Battle of Savo Island 1942: America's Worst Naval Defeat

Comments · 6.4K

• BA

  @bapt1999 · 2 years ago (edited)

  Imagine being in Mikawa's position. He obliterated 4 ennemy ships, coming from accross the biggest ocean in the world, made a plan that was accepted and went through with it brilliantly, he won a battle by the biggest margin up to date and the biggest that will be during the Guadalcanal campaing, and some dudes were like "why didn't you kill the transports too" when the army told him not to worry about it. And he had wrong intelligence from a previous battle the same day. Give the man a break, he did outsandingly well.

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• JI

  @jimmehjiimmeehh9748 · 5 years ago

  &quot;In order to lighten the weight, they got rid of their lifeboats.&quot;<br><br>Bugger me.

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• DA

  @DaoBao13 · 5 years ago (edited)

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lICRQPIduFc&amp;t=1120">18:40</a> the Betty flying extremely low on the left was piloted by Lt Jun Takahashi. He entered the Guinness World Records in 2014 for being the oldest active commercial pilot alive and he&apos;s still alive.

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• BI

  @BiggestCorvid · 5 years ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lICRQPIduFc&amp;t=3265">54:25</a> &quot;He didn&apos;t possess a crystal ball.&quot; Mikawa didn&apos;t even possess navigation charts anymore. He had received so many lucky breaks, he was smart to act based upon what the enemy could do.

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• TE

  @tealefti · 5 years ago

  &quot;Two months later, we will see how Americans had surprise on their side...&quot; <br><br>Is that a promise of a video on Cape Esperance in two months?

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• VI

  @VictorJD · 5 years ago

  If Mikawa had returned for the transports, we would get a second round of &quot;he made a decision based on what the enemy would do instead of what they could do&quot;. Even if he thought the carriers would likely withdraw, to stick to the maxim, he should assume they were in play and that his ships would be at serious risk by returning.

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• RO

  @robertrexroad835 · 4 years ago (edited)

  80 years ago tonight. My grandfather Robert Owen Rexroad served aboard the USS Vincennes and lucky for my sake survived! Every year I would call him on the night of August 8 to make sure he stayed dry that night. I miss him terribly.

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• KE

  @KearnseyYT · 5 years ago

  This dude is the definition of quality over quantity

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• DA

  @DaoBao13 · 5 years ago

  when the world needed him most, he returned

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• DU

  @Dustz92 · 5 years ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lICRQPIduFc&amp;t=900">15:00</a> Nagumo: Is it possible to learn this power?

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• DA

  @davidfink9454 · 4 years ago

  When I met my wife&apos;s uncle in 1959 he never talked about the battles he fought in in World War II but as I was a World War history buff, I researched some of the battles both on land and at sea. I learned about her uncle being on two ships that were sunk in the Pacific and one day while I was a book store I picked up a magazine with an article in it about the battle of Savo Island and it had some pictures of the battle and one picture of the search lights from a Japaneese ship. So I invited her uncle to go with me to the book store so I could show him the magazine. After he looked at the article and the pictures I asked him to tell my about his experience on the Astoria. <br><br>He told me that after Pearl Harbor, he joined the navy and was sent to Pearl Harbor where he was assigned duty on the Astoria. He told me that his Gereral Quarters was in fire control which I thought it was about putting out fires but told me it was controlling the firing of the big guns. He told me that on the night of the battle he had just gotten off watch and heard the hits being made on the ship from the Japaneese ships. He said after general quarters was announced he finally made it to his station and saw body parts from a few of the men after some hits from the Japaneese and he looked at me and I saw tears in his eyes and he tried to tell me about what happend and he started crying and he shut up and told me that he didn&apos;t want to talk about anymore. I felt so ashamed that I asked him to tell me about the battle and I never asked him about it again. <br><br>After he passed away a few years later, his daughter was dating a man that was stationed at Scott Air Force Base nearby and he made up a glass case with some of the awards from the U S Navy and he was represented by the military by pallbearers and they played taps at his burial and I was proud to be there and to just know him.

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• CR

  @crazyt1ger08 · 5 years ago (edited)

  One extra note: FDR was so taken by the loss of HMAS Canberra in this battle the next Baltimore-class Heavy Cruiser to be commissioned that was to be named USS Pittsburgh was in fact named USS Canberra to honour this brave Australian ship and its men, something that was never done before or since, naming an American warship after a foreign capital city.<br><br>The Australian Government returned this tribute by naming a new Tribal-class destroyer, HMAS Bataan, in honor of the US stand during the Battle of Bataan.

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