Battle of the Komandorski Islands

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USS Salt Lake City at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island on 29 March 1943, three days after the battle.

Date	27 March 1943
Location	open sea, south of the Komandorski Islands
Result	Tactically inconclusive; U.S. strategic advantage

Combatants

Commanders

Strength

2 cruisers,
4 destroyers

4 cruisers,
4 destroyers

Casualties

1 cruiser,
1 destroyer damaged
7 killed^[1]

2 cruisers damaged
14 killed^[2]

Aleutian Islands campaign
Attu – Komandorski – Dutch Harbor – Kiska

The Battle of the Komandorski Islands was one of the most unusual engagements of World War II, that took place on 27 March 1943 in the North Pacific area of the Pacific Ocean, near the Komandorski Islands.

When the United States became aware of Japanese plans to send a supply convoy to garrisons on the Aleutian Islands, U.S. Navy ships commanded by Rear Admiral Charles McMorris were dispatched to intercept. The U.S. fleet comsisted of the heavy cruiser Salt Lake City, the old light cruiser Richmond and the destroyers Coghlan, Bailey, Dale and Monaghan.

Unknown to the Americans, the Japanese had chosen to escort their convoy with two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and four destroyers commanded by Vice Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya. On the morning of the 27th, the Japanese convoy was intercepted by the U.S. picket line and combat ensued. Due to the remote location of the battle and chance encounter on open ocean, neither fleet had air or submarine assistance, making this the only engagement exclusively between surface ships in the Pacific Theatre, and the last pure gunnery duel in naval history.

1 The battle
2 Outcome
3 References

[edit] The battle

Mistakenly believing that easy pickings were in store, the American warships formed up and closed the range. Two transports fled for safety as the Japanese warships turned to engage. The American group was outgunned and outnumbered, but pressed on and made a course change in hopes of getting a shot at the transports before their escorts could intervene. There was also a possibility that the Japanese would split their force and that Salt Lake City and Richmond could tackle a portion of them on more equal terms.

The opposing cruisers simultaneously opened fire at a range of nearly ten miles (20 km). The ensuing battle was a retiring action on the part of the Americans, for the Japanese foiled their attempt to get to the auxiliaries. Salt Lake City received most of the attention and soon received two hits, one of them amidships, mortally wounding two men, but she responded with very accurate fire. Her rudder stops were carried away, limiting her to 10 degree course changes. Another hit soon flooded forward compartments. Under cover of a thick smoke screen and aggressive torpedo attacks by the destroyers, the American cruisers were able to make an evasive turn, which for a while allowed the range to open. Salt Lake City soon began taking hits again and her boiler fires died one by one. Salt water had entered the fuel oil feed lines. There was now cause for grave concern; she lay dead in the water, and the Japanese ships were closing fast. Luckily, she was hidden in the smoke, and the enemy was not aware of her plight.

The destroyers charged the Japanese cruisers and began to draw the fire away from the cruiser. They took extreme punishment before launching a spread of torpedoes. In the meantime, Salt Lake City engineers purged the fuel lines and fired the boilers. With fresh oil supplying the fires, she built up steam and gained headway. Suddenly, the Japanese began to withdraw, for they were fast exhausting their ammunition. They never suspected that the Americans were in far worse shape in terms of both ammunition and fuel.

[edit] Outcome

Despite being outnumbered two to one, the engagement was tactically inconclusive. Both sides suffered damage, with the U.S. force not being as badly hurt by the superior firepower of the Japanese as could have been the case. When the Japanese force was poised for victory, Admiral Hosogaya, not realizing the heavy damage his ships had inflicted on Salt Lake City, and fearing American air forces were en route, chose to retire without delivering a knockout blow. Withdrawal led to a strategic defeat for the Japanese because it ended their attempts to resupply their Aleutian garrisons by surface, leaving only submarines for resupply runs.

Hosogaya was retired from service after the battle.

NOTE: The date is often given as 26 March due to the fact that the U.S. ships used Honolulu time which refers to the other side of the International Date Line. However, the local date at Komandorski Islands was March 27.

[edit] References

[edit] Books

D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 0-8159-5302-X.
Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
Lacroix, Eric; Linton Wells (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
Lorelli, John A. (1984). The Battle of the Komandorski Islands, March 1943. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-093-9.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1951 (Reprint 2001)). Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944, vol. 7 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Champaign, Illinois, USA: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-316-58305-7.

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

^ Morison, Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, p. 33. Five were killed on Bailey and two on Salt Lake City.
^ Morison, Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, p. 33 and Hackett, CombinedFleet.com, [1]. Thirteen were killed on Nachi and one on Maya.