The Battle of Cape Esperance: Encounter at Guadalcanal

About this book

This important work is being brought back into print for the 50th anniversary of the naval battle that broke the stalemate in the long and bloody campaign for Guadalcanal. Though little known the midnight battle off the northwest point of the island is memorable for the novel circumstances under which it was fought. It was the first real night fighting experienced by U.S. surface forces and was complicated by many factors including new radar devices not yet fully understood and inadequate communications. The author himself a participant describes the battle from both sides drawing on a number of firsthand accounts from the time late on 11 October 1942 that U.S. Task Group 64.2 opened fire on three Japanese cruisers and two destroyers. His description dramatically reflects the confusion miscalculations and remarkable string of events that took place. From the top commander trying to keep control amidst chaos to the sailors belowdecks waiting out the warning of an approaching torpedo this book gives the reader a real flavor for what war at sea was like in the South Pacific. It also offers a unique look at the leadership and tactical demands on ship and task force commanders and on the overall friction of surface warfare. First published in 1968 twenty-six years after the event the book draws on the authors interviews with participants and fills in gaps and reconciles differences encountered in many of the original action reports and Japanese sources.