Honoring the memory of over 1,000 American and Australian sailors killed in action on this date in 1942 during the Battle of Savo Island. The battle, considered to be the worst defeat ever inflicted on the U.S. Navy at sea, was the first of seven major naval battles (five of which were fought at night) to occur during the six month campaign for Guadalcanal. Achieving near total surprise, and in less than an hour, a Japanese force of five heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and one destroyer virtually annihilated an Allied force of five heavy cruisers (one Australian) and six destroyers guarding the invasion force transports off Guadalcanal in the early hours of 9 August. Sustaining only light damage to three of their cruisers, the Japanese sank the American cruisers USS Astoria (CA-34), USS Quincy (CA-39), and USS Vincennes (CA-44), HMAS Canberra, damaged USS Chicago (CA-29) and two destroyers. The four cruisers were the first of nearly four dozen warships--American and Japanese--to litter the bottom of the waters of ironbottom Sound and the Battle of Savo Island would be indicative of the battles yet to come.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 01:25:55 +0000
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