They Gave Their All : The Sullivan Brothers and Tragic Sinking of the USS Juneau
flagship ) were placed at the outer edge of the screen and were the first to engage . In his unpublished memoir “ Seven Days in Hell ,” Seaman 1st Class Wyatt Butterfield recalls , “ It was like ten Fourth of July ’ s all rolled into one .” 23
While Wildcat fighters scrambled from Henderson to engage thirty Japanese Zero fighter planes , sixteen twin-engine “ Betty ” bombers split into two groups and began their torpedo runs . South Pacific captains , however , had become adept at dodging Japanese torpedoes . Juneau was strafed by Zeros and lifted out of the water by a near miss , but Dr . Roger O ’ Neil , Juneau ’ s surgeon , remembers there were no casualties . 24
Unfortunately , the Navy did not go unscathed by the air raid . San Francisco , the largest ship in Savo Sound , was intentionally targeted by a burning Betty . The collision and fire in the after-deckhouse killed two dozen and wounded fifty , including the ship ’ s executive officer . A low-trajectory , 5-inch shell from an American ship hit destroyer USS Buchanan and wrecked its torpedo tubes killing five while wounding seven . 25
The air raid was over in eight minutes , and the transports were moving back into position to continue unloading by 1430 . At dusk , their task completed , the transports hauled out of the Sound , escorted by damaged Buchanan and four more ships , for Espiritu Santo , where they arrived without incident on the 15th .
Naval Intelligence reported a heavy surface force north of Guadalcanal on the 12th . Callaghan had received an abundance of aircraft intelligence about the Japanese disposition throughout the day , and the morning ’ s aerial observation sighted two battleships or heavy cruisers and six destroyers . 26 No doubt , this was the bombardment group intending to lay waste to Cactus and ensure follow-on transport units could unload troops and supplies at their leisure , returning home unmolested . At their current course and speed , the Japanese would arrive off Lunga Point at thirty minutes after midnight .
Vice Admiral Hiroaki Abe was perturbed that his bombardment was behind schedule . He had canceled the mission once that night after the Imperial Army Headquarters on Guadalcanal failed to give timely reports of the weather over the airfield . When Headquarters finally reported clear weather in the Sound , his fleet , centered on 14-inch gunned battleships Hiei ( Abe ’ s flagship ) and Kirishima , became separated while reversing course in a local rainsquall . Valuable time was lost trying to organize his escorts : cruiser Nagara and eleven destroyers . Despite Abe ’ s best efforts , the Raiding Group looked like a flock of migrating geese . At least the area was empty of enemy shipping , or so he thought .
Rear Admiral Callaghan , a profoundly religious man , was resigned to his fate . He and his subordinates understood the approaching Japanese armada was superior in number and firepower . He had no choice . Running from this fight meant the Japanese would be free to level Henderson Field , and the Japanese garrison would receive fresh
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