USS Washington's Radar Ended the Battleship Kirishima in Seven Minutes

USS Washington's radar found the Japanese battleship Kirishima in the dark, and 75 rounds of 16-inch shell fired in seven minutes at 8,400 yards ended her as a warship. The American battleship was never hit. The Imperial Japanese Navy would never again send a battleship to bombard Henderson Field. This documentary covers the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the night of 14 and 15 November 1942. It follows Rear Admiral Willis Lee's Task Force 64, the battleships USS Washington (BB-56) and USS South Dakota (BB-57) and the destroyers Walke, Benham, Preston and Gwin, against Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo's bombardment force. It explains the SG and Mark 3 radars, the Type 93 torpedo, South Dakota's electrical failure, Japan's lead in night fighting from Savo Island onward, and what the loss of Kirishima meant for Henderson Field and Tanaka's transports. The account is built from Washington's gunnery report, American after-action reports, Japanese crew testimony, ship loss tables and the 2019 wreck survey. Where the records disagree on hits, clocks or casualties, the disagreement is stated. Subscribe for the definitive history of the United States in the Second World War — new documentaries every few days. #WW2 #WorldWarII #PacificWar #USNavy #WWIIHistory #USSWashington #Guadalcanal #Kirishima #MilitaryHistory #USAInWW2