Before the naval battle on 14-15 November, one Japanese wrote: "The battle ahead is the fork in the road the leads to either victory or defeat" And he was right. After the battle on 14-15 November, which sank the battleship Kirishima, the Japanese would never again send major convoys to Guadalcanal. From now on, they would have to rely on fast cruisers and destroyers in order to supply their men on Guadalcanal. Warships are fast, but they're designed to fight naval battles, not transportation of supplies.
2 years later the same Admiral Lee would refuse the chance to engage the Japanese battle fleet at night, for the same reason. Despite Americans having superior firepower by then, this battle showed that anything could happen in the chaos of a night fight. Lee learnt his lessons well and decided there was no need for such a gamble from a winning strategic position, forgoing any chance of personal glory for the big picture
It's ashame that Admiral Lee isn't better remembered today. He was arguably the best Battleship skipper the US Navy ever produced, and his skill in naval gunnery was second to none. Drachinifel has a video on him if your interested, and the US Naval Institute Press has a book about him called Battleship Commander.
A literally Olympic gold metal sniper, marksman expert, inventor, and all around master of naval warfare. Lee was one of the best. Drach does him credit.
@@aa2339 I don’t think that is correct at all. Post a link if you find a source in support. My recollection is he was ordered to take his task force with Halsey, leaving the straight open and ultimately defended by the destroyer escorts, destroyers and carrier escorts aircraft who were pressed into defense. Lee had shown restraint previously in the Battle of the Philippine Sea in having the option of taking his task force to attack the Japanese surface fleet but electing to stay and protect the carriers, setting up the Turkey Shoot. What an engagement that would have been. Or if Lee had been ordered to remain, that would have been a fantastic battle.
@@aa2339 no Lee repeatedly requested to leave the carriers and protect the straight but he was overruled by more senior admirals until it was too late.
@@piecetrain9767 Admiral Halsey had learned by now that splitting up a fleet into separate task forces that can't support each other is a dangerous tactic. Moreover, those fast battleships in Lee's Task Force 34 provided additional anti-aircraft firepower, and a further layer of security for his own carrier task forces. This is especially crucial considering Halsey believed he had found the main Japanese carrier task force to the north, and he was not willing to split his forces to engage what he considered to be a dangerous enemy carrier fleet. The Japanese really never learned this lesson, while the Americans did. By massing his different task groups into one main task force, Halsey effectively had the strongest naval force to ever put to sea, with over a thousand aircraft in his strike groups, and the sea around his carriers was basically rendered unapproachable to Japanese pilots. The masses of dual-purpose 5"/38 guns, 40mm Bofors, and 20mm Oerlikon cannon could put up a wall of lead and steel that would shred hostile aircraft. When Halsey spotted the decoy Japanese carrier task force, he believed that he was facing an enemy fleet on par with those at Midway and the Philippine Sea. He did not, could not, know that there were only around a hundred enemy planes on those carriers, with rookie pilots. Oldendorf had savaged the first Japanese task force at Surigao Strait and killed Nishimura, and turned away the second just by his fleet's presence. Halsey had rained hell down on the center force, and forced it to turn around. Believing he had defeated that group, only then did he chase after Ozawa in the north. But Kurita turned around, despite losing the Musashi, as well as some of his cruisers in the preceding days. And I doubt any flag officer could resist the bait that Ozawa was dangling. After all, Halsey WANTED to destroy a Japanese carrier fleet, something he hadn't got to do.
@@aa2339 that was Halsey, lee was actually one of the few that suggested to leave task force 34 to guard San Bernardino strait, but Halsey suddenly wanted to clap zuikaku cheeks with the whole third fleet 😒
It should be noted that, after the night action of November 12-13, Yamamoto and Halsey took very different approaches to fighting the next battle. Yamamoto played it safe by sending only one battleship, the Kirishima, back to Guadalcanal while keeping her mighty sister ships, the Kongo and Haruna, behind to screen the IJN carriers. Halsey, on the other hand, decided to commit Lee's battleships to attacking the enemy instead of protecting the Enterprise, knowing full well the men on Guadalcanal needed the fleet and its firepower now more than ever. As it turns out, Halsey's gamble paid off - and it certainly didn't hurt to have one of the best sharpshooters in the world leading the charge.
You're not wrong in calling it a gamble that paid off, but Halsey didn't really have a choice. He didn't send in Lee's battleships because he wanted to. He sent them in because they were the only remaining surface ships he could spare without seriously weakening Enterprise's escort.
An absolutely amazing and detailed showing of the critical battles at sea that helped win Guadalcanal. I am deeply impressed by the detail, graphics and narration that K&Gs brings to this incredible series. It is unmatched for anyone interested in the Pacific War. Excellent job as always.
Admiral King said there was no greater tribute to the sailors than the words of General Vandegrift: "To them, the men of Cactus lift their battered helmets in deepest admiration."
This series is crazy. Most coverage of this time goes Pearl Harbor to Midway to Gaudalcanal but it took 50 episodes to get there in this one! Incredible effort.
Some are in British Burma, China, British Malaya and Borneo, Dutch East Indies, the American Philippines, Australian Papua, and Alaskan Attu & Kiska. With occasional raids in Japan and Australia
Small point of correcction: the USS Laffey in this battle was a Benson class destroyer. The Sumner class USS Laffey was in fact named for the heroic actions (including going toe to toe with Hiei at point blank, firing everything from the 5in guns down to small arms (and no doubt, sailors being sailors, more than a few choice curse words too) at the behemoth) of that ship this very night.
This is actually a big error. They listed the incorrect ship as sunk, when it is currently a "museum ship". K&G should release a new video to correct this error.
FYI the captain of the japanese destroyer Amatsukaze which looped around the U.S DD formation to deliver a surprise torpedo attack was the famed Hara Tameichi. He was a pioneer of torpedo and night attacks, and also wrote a memoir after the war, which was highly critical of IJNs tactics and overall conduct. Ofc since Hara Tameichi was one of the only surviving IJN DD captains, his memoirs should be taken with a grain of salt. Overall a very interesting and less known figure in the IJN.
I was looking for this comment. After reading Japanese Destroyer Captain, the names of the ships really jump out at me now. Just a couple little tidbits in case you're on the fence about the book. It's worth a read. 1) Captain Hara was the only surviving DD captain to live to the end of the pacific war. His final action was aboard IJN Yahagi, which was sunk with the Yamato by USN aircraft during Operation Ten-go on 7 APR 1945. He was rescued by escorting destroyers and returned to Japan. 2) His torpedo doctrine was so revolutionary that the IJN threw out their old instructions and used his. Every torpedo officer in the IJN was influenced by him. The type 93 torpedo was a closely guarded secret of the IJN to the point that even during training exercises, all torpedoes were recovered and if the seas were rough, exercises were cancelled to prevent their loss. 3) He was Captain of the IJN Shigure, the "miracle destroyer" or "indestructible destroyer" while the commanding officer of Destroyer Division 27. While he was Captain, the ship was involved in several battles without a single loss, including one close call where a US torpedo holed the rudder of the ship without exploding during the Battle of Vella Gulf on 6-7 AUG 1943. 4) During one of the Tokyo Express runs on 2 AUG 1943, IJN Amagiri (one of the destroyer's under his command) rammed and sank PT-109, then commanded by LT John F. Kennedy. There's a small portion of the book devoted to LT's Kennedy's heroism after his boat was rammed, saving his injured crew. 5) In late 1943, he wrote a letter to Emperor Hirohito stating that the military lacked effective equipment, the army and navy lacked effective leadership and that the war was lost. On his way to hand deliver the letter, he gave the letter to the Emperor's brother, Prince Takamatsu. Captain Hara feared that he would be severely disciplined or executed for being "defeatist," but he heard nothing more about it. 6) Captain Hara was in Nagasaki training sailors (volunteers with little naval experience, like students) to operate Shinyo suicide boats and witnessed the atomic bombing of the city. 7) His book, while fascinating, is not completely accurate. Which he was the only surviving destroyer captain, he did include details he had with conversations with admirals who did survive the war, like Jizaburo Ozawa. 8) Post-war, he was a captain of a salt carrier ship. He died in 1980 at age 79.
Props to Admiral Willis August Lee for having such faith in his crew and good understanding of his vessel that he saw an opportunity, capitalized on it, and snuck an entire battleship up on the enemy almost to point blank range so he could absolutely blow the Kirishima to bits and decisively win the engagement.
My grandpa was on the Washington as a 5inch gunner. He never talked about his time in the Navy and died when I was around 16. I later joined the Marines and now wish I could pick his brain and hear his stories about his time on the Washington.
One of my uncles was a gunnery officer in the A turret of USS Washington during the battle. He was USNA class of '41 and would retire as a captain. Another uncle received the Navy Cross when the USS Vincennes was sunk during the battle of Savo Island. He was USNA class of '40 and would also retire as a captain.
Any chance your uncle has photos? My grandpa was a gunners mate on the 5 inch guns but he died when I was a teen and I never got to hear any stories from him about it. Later on I joined the Marines and have ever since been loving any story I can hear about the Washington.
Just goes to show while Midway was a major victory, the re-telling of it feels quite overblown when compared to the sum of all of these smaller victories in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Another fantastic video from Kings and Generals!
The Imperial Japanese Navy’s 4 aircraft carriers were wiped out almost instantly at Midway. A merciful fate compared to the slow, grinding, torturous deaths of the surface fleet at Iron Bottom Sound
I would still call the midway is the most decisive one. Crippling IJN's air power before the guadalcanal campaign. Imajine if they still had the 4 carriers and if US lost 1 or 2 carriers on midway. The guadalcanal campaign would not even exist and they would prolong (if not come to term) the war for atleast one more year. While the guadalcanal campaign is gruesome and grindy, which resulted in a crippled IJN power, mideay is the battle in which give the USN a fair battleground for the coming battle
@@xWarLegendx correct. The Japanese tendency to take their veterans and have them "fly till they die" (much like the Germans did as well), in contrast with the allies approach of "do one or two tours, rotate back to be a trainer so you can pass on your tips and tricks to the next group" was ultimately very self defeating, as it meant that when those aces and expert crews were lost, most if not all of their knowledge died with them. Combined with the introduction of ever more advanced American fighters like the Corsair and the Hellcat, and it put the writing on the wall for the IJN. That the IJN and IJA *also* had an interservice rivalry between one another that literally rose to *outright assassinations* at times didn't help...
@@xWarLegendx Skilled pilot obviously is part of the carrier group. losing the carrier is almost guaranteed losing said pilots. Even if they dont lose the carrier, they would still lose significant number of their skileld pilot. Japan did not have the industrial capacity to replace their material losses. So yes, the 4 carrier they lost still contribute in their defeat. If you want to go deeper, there are also moral to take into account. If IJN did win midway, US' morale will go under abysmal. Guadalcanal will not happen, Pearl Harbour will be once again under invasion threat. a very imminent and deadly one since they lost their carriers. And it will likely force a treaty.
Ehhhh. 4 dead aircraft carriers with entire crews and planes lost is kind of catastrophic, to say nothing of the morale loss of losing 4(!) Carrier ships in one battle and only having (to their knowledge) sunk one in return. Particularly since the Japanese were supposedly on the "offensive" at that time.
The sinking of the Juneau was remembered for the loss of all five Sullivan brothers, but it also had many other sets of brothers serving aboard her when she was destroyed. It was those loses, plus the loss of the Borgstrom brothers, that quickly led to the Sole Survivor policy of the DoD.
The words of Captain Cassin Young of _San Francisco_ were prophetic, as indeed he was mortally wounded during this battle (in addition to the loss of Admirals Callaghan and Scott).
This was great, as always, K&G! One thing that I wish had been commented on more, though, is the somewhat, or seemingly, Pyrrhic nature of the victory for both sides. Clearly it was a strategic loss for Japan even it was a tactical victory, but it seems like the US lost many ships (specifically destroyers) as well. I guess that will be made up for in time by sheer production, but I would have loved to see one of those brilliant battle overviews you do that shows the casualties and losses. It seems like it must have been a hellish time for both sides.
I think you mislabeled the USS Laffey as there were 2 destroyers with that name. The one in your video was DD-724 (Allen M Summer class which earned the nickname “the destroyer that could not die” because of the sheer number of bomb and kamikaze hits she sustained while on picket duty during the Okinawa campaign, she was the closest picket ship in terms of distance to mainland Japan at the time) which was launched in February 1944. The correct one is DD-459 (Benson class) which was the predecessor and launched on 30th October 1941 and was recorded sunk at that specific location.
Been following this series since it started, I'm loving every bit of it as there's so much detail I was not aware of before these videos, thanks so much for sharing them
Thank you, as always, for this magnificent documentary! I was young when the 50th anniversary of the end of WW2 came about in the 90s and spent countless hours watching and learning. But your work is on another level. You are able to put so much details without overwhelming our minds. 100 thumbs up!
9:11 I believe one US sailor described this battle as brawl in a bar with the lights turned off, that gives u an idea of how chaotic this battle was! Hell even the marines on Guadalcanal could see the battle from the island
I dont know what is worse, being an infantryman under bombardment or being a sailor under attack from another ship. I think I rather be on land, which is why I joined the infantry. I cant imagine having to bail out in the open ocean.
Brilliant movie as always!! Hard to imagine how many ships and people were sunk in the battle described in 20 minutes. The guy named this area Ironbottom Sound would be genius or crazy.
According to the book neptune's inferno, the marines at guadalcanal watched the whole battle from the hills, and not being able to distinguish friend from foe they just watched the fireworks without trying to interfere
If you watch the Pacific you could see lecky and other marines watching the battle at the hills not sure if it was the naval battle of guadalcanal or battle of savo island.
It ought to be remembered that the US Navy lost more sailors at Guadalcanal than the USMC lost marines. Two admirals in one night... probably the first time since the Civil War that the American armed forces lost two flag officers in single engagement.
For anyone wondering why Lee held Fire on Kirishima. Washington had a blind spot on her radar Lee knew the radar was picking a battleship but did not know if it was South Dakota or Kirishima.
Deep respect and extreme gratitude to all the brave men who fought so hard and valiantly. My grandfather Clifford Russell Anderson (Sea2c) fought in this theater. He was one of the few survivors from the light cruiser USS Atlanta CL-51. The ship received heavy damaged the early morning hours of November 13th, 1942, first by a Japanese torpedo from the Destroyer Akatsuki, and then friendly fire from the USS San Francisco. My grandfather passed away November 15th, 1987. I miss him very much.
Another great show. These naval battles again show why Midway was such a catastrophic defeat. Had Japan had a larger carrier force to stay on station, Guadalcanal could not have held out. To learn more see my work Fatal Flaws Book 1 1914-1945
The sea battle portion of Gaudalcanal was fascinating! Never knew before how close the naval battle was and that America won because the Japanese admiral threw away the naval battle.
I discovered in this video that it was the ship my grandfather was on, the USS Atlanta, that fired the first in the engagement. My grandfather never told me that.
Should also be noted that the second USS Laffey (the Sumner class one) also landed herself in the history books off Okinawa. By surviving, albeit barely, one of the largest and most concentrated Kamikaze attacks any vessel took during the war. Also let's not forget, she's still around, as a museum ship in Charleston.
Guadalcanal was brutal. In the end the comparative losses were amazingly equal. The US learned bitter lessons on land, sea & sky. Guadalcanal was the turning point of the War. In the first phases of the campaign Imperial forces had the edge but at its end America had seized the initiative. I read somewhere something to the effect that Guadalcanal was not just a name…it was an emotion..
11:25 The laffey involved in this fight was a benson class (DD459), not the Sumner that combed through kamikaze attacks near the end of the Pacific Campaign.
A couple notable tid bits - The most important was that there were radio issues and they could not give the information to Callaghan immediately and thus resulted in confusion while Callaghan attempted to assess the situation. This allowed Abe to to act. Additionally, USS Laffey was actually very aggressive against Hiei, they narrowly avoided colliding by about 6 meters only after Laffey accelerated to avoid the collision, to which this point she was close enough that Hiei's guns could not depress enough to return fire. This was the time at which Laffey injured Abe by raking her super structure with 127s. Ofc the misnaming of Laffey but others already mentioned that. Otherwise it was pretty good.
When we think of these major battles in history, we conceptualize them as just major head to head engagements, but the reality is that it was very complicated, confusing, and with a lot of moving pieces spanning a large period of time.
The USS Washington is the only USN battleship to sink an enemy battleship in combat. During this battle, two of 5 USN Admirals killed during the war perished here. Great series. I was surprised to see this particular episode so far into the list!
My dad was on the conning tower of the USS San Francisco reporting to Adm. Callaghan when those three shells took out the superstructure. He was blown off the ship and left in the sea for two days. Finally getting rescued. Purple Heart, of course.
IIRC a few survived the initial hit, but died while adrift afterwards. The other ships in the formation saw the massive explosion and how fast Juneau went down, and decided nobody could have survived that. As a result the rescue came way too late, and the captain of USS Helena (most senior officer still alive) was reprimanded and relieved for not calling for rescue
One thing you left out. Was that because of her damage at Santa Cruz. Enterprise had offloaded VT-10 (her torpedo bombers) to Henderson field. Forming Flight 300.
The waters off guadalcanal or an absolute slug fest. So many huge battles. It really highlights the struggle for dominance in the Pacific and the cost it had at sea as much as on land
My dad, John Webster, was there as an 18-year-old sailor on board the USS San Francisco (CA-38). He never talked about the battle to us kids, but he told my mom that at one point in the conflict, he came across his best friend on board the ship - who was on fire. He worked to put the fire out, but I don’t know if the friend survived.
My father was on USS Barton 599 on November 13 at 1:50am when his ship was hit by 2 torpedoes and sank minutes later. Dad survived the attack and was picked up the next morning by Marines.
Why do I feel sad about the loss of those 2 magnificent battlecruisers, Hiei and Kirishima? 2 of the 4 sisters lost within days of each other. Kongo (Burning Love!!) and Haruna are left.
This battle is so intense, Historians still debates about wth happened. They said that the IJN Flashed their search lights the same time USN turn theirs as well. All the light of the USN Was focused on akatsuki and therefore sustained alot of hits from the USN ships. Yuudachi is said to fire all hell torpedoes, guns, everything she can while in the middle of the enemy line that some of her shells hit a friendly ship. Laffey fought the Hiei fiercely being too close to her. And other else. Jesus this is an intense battle.
*Whoever's reading this, I pray that whatever your going through gets better and whatever your struggling with or worrying about is going to be fine and that everyone has a fantastic day!! Amen* 😊
Cactus air force. There is something i don't hear for a longtime. I really miss Dogfights. The flying tigers and their leader Lee Chennaul deserves their own episode.
I felt like K&G said they would do a special Flying Tigers / Lee Chennaul episode eventually. I could be wrong. But it was one of the earlier Pacific War videos. Well here's hoping! 😎👍
Well he died right as the battle starts, so if you wanted to keep the experienced one it worked out. RIP to them tho. I cannot even imagine what they went through.
I will say this again: This channel is a treasure of the internet!! Dammit! What a good series!
Before the naval battle on 14-15 November, one Japanese wrote: "The battle ahead is the fork in the road the leads to either victory or defeat"
And he was right. After the battle on 14-15 November, which sank the battleship Kirishima, the Japanese would never again send major convoys to Guadalcanal. From now on, they would have to rely on fast cruisers and destroyers in order to supply their men on Guadalcanal. Warships are fast, but they're designed to fight naval battles, not transportation of supplies.
After the 15th of November, the Americans never became weaker, while the Japanese never became stronger
Absolutely brutal engagement for both sides. Like a knife fight in a phonebooth in the dark.
2 years later the same Admiral Lee would refuse the chance to engage the Japanese battle fleet at night, for the same reason. Despite Americans having superior firepower by then, this battle showed that anything could happen in the chaos of a night fight. Lee learnt his lessons well and decided there was no need for such a gamble from a winning strategic position, forgoing any chance of personal glory for the big picture
The friendly fire alone...
"Who are we shooting at?"
"Don't care, they are shooting at us! Keep firing!"
One sailor at the time described it as a 'bar room brawl with the lights out'.
That's a great metaphor.
It's ashame that Admiral Lee isn't better remembered today. He was arguably the best Battleship skipper the US Navy ever produced, and his skill in naval gunnery was second to none. Drachinifel has a video on him if your interested, and the US Naval Institute Press has a book about him called Battleship Commander.
A literally Olympic gold metal sniper, marksman expert, inventor, and all around master of naval warfare. Lee was one of the best. Drach does him credit.
@@aa2339 I don’t think that is correct at all. Post a link if you find a source in support. My recollection is he was ordered to take his task force with Halsey, leaving the straight open and ultimately defended by the destroyer escorts, destroyers and carrier escorts aircraft who were pressed into defense. Lee had shown restraint previously in the Battle of the Philippine Sea in having the option of taking his task force to attack the Japanese surface fleet but electing to stay and protect the carriers, setting up the Turkey Shoot. What an engagement that would have been. Or if Lee had been ordered to remain, that would have been a fantastic battle.
@@aa2339 no Lee repeatedly requested to leave the carriers and protect the straight but he was overruled by more senior admirals until it was too late.
@@piecetrain9767 Admiral Halsey had learned by now that splitting up a fleet into separate task forces that can't support each other is a dangerous tactic. Moreover, those fast battleships in Lee's Task Force 34 provided additional anti-aircraft firepower, and a further layer of security for his own carrier task forces. This is especially crucial considering Halsey believed he had found the main Japanese carrier task force to the north, and he was not willing to split his forces to engage what he considered to be a dangerous enemy carrier fleet. The Japanese really never learned this lesson, while the Americans did. By massing his different task groups into one main task force, Halsey effectively had the strongest naval force to ever put to sea, with over a thousand aircraft in his strike groups, and the sea around his carriers was basically rendered unapproachable to Japanese pilots. The masses of dual-purpose 5"/38 guns, 40mm Bofors, and 20mm Oerlikon cannon could put up a wall of lead and steel that would shred hostile aircraft. When Halsey spotted the decoy Japanese carrier task force, he believed that he was facing an enemy fleet on par with those at Midway and the Philippine Sea. He did not, could not, know that there were only around a hundred enemy planes on those carriers, with rookie pilots. Oldendorf had savaged the first Japanese task force at Surigao Strait and killed Nishimura, and turned away the second just by his fleet's presence. Halsey had rained hell down on the center force, and forced it to turn around. Believing he had defeated that group, only then did he chase after Ozawa in the north. But Kurita turned around, despite losing the Musashi, as well as some of his cruisers in the preceding days. And I doubt any flag officer could resist the bait that Ozawa was dangling. After all, Halsey WANTED to destroy a Japanese carrier fleet, something he hadn't got to do.
@@aa2339 that was Halsey, lee was actually one of the few that suggested to leave task force 34 to guard San Bernardino strait, but Halsey suddenly wanted to clap zuikaku cheeks with the whole third fleet 😒
It should be noted that, after the night action of November 12-13, Yamamoto and Halsey took very different approaches to fighting the next battle.
Yamamoto played it safe by sending only one battleship, the Kirishima, back to Guadalcanal while keeping her mighty sister ships, the Kongo and Haruna, behind to screen the IJN carriers.
Halsey, on the other hand, decided to commit Lee's battleships to attacking the enemy instead of protecting the Enterprise, knowing full well the men on Guadalcanal needed the fleet and its firepower now more than ever.
As it turns out, Halsey's gamble paid off - and it certainly didn't hurt to have one of the best sharpshooters in the world leading the charge.
Absolutely, sending Lee into confined waters, at night was a helluva gamble. Lee's expertise not only in gunnary but especially radar were key.
You're not wrong in calling it a gamble that paid off, but Halsey didn't really have a choice. He didn't send in Lee's battleships because he wanted to. He sent them in because they were the only remaining surface ships he could spare without seriously weakening Enterprise's escort.
50 episodes in and just now getting to the naval battle of Guadalcanal…This series is not messing around
An absolutely amazing and detailed showing of the critical battles at sea that helped win Guadalcanal. I am deeply impressed by the detail, graphics and narration that K&Gs brings to this incredible series. It is unmatched for anyone interested in the Pacific War. Excellent job as always.
Admiral King said there was no greater tribute to the sailors than the words of General Vandegrift: "To them, the men of Cactus lift their battered helmets in deepest admiration."
Was he a grifter?
@@jeebusk xD
In reference to admiral Daniel J. Callaghan and Norman Scott
This series is crazy. Most coverage of this time goes Pearl Harbor to Midway to Gaudalcanal but it took 50 episodes to get there in this one! Incredible effort.
Some are in British Burma, China, British Malaya and Borneo, Dutch East Indies, the American Philippines, Australian Papua, and Alaskan Attu & Kiska. With occasional raids in Japan and Australia
I expected no less, since I've been paying good money to support this channel!
Small point of correcction: the USS Laffey in this battle was a Benson class destroyer.
The Sumner class USS Laffey was in fact named for the heroic actions (including going toe to toe with Hiei at point blank, firing everything from the 5in guns down to small arms (and no doubt, sailors being sailors, more than a few choice curse words too) at the behemoth) of that ship this very night.
This is actually a big error. They listed the incorrect ship as sunk, when it is currently a "museum ship". K&G should release a new video to correct this error.
Beat me to it
Some time looking into the correct pronunciation of some of the ships and personalities involved would be good.
FYI the captain of the japanese destroyer Amatsukaze which looped around the U.S DD formation to deliver a surprise torpedo attack was the famed Hara Tameichi. He was a pioneer of torpedo and night attacks, and also wrote a memoir after the war, which was highly critical of IJNs tactics and overall conduct. Ofc since Hara Tameichi was one of the only surviving IJN DD captains, his memoirs should be taken with a grain of salt. Overall a very interesting and less known figure in the IJN.
world war tales did an audio of the book...great multipart listen....
I was looking for this comment. After reading Japanese Destroyer Captain, the names of the ships really jump out at me now. Just a couple little tidbits in case you're on the fence about the book. It's worth a read.
1) Captain Hara was the only surviving DD captain to live to the end of the pacific war. His final action was aboard IJN Yahagi, which was sunk with the Yamato by USN aircraft during Operation Ten-go on 7 APR 1945. He was rescued by escorting destroyers and returned to Japan.
2) His torpedo doctrine was so revolutionary that the IJN threw out their old instructions and used his. Every torpedo officer in the IJN was influenced by him. The type 93 torpedo was a closely guarded secret of the IJN to the point that even during training exercises, all torpedoes were recovered and if the seas were rough, exercises were cancelled to prevent their loss.
3) He was Captain of the IJN Shigure, the "miracle destroyer" or "indestructible destroyer" while the commanding officer of Destroyer Division 27. While he was Captain, the ship was involved in several battles without a single loss, including one close call where a US torpedo holed the rudder of the ship without exploding during the Battle of Vella Gulf on 6-7 AUG 1943.
4) During one of the Tokyo Express runs on 2 AUG 1943, IJN Amagiri (one of the destroyer's under his command) rammed and sank PT-109, then commanded by LT John F. Kennedy. There's a small portion of the book devoted to LT's Kennedy's heroism after his boat was rammed, saving his injured crew.
5) In late 1943, he wrote a letter to Emperor Hirohito stating that the military lacked effective equipment, the army and navy lacked effective leadership and that the war was lost. On his way to hand deliver the letter, he gave the letter to the Emperor's brother, Prince Takamatsu. Captain Hara feared that he would be severely disciplined or executed for being "defeatist," but he heard nothing more about it.
6) Captain Hara was in Nagasaki training sailors (volunteers with little naval experience, like students) to operate Shinyo suicide boats and witnessed the atomic bombing of the city.
7) His book, while fascinating, is not completely accurate. Which he was the only surviving destroyer captain, he did include details he had with conversations with admirals who did survive the war, like Jizaburo Ozawa.
8) Post-war, he was a captain of a salt carrier ship. He died in 1980 at age 79.
Anyone take a moment to appreciate the box with all details about every small fleet entering the theater of war
The USS Laffey during the first Guadalcanal naval battle was a Benson class destroyer with the hull number of 459.
Props to Admiral Willis August Lee for having such faith in his crew and good understanding of his vessel that he saw an opportunity, capitalized on it, and snuck an entire battleship up on the enemy almost to point blank range so he could absolutely blow the Kirishima to bits and decisively win the engagement.
USS Washington should have been preserved along with North Carolina. It could literally be the most iconic museum ship in the Puget Sound.
My grandpa was on the Washington as a 5inch gunner. He never talked about his time in the Navy and died when I was around 16. I later joined the Marines and now wish I could pick his brain and hear his stories about his time on the Washington.
Whomever designed the water on these needs an award ugh. Its so entrancing. Good content as always!!!
This is one of the few channels that when I see a new video is posted, I drop everything else and watch. Great job on these videos.
The amount of sailors killed in one night, numbered as many as the 1st Marine Divisions KIA in the entire Guadalcanal campaign. A very very high price
One of my uncles was a gunnery officer in the A turret of USS Washington during the battle. He was USNA class of '41 and would retire as a captain. Another uncle received the Navy Cross when the USS Vincennes was sunk during the battle of Savo Island. He was USNA class of '40 and would also retire as a captain.
Any chance your uncle has photos? My grandpa was a gunners mate on the 5 inch guns but he died when I was a teen and I never got to hear any stories from him about it. Later on I joined the Marines and have ever since been loving any story I can hear about the Washington.
Just goes to show while Midway was a major victory, the re-telling of it feels quite overblown when compared to the sum of all of these smaller victories in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Another fantastic video from Kings and Generals!
The Imperial Japanese Navy’s 4 aircraft carriers were wiped out almost instantly at Midway. A merciful fate compared to the slow, grinding, torturous deaths of the surface fleet at Iron Bottom Sound
I would still call the midway is the most decisive one. Crippling IJN's air power before the guadalcanal campaign. Imajine if they still had the 4 carriers and if US lost 1 or 2 carriers on midway. The guadalcanal campaign would not even exist and they would prolong (if not come to term) the war for atleast one more year.
While the guadalcanal campaign is gruesome and grindy, which resulted in a crippled IJN power, mideay is the battle in which give the USN a fair battleground for the coming battle
@@xWarLegendx correct. The Japanese tendency to take their veterans and have them "fly till they die" (much like the Germans did as well), in contrast with the allies approach of "do one or two tours, rotate back to be a trainer so you can pass on your tips and tricks to the next group" was ultimately very self defeating, as it meant that when those aces and expert crews were lost, most if not all of their knowledge died with them. Combined with the introduction of ever more advanced American fighters like the Corsair and the Hellcat, and it put the writing on the wall for the IJN.
That the IJN and IJA *also* had an interservice rivalry between one another that literally rose to *outright assassinations* at times didn't help...
@@xWarLegendx Skilled pilot obviously is part of the carrier group. losing the carrier is almost guaranteed losing said pilots. Even if they dont lose the carrier, they would still lose significant number of their skileld pilot. Japan did not have the industrial capacity to replace their material losses. So yes, the 4 carrier they lost still contribute in their defeat.
If you want to go deeper, there are also moral to take into account. If IJN did win midway, US' morale will go under abysmal. Guadalcanal will not happen, Pearl Harbour will be once again under invasion threat. a very imminent and deadly one since they lost their carriers. And it will likely force a treaty.
Ehhhh. 4 dead aircraft carriers with entire crews and planes lost is kind of catastrophic, to say nothing of the morale loss of losing 4(!) Carrier ships in one battle and only having (to their knowledge) sunk one in return. Particularly since the Japanese were supposedly on the "offensive" at that time.
The sinking of the Juneau was remembered for the loss of all five Sullivan brothers, but it also had many other sets of brothers serving aboard her when she was destroyed. It was those loses, plus the loss of the Borgstrom brothers, that quickly led to the Sole Survivor policy of the DoD.
It was called the War Department back then.
The words of Captain Cassin Young of _San Francisco_ were prophetic, as indeed he was mortally wounded during this battle (in addition to the loss of Admirals Callaghan and Scott).
Congratulations on your great display of that chaotic battle!
Thanks!
I noticed but you got the wrong Laffey the one involved wasn't the Allen M. Sumner class Laffey but the Benson Class USS Laffey DD-459
Found Kings and Generals accident and immediately was happy i did. Keep up the amazing work.
What historical documentaries should be! No bs fluff and/or propaganda. just what happened and when.
Great work!
Really enjoying the increases in production value.
This was great, as always, K&G! One thing that I wish had been commented on more, though, is the somewhat, or seemingly, Pyrrhic nature of the victory for both sides. Clearly it was a strategic loss for Japan even it was a tactical victory, but it seems like the US lost many ships (specifically destroyers) as well. I guess that will be made up for in time by sheer production, but I would have loved to see one of those brilliant battle overviews you do that shows the casualties and losses. It seems like it must have been a hellish time for both sides.
Really enjoying these World War II battles, thanks Kings 👍
I think you mislabeled the USS Laffey as there were 2 destroyers with that name.
The one in your video was DD-724 (Allen M Summer class which earned the nickname “the destroyer that could not die” because of the sheer number of bomb and kamikaze hits she sustained while on picket duty during the Okinawa campaign, she was the closest picket ship in terms of distance to mainland Japan at the time) which was launched in February 1944.
The correct one is DD-459 (Benson class) which was the predecessor and launched on 30th October 1941 and was recorded sunk at that specific location.
Been following this series since it started, I'm loving every bit of it as there's so much detail I was not aware of before these videos, thanks so much for sharing them
"Beach the ship."
"Sir that's ridiculous this ship isn't going to sink."
*three hours later*
"I fucking TOLD you."
Fantastic content as always, much appreciated. Its unbelievable how intense these battles really were.
70 sorties?!?! Insane. What a chaotic naval battle, that would be wild to be apart of.
I always get psyched when a new episode is uploaded. Hope to watch this series until the signing of surrender by Japan in Tokyo Bay. Keep it up Kings!
What? Japan surrenders? You've just given away the ending 🙂
@@russellgardener126 you gotta report all those spoiler videos on youtube ;)
Just wanted to let you know that I am really enjoying this series!
Thank you, as always, for this magnificent documentary! I was young when the 50th anniversary of the end of WW2 came about in the 90s and spent countless hours watching and learning. But your work is on another level. You are able to put so much details without overwhelming our minds. 100 thumbs up!
Hands down, best channel on youtube
thanks!
9:11 I believe one US sailor described this battle as brawl in a bar with the lights turned off, that gives u an idea of how chaotic this battle was! Hell even the marines on Guadalcanal could see the battle from the island
"A wounded Colonel Puller was forced to relinquish command."
Knowing him it was kicking and screaming, no doubt.
Love this series, come back every week
I dont know what is worse, being an infantryman under bombardment or being a sailor under attack from another ship. I think I rather be on land, which is why I joined the infantry. I cant imagine having to bail out in the open ocean.
Brilliant movie as always!!
Hard to imagine how many ships and people were sunk in the battle described in 20 minutes. The guy named this area Ironbottom Sound would be genius or crazy.
Just came home from work as saw this uploaded "1 minute ago". LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOO
According to the book neptune's inferno, the marines at guadalcanal watched the whole battle from the hills, and not being able to distinguish friend from foe they just watched the fireworks without trying to interfere
If you watch the Pacific you could see lecky and other marines watching the battle at the hills not sure if it was the naval battle of guadalcanal or battle of savo island.
It ought to be remembered that the US Navy lost more sailors at Guadalcanal than the USMC lost marines. Two admirals in one night... probably the first time since the Civil War that the American armed forces lost two flag officers in single engagement.
I been wanting for is episode! This is my opinion the true turning point of the campaign.
For anyone wondering why Lee held Fire on Kirishima. Washington had a blind spot on her radar Lee knew the radar was picking a battleship but did not know if it was South Dakota or Kirishima.
I suspect that was done out of spite by the Bureau of Ordnance.
@@ph89787 Kind of Washington wasn't designed to carry radar it was something they had to find a spot to cram in.
Deep respect and extreme gratitude to all the brave men who fought so hard and valiantly. My grandfather Clifford Russell Anderson (Sea2c) fought in this theater. He was one of the few survivors from the light cruiser USS Atlanta CL-51. The ship received heavy damaged the early morning hours of November 13th, 1942, first by a Japanese torpedo from the Destroyer Akatsuki, and then friendly fire from the USS San Francisco. My grandfather passed away November 15th, 1987. I miss him very much.
Thanks for another terrific episode! 🇺🇸 ⚔ 🇯🇵
Another great show. These naval battles again show why Midway was such a catastrophic defeat. Had Japan had a larger carrier force to stay on station, Guadalcanal could not have held out. To learn more see my work Fatal Flaws Book 1 1914-1945
10:00 The battle definitely living up to its description as a "bar room brawl with the lights shot out."
Nice! I just finished listening to Dan Carlin’s “supernova in the east Episode 4”
9:40 Callaghan's fleet going straight into the inferno is just balls of steel
The sea battle portion of Gaudalcanal was fascinating! Never knew before how close the naval battle was and that America won because the Japanese admiral threw away the naval battle.
I discovered in this video that it was the ship my grandfather was on, the USS Atlanta, that fired the first in the engagement. My grandfather never told me that.
@@rjo8500 cool man
Should also be noted that the second USS Laffey (the Sumner class one) also landed herself in the history books off Okinawa.
By surviving, albeit barely, one of the largest and most concentrated Kamikaze attacks any vessel took during the war. Also let's not forget, she's still around, as a museum ship in Charleston.
Guadalcanal was brutal. In the end the comparative losses were amazingly equal. The US learned bitter lessons on land, sea & sky. Guadalcanal was the turning point of the War. In the first phases of the campaign Imperial forces had the edge but at its end America had seized the initiative.
I read somewhere something to the effect that Guadalcanal was not just a name…it was an emotion..
@@xWarLegendx Well said…
@@xWarLegendx That be so…
Excellent video 📹
So much loss for a swamp island 🏝
11:25 The laffey involved in this fight was a benson class (DD459), not the Sumner that combed through kamikaze attacks near the end of the Pacific Campaign.
A couple notable tid bits - The most important was that there were radio issues and they could not give the information to Callaghan immediately and thus resulted in confusion while Callaghan attempted to assess the situation. This allowed Abe to to act. Additionally, USS Laffey was actually very aggressive against Hiei, they narrowly avoided colliding by about 6 meters only after Laffey accelerated to avoid the collision, to which this point she was close enough that Hiei's guns could not depress enough to return fire. This was the time at which Laffey injured Abe by raking her super structure with 127s. Ofc the misnaming of Laffey but others already mentioned that. Otherwise it was pretty good.
USS Washington saving the South Dakota like a ghost in the night was beautiful.
Robert Ballard investigate the waters off Guadalcanal. His book on the Iron Bottom Sound, the Lost Ships of Guadalcanal, is well worth the read.
When we think of these major battles in history, we conceptualize them as just major head to head engagements, but the reality is that it was very complicated, confusing, and with a lot of moving pieces spanning a large period of time.
This is a vital one.
The USS Washington is the only USN battleship to sink an enemy battleship in combat.
During this battle, two of 5 USN Admirals killed during the war perished here.
Great series. I was surprised to see this particular episode so far into the list!
Y'all say my name in almost every video now and I *love it!* 😁❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank you , K&G .
🐺
My dad was on the conning tower of the USS San Francisco reporting to Adm. Callaghan when those three shells took out the superstructure. He was blown off the ship and left in the sea for two days. Finally getting rescued. Purple Heart, of course.
I've been waiting for this battle for months!
this series is amazing, they have plans to also show more of the battles that ocurred on china?
the USS Juneau is famous because all 5 O'Sullivan Brothers were killed in that torpedo hit
IIRC a few survived the initial hit, but died while adrift afterwards. The other ships in the formation saw the massive explosion and how fast Juneau went down, and decided nobody could have survived that. As a result the rescue came way too late, and the captain of USS Helena (most senior officer still alive) was reprimanded and relieved for not calling for rescue
Nicely done video
Very nice documentary 👌 👍 👏 😀 😊 ☺ 👌 👍
One thing you left out. Was that because of her damage at Santa Cruz. Enterprise had offloaded VT-10 (her torpedo bombers) to Henderson field. Forming Flight 300.
Halsey is such a competent Admiral. Was the right man at the right place!
Another good section Jan
Thanks for another interesting video
The waters off guadalcanal or an absolute slug fest. So many huge battles. It really highlights the struggle for dominance in the Pacific and the cost it had at sea as much as on land
It goes to shows how more American sailors died than Marines in the battle of Guadalcanal
If only your videos were around for my history lessons, saying that we would still need the internet, laptops, technology etc etc
My dad, John Webster, was there as an 18-year-old sailor on board the USS San Francisco (CA-38). He never talked about the battle to us kids, but he told my mom that at one point in the conflict, he came across his best friend on board the ship - who was on fire. He worked to put the fire out, but I don’t know if the friend survived.
Oh boy, here we go again!
I didn't know this at first but it turns out Rear Admiral Willis Augustus Lee is a distant relative of Confederate general Robert E Lee.
Being from NE Iowa, I thought the USS Juneau sounded familiar. K&G, are you guys going to make a separate video on the Fighting Sullivans?
Great video
When we can do Battle of Leyte Gulf? The Operations Room has started doing 3 part video.
My father was on USS Barton 599 on November 13 at 1:50am when his ship was hit by 2 torpedoes and sank minutes later. Dad survived the attack and was picked up the next morning by Marines.
Why do I feel sad about the loss of those 2 magnificent battlecruisers, Hiei and Kirishima? 2 of the 4 sisters lost within days of each other. Kongo (Burning Love!!) and Haruna are left.
as a former Kancolle player; Akatsuki and Yuudachi's loss devastated me.
Callaghan's hesitation cost him dearly..
TY
I see Naval Battles i like the video
This battle is so intense, Historians still debates about wth happened.
They said that the IJN Flashed their search lights the same time USN turn theirs as well. All the light of the USN Was focused on akatsuki and therefore sustained alot of hits from the USN ships.
Yuudachi is said to fire all hell torpedoes, guns, everything she can while in the middle of the enemy line that some of her shells hit a friendly ship. Laffey fought the Hiei fiercely being too close to her. And other else. Jesus this is an intense battle.
Perfect
a small error on USS Laffey XD It wasn't the Allen M Sumner cclass by rather the Benson class
*Whoever's reading this, I pray that whatever your going through gets better and whatever your struggling with or worrying about is going to be fine and that everyone has a fantastic day!! Amen* 😊
Cactus air force. There is something i don't hear for a longtime. I really miss Dogfights. The flying tigers and their leader Lee Chennaul deserves their own episode.
I felt like K&G said they would do a special Flying Tigers / Lee Chennaul episode eventually.
I could be wrong. But it was one of the earlier Pacific War videos. Well here's hoping! 😎👍
prefer medieval stuff but this channel is awesome.
Love the viedo
Welcome Comrade!
The rookie admiral got the job over the experienced one because of 15 days seniority? I'll be honest, I got a little mad hearing that.
USN consistently underated combat experience
Well he died right as the battle starts, so if you wanted to keep the experienced one it worked out.
RIP to them tho. I cannot even imagine what they went through.