Comments by "" (@BobSmith-dk8nw) on "Callaghan's night action at Guadalcanal - A new analysis with Robert Lundgren" video.

  1. To me - the significant factor in the Battle - was Callahan's inexperience (and/or utter stupidity). Scott - had already won one of the few engagements between the Japanese and Allies in Iron Bottom Sound - while Callahan had been on the Staff of Halsey's predecessor - which if anything - counted against him. But he was a few days senior to Scott and in one of the worst cases of Military Bureaucracy Run Amok - because of that - he was made the Task Force Commander instead of Scott. "Odd ships fire to starboard, even ships fire to port" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Battle_of_Guadalcanal - was one of the stupidest Naval Battle Orders Ever given. He had his Captains literally trying to count back down the column to see whether they were an odd or even ship. Further more - like Kurita's "General Attack" order off Samar - this order Abrogated His Command of his ships and would seem to be a major factor in all those cases of Blue on Blue that caused Scott's death. He made NO use of the Radar his Ships were fitted with - either as a Flagship - or by position in the Task Force. I've seen no indication in this video that Callahan was anything but the primary source of the American's losses. The thing that mattered the most though - was that as poorly commanded as they were - the Americans inflicted losses on the Japanese which they could not replace - whereas - the American Losses were not only replaced but reinforced with Newer - Better - Ships. The Americans won the Campaign for the same reasons they won the war. They could replace their losses - and the Japanese could not - and - they LEARNED and the Japanese did not. You got that last bit right. The Japanese were really good at the beginning of the war - but failed to learn the lessons the Americans did. Lexington was lost because of damage to the piping for the aircraft fueling system that caused gas vapors to accumulate - and then detonate. They didn't make that mistake again. Those fuel lines were filled with fire retardant as part of their Battle Stations Drill. The Japanese lost Taiho for very similar reasons - in 1944 . The Americans never lost another Fleet Carrier after Hornet and they wouldn't have lost her - if they'd won the battle. Yorktown wouldn't have been lost if that sub hadn't found her. .
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