Posted on 08/07/2017 4:20:44 PM PDT by Bull Snipe
Not one of our Navy’s finer moments.
After getting a$$ handed to them by Imperial Navy at SAVO
ISLAND
Lost 4 cruisers sunk (3 USN, 1 Australian)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Savo_Island
My dad went in Army December 19, 1940. Was supposed to be discharged Dec 18, 1941. Ooops, not so fast there. You’re a Sgt now go run boot camp for Lt’s coming out of college.
My father was demoted because his boot camp style was to treat the Lts the way the new privates were being treated. he argued with major that he wasn’t sending people to lead others who had better training.
Wound up later in england staging for D-Day He as D+6. While in England my aunt sent him a letter and told him his cousin was working on a farm in England. He was an Italian soldier POW working in England since the Italian soldiers were considered safe. So may italians liked the US because they had relatives here, but they followed their governments orders.
My father took his cousin out for a night.
When i went to sicily in 2006, met the 92 year old cousin. I greeted him in Italian and her insisted I speak English. “I know english, he said.”
Yes the Navy abandoned them but they had to. If not the ships would have been sunk and all the equipment lost.
They came back as soon as they could.
It appears that history wasn’t one of the stronger subjects for either of you.
After an air battle in which the Japs lost 36 planes to the American 19, and the Japs damaged one destroyer, Fletcher ran with his fleet the evening of August 8 - BEFORE the battle of Savo Island. Turner unloaded what he could, but after the battle at Savo Island (where the allied force was under British command, not American) he pulled the transports out about 24 hours after Fletcher. Of course, if the US Navy under Fletcher hadn’t already run, air patrols might have figured out that the Japs retreated after the battle, and the transports weren’t in immediate danger.
So, in short, Fletcher ran before, not after Savo; the sacrifice of the American and Australian sailors at Savo was not completely in vain, the American transports had time to finish unloading but withdrew because of inadequate intelligence as to the Strategic victory (if you know the difference between a tactical result and a strategic result) of the Allies at Savo, which can largely be laid to Fletcher, as well.
As for the losses at Savo, you might look at the role of John McCain in that. (Turner requested surveillance, McCain didn’t bother to order it.)
As of 27 September 1940 and the tripartite pact it was the Berlin Rome Tokyo axis...
Guadalcanal was horrendously brutal and bloody. The Japanese were calling it the island of death by the end when their survivors were withdrawn.
The Japanese government brainwashed their people and soldiers to believe that Americans were soft and lazy and only cared about parties and dancing to jazz. The Japanese were often stunned by the ferocity of American attacks because they believed their propaganda wholeheartedly.
They also brainwashed them that they were superior to Americans and that Americans were mostly animals who would rape, torture, and kill them if captured which is why they refused surrender so often.
The Marines fought until they were worn out by constant fighting some time in December of 42. At the end of the Guadalcanal campaign the force was mainly US Army led by Alexander Patch, who would later go on to replace Patton as head of 7th Army. The Army played a larger role in the Pacific than most people realize.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.