October 12, 1942 - Monday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien: 

O'Brien's repairs were completed on October 10th.  Unnecessary weight was removed from the ship.  O'Brien and its two escorts left Noumea on the 10th headed for Mare Island in the San Francisco bay area.

"In addition to structural repairs, O'BRIEN was further lightened while at WHITE POPPY by removing 11 torpedoes, 12,000 rounds of 20mm ammunition, eight 300-lb. depth charges, all SC radar equipment and the computer.

"Upon completion of repairs at WHITE POPPY, O'BRIEN was considered capable of making 15 knots in a moderate sea. Mare Island was accordingly designated as the repair yard. At 0800 on 10 October O'BRIEN departed WHITE POPPY in company with CIMARRON and LANG. The group was designated as Task Group 66.3 with the Commanding Officer of CIMARRON as Commander of the Task Group."

-- War Damage Report #28. 

The sailors onboard were not so confident that these orders were a good idea.  As John told me later, anyone could see there was no way that was going to hold up long enough to get back.  These sentiments were no doubt expressed in saltier language when the orders came to make for the West Coast.  The Navy, however, thought all had been done that could be done, and they would just have to chance it; in the forward areas there were no dry docks or sophisticated repair facilities.

Pearl Harbor was closer than the West Coast, but with two carriers in for repairs, it may not have been able to accommodate more ships.   

Cimarron, an oiler headed back to the West Coast for refurbishment, and Lang, a destroyer were the escorts for O'Brien.  The first destination was Suva, Fiji.  

"Upon completion of repairs at WHITE POPPY, O'BRIEN was considered capable of making 15 knots in a moderate sea. Mare Island was accordingly designated as the repair yard. At 0800 on 10 October O'BRIEN departed WHITE POPPY in company with CIMARRON and LANG. The group was designated as Task Group 66.3 with the Commanding Officer of CIMARRON as Commander of the Task Group.

"After getting underway, a slow increase in the rate of leakage into the forward engine room was observed. This was not considered abnormal because of the many small patches and loose rivets in the underwater body. The Commanding Officer reported that a thorough check of the deflection across the damaged area showed that bending there was almost exactly the same as that across a similar undamaged length in the after engine room. Just how these observations were made was not reported, but ordinarily the problem of obtaining reliable hull deflection readings at sea is a difficult one. On the morning of the 13th of October, just prior to arrival at Suva, the reinforcing plate on No. 6 port deep longitudinal was found cracked, indicating a tensile failure. This 860 mile passage was made with turns for 13 knots attaining a speed over the ground of 12 knots. Wind and sea did not exceed moderate intensity."

-- War Damage Report #28.

 Some defects were showing up as noted, but Suva was reached on the 13th. Here is a map of the area, Noumea on the left, Fiji on the right.  Espiritu Santo (modern day Vanuatu), where the initial repairs were made, appears at the top left.:

 

Battle of Cape Esperance

On the night of October 11-12, a Navy cruiser force caught by surprise a Japanese cruiser force sent toward Guadalcanal to escort troop transports and shell the Marine positions.  Unlike earlier night actions, the US cruisers and destroyer found success, as a Japanese heavy cruiser and a destroyer were sunk, with a loss of one US destroyer.  This bolstered the confidence of the sailors, and was publicized at home as a victory, but did little to change the overall situation.

The Japanese transports delivered their troops and equipment to Guadalcanal, as the Japanese army forces there planned another assault on the Marines.

 

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) was at Pearl Harbor, for repairs to Enterprise (sailed October 16th).
  
• Saratoga was at Pearl Harbor for repairs (sailed November 10th).
  
• Combined Task Force 61 remained on patrol in the Coral Sea near Guadalcanal.
  
• Task Force 17 (Hornet) -> TF 61 
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 262-263.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 289-298.
• The Struggle for Guadalcanal, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 144-172.
• Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 157-188.
• U.S.S. O'Brien (DD415) Torpedo Damage and Loss South Pacific 15 Sept. - 19 Oct. 1942, War Damage Report #28, pp. 1-6
  

 

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