[M. Sarsfield]

You're probably right about the DD's lacking the radar directors. The bigger ships definitely had them and we did give them a pounding at night east of the Philippines (Leyte) when we went to take the islands back. I remember reading somewhere that early in the war they had that advantage over us.

The two battles that come to mind are off of Guadalcanal on Nov. 13 and 14, 1942. The Japanese beat the tar out of the U.S. forces both times in night engagements. Luckily the USS Washington got some good hits on one of their battleships and successfully evaded the rest of their force. If I remember correctly, one of the burning ships (a US destroyer, I beleive) blinded the Japanese gun crews (they were concentrating on USS South Dakota, anyway), but it lit up the Japanese ships, which made it easier for the Washington gun crews to hit their target.