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By Root 1932 0

Guadalcanal campaign.” The IJN’s first realization, after the Battle of Cape Esperance, that the United States held a meaningful technology advantage at night was “a bad influence upon the morale of the men,” Ohmae wrote. “The once high morale of the Japanese destroyer crews participating in the so-called ‘Tokyo Express’ … soon suffered a letdown. This lack of confidence in night engagements” disclosed “physical and mental defects in the Japanese naval forces which participated in the Guadalcanal sea battle fought from 12th to 14th November.” A Marine veteran of Guadalcanal who became a general and a historian as well, Samuel B. Griffith II, argued that the land fighting had a “decisive nature.” The air and sea actions were “ancillary.” This avoids the fact that if the seas were lost, no level of gallantry would have saved the marines ashore from starvation and attrition. Admiral Halsey drew a convincing parallel. “If our surface forces in this epic battle had been routed our land forces on Guadalcanal would have been in the same position as our forces in the Philippines were at the beginning of the war. Archie Vandegrift would have undoubtedly taken to the hills. Those who had fallen into the hands of the Japanese would have received the same horrible mistreatment our prisoners did on all occasions. Archie Vandegrift would have been the ‘Skinny’ Wainwright of Guadalcanal, and the Bataan Death March would have been repeated.”

Raymond Spruance credited Kelly Turner foremost among those making courageous decisions prior to November 13. “There were many courageous decisions, from lowest to highest commands, and heroic actions without number. First place among them, however, belongs to the decision of Commander Task Force 67, well knowing the odds and possible destruction of his forces, to send his cruisers and destroyers against the Japanese battleship bombarding force, and the resolute manner in which our ships were led into the resulting battle. The night action of 12–13 November probably saved Henderson Field and made possible subsequent air operations from Guadalcanal.”

Some would question the value of that sacrifice. The historian Richard B. Frank did not second-guess Callaghan’s tactical decisions, but wrote that the so-called Battle of Friday the 13th (or the Cruiser Night Action) only “purchased one night’s respite for Henderson Field” and “postponed, not stopped, the landing of major Japanese reinforcements.” However, the aviation historian John B. Lundstrom called that melee between ships “the key to Allied success” given what Henderson Field’s fliers were thereby allowed to wreak the following day. The pivotal air attacks on the transport force throughout the day on the fourteenth might not have occurred at all had Abe’s battleships been permitted to work over the airfields. And the meager troop landings that did take place were a fraction of what they might have been had all eleven transports reached Guadalcanal.

In Admiral King’s analysis, Callaghan’s fight was a triumph, despite the aspersions many, including the president of the Naval War College, Admiral Pye, would cast. “We have come to expect, and to count on, complete courage in battle from officers and men of the United States Navy,” King wrote. “But here, in this engagement, we had displayed for our lasting respect and admiration, a cool but eager gallantry that is above praise. Had this battle not been fought and won, our hold on Guadalcanal would have been gravely endangered.”

Having confronted the Imperial Japanese Navy’s skill, energy, persistence, and courage, Nimitz identified the key to victory: “training, TRAINING and M-O-R-E T-R-A-I-N-I-N-G,” he wrote King in February. In June 1943, the Navy’s light forces got a new playbook from which to train. Common tactical principles were spelled out in Current Tactical Orders and Doctrine, U.S. Pacific Fleet, known as PAC 10. Its standardization of basic maneuvers helped make possible the victories of 1943, from Kolombangara (July 13) to Empress Augusta Bay (November 1–2) and onward. They also got better