[rlmorel]

An excellent book on this subject is “Neptune’s Inferno” by James D. Hornfischer.

Our navy was fighting the Japanese navy on somewhat of a par or disadvantage, and we weren’t nearly as well trained as they were at that point, and we had many lessons to learn. We had to learn that you couldn’t have nice, overstuffed couches in your wardrooms and 15 layers of paint on the vessels, because that stuff would burn and the smoke would kill everyone, so we spent the next year throwing those couches over the side and chipping all the paint off the ships.

The other lessons we had to learn were tactical (regarding use of torpedoes by the enemy, the capability of those torpedoes, and the concept of night engagements.

We had radar, but had almost no idea what worked, what didn’t, and how to employ it. It was largely mistrusted by many commanders then in battle, and Admiral Willis ‘Ching’ Lee was one of the first commanders who had a full understanding of radar, what it was good for, and how to employ it. He nearly single-handedly brought radar guided gunfire into modern naval warfare and once we saw what it could do, we rapidly learned how to employ it.

A fascinating, yet bloody time. Most people don’t know that, for every marine or soldier killed in land fighting during the Solomons Campaign, three sailors were killed. A terrible time, indeed.

But we learned from it, and the Japanese didn’t.

[pfflier]

I read the book about a year ago. You summarized the whole campaign at sea very well. Thank you.

[21twelve]

A guy at my old church passed away years ago. At his memorial service they were talking about all of the great things he had invented. His son was a dentist, and some older guy when hearing his last name (of course now I can't remember it, and a search didn't find it) said something like “Addison? Any relation to the Addison Radar Range Finder?” (It wasn't “Addison” - perhaps you know it.) “Why yes - that is my father.” “Well - you tell your father thank you. Lots of our guys lived because of that.” The Japs would need to fire a round or two to get the range. We could get them on the first shot.

The gentleman worked for Bell Labs, and had hundreds of other inventions - including the touch-tone phone pad. Pretty amazing. Of course it was disappointing to hear about his amazing accomplishments only at his memorial service.

My dad was friends with Dr. Robert Page in Minnesota, part of a small group that developed radar in the USA prior to WWII.

[Alas Babylon!]

Just about every war we fight we have to learn new—and old—lessons all over again.

[lapsus calami]

 

 

It was largely mistrusted by many commanders then in battle, and Admiral Willis ‘Ching’ Lee was one of the first commanders who had a full understanding of radar, what it was good for, and how to employ it. He nearly single-handedly brought radar guided gunfire into modern naval warfare and once we saw what it could do, we rapidly learned how to employ it.

 

Admiral Lee was a groundbreaker in that regard for sure - he successfully integrated radar into battle tactics while onboard his flaghip USS Washington and reduced the IJN battleship Kirishima into a burning wreck in a matter of minutes during the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal - one of only two battleship-on-battleship shootouts of the war I know of.