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DDH - Cape Esperance · Plausibly Live - The Dave Bowman Show Podcast

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  History is strange, it's alien, and it won't give us what we
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  would like to have. Well, let's take a trip back to
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  the very early morning hours of October 12th, 1942.
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  Place Cape Esperance, a rugged jungle covered stretch of land
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  on the northwest tip of the island of Guadalcanal.
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  The stakes? The survival of the US Marines
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  fighting tooth and nail to hold on to a crucial airfield on the
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  island. This was the Battle of Cape
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  Esperance, one of those pivotal moments that would shape the
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  outcome of the entire Guadalcanal campaign.
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  Before we get to that battle itself, though, it's kind of set
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  the scene. It's October 1942, and the war
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  in the Pacific is raging. Japanese have been on the
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  offensive for many months, gobbling up territory across the
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  Pacific Ocean. Guadalcanal, an island in the
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  Solomon Islands, has suddenly become the focal point of the
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  entire war. Why?
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  Well, whoever controls Guadalcanal controls the
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  shipping lanes between the United States and Australia.
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  Japanese have built an airfield hit there.
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  So when the United States Marines landed in August, they
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  were sending a clear message the tidal war is about to change.
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  The problem though, is the Japanese aren't about to give up
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  that airfield without a fight. Nearly every night, Japanese
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  warships would steam down from bases in the northern Solomons
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  and what became known as the Tokyo Express, bringing
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  reinforcements, supplies, whatever else they could cram
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  onto the destroyers they were using. the United States Navy
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  had been struggling to stop them until this night.
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  The night, the evening of October 11th into the morning of
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  October 12th and they finally get their shot.
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  Rear Admiral Norman Scott was in command of the American fleet
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  that night. He had been ordered to stop a
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  Japanese force expected to run supplies down to Guadalcanal.
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  On the other side, the Japanese force was led by Rear Admiral
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  Aritomo Goto. Goto's mission is simple,
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  rescort Japanese reinforcements to the island of Guadalcanal so
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  that they can take back Henderson Field.
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  Scott's task force consists of a handful of cruisers, the USS San
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  Francisco, the USS Boise, and some destroyers.
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  Now, these ships are equipped with radar, which means that the
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  United States Navy's secret weapon during the fight will
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  allow them to see the enemy long before the Japanese even knew
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  they were there. On the other side, Gotoh had his
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  cruisers, including the heavy cruiser Aoba, a few destroyers.
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  The Japanese, on the other hand, rely on their night vision and
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  surprise, believing they'd catch the Americans flat footed in the
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  dark. Late on the evening of October
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  11th, Scott's task force moved into position near Cape
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  Esperance, waiting for Goto's fleet to show up.
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  Sure enough, just after 11:00 PM, the radar picked up the
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  incoming Japanese ships. Without hesitating, Scott gave
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  the order to open fire. Japanese were caught completely
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  off guard, their cruisers pounded by shells from the
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  American ships. In the chaos, Aoba took heavy
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  hits and the Japanese cruiser Furutaka was soon crippled and
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  sinking. Goto himself was mortally
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  wounded in the opening salvo, which left the Japanese fleet in
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  disarray. But as with any battle, not
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  everything goes perfectly. In the confusion, there was some
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  friendly fire. Yes, the United States Navy
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  managed to fire on itself, damaging the USS Boise,
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  accidentally sinking the destroyer USS Duncan.
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  These kinds of mistakes are easy to understand in the fog of war,
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  especially in a night engagement where visibility is low, even
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  with radar, which was brand new. By the early hours of October
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  12th, the battle was winding down.
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  Japanese had suffered serious losses.
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  One cruiser sunk, another heavily damaged.
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  Several destroyers battered The Americans, Despite the friendly
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  fire, incidents came out on top. It was a clear tactical victory,
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  the first ship for the United States Navy since Pearl Harbor.
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  But what did it really mean? On the surface, it might seem
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  like just a naval scourge, but it had a much bigger impact on
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  the Guadalcanal campaign. The Japanese had been sending
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  reinforcements to Guadalcanal almost every night.
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  After Cape Esperance, those missions became much riskier.
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  The loss of ships and men slowed their ability to reinforce the
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  troops, giving the Marines on Guadalcanal a crucial window to
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  fortify their positions and to hold on to Henderson Field.
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  The victory was not total. The Japanese still managed to
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  land some troops that night, and the fight for Guadalcanal would
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  rage on for months. But Cape Esperantz sent a clear
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  message. the United States Navy was learning, adapting, and
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  getting better at fighting these deadly night battles.
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  In the aftermath of the battle, lessons were learned,
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  particularly about radar directed fire.
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  Americans had the technology, but using it effectively in the
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  chaos of battle? That's another story.
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  The friendly fire incidents highlighted the need for better
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  coordination, which would come into play in later battles as
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  the Navy honed its night fighting tactics.
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  Today, the Battle of Cape Esperance doesn't get the same
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  attention as, say, Midway or Coral Sea, but it does hold an
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  important place in the history of the Pacific War Memorials
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  honoring the men who fought and died that night can be found in
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  places like the Guadalcanal American Memorial.
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  The legacy of Cape Esperance lives on in the lessons it
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  taught the United States Navy the role it played in the
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  shifting balance of power in the Solomon Islands.
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  In the end, it was a turning point not just for the campaign
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  on Guadalcanal, but for the United States Navy's ability to
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  fight and win against the tough, experienced enemy.
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  Check out more stories from history@davedoeshistory.org.