2nd Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
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- čas přidán 21. 08. 2024
- We are still working our way through the actions at Guadalcanal, and we aren't done yet. Stay tuned!
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Ocean Explorer Dr. Robert Ballard discovered many of the wrecks around Guadalcanal. He published an excellent book in 1993 titled "The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal" with photos and paintings of the sea bottom sites. Ballard's finds did include the wreck of Kirishima which was sunk by USS Washington.
Great book.
@Joe Scriff, I too have that book. Great book.
Turns out Lee was uncannily good. Kirishima was totally wrecked by Washington's gun fire. Lee claimed 5 or 6 hits because that's all he could see. But now we know that Washington scored some 16 or 17 big gun hits. Many of those were hits underwater on Kirishima's hull.
Admiral Lee could keep an ongoing surface plot of the battle in his mind. The first American Admiral to do this.
Sadly he died young from a heart attack, a week or two after the war ended.
@@MrXelig probably from stress of war
did the internet tell you this? Cool. I have some arizona beachfront property to sell you.
The Washington appearing out of the dark, main guns blazing, is one of the last classic battleship moments of all time.
USS Washington was ahead of USS South Dakota and again it was a very dark night. When the Japanese illuminated the South Dakota they never ever knew the Washington was with her until the battleship Kirishima started receiving 16 inch shells from Washington! Admiral "Ching" Lee was a good captain and held fire until he knew he had the Japanese ships where he wanted them (in his sights) as he charged out of the black night.
@@jaybartholomew7826 Lee was Admiral while Glenn Davis was Captain of Washington. They were the best command combo during WW2
@@rickmroz9212 what else did they accomplish?
The SoDak had to turn starboard to avoid hitting one of the burning DDs. The back-lighting from the fires silhouetted her and made her an easy target. Washington sailed to port, behind the burning destroyers, making her impossible to see.
Lee did more than just shoot. He pushed hard for mass production of the proximity-fused shells. Despite his battleship backgtound, he urged that as many AA guns be put on a ship as would fit without affecting stability. He was working to devise ways to defeat kamikaze attacks when he died of a heart attack in Aug. 1945.
Admiral Willis " Ching " Lee was the best gun admiral in the USN. Unlike many admirals he understood the capabilities and limitations radar.
Might read Battleship at War by ivan musicant...Its the history of USS WASHINGTON from cradle to grave
Thanks. I will order it
Fantastic book
Just ordered Battleship at War, thank you for the recommendation!
Excellent book!
In the first year of the war, the USN and IJN couldn’t’ve been more lopsided in nighttime battles, even when the USN engaged in superior numbers. The IJN was the undisputed master of night fighting. The USN, meanwhile, had superior technology (radar), but many field commanders didn’t know how to use that technology to their advantage, or worse didn’t trust it or its operators.
They had a lot of practice and it took a while for us to get up to speed. That, and getting good commanders vs the politcal types that do well in peace time.
I would love to know more about why the Japanese had superior night optics that gave them such a decisive edge.
All Four Battles of Savo Island in complete detail. Read the Book "NEPTUNES INFERNO"
great book. im just finishing it myself.
I listened to the audiobook- very well done 👍
Neptunes Inferno is a great book
One hell of a read. Can't recommend it more highly.
Washington v Kirishima, night fight par excellance. Great narrative.
A graphic or map showing the ship positions would help to illustrate your story telling. Thanks for the video.
Whatch the videos of The operations room.
Here's a link czcams.com/video/G_QhTdzWBJk/video.html
One thing, he said that armor doesn't account for anything. I hate too but I have to correct this:
South Dakota took a direct hit aft, abreast the aft barbette, by a 14” AP from Kirishima. The shell obliterated the wooden weather deck around that side of the barbet and the impact bent the STS splinter deck below it but the projectile impacted directly on the Barbet leaving a dent that could be seen inside, but deflected down through the splinter deck rather than penetrate the armored Barbet, dispite considerable damage to the light bulkheads in the compartment below, no discernible damage was done to the armored main deck below the splinter deck. SD’s armor absorbed the hit with only superficial damage (and a large semicircle of splinters where the wooded weather-deck had been.)
It's a good thing for SD that Karishma had 14 and not 16 inch guns. Ironically, it was Japan's failure to follow naval treaty on battleship displacement that allowed for Washington to upgrade her guns from the original treaty design of 14 inch, to the newer and more powerful 16 inch, 45 caliber guns.
Evidently, the electrical casualty on the South Dakota that caused radar and fire control to drop out was self inflicted due to the chief engineer tying down a circuit breaker. It can be argued she was “soft killed” by the superstructure damage by the Japanese shells.
he tied the fuses together in series effectively creating a daisy chain. One goes, they all go. Oops
it fired no shells and it ran away burning as fast as it could. that's mission kill. shame!
I swear half the time there’s a long pause I don’t know if it’s the video trying to load or if Ryan is just taking long awkward pause
THE IRONY of Willis Lee is that after all his gunnery practice and expertise, the battle with Kirishima is at "point blank" range.
Well told, thank you.
Nice job Ryan 👍👍👍
Great video! Do you know how many casualties there were for both sides? Im especially curious how many were on South Dakota as she took hits.
Why do we have endless movies about imaginary men in capes while this battle goes unnoticed?!?
Because Marvel has an interest in promoting their "Men in Tights" franchise and pandering to the young American male the glories of individual, god-like power over teamwork and cooperation. Thereby, pandering to their egos, stealing their money with a smile, and simultaneously making them stupid.
😏👍
You seemed to say Washington had 15” guns. She had 16” main armament, a slightly smaller calibre but same diameter as New Jersey.
I knew a guy that was on the BB Washington in this battle. He told me that the Jabs. just didn't see them. He also said they had a name for the South Dakota that I can't put on here. I guess it was just battleship competition or pride in your ship.
Japanese Optics, while superior, still can't see behind a burning ship or wreck. That's why dropping flares from scout planes at night behind your opponents was such a good tactic.
There was real enmity between SoDak and Washington crews. The leadership had to start staggering shore leave between the ships to keep the fights down.
@@scottl9660 that’s what I understand… ☺️
The animosity was due to the fact that the SoDak received the publicity for the battles outcome. This was due to the idea the Navy did not want the Washington's presence in theater to be known.
sukk dikkkota
Technology when used give one an I,proved ability to prevail. Radar was one that you would have thought ALL of the US admirals would have been trained on. The cruiser force in the previous battle might have prevailed if their radar had been used.
"... losing up to 50soldiers a day through malnutrition." Read: they were starving to death.
It was a living hell. The worst.
Looking good in CIC
The USS Mississippi was held back along the west coast. What other ships were held back? Were they too old to make a difference?
I recommend reading Battleship Commander: The life of Vice Admiral Willis A Lee Jr by Paul Stillwell
You said at point blank range shell sizes doesn't matter
So here is a hypothetical question a what if while Halsey was off chasing empty carrieers the Japanese concentrated their forces including their two biggest Yamato class battleships with other battleships and supporting vessels otherwise the main strike force and tried to run the gauntlet at the battle of surigao strait
Would the old battleships that were sunk at pearl harbor be able to stop them ?
All I know is that battle would be one for the ages
All of the escort carriers would have sunk them probably before they could've gotten within range. They were present at Leyte Gulf (albeit on the southern side of the landing forces, whereas the Japanese were on the northern side) and there were still more "Taffy" groups of escort carriers like the ones they fought on the northern side.
Kurita was right to withdraw, I just believe he withdrew too early before he'd gotten into the U.S. landing forces (but he screwed up when he ordered General Attack and the Japanese fleet became scattered too).
Battleship at War
At night, all battleships are grey ...
Kirishima: I’m gonna beat up South Dakota
Washington: “and I took that personally”
How on earth do you remember all this information!!!
Very good explanation!!
... There was a very interesting "radio exchange" between the US PT boats that saw these (2) very large darkened ships going by in the dark ... who are these ships ??? ... Admiral "Ching Lee" ... got on the "open" radio channel ... "This Admiral Ching Lee" ... Reply from the PT's ... Who? ... Admiral Lee ... "Talk to your boss (Vandergrif) ... Now get out of our way, we are coming through ..." and the Washington went in and took care of business !!!!
Mr. Frank's book Guadacanal has it in detail. A good read.
Wasnt that when the captain on Washington.told Enterprise to stay back im coming through then they shot the hell out of a Japanese battle ship and cruisers and destroyers and they were not any good after that?
God bless those lost !
Didn't you talk about the New Orleans losing its bow in the Battle of Tassaforanga?
and the four destroyers that were sunk or withdrew were?
Gwin, Preston, Benham, and Walke
whose Capt. Thomas Fraser in provisional command of the temporary destroyer group perished in the battle with Gwin only surviving DD.
As mentioned in other comments book "Battleship At War" by Ivan Musicant (about USS Washington) excellent coverage of this battle.
@@kenhanks9620 many thanks for your information, my dad who survived the sinking was on the Preston
@@charlesstrunk3413 God Bless your dad for his service to our country.
@@charlesstrunk3413 What were his thoughts on the battle? Anything, or did he avoid speaking about it?
RYAN are you intoxicated or buzzed when you make these videos?
Twenty 5"-38 secondary weapons. Yah, I bet those could clean up any destroyer ever built in very short order.
What about the battle of Leyte Gulf, it came after the Philippine Sea battle.
We have a 10 part series on Leyte Gulf
Wasn't Admiral Lee's nickname "China" ?
Edward Harding His nickname of “Ching” came from his naval academy days.
During the battle, he was concerned that PT boats based nearby might attack him, and he heard radio transmissions that the PT boats were eying him as a possible target. He knew the commander of the PT flotilla personally, so he broadcast the unmistakable message: "Stand aside. I am coming through. This is Ching Lee. Call off your boys."
Good job on the video.
Kiroshima: Disables South Dakota.
Washington: Exterminatus!!!!
South Dakota has entered the group.
Kirishima has entered the group.
Washington has entered the group.
Kirishima has left the group.