[Jacquerie]

In 35 minutes, the Imperial Japanese Navy lost three destroyers, 700 sailors, 820 soldiers, and tons of cargo. Some 310 survivors washed up on nearby Vella Lavella and were rescued by Japanese soldiers. Sugiura was among the living; he later returned to Rabaul emaciated and in disgrace. Appointed captain of the cruiser Haguro, he would be killed when the ship was sunk off Malaya in May 1945. The U.S. Navy suffered no personnel casualties at Vella Gulf except a burn to a technician working on a recalcitrant feed pump on the Maury and a hand injury to a gunner on the Lang. The six destroyers were undamaged.

Youtube Battle of Vella Gulf.

[ansel12]

Amazing one sided battle.

[exnavy]

Wow, great story, thank you for posting.

[Tudorfly]

Excellent article. Thanks for adding to my knowledge of the history of US WWII Naval warfare.

[rlmorel]

Great article! Two officers who deservedly had US destroyers named after them, Burke and Moosebrugger, were the progenitors of “The Little Beavers”, a moniker I always loved. I remember seeing the logo painted on the superstructures of destroyers as a kid, and wondering about it where it came from! (my dad was on the USS Bristol and we lived in Newport, RI during the Cuban Missile crisis which was where I saw the logo)

And I recall reading about the shock (I think from the book “Japanese Destroyer Captain: Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Midway—The Great Naval Battles as Seen Through Japanese Eyes” by Tameichi Hara) the destroyer captains felt when given this assignment. They were shocked to be sent the same route they had gone the previous mission. He was sure they were going to be ambushed, as it states in the excellent article.

The Japanese destroyer captains were a tough, capable bunch. They had poor leadership. In the right hands, and given the same initiative leeway that Captains like Burke and Moosebrugger had been given, things might have turned out differently in some cases (although it is clear the end result would have been the same...)

[rlmorel]

For those on this thread, two of the best books I have read on the Solomon Islands campaign are:

• Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal by James Hornfischer
  In my estimation, this book conveys the utter savagery that took place between the US Navy and the Japanese Navy when we were below, or at parity with them. It is an astonishingly brutal portrayal of the no-holds-barred, point blank naval surface warfare in which at the end of the campaign, the US Navy suffered casualties and deaths at four times the rate as the combatants on the land.
  
• The Pacific War Trilogy Ian Toll
  In three parts, The Pacific Crucible, The Conquering Tide, and The Twilight of The Gods, this is very well researched and engagingly written.

[TTFlyer]

Excellent video series on YouTube about the Pacific War:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/%40UnauthorizedHistoryPacificWar&ved=2ahUKEwiJoeSktvaOAxUJmSYFHZ4UM2QQjjh6BAgjEAE&usg=AOvVaw0bBhntoAbrdshUgUG9WljJ

Jon Parshall, Seth Paridon, and USN Capt. Bill Toti are the hosts. They are the best.