Savo Island From the Japanese Perspective: Why Spare the Transports?

At thirty-one minutes past eleven at night, Tokyo time, on August 8, 1942, Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa sent his ships a single order off Guadalcanal: all ships, charge. In about half an hour, four Allied heavy cruisers were burning and sinking, and not one Japanese ship went down in the fight. Behind them, off the beaches, lay the transports that carried the food, the ammunition and the heavy equipment for the Marines ashore. At twenty-three minutes past midnight, Mikawa sent a second order: all ships, withdraw. The usual answer is that he feared the American carriers at dawn. This video looks at what the Japanese side actually recorded: the battle plan written that afternoon, the signals of the night, Chokai's battle report and its "lessons," the Eighth Fleet's report, the postwar recollections of Mikawa's staff, and the official Japanese war history of the campaign, published in 1971, whose editors add notes of their own questioning some of the reasons given. All times are Tokyo time, as in the Japanese records. In the Solomons it was two hours later, and already August 9. CHAPTERS 0:00 Introduction: Half an Hour 2:43 To the Last Man 8:08 Seen, and Not Believed 14:18 Six Minutes 19:08 Searchlights 23:47 Withdraw All Forces 29:48 Small Success 34:17 Two Thousand Men 37:25 So, Why Did Mikawa Spare the Transports? MAIN SOURCES Senshi Sosho (Japanese official war history), vol. 49: Nanto Homen Kaigun Sakusen (1): Gato Dakkai Sakusen Kaishi made (Southeast Area Naval Operations, part 1). Boeicho Boei Kenshujo Senshishitsu, 1971. The Eighth Fleet's report on the battle, Chokai's battle report and lessons, the Sixth and Eighteenth Cruiser Divisions' battle reports, Imperial General Headquarters' announcement of August 9, 1942, and the joint report of August 10, as printed and cited in Senshi Sosho vol. 49. Postwar recollections of the Eighth Fleet's chief of staff Shinzo Ohnishi and staff officer Toshikazu Ohmae, Kako's gunnery officer, and Mikawa himself, as cited in Senshi Sosho vol. 49. Ugaki Matome, Sensoroku (diary), as quoted there. Office of Naval Intelligence, The Battle of Savo Island, August 9, 1942 (Combat Narrative, 1943). Naval War College, The Battle of Savo Island, August 9, 1942: Strategical and Tactical Analysis (1950). Naval History and Heritage Command, H-Gram 009 (2017). Japanese text shown on screen is quoted from the records named above. English translations are by this channel. Photographs: U.S. Navy (NHHC, National Archives), U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army, National Museum of Naval Aviation, Division of Naval Intelligence recognition material, and prewar and wartime Japanese photographs. Narration uses a synthetic voice.