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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

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Topic
  • Theater of Operations--Pacific
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  • Art
  • Photograph
Wars & Conflicts
  • World War II 1939-1945
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  • NHHC

Battle of Cape Esperance, 11 October 1942 


Photo #: KN-10864 (Color) Rear Admiral Norman Scott, USN
Rear Admiral Norman Scott, who cammand the Navy's Task Force 64 at the Battle of Cape Esperance. The painting ncludes a depiction of the Medal of Honor, which was posthumously awarded to Scott for extraordinary heroism and conspicuous intrepidity during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942. Oil on canvas, by McClelland Barclay, 1942 (KN-10864).

Photo #: 80-G-40069 USS Boise (CL-47)
USS Boise (CL-47) arrives at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, for battle damage repairs, November 1942. She had been hit by enemy shellfire in the Battle of Cape Esperance on 12 October 1942, resulting in a large fire that burned out her three forward 6-inch/47-caliber gun turrets and their ammunition spaces (80-G-40069).

Photo #: 80-G-300232 USS Boise (CL-47)
Boise's Number Three 6-inch/47-caliber triple gun turret, showing the effects of a Japanese shell that struck the turret's 6½-inch class A armor face plate during the Battle of Cape Esperance (80-G-300232).

Photo #: 80-G-36296 USS Boise (CL-47)
A Boise Sailor points out shell-fragment damage to the ventilation trunk at the front of the superstructure, just above the main deck. The damage was received during the Battle of Cape Esperance, 12 October 1942. It was caused by a shell that struck the face of Number Three turret and detonated on impact. The explosion was about thirty feet away from the damage seen here 980-G-36296).

Photo #: NH 90495 USS Duncan (DD-485)
Duncan (DD-485) underwayi n the south Pacific on 7 October 1942, five days before she was sunk in the Battle of Cape Esperance (NH 90495).

Photo #: 80-G-40067 USS Boise (CL-47)
Boise crewmen line the forward superstructure as the ship arrives at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, November 1942 (80-G-40067).

Photo #: 80-G-36299 USS Boise (CL-47)
Japanese trophy flags painted Boise's pilothouse as a scoreboard of enemy ships claimed sunk in the Battle of Cape Esperance. The six Japanese ships (two heavy cruisers, a light cruiser and three destroyers) represented in this scoreboard greatly overstates the actual enemy losses, which were one heavy cruiser (Furutaka) and one destroyer (Fubuki) sunk and one heavy cruiser (Aoba) badly damaged. This overclaiming was typical of contemporary night surface actions (80-G-36299).

Photo #: 80-G-300236 USS Boise (CL-47)
View in the lower handling room of Boise's Number Two 6-inch/47-caliber triple gun turret, showing damage received during the Battle of Cape Esperance. This space was burned out when a Japanese shell hit the ship below the waterline, penetrated the hull and exploded nearby, setting ammunition afire. The view shows a powder hoist, with the remains of a cartridge still in place. It was estimated that over 1,000 pounds of gun propellent burned in this handling room and its powder hoists (80-G-300236).
Published: Fri May 10 12:34:53 EDT 2019