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.Callaghan finally said something.But when hespoke it was not to give the already belated order to open fire."What are you doing?" he asked Cushing's skipper over voice radio.17 Now, with each passing second,the American admiral was allowing the incalculable advantage of the surprise he had achieved to slipaway, as sand might have slipped silently through his outstretched fingers.The second sweep on SanFrancisco's shielded bridge clock pulsed, and again, and again, and again.Finally, 24 minutes afterHelena positively identified enemy ships closing the range, Callaghan issued an order:"Stand by to open fire."18It was too late.Japanese lookouts had sighted the Americans.Atlanta, Rear Admiral Norman Scott's flagship, was the first to catch shells and torpedoes, and evenbefore Callaghan gave the order to commence fire, at least one torpedo had pierced Atlanta's hull.Theforce of the explosion "lifted her bodily from the water, then set her down shuddering and crippled."19During the next six or seven minutes, two American destroyers, Cushing and Laffey, attacked Hiei.Asthe Japanese battleship swung to avoid their torpedoes, she let them both have the benefit of one salvoof 14-inch thin-walled bombardment ammunition.Laffey started for the floor of Ironbottom Bay.The next two destroyers in column, Sterrett and 0'Ban~ non, attacked Hiei with torpedoes and gunfire.Their fish probably ran deep or, if they struck, failed to explode.The American destroyers, plunginginto the middle of Abe's formation, had passed Hiei almost close enough to board her.This disruptingattack unnerved the Japanese admiral.He ordered the battleships to withdraw.Callaghan was confused, but had not lost his nerve and had no intention of pulling out.He sensed,however, that in the melee, American guns were firing on American ships.(They were.) On voice radio,the admiral ordered, "Cease firing own ships."20 In the sudden silence American gunners waited.So didthe Japanese.After a pause of minutes that seemed an age, a 5-inch gun fired.Immediately, Japaneseput searchlights on San Francisco.Less than two minutes later, accurate salvos demolished her bridge,instantly killing Callaghan, three members of his staff, and mortally wounding Captain Cassin Young,the cruiser's skipper.San Francisco was now being conned by Quartermaster Third Class Floyd A.Rogers.All communications were out, and the gunnery officer, Lieutenant Commander Wilbourne,proceeded immediately to the bridge, stumbling through wreckage, bodies, blood, and electricalfires from short circuits.Water poured from ruptured fire mains.21Portland and Helena, the next two cruisers in column, had joined the bloody fracas, but Portland wasnot long for the battle.Her main battery guns had a target, but a Japanese destroyer captain had herlined up on his torpedo director.He let four torpedoes go at the cruiser.Only one hit, aft, but one wasenough.The explosion blew off most of Portland's stern and two of her four propellers.She could nolonger steer, and began to circle wildly.Helena had better luck.Her captain, Gilbert C.Hoover, connedhis ship through the melee in admirable fashion, and Helena's main battery dealt out shells effectivelyto successive enemy ships.Astern of her, Juneau's guns began flashing.Moments later she was hit by atorpedo that blasted in her Number One fireroom.She began to flood, lost way, and coasted to a stop.Captain Robert G.Tobin's four destroyers (Desron 12) had not yet engaged.As we have seen,Callaghan had passed no battle orders to Tobin, and his flagship, Aaron Ward, carried obsolete searchradars.Tobin was in the dark in more ways than one, but Aaron Ward opened fire at 7000 yards onships she identified as enemy.Astern of her, Barton launched four torpedoes against a target on the portbeam; she immediately caught two in return.A few seconds later she broke in two and disappeared,taking 90 per cent of her complement with her.Monssen lasted only minutes longer.The last of Tobin'sdestroyers Fletcher fared better, possibly because she had new radars, possibly because her captainwas familiar with them and relied on them.Be that as it may, Commander William M.Cole conned hisship confidently and safely through the shambles.22"Because the visibility was poor, the battle developed into close-range duels and fierce melees, witheach ship taking independent action [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]