942. NARA.

  Commander, Task Unit 17.5.4 (Destroyer Squadron 2), “Action in Coral Sea Area on May 8, 1942, Report of.” Serial 080, May 18, 1942. www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/rep/Coral/ComDesRon2.html (last page view March 7, 2010).

  Commander, Task Unit 67.2.3 (Tisdale). “Report of Action—Night of November 30–December 1, 1942.” Serial 042, December 6, 1942. NARA.

  Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet (COMINCH) (King). Chart Room Collection of Dispatches and Related Records, South Pacific Action Dispatches, June 30–December 31, 1942. NARA, Records of the Chief of Naval Operations, RG 38, Entry NHC-53, Boxes 114–115.

  ———. “Battle Experience: Solomon Islands Actions, August and September 1942” (Secret Information Bulletin No. 2), March 1, 1943. WWII Command File, Box 260, Operational Archives, NHC.

  ———. “Battle Experience: Solomon Islands Actions, October 1942” (Secret Information Bulletin No. 3), March 15, 1943. WWII Command File, Box 260, Operational Archives, NHC.

  ———. “Battle Experience: Solomon Islands Actions, November 1942” (Secret Information Bulletin No. 4), March 25, 1943, written by R. S. Edwards, COMINCH chief of staff. WWII Command File, Boxes 260–261, Operational Archives, NHC.

  ———. “Memorandum for Admiral,” July 31, 1943. NARA.

  ———. “Investigation of the Loss of the USS Vincennes, USS Quincy, USS Astoria, and HMAS Canberra.” No serial, September 14, 1943, NARA.

  ———. First Official Report to the Secretary of the Navy, March 1, 1944. Norwalk, Conn.: Easton Press, 2006.

  ———. “Comments by Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, USN, on Chapter VI: Supporting the Guadalcanal Campaign,” undated. NWC.

  Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC) (Nimitz). Command Summary, “Grey Book” (operational orders), 2 vols. NHC, Operational Archives, Boxes 1–4.

  ———. “Gunnery Bulletin No. 2–42,” June 6, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Supply of Reinforcements to Continue Campaign in South Pacific.” Serial 0164, July 17, 1942.

  ———. “Preliminary Report—Solomons Islands Operation.” Serial 02576, August 23, 1942 (first endorsement to COMSOPAC report of August 16, 1942).

  ———. “Solomon Islands Campaign, Second Savo Island Action, 11–12 October 1942, Preliminary Report.” Serial 03151, October 30, 1942.

  ———. “Future Operations in the Solomons Sea Area.” Serial 0259, December 8, 1942.

  ———. “Solomon Island Campaign, Second Savo Night Action, Night of 11–12 October 1942.” Serial 03791, December 26, 1942.

  ———. “Preliminary Report of Action, 12–13 November 1942,” Serial 03812, December 28, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Solomons Islands Campaign—Battle of the Solomons, 11–15 November 1942.” Serial 00554, February 18, 1943. RG 38, Box 1728, NARA.

  ———. “Solomons Island Campaign, 5th Battle of Savo—November 30, 1942.” Serial 00546, February 15, 1943. NARA.

  ———. “Solomon Islands Campaign from Fourth Battle of Savo, 30 November, 1942, to Munda Bombardment, 4–5 January, 1943.” Serial 00599, March 9, 1943. NARA.

  ———. “Report of Night Action, Task Force 64—November 14–15, 1942, The Third Battle of Savo Island.” Serial 00617, March 18, 1943. RG 38, Box 1728, NARA.

  General Headquarters, Far East Command, Military Intelligence Section, General Staff, Allied Translator and Interpreter Section. Japanese Monograph No. 98, Southeast Area Naval Operations, Part I, May 1942–February 1943, Document No. 40427.

  Hepburn, Arthur J. “Report of Informal Inquiry into the Circumstances Attending the Loss of the USS Vincennes, Quincy and Astoria, and HMAS Canberra, on 9 August 1942, in the Vicinity of Savo Island (Solomon Islands),” Serial 001965, May 13, 1943, with annexes, 3 vols. NARA, RG 38, Boxes 1727–1728.

  HMAS Australia. “Night Action Off Savo Island,” August 11, 1942. NARA.

  HMAS Canberra. “Loss of the HMAS Canberra,” August 12, 1942. NARA.

  Imperial Japanese Navy, Action Records, IJN warships Aoba, Atago, Chokai, Furutaka, Kinugasa, Kirishima, August–November 1942. Records of Japanese Navy and Related Documents, Operational Archives, NHC, Box 55.

  MacArthur, Douglas. Reports of General MacArthur: The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific, 2 vols. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1966 (originally published by General MacArthur’s Tokyo headquarters, 1950).

  MacKenzie, H. A. Lt. Cdr., RAN. “Report on Coast-Watching in the South Pacific Area Covering Period 1st June 1942 to 21st April 1943.” SOPAC Administrative History Appendices, folder 34(19)(A), NHC.

  Office of Naval Intelligence. “Guadalcanal and Tulagi Bases.” WWII Command File, CNO Intelligence, Operational Archives, NHC, Box 118.

  Turner, Richmond Kelly, to Ernest J. King. “Strategic Deployment in the Pacific Against Japan,” March 26, 1942; secret note, March 27, 1942. NARA.

  U.S. Naval War College, Office of the President (Adm. William S. Pye). “Comments on Action Reports Covering Activities in the Solomon Islands, August 7, 8, and 9, 1942.” Serial 989, December 8, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Comments on the Battle of Guadalcanal, November 11–15, 1942.” Serial 2238, June 5, 1943. Ghormley Papers, Box 15, folder n.

  ———, Department of Analysis (Richard W. Bates and Walter D. Innis). The Battle of Savo Island: Strategical and Tactical Analysis. Newport, R.I.: U.S. Naval War College, 1950.

  ———. Diagrams for the Battle of Savo Island: Strategical and Tactical Analysis. Newport, R.I.: U.S. Naval War College, 1950.

  U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey (USSBS). Interrogations of Japanese Officers. NHC.

  Masatake Okumiya, October 12, 1945 (USSBS No. 75)

  Hiroshi Tokuno, October 25, 1945 (USSBS No. 138)

  S. Yunoki, October 27, 1945 (USSBS No. 195)

  M. Matsuyama, October 31, 1945 (USSBS No. 255)

  Tadashi Yamamoto, November 20, 1945. (USSBS No. 467)

  Kikunori Kijima, November 27, 1945 (USSBS No. 464)

  USS Aaron Ward (DD-483). “Report of Bombardment of Japanese Positions on Guadalcanal Island.” Serial 001, October 18, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Report of
Action, Night of November 12–13, 1942.” Serial 003, November 20, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Recommendations Regarding Night Action of November 1213, 1942.” Serial 007, December 30, 1942. NARA.

  USS Astoria (CA-34). “Report of the Engineering Department of USS Astoria During and Subsequent to the Action with the Enemy at About 0200, August 9, 1942.” No serial, August 18, 1942. NARA.

  ———, Executive Officer. “Night Cruiser Action Off Savo Island, Early Morning of 9 August 1942,” August 19, 1942. NARA.

  ———. “Battle of Savo Island—Action Task Group 62.3, Early Morning August 9, 1942—Loss of USS Astoria.” Serial 00500, August 20, 1942. NARA.

  USS Atlanta (CL-51). “Engagement with Japanese Surface Forces Off Guadalcanal, Night of 12–13 November 1942, and Loss of the USS Atlanta.” A-16–3, November 20, 1942. NARA.

  USS Bagley (DD-386). “Night Engagement, August 9th, 1942, Tulagi-Guadalcanal Area.” Serial 016, August 13, 1942. NARA.

  USS Barton (DD-599). “Report of Action of November 12–13, 1942,” November 26, 1942. NARA.

  USS Benham (DD-397). “Report of Action, 14–15 November 1942.” Serial 003, November 29, 1942. NARA.

  USS Blue (DD-387). “Operations in Solomon Islands on Night of August 8th–9th, 1942.” Serial 031, August 12, 1942. NARA.

  USS Boise (CL-47). “Report of Action Off Cape Esperance on Night of 11–12 October 1942.” No serial, undated advance copy. NARA.