Guadalcanal Campaign - Operation Ke & Rennell Island, The Finale: (IJN 6(?) : 5 USN)

Today we look at the final major engagements of the Guadalcanal Campaign, and a quick evaluation of where this left both navies.

Sources:

[davidc]

“Counter Boarding action from a submarine” is a phrase I never thought I would hear

[czarfore]

Every year a US warship enters Iron Bottom Sound, comes to a stop and leaves a memorial wreath on the water. More US servicemen died in the naval battles to secure Guadalcanal than on the island itself.

[cartmann]

A battle between katanas and kiwis. Truly worth being part of the final showdown.

[kentlindal]

"Captain Manley Powers" lol, now that's an alfa name.

[The_Viscount]

A couple years back, while I was working at Historic Fort Snelling, Minnesota, USA, I met a US Army veteran who served in the Pacific War. He was a Japanese American man who graduated from the Military Intelligence Services Language School. After his family was incarcerated in Manzanar, he volunteered to join the war as a translator and code breaker.

One story from his service: he was listening to Imperial Japanese radio traffic, and intercepted a message that basically boiled down to, "We're changing out codes. This is the old code. Here's the New code. It will go into effect on this date." He proceeded to write down all the info, and pass it along up the chain. He said it was the easiest code transition he ever had to decipher.

[barleysixseventwo]

Congratulations Japan! You got the winning score in the Naval Campaign for Guadalcanal!
Japan: “Well great! ...what do I win?”
NOTHING! Now get out!

[fabianzimmermann]

Rest in peace, James D. Hornfischer. You will be missed.
I just got Neptune‘s Inferno for my birthday a few weeks ago.

[Axel]

James Hornfischer will most definitely be missed. His death is a blow to the naval history community, and while I had never met him personally, from everything I have heard he was an extremely good man, the loss of which is always to be mourned.

[tomsemmens]

I remember hearing a story of some RNZAF ground crew looking for some precious spare parts for their P-40s in the Solomons so they jumped in their borrowed American light truck and drove over to the USAAF base and politely asked if they could have some, at which a US supply sergeant pointed to a line of brand new P-40 and told them to just take as many engines out of those as they needed.

[Ralph-yngr]

I-1: "Let's get out of here! Dive!"

HMNZS Kiwi: *"Prepare to reap the fruits of your labor!"*

[kojimasukura]

Mochitsura Hashimoto of I-158 which sank USS Indianapolis is wrongly pictured here in place of Shintaro Hashimoto.

[cameronmcdaniel]

Minesweeper vs submarine. What a brawl! That fight was was a real brawl of desperation.

[johnbeauvais]

So the Kiwi basically rocked up to a Japanese submarine and said “Defend yourself!” Before giving it a swift kick to the man purse and then proceeding to throw wild haymakers until the submarine died

[joselitostotomas]

"Darwinian selection of American military leaders" - Shuffle the losers to rear area commands

"Darwinian selection of Japanese military leaders" - Shuffle the winners to rear area commands

[johnlansing]

20, 000 cases of beer missing and right away the Marines are suspected ….. as bad as when they asked for 13, 000 condoms ……. Needed for the barrel of the weapons but what did naval brass suspect ?

[Boneworm]

16:01 the captain of I-1 was clearly possessed by the ghostly captain of the Kamchatka

[kesfitzgerald]

Impressive effort by the HMNZS Kiwi and Moa.

[RemcovandeLangenberg]

Great series of videos about Guadalcanal campaign... it really showed me how hard fought the USN experience was earned...
I can hardly wait to see more documentaries, beautiful pictures of the US and Japanese ships... love the touch of your humour mixed in with your (hi)story telling...

[lawrencewestby]

The Bird-class minesweepers look as if they were designed as scaled down Flower-class corvettes, a little smaller and slower but similarly armed. They may have been small but when tenaciously handled and fought by their Kiwi crews, well up to the task.

[JessWLStuart]

Thank you for this series, Mr Drachinifel! My grandfather survived the sinking of USS San Diego (ACR-6) in WWI, and USS Wasp (CV-7) in WWII. Thanks for giving me an overview of what his, and other sailor's efforts accomplished in WWII.