Tag Archives: Battle of Tassafaronga

Iron Bottom Sound, Redux

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The Corps of Exploration aboard the E/V Nautilus has been continuing Bob Ballard’s work by revisiting Guadalcanal, where Ballard and company discovered numerous wrecks from the 1942-43 naval clashes there—this time with much better cameras and gear than in 1992.

Nautilus has been using the USV DriX, a 25-foot vessel carrying an EM712 multibeam sonar to map the seafloor,

While the dives have been conducted by the ROV Hercules, which features a new model Kraft Predator manipulator with seven-function control, over 79 inches of reach, and a lift capacity of 500 pounds. They usually have smaller “buddy” ROVs too, Argus and Atalanta.

In recent days, they have posted amazing videos of the bow that was shot off the heavy cruiser USS New Orleans (CA-32), the wreck of the USS Northampton (CA-26) which was lost in November 1942 during the Battle of Tassafaronga off Savo Island, the shattered hull of the USS Vincennes (CA-44) and USS Astoria (CA-34) lost at Savo island in August 1942, and one of the “long lancers” themselves, the Japanese Akizuki class destroyer Teruzuki (“Shining Moon”), sent to the bottom on 12 December 1942 in a clash with PT boats.

USS New Orleans (CA 32) comes into the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, for a new bow after battling with Japanese warships in the Southwest Pacific. In this view, she is almost ready for joining to join a new bow. The photograph was released on 11 January 1944. 80-G-44448

Vincennes

Vincennes

Astoria

Astoria

Turrets no. 1 and 2 of IJN Teruzuki

They will continue their Maritime Archaeology of Guadalcanal (NA173) expedition through July 23, so stay tuned for more discoveries.

Patched Minnie gets back to work

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Some 80 years ago today, check out these beautiful original color images of the New Orleans-class light/heavy cruiser USS Minneapolis (CA-36), seen at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on 11 April 1943, showing off her shiny new bow.

U.S. Navy photo 80-G-K-544. Note the New Mexico-class battleship in the left distance.

Same date, heading out for points West. 80-G-K-541

Same as above, 80-G-K-545

The 10,000-ton “Treaty” cruiser was commissioned in 1934 and, at the forefront of the Pacific War, would earn an amazing 17 battle stars for her combat service.

Some of these were harder than others, for instance, while at the Battle of Tassafaronga in late November 1942, while she is credited with sinking the Japanese destroyer Takanami with her 8-inch shells, Minneapolis took two torpedo hits which ultimately caused her bow to collapse back to the hawsepipes.

Able to repair under heavy camouflage at Tulagi, she ultimately made it back to Mare Island Naval Shipyard where a new bow had been constructed in the time it took her to retire to California.

Hence, she is seen in the above period Kodachromes less than five months later good as new and headed back to the fight. 

Laid up in 1947, she was ultimately scrapped in 1959.