First and Second Naval Battles of Guadalcanal...November 1942(screenshots)

[Bubblehead1980]

TMO RSRD

After the Santa Cruz Islands, where I took some heavy damage from depth charging, I decided to put into Tulagi for a few days of repairs(and stick around for see the big naval battles of November before having to head all the way to Dutch Harbor since S boats are automatically transferred there in RSRD effective 1 November)
After a couple days in port, repairs made, torpedoes loaded, fueled and ready, decided to leave in the morning.While looking at the nav map, I heard a ships alarm set go off, and gun fire.Suddenly, I had plenty of SD radar contacts.An air raid was inbound.Bad news when in shallow waters in an S boat, which in my current modification, has no AA weapons.I ordered back emergency to pull away from the sub tender and make a run for deeper waters outside Tulagi Harbor, G4m Betty's began strafing my sub, wounding a couple topside crew members and causing pump damage.While backing out, I ordered right full rudder so could be pointing in the bow in correct direction as well as making evasive maneuvers.I soon ordered flank after barely clearing the bow of the armed trawler anchored off my port side.I then headed at flank speed(13 knots in an s boat lol) toward the exit of the harbor so could dive in deeper waters.The fairly massive wave of G4m's, numbering nearly 40 from what I could count, attacked all ships, a swarm of 15 or so concentrated on my as I shifted rudder 15 degrees port or starboard to give them a zigging target.Multiple near misses of bombs caused damage, knocking out pumps, compressors, damaged torpedo tubes, radio etc.After a tense run, I managed to make it deeper waters and dove to 100 feet, some bombers kept dropping bombs near me, which shook the boat, but caused no damage.Finally after it was over I went back to the tender to conduct repairs, which another air raid came later on, I dove in the shallows next to the tender, they did not see me, so I sat on the bottom conducting repairs, surfaced after dark.Some air raid screen shots:
















First Battle November 12/13, 1942

A few days later, I positioned myself in Savo Sound on the night of November 12/13.The Japanese Task Force sailed into Savo Sound as Admirals Scott and Callahan's force headed that way also.I chose to attack first since I was in an ideal position.After transmitting a contact report, I dove.The high speed of the ships prevented the DD's from making contact on their passive sonar, so I was able to get withing 1800 yards of a Kongo BB(originally identified in the dark as a Nagato BB) I fired my four Mark 10's in a nice spread, 10 seconds apart.One hit a heavy cruise, other missed the BB but two slammed home amidships, the BB kept on trucking though.Soon the DD's were all over me, I went to 150 feet and silent running.After a few minutes of depth charges, I could hear large naval gunfire, I went to external cam(left on for this purpose) and saw guns a blazing, the calvary had arrived. Soon an IJN Fubuki DD exploded into a fireball and sank, mustve taken a direct hit from a big cruiser's guns.I went bacvk to scope depth and watched the battle, it was a loud, confusing melee.The forces came very close and were using spotlights to spot each other.The big guns of the BB's(two Kongos) were raging, I also noticed the Kongo I hit had a nice list on her port side, nice to know she didnt shrugg off my torpedoes after all.

After a couple hours the gunfire died off and I surfaced to see burning wrecks everywhere, including the BB I hit, obviously much more damaged from the heavy gunfire she took as she was now dead in the water as were several american ships, debris fields from the sunken ships were everywhere. I was positioning my slow boat to give her the coup de gra when she capsized and sank.I was given the credit although I wish I had not been as it was the big guns of the cruisers than took her out.US losses were terrible but matched history mostly, three cruisers gone, 5(?) destroyers gone, more adrift.For those who are not aware, in the real battle both Admirals Norman Scott and Daniel Callaghan perished in this battle aboard their respective cruisers.

Japanese losses were pretty accurate as well, one BB lost, one heavy cruiser lost, several destroyers lost.

12 November nothing happened, refited at Tulagi again, avoided IJN scout planes and tried to attack a Tokyo Express convoy of several DD's new Russell Islands, but they were moving at 33 knots, so fat chance in an S boat.I spotted the second bombardment force at night on the 13th that slipped into the sound and hit Henderson Field but was only able to make a contact report.However, on the way out I was able to attack and sank a Takao Heavy cruiser with four torpedoes that missed the Furataka CA I airmed at, my speed estimate was off.

14 November: Wave after wave of US planes headed from Henderson Field and the Enterprise off shore, for "The Slot" to attack an inbound convoy heading for Guadalcanal.I dove to avoid planes and rescued an aircrew of a SBD who's ditched near Savo Island(was cool, it was smoking heading back to HF and apparently could not make it, ditched in the water and soon two plumes of pink smoke was rising, we raced over and picked up both aircrew of the SBD.

More screenshots and Second Battle in next thread.Limited to 20 images to have to split them up...