In the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, during the night of November 14-15, 1942, the USS Washington, BB-56, sank the Japanese battleship Kirishima. It was viewed as one of the enormous turning points of events in the Pacific Theater throughout World War II. This was the first opposed battleship fight in the Pacific War and conclusively throttled a Japanese counteroffensive for the recapture of Guadalcanal from the U.S.
The USS Washington was a 45,000-ton North Carolina-class battleship, armed with nine 16-inch guns, launched in 1940; it had already seen action in the North Atlantic before being deployed to the Pacific. In company with the USS South Dakota (BB-57), Task Force 64 included Washington and met a Japanese force centered on the Kirishima. It was radar that let Washington open fire on the enemy first, a little after midnight. The South Dakota was damaged in the fight, but Washington sank a destroyer and gave the Kirishima mortal blows, which were scuttled by her crew shortly afterward.
Admiral Willis “Ching” Lee, commanding from the bridge of Washington, wholly believed in the then-new land-based radar technology. Sure of the superior qualities of his ship, he did nothing but wait for the night battle to ensue, assured that radar would pick up the enemy. At about 2230 hours on the 14th of November, the Washington picked up contacts at a range of 18,000 yards. Lee, with customary cool, ordered his crew to get ready to engage.
At 2313 hours, Washington’s main battery opened up with a nine-gun salvo of 2,700-pound armor-piercing projectiles in the direction of the Japanese heavy cruiser Sendai. The South Dakota opened fire and therein lay panic upon the Japanese vessels. The Sendai and her escorts retired, but the action was just beginning. The destroyer escorts for Washington were quickly eliminated, so the two battleships were left to their own devices to fend off the Japanese.
South Dakota was beset with electrical failures and thus remained powerless, illuminated by Japanese searchlights. She came under heavy fire, including a 14-inch shell, for which she was withdrawn. Now the last of the American battleships in action, the Washington pressed on alone with its attack on the Kirishima. At a range of 8,400 yards, the Washington’s main battery struck the Kirishima’s superstructure, inflicting catastrophic damage. Subsequent salvos pierced the Kirishima’s hull, causing severe flooding and fires.
Though the Kirishima replied with furious gunfire, she was shortly swamped. Secondaries from Washington’s five-inch guns joined in the ruin; the final blow was a 16-inch shell strike under the Kirishima’s rudder, rendering her uncontrollable. Having absorbed 20 direct hits from Washington’s main battery, the Kirishima capsized and sank.
Thus, the Japanese task force began to retreat with the main battleship, the backbone of its fleet, taken out. Admiral Lee then realized that the pursuit would not be fruitful and ordered a withdrawal. This victory ended Japanese aspirations to retake Guadalcanal. Henderson Field aircraft finally attacked the Japanese transports, and the rest of the Japanese troops on the island were eradicated by U.S. Marines and soldiers.
The campaign would officially end on February 9, 1943, with the United States quite dominant in the Pacific. Its ending would turn out to be a decisive victory that paved the way for further American advances toward Japan, beginning on August 7, 1942. Throughout World War II, the USS Washington would be there, symbolizing how resilient and mighty the U.S. Navy was.