"The controversial Battle of Tassafaronga" Topic

"The controversial Battle of Tassafaronga, fought off Guadalcanal on the night of 30 November 1942, invites study like few others. In it, a radar-equipped American task force of six destroyers and five cruisers perceived it succeeded in surprising eight Japanese destroyers, which were engaged in delivering much needed supplies to their troops ashore on Guadalcanal. The task force commenced a planned attack, conceived on the basis of experience gained at the Battle of Guadalcanal 2½ weeks earlier; yet it lost one heavy cruiser sunk and three damaged while sinking only one enemy ship.

What had happened was a mystery at the time. While destroyer Fletcher had led four van destroyers into an ideal position for a radar-informed torpedo attack, RAdm. Carleton H. Wright, the task force commander, had delayed permission to open fire; then, when the battle thereafter went badly wrong, he second guessed his destroyers for wasting torpedoes! The detailed causes of failure remained obscure, however, and four more cruisers were sacrificed at the Battles of Kula Gulf and Kolombangara in July 1943 before another task force commander* at last acknowledged the basic "fallacy of chasing Jap torpedo boats with cruisers."…"
Main page
link

Amicalement
Armand

My father's ship (USS Lardner DD487) was present at this battle (as an ineffectual last-minute reinforcement.

The Combat Narrative has certain value (especially regarding orders issued and the overall radar situation on the USN dies, but it is quite inaccurate in other respects. For a very well done account of this battle, I highly recommend "The Battle of Tassafaronga" by Russell Crenshaw.

B

Many thanks!…

Amicalement
Armand