Beans and Bullets
It is mid-August 1942 and both the Allies and the Japanese are trying to run supplies to their troops on Guadalcanal. Both sides are also trying to attrite the other with bombardments and stopping the other side’s supply efforts.
It was a dark and stormy night somewhere behind Rear Admiral Lee, but it seemed clear weather ahead. The moon was in a quarter state. RAdm Lee’s Task Group consisted of the new battleships North Carolina and Washington with Lee’s flag in the former. RAdm Lee had DesRon 4 with him as well.
Lee’s TG was on a heading of 225 degrees in three columns. USS Selfridge leading with her 1st division (USS Jarvis, Mugford, Patterson & Ralph Talbot) were in the starboard column while her other division (USS Henley, Helm, Blue & Bagley) were in the port column. The bats were in the central column and echeloned back.
RAdm Lee’s TG established radar contact at 20,000 yards from what appeared to be a slow-moving column of ships inshore on a heading of 275 degrees. RAdm Lee increased the speed of his starboard column and bats while slowing his port column as he turned about two points to starboard to make it possible to get into a line ahead. His radar could count 10 ships but they all appeared to be of a similar size.
USS Selfridge after about 12 minutes could see a Japanese destroyer at 8,000 yards and they opened on one another. The exchange was one sided as the Selfridge hit (what turned out to be) Mochizuki twice for nothing in return.
DesRon 4’s 1st division now fired star shell illuminating the front of the Japanese column and revealing I(JN cruisers Tenryu, Tatsuta and Yubari as well at four Musuki class destroyers and three Minekaze class destroyers. Some of the Japanese destroyers also fired star shell illuminating Selfridge and her 1st division.
Selfridge and Mugford opened on the second and third IJN cruisers with Mugford scoring a hit on the third cruiser. Mugford firing rapidly hit Yuzuki three times lighting small fires that illuminated her along with the star shell. Other American destroyer fire as well the Japanese return fire was ineffective. North Carolina now chimed in and hit Yunagi (second IJN destroyer division) twice. All other fire was ineffective and the second[WC1] American destroyer division had not yet fired at all, leaving the Japanese ignorant to its existence.
Three minutes later Selfridge and her first division all launched torpedoes at the Japanese line. At this point the Japanese trailing destroyer division turned to starboard and closed rapidly on Selfridge and company laying smoke in an obvious attempt to cover something behind them. A torpedo spread from Selfridge hit the Asanagi and slowed her perceptively as well as damping her fire from her forward mounts. The entire Japanese line erupted with gun fire and hitting nothing at all. Return fire from the American destroyers inflicted hits the Japanese cruisers for no effect, but their fire at the leading destroyers inflicted two hits on Akitsuki. But it was the North Carolina and Washington that each hit Yuzuki and Asanagi respectively ten times each. This sank the Asanagi.
The trailing Japanese destroyers now launched all their remaining torpedoes but missed. Selfridge and company continued to pound the Japanese cruisers and lead destroyers with little or no damage in return. The trailing Japanese destroyers turned away under cover of smoke. The bats now turned their attention to the Japanese cruisers (they could finally see them) and North Carolina hit Yubari eight times.
At this point with American torpedoes were closing on the anchored Japanese transports and the second American destroyer division doing likewise; we called it a very convincing American victory. It was getting late and Rear Admiral Mastsuyama (yours truly) had to get home to his long suffering JRT (Hey, I brought her a slice of pizza).
IMNSHO Japanese 5.5” suck and could not keep up with the 5”L38.
