Comments by "Frank DeMaris" (@kemarisite) on "USS Salt Lake City - Guide 122" video.

@Jefferson Tong of course the New Orleans are better, they're three classes further along. Amusingly, this is the only class of pre-war 8" gun cruisers for the US that did not lose half its number (3 of 7 for the New Orleans).
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@bkjeong4302 Hammel seems to think that Scott on Atlanta was killed by a 14" hit from one of the battleships, but Richard Frank a few years later started that the largest shells to hit Atlanta were San Francisco's 8" rounds. Testimony from Atlanta officers (cited by Frank) indicates that "one of the big shells" killed Scott, but that still leaves open the possibility that a 14" incendiary shrapnel hit was not recognized as such. Obviously Atlanta was not available for the kind of detailed damage analysis that South Dakota received its encounter with Kirishima, Takao, and Atago.
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@sarjim4381 I'll beg to differ on the "then dreaded B-17", which the Japanese knew to generally bomb from high altitude with almost no chance of hitting. If this fellow was afraid of the B-17, then he was probably the only one. In fall 1942, a destroyer engaged in rescue operations didn't even bother getting under way when they spotted B-17s, and were shocked when one of the 500 lb bombs actually hit the rear deck (sinking their DD).
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This would be really unusual. Both sides called for air support, both sides presumably heard the radio transmissions calling for air support, but neither side's planes could intervene. The call, combined with the change in shell splashes when SLS ran out of AP, was what led the Japanese to believe they were under air attack.
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Seniority, same as everyone else. However, he actually developed a plan, communicated it to his subordinate commanders, and took made an opportunity for some night firing practice. Unlike Dan Callaghan.
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@bkjeong4302 Battle opens at 0700. Kurita withdraws at 0920. Halsey's first air strike went in starting at 0800, and Halsey didn't send anything back toward the south until 1115, and then TF34 spent over two hours refueling destroyers. Halsey's carriers continued beating up on Ozawa's force for the entire day. If (big IF) Kurita accepts that the destruction of the landing force is worth the lives of every man under his command and goes after the transport area at 0920 rather than disengaging, then it will be many hours before TF34 can get back and engage him, and probably tomorrow before Halsey's carriers can get back to sink any survivors. TF34 can sink anything it can catch, but it's an open question how much of the landing force survives.
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