II bitwa artyl. Guadalcanal/ mogło być znacznie ciekawiej
: 2005-02-02, 10:44
Admiral Yamamoto relieves Abe of tactical command and orders his deputy Vice Admiral Kondo to shell Henderson Field the next night. For this tasking, Kondo orders his battle worthy forces to rendezvous north of Guadalcanal. **
0630: Vice Admiral Mikawa, CINC, Eighth Fleet, sorties from the Shortland Islands for Guadalcanal in the heavy cruiser CHOKAI (F) with the KINUGASA, light cruiser ISUZU and the destroyers ARASHIO and the ASASHIO. Mikawa's mission is to carry out Kondo's original plan and bombard Henderson Field with his cruisers where Abe failed with his battleships. Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Nishimura Shoji's (former CO of HARUNA) Bombardment Unit, the heavy cruisers MAYA, SUZUYA, light cruiser TENRYU and the destroyers KAZAGUMO, MAKIGUMO, MICHISHIO and the YUGUMO accompany Mikawa.
1652: 360 miles south of Guadalcanal. Captain (later Vice Admiral) Thomas L. Gatch's USS SOUTH DAKOTA (BB-57) escorting Rear Admiral (later Admiral) Thomas C. Kinkaid's (former CO of INDIANAPOLIS, CA-35) Task Force 16's ENTERPRISE (CV-6) from Noumea, New Caledonia to Guadalcanal, joins Captain Glenn B. Davis' new battleship the WASHINGTON (BB-56) and the destroyers PRESTON (DD-379), BENHAM (DD-397), WALKE (DD-416) and the GWIN (DD-433) at sea. As ordered by Vice Admiral W. F. "Bull" Halsey, ComSoPac, they form Task Force 64 under the command of Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Willis A. Lee (former CO of CONCORD, CL-10) aboard the WASHINGTON.
1915: TF 64 detaches from the ENTERPRISE group and heads north at 26 knots.
1900-0100: The HIEI, crippled by shell and torpedo hits from the previous night's battle and devastated by bomb and torpedo attacks that day, is abandoned and scuttled.
2210: Kondo's Force gathers at the rendezvous point at Ontong Java. He forms an Emergency Bombardment (Volunteer Attack) Force composed of the KIRISHIMA, CruDiv 4's ATAGO (F) and TAKAO. DesRon 10's light cruiser NAGARA and six destroyers form a Screening Unit while DesRon 3's light cruiser SENDAI and three destroyers form a Sweeping Unit. The carrier JUNYO, the battleships KONGO and HARUNA and the remainder of Kondo's Second Fleet Advanced Force are to hold station as distant cover.
14 November 1942:
0010: Mikawa's cruisers launch float planes to drop magnesium parachute flares and light targets on Henderson Field.
0130-0200: The CHOKAI, MAYA and the SUZUYA bombard Henderson Field with 1, 370 8-inch shells, then retire towards Shortlands.
0530: Vice Admiral Kondo's Bombardment Force detaches from the Advanced Force and proceeds slowly southeastward while the KIRISHIMA, KONGO and HARUNA refuel the destroyers. After refueling, the KONGO and HARUNA detach and take up station with the covering force.
0739: LtCdr (later Vice Admiral/Medal of Honor) Lawson P. "Red" Ramage's USS TROUT (SS-202) sights the KIRISHIMA but the submarine is unable to gain an attack position.
During the day, Rear Admiral Tanka's reinforcement convoy is attacked repeatedly by aircraft from the "Cactus Air Force" on Guadalcanal and the ENTERPRISE's Air Group. Six of Tanaka's 11 troop transports are sunk or abandoned and one damaged so severely that she is forced to return to Shortland. Tanaka presses on with his four remaining transports.
1455: 100 miles south of Guadalcanal. A Japanese search plane sights Lee's TF 64, but misidentifies the ships as two "cruisers" and four destroyers.
1629: East of Santa Ysabel Island, the TROUT again sights the KIRISHIMA. This time the battleship is under air attack. While the KIRISHIMA is so engaged, Ramage fires five Mark-14 torpedoes at her. One, a dud, hits the battleship. Another passes under a destroyer, and others narrowly miss Kondo's flagship, the ATAGO.
2210: Lookouts aboard the light cruiser SENDAI report sighting two enemy "cruisers" and four destroyers north of Savo Island. Admiral Kondo splits his force so that they can attack the Americans from several directions at once.
2045: Kondo receives a report from another search plane of a sighting of two enemy "cruisers" and four destroyers heading north at 25 knots.
TROM Krishimy z Combined fleet
We trójkę (+kongo+haruna) byłoby dużo ciekawiej
0630: Vice Admiral Mikawa, CINC, Eighth Fleet, sorties from the Shortland Islands for Guadalcanal in the heavy cruiser CHOKAI (F) with the KINUGASA, light cruiser ISUZU and the destroyers ARASHIO and the ASASHIO. Mikawa's mission is to carry out Kondo's original plan and bombard Henderson Field with his cruisers where Abe failed with his battleships. Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Nishimura Shoji's (former CO of HARUNA) Bombardment Unit, the heavy cruisers MAYA, SUZUYA, light cruiser TENRYU and the destroyers KAZAGUMO, MAKIGUMO, MICHISHIO and the YUGUMO accompany Mikawa.
1652: 360 miles south of Guadalcanal. Captain (later Vice Admiral) Thomas L. Gatch's USS SOUTH DAKOTA (BB-57) escorting Rear Admiral (later Admiral) Thomas C. Kinkaid's (former CO of INDIANAPOLIS, CA-35) Task Force 16's ENTERPRISE (CV-6) from Noumea, New Caledonia to Guadalcanal, joins Captain Glenn B. Davis' new battleship the WASHINGTON (BB-56) and the destroyers PRESTON (DD-379), BENHAM (DD-397), WALKE (DD-416) and the GWIN (DD-433) at sea. As ordered by Vice Admiral W. F. "Bull" Halsey, ComSoPac, they form Task Force 64 under the command of Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Willis A. Lee (former CO of CONCORD, CL-10) aboard the WASHINGTON.
1915: TF 64 detaches from the ENTERPRISE group and heads north at 26 knots.
1900-0100: The HIEI, crippled by shell and torpedo hits from the previous night's battle and devastated by bomb and torpedo attacks that day, is abandoned and scuttled.
2210: Kondo's Force gathers at the rendezvous point at Ontong Java. He forms an Emergency Bombardment (Volunteer Attack) Force composed of the KIRISHIMA, CruDiv 4's ATAGO (F) and TAKAO. DesRon 10's light cruiser NAGARA and six destroyers form a Screening Unit while DesRon 3's light cruiser SENDAI and three destroyers form a Sweeping Unit. The carrier JUNYO, the battleships KONGO and HARUNA and the remainder of Kondo's Second Fleet Advanced Force are to hold station as distant cover.
14 November 1942:
0010: Mikawa's cruisers launch float planes to drop magnesium parachute flares and light targets on Henderson Field.
0130-0200: The CHOKAI, MAYA and the SUZUYA bombard Henderson Field with 1, 370 8-inch shells, then retire towards Shortlands.
0530: Vice Admiral Kondo's Bombardment Force detaches from the Advanced Force and proceeds slowly southeastward while the KIRISHIMA, KONGO and HARUNA refuel the destroyers. After refueling, the KONGO and HARUNA detach and take up station with the covering force.
0739: LtCdr (later Vice Admiral/Medal of Honor) Lawson P. "Red" Ramage's USS TROUT (SS-202) sights the KIRISHIMA but the submarine is unable to gain an attack position.
During the day, Rear Admiral Tanka's reinforcement convoy is attacked repeatedly by aircraft from the "Cactus Air Force" on Guadalcanal and the ENTERPRISE's Air Group. Six of Tanaka's 11 troop transports are sunk or abandoned and one damaged so severely that she is forced to return to Shortland. Tanaka presses on with his four remaining transports.
1455: 100 miles south of Guadalcanal. A Japanese search plane sights Lee's TF 64, but misidentifies the ships as two "cruisers" and four destroyers.
1629: East of Santa Ysabel Island, the TROUT again sights the KIRISHIMA. This time the battleship is under air attack. While the KIRISHIMA is so engaged, Ramage fires five Mark-14 torpedoes at her. One, a dud, hits the battleship. Another passes under a destroyer, and others narrowly miss Kondo's flagship, the ATAGO.
2210: Lookouts aboard the light cruiser SENDAI report sighting two enemy "cruisers" and four destroyers north of Savo Island. Admiral Kondo splits his force so that they can attack the Americans from several directions at once.
2045: Kondo receives a report from another search plane of a sighting of two enemy "cruisers" and four destroyers heading north at 25 knots.
TROM Krishimy z Combined fleet
We trójkę (+kongo+haruna) byłoby dużo ciekawiej