The One Battleship Shot that Prevented America's Massive Defeat
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- Опубликовано: 31 мар 2024
- As nightfall plunged the tumultuous waters of the Pacific into darkness, American battleship USS Washington raced toward Guadalcanal. With bated breath, her hardy crew readied themselves for battle, anticipating the violent clash that lay before them. A Japanese bombardment group was rapidly moving in on the war-torn tropical island, hell-bent on destroying Allied positions there to clear the way for a full-blown invasion.
Navigating the infamous stretch of sea known as “Ironbottom Sound” alongside her fellow battleship USS South Dakota and four destroyers, an ominous blip on Washington’s search radar let Rear Admiral Willis “Ching” Lee know they had located the enemy fleet. Under his command, Task Force 64 began the attack; Washington let rip a devastating assault with the nine thunderous Mark 6 guns that made up her main battery, while her secondary guns launched star shells to illuminate the Japanese positions. A ferocious firefight ensued; South Dakota took heavy fire, and in this chaos, a sudden barrage of torpedoes sliced through the water, heading straight for the USS Washington…
Why is it that some of our most famous ships end up being scrapped? It's an insult to their career.
Admiral Lee was awarded a medal for this action and he was asked for a speech. He turned to his crew and said "You earned it, so I guess I'll have to wear it."
The crew of the USS Washington performed admirably, it was something like 20 hits with their 16” main battery guns and an additional 19 hits from their secondary 5” battery guns all in like 3.9 minutes! Turning The Kirishima into a rapidly sinking piece of Swiss Cheese, resulting in the finest single show of American Gunnery in all of WW2….. Thank you Admiral Lee!
My gramps would be thrilled to know his ship is suddenly getting so much deserved credit.
One of my uncles was a gunnery officer in the A turret of USS Washington when it mauled Kirishima.
About time someone recognized the Mighty WA online. She was one of the most effective, beautiful, courageous, and important ships ever in US service. TY!
5x gold medalist for sharpshooting, including winning the NRA pistol championship with his off hand after winning the rifle competition earlier, Admiral "Chin" Willis was a boss.
The other day i watched your story about South Dakota, and now her saviour
Ching Lee advanced the science of Naval Gunnery with revisions based on position relative to Earths rotation included.
It wasn't Washington as much as it was Adm. Lee and his mastery of gunnery along with the use of radar.
Washington fatally damaged Kirishima which capsized and sank after the battle. Willis Lee had trained his gun crew to be fast and deadly accurate. Washington was a very well oiled and dangerous predator. No surprise or accident at the results.
'Ching' Lee was an amazing gunnery expert.
Uss Washington BB-56 Should've been saved along with Uss Enterprise Cv-06.
Of the story of the battleship USS Washington and her crew is one of the most famous and heroic in US naval history!!🇺🇸🇺🇸
As a Citizen of the State of North Carolina I get to see the USS North Carolina, the sister ship of USS Washington, a few times a year. It's a pity that the Washington did NOT get a Memorial in Washington State. Seven out of ten of the "Modern" Battleships survive.
This battle deserves a mini series.
The USN was literally scraping the bottom of the barrel leading up to that battle. They were afraid to risk Battleships in the narrow confines of the Guadalcanal Operational area. The Destroyers chosen to escort the Battleships were selected only because they had the most fuel and had never worked together before.
The Kirishima was not a true battleship but a somewhat up upgraded battlecruiser. Much like HMS Hood. Washington shot her to rags at point blank range in a very short time. And stopped the bombardment group. Had South Dakota not had problems with a circuit breaker and more due to attempts to by pass it. The Japanese would have lost even more ships. Since both American ships had good radar fire control. The 5” battery also shelled the Kirishima doing damage to her upper works and exposed gun crews. And Admiral Lee was instrumental in all this. He knew how to use the ship’s then advanced equipment and had trained them extensively in gunnery. Scraping hero ships was the norm is seems and the USS Enterprise CV-6 was the greatest crime so committed. She was the most decorated ship of WW-II. A crew member I met years back told me the tried to raise money to save her but failed.
Ching Lee was a badass.
Washington ended Kirishima's whole career.