The naval battles for Guadalcanal 1942

Author: Mark Stille
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1780961561
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 211

Book Description
A highly illustrated account of the series of naval battles around the embattled island of Guadalcanal in late 1942. The battle for Guadalcanal that lasted from August 1942 to February 1943 was the first major American counteroffensive against the Japanese in the Pacific. The battle of Savo Island on the night of 9 August 1942, saw the Japanese inflict a severe defeat on the Allied force, driving them away from Guadalcanal and leaving the just-landed marines in a perilously exposed position. This was the start of a series of night battles that culminated in the First and Second battles of Guadalcanal, fought on the nights of 13 and 15 November. One further major naval action followed, the battle of Tassafaronga on 30 November 1942, when the US Navy once again suffered a severe defeat, but this time it was too late to alter the course of the battle as the Japanese evacuated Guadalcanal in early February 1943. In this compact, engaging volume, Mark Stille examines the contrasting fortunes experienced by both sides over the intense course of naval battles around the island throughout the second half of 1942 that did so much to turn the tide in the Pacific.

The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

Author: James W. Grace
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Book Description
One of the most ferocious naval battles of World War II, the night action off the coast of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942 - between U.S. cruisers and Japanese battleships fighting at point-blank range - claimed the lives of two American admirals. Though famous for tipping the scales in favor of the U.S. Navy in this critical area of the Pacific, this action has never before received the treatment provided in this book. Here, James Grace describes events from deck level and from both sides. He draws on a wealth of previously untapped primary sources, including the vivid personal recollections of some two hundred Japanese and American survivors of the fight. These eyewitness accounts lend immediacy to a work that will appeal to the general reader as well as to serious World War II buffs and historians.

Guadalcanal

Author: Eric M. Hammel
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 520

Book Description
Details the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November of 1942, a crucial step toward America's victory over the Japanese during WWII. Blends detailed historical records with personal accounts of many of the officers and enlisted men involved, creating an engrossing narrative of the strategy and struggle as seen by both sides. Includes major new insights into the battles, including an account of the American forces' failure to effectively use their radar advantage. Originally published in 1988 as the concluding volume in the author's series of three independent books. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Guadalcanal 1942–43

Author: Mark Stille
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472806956
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 207

Book Description
Using black and white contemporary photographs, illuminative maps and stunning battle scene illustrations, this comprehensive, detailed account completes the story of the Guadalcanal campaign - possibly the most important of the whole Pacific War. The Guadalcanal campaign began with an amphibious assault in August 1942 – the US's first attempt to take the fight to the Japanese. It escalated into a desperate attritional battle on land, air, and sea, and by the time the Japanese had evacuated the last of their forces from the island in 1943, it was clear that the tide of the war had turned. The inexorable Japanese advance and the myth of Japanese invincibility shattered. In this study of the campaign, Pacific War expert Mark Stille draws on both US and Japanese sources to give a balanced and comprehensive account of a crucial, brutal conflict. Analyzing the three Japanese attempts to retake the island in the face of ferocious American resistance, this book shows how the battle was won and lost, and how it affected the outcome of the Pacific War as a whole.

Guadalcanal 1942–43

Author: Mark Stille
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472835506
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

Book Description
The campaign for Guadalcanal, which stretched from August 1942 until February 1943, centered on Henderson Field. The airfield was captured by the US on 8 August and placed into operation by 20 August. As long as the airfield was kept operational and stocked with sufficient striking power, the Japanese could not run convoys with heavy equipment and large amounts of supplies to the island. Instead, they were forced to rely on night runs by destroyers which could not carry enough men or supplies to shift the balance decisively against the American garrison on the island. The American air contingent on the island, named the 'Cactus Air Force', comprised Marine, Navy and Army Air Force units. It had the challenging mission of defending the airfield against constant Japanese attacks, and more importantly, of striking major Japanese attempts to reinforce the island. The mission of neutralizing Henderson Field fell primarily to the Imperial Navy's Air Force flying out of airfields in the Rabaul area. The units charged with this mission were among the most accomplished in the entire Imperial Navy with a high proportion of very experienced pilots and a superb air superiority fighter (the famous 'Zero'). However, the distance from Rabaul to Guadalcanal handicapped Japanese operations and their primary bomber was terribly vulnerable to interception. This book traces the air campaign from both sides and explores the factors behind the American victory and the Japanese defeat. The text is supported by full-colour illustrations and contemporary photography.

USN Cruiser vs IJN Cruiser

Author: Mark Stille
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1780963599
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 142

Book Description
Although the war in the Pacific is usually considered a carrier war, it was the cruisers that dominated the early fighting. This thrilling duel presents the cruiser clashes during the battles for Guadacanal , highlighting the Battle of Savo Island and the Battle of Cape Esperance. The first was a Japanese victory that resulted in the loss of four Allied cruisers. However, in the latter, the Americans managed to turn the tables despite the battle being fought throughout the night. This book presents a view of the design and development of the opposing weapons systems, illustrated with newly commissioned digital artwork. It uses firsthand accounts to bring the battles to life and explain why the Americans suffered early on, but eventually had their revenge.

The Battle of Guadalcanal

Author: Trent Hone
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781682477311
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 120

Book Description
Building upon the expertise of the authors and historians of the Naval Institute Press, the Naval History Special Editions are designed to offer studies of the key vessels, battles, and events of armed conflict. Using an image-heavy, magazine-style format, these Special Editions should appeal to scholars, enthusiasts, and general readers alike. The Guadalcanal Campaign began in August 1942 with Operation Watchtower. This first Allied offensive in the Pacific, undertaken before U.S. forces were fully prepared, thwarted an impending Japanese operation and initiated a six-month struggle to control the island and its surroundings. Desperate fighting occurred in the jungles of Guadalcanal, in the skies above it, and on--as well as below--the seas around it. Possession of the island's airfield allowed the U.S. garrison to dominate the skies during the day. At night, the Imperial Japanese Navy bombarded the airfield and brought supplies and reinforcements to the island. The U.S. Navy's attempts to stop these nocturnal incursions triggered a series of battles that were some of the most furious, confused, and chaotic in naval history. As melees erupted in bewildering darkness, concerted action proved impossible. Formations disintegrated, and ships fought individually. So many were sunk that sailors nicknamed the narrow waters off Guadalcanal "Iron Bottom Sound." Within those waters, the men of the U.S. Navy fought tenaciously. In nights filled with flares, flames, the reek of gunpowder, and blinding explosions, their "heroic actions without number" blunted Japanese reinforcement efforts. Victories at the Battle of Cape Esperance in October and the First and Second Naval Battles of Guadalcanal in November were especially crucial. Unable to keep pace with the increasing number of U.S. supplies and reinforcements, the Japanese abandoned the island. This volume recounts those battles, the heroic actions that led to victory, and the Allied triumph at Guadalcanal.

Guadalcanal

Author: Eric Hammel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 460

Book Description
GUADALCANALDecision at SeaThe Naval Battle of GuadalcanalNovember 13-15,1942Eric HammelGuadalcanal: Decision at Sea is a full-blown examination in vivid detail of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 13-15, 1942, a crucial step toward America's victory over the Japanese during World War II. The three-day air and naval action incorporated America's most decisive surface battle of the war and the only naval battle of this century in which American battleships directly confronted and mortally wounded an enemy battleship. This American victory decided the future course of the naval war in the Pacific, indeed of the entire Pacific War. Hammel has brilliantly blended the detailed historical records with personal accounts of many of the officers and enlisted men involved, creating an engrossing narrative of the strategy and struggle as seen by both sides. He has also included major new insights into crucial details of the battles, including a riveting account of the American forces' failure to effectively use their radar advantage. Originally published in 1988 as the concluding volume in Eric Hammel's series of three independent books focusing on the Guadalcanal campaign and exploring all the elements that made it a turning point of the war in the Pacific, Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea lives up to the high standards and expectations that have marked this author's many historical books and articles. Praise for Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea and Eric Hammel - "Hammel's description of surface tactics, naval gunnery, and what happens when the order to abandon ship is given is vivid and memorable." -Publishers Weekly"[Hammel's] detailed and fast-paced chronicle includes a number of incidents and anecdotes not found in the more prosaic official histories." -Sea Power "Meticulously well-researched and scholarly, but still readable. Author Hammel presents an interesting account of the three-phase battle with frequently gripping ship-by-ship, plane-by-plane, blow-by-blow narratives laden with many human-interest vignettes from both sides." -The Hook"[Hammel] mixes action with his history, the result being a highly readable story difficult to put down." -Riverside Press-Enterprise"Hammel's painstaking reconstruction affords not only a wealth of strategic and tactical detail but also a full measure of critical judgements. . . . a kaleidoscopic but invariably intelligible accounts of key actions . . ." -Kirkus Reviews "Hammel does not write dry history. His battle sequences are masterfully portrayed ----Library Journal

Midnight in the Pacific

Author: Joseph Wheelan
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 0306824604
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Book Description
A sweeping narrative history--the first in over twenty years--of America's first major offensive of World War II, the brutal, no-quarter-given campaign to take Japanese-occupied Guadalcanal From early August until mid-November of 1942, US Marines, sailors, and pilots struggled for dominance against an implacable enemy: Japanese soldiers, inculcated with the bushido tradition of death before dishonor, avatars of bayonet combat--close-up, personal, and gruesome. The glittering prize was Henderson Airfield. Japanese planners knew that if they neutralized the airfield, the battle was won. So did the Marines who stubbornly defended it. The outcome of the long slugfest remained in doubt under the pressure of repeated Japanese air, land, and sea operations. And losses were heavy. At sea, in a half-dozen fiery combats, the US Navy fought the Imperial Japanese Navy to a draw, but at a cost of more than 4,500 sailors. More American sailors died in these battles off Guadalcanal than in all previous US wars, and each side lost 24 warships. On land, more than 1,500 soldiers and Marines died, and the air war claimed more than 500 US planes. Japan's losses on the island were equally devastating--starving Japanese soldiers called it "the island of death." But when the attritional struggle ended, American Marines, sailors, and airmen had halted the Japanese juggernaut that for five years had whirled through Asia and the Pacific. Guadalcanal was America's first major ground victory against Japan and, most importantly, the Pacific War's turning point. Published on the 75th anniversary of the battle and utilizing vivid accounts written by the combatants at Guadalcanal, along with Marine Corps and Army archives and oral histories, Midnight in the Pacific is both a sweeping narrative and a compelling drama of individual Marines, soldiers, and sailors caught in the crosshairs of history.

Guadalcanal

Author: John Miller
Publisher: BDD Promotional Books Company
ISBN: 9780792458579
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 413

Book Description
A detailed account of the Americans' first ground offensive against the Japanese in World War II, which occurred in August 1942 on the island of Guadalcanal.