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This Week in Books - March 20, 2016 |
2016-03-20 |
Neptune's Inferno The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal James D. Hornfischer Bantom Books, 2010 The third book of Mr. Hornfischer's pacific trilogy is nestled chronologically between Ship of Ghosts and The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. Mr. Hornfischer wastes no time getting into the story, and in doing so, asks the reader to have at the least a passing knowledge of events leading to this encounter. Although Mr. Hornfischer covers topics concerning land battles, his focus is upon the notable and conflict changing naval engagements. Mr. Hornfischer's work is at times both condensed and personal. The research is thorough, the stories documented and well referenced, and it includes many photographs (in the hard bound copy). The instances blend into each other so seamlessly I would humbly suggest this is his best work, not to take away from the drama of Ship of Ghosts or the well written Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. Mr. Hornfischer does not fail to set the stage: (Page 37)(Lack of proper formatting/accents is my error; spelling, especially Japanese, I triple checked.) Named Port-de-France on its annexation by France in 1854, Noumea featured a spacious inner harbor in Dumbea Bay. It was slow to develop. Nearly a century later, it had but a single large pier, and the marine railway serving it could handle only small vessels. Its yard could not repair damage such as Japanese battleships were likely to inflict. Arriving ships sometimes found no harbor pilots to guide them in, which was unfortunate seeing as the channels into Great Roads, the outer harbor, passed through a treacherous barrier reef ten miles to seaward and old French mines were known to be about. The progress of the world seemed to leave Noumea behind. The energies of even the most vigorous empires seemed to fade in the fronded South Pacific. As Mr. Hornfischer notes, this is an interesting time for sailing, as it sits after the age of wind and before, what we now know and they did not, the age of nuclear power. Fuel had become a priority even over water and food. Logistics was now critically important, making this theatre important to both the Allied Forces and the Japanese; perhaps even most important to the Australian/New Zealand peoples. Mr. Hornfischer is fair to all involved, which makes this good book even better. Even for someone familiar with events, Mr. Hornfischer writes in a manner which cloaks the outcome we know as history, and those who were present only knew as 'what next?'. This is not a book for the young or timid; it gets to the bone. (Page 71) On the Astoria, Keithel P. Anthony, a water tender, was racing through the machine shop, aiming to reach the ladder that descended to the number three fire room, when a powerful kinetic force seized the whole bulkhead in front of him and swung into his path. He was standing there perplexed, his way blocked, when a lieutenant named Thompson found him and said, "There are men in the forward mess hall who need help. Will you go with me?" Anthony assented and, strapping a gas mask over the top of this head, was preparing to venture forward when another explosion bedazzled him. "The lights went out and there were millions of sparks everywhere - like electrocution. I was knocked out and don't know how long I laid there on the deck. When I came to, there wasn't a soul moving in the compartment." Mr. Hornfischer is not writing a gruesome novel, he is setting the precedent that these occurrences happen every time a ship is hit, and it leads to a quite rapid exchange of events which allows the reader to imagine, if so chosen, the ordeal of the individual sailor. Mr. Hornfischer remains attentive to the larger theatre. (Page 264) By midmorning on November 12, three hundred miles north of Guadalcanal, Abe arrayed his force into battle formation. The light cruiser Nagara led the two battleships, with destroyers arrayed like shields off each bow. By 4 p.m., cruising at eighteen knots, they were within two hundred miles of the island. Abe's flagship, the Hiei, catapulted a floatplane to explore the sound ahead. As dusk fell, Abe's force pressed ahead into a heavy bank of storm clouds. Then the rain began. Hara, commander of destroyer Amatsukaze, would write, "In all the years of my career, I never experienced such a rain. It was completely enervating." One of Captain Hara's ensigns said he would rather fight the Americans than the rain. For a time, the storm drifted south with the task force, concealing it from snooping eyes. Abe dismissed the concerns voiced by his staff that poor visibility would make stationkeeping difficult and risk the integrity of his formation. Abe had confidence in Rear Admiral Susumu Kimura, flying his flag in Destroyer Squadron 10's lead ship, Nagara. He was reputed to be one of the Imperial Navy's top navigators. Abe's vindication came when the floatplane pilot reported more than a dozen enemy warships off Lunga Point - Callaghan's force. If the rains cooperated, the Japanese force might avoid detection altogether. "This blessed squall is moving at the same speed and on the same course we are," Abe said. "If heaven continues to side with us like this, we may not even have to do business with them." If you have a knowledge of Ironbottom Sound, this book will add to your knowledge; if you do not, it is an excellent detail. (Page 387-388) These newcomers to the Ironbottom Sound surface striking force, most of them reassigned from carrier escort duty, were a bit like replacement troops going to the front lines from rear-area antiaircraft battalions. They wore the same uniforms and wielded the same weapons, but they weren't wise in the bitter discipline of close combat. None of the four cruisers had had any part in the four surface actions fought in Savo Sound to this point. It could not be said, either, that they were commanded by the officer best equipped to prepare them for that new type of fight. The only surface force flag officer alive who had fought and beaten the Japanese Navy, Willis Lee, was back in port with his squadron, tending to the Washington at Noumea. Though both were veteran cruiser commanders, neither Kinkaid nor Wright had fought a night action before, nor executed a tactical plan as they were now designing. I have very little to add to the conclusion; the book stands on its own. If you are familiar with Stephen Ambrose, I set this work right next to D-Day. As a parallel topic for y'all gamers, the board game Axis and Allies: Guadalcanal is a decent pick-up. Having an actual knowledge of events adds deeply to what is, in my opinion, a fairly well done historical board game. Link is to Amazon's Neptune's Inferno. |
Posted by:swksvolFF |