Battle 360: USS Enterprise vs. the Japanese Fleet (S1, E5) | Full Episode | History

previously on battle 360. uss enterprise and  sister ship hornet squared off against the   firepower of four enemy carriers in the bloody  battle of santa cruz and for hornet it was the   end of the line hit by aerial explosives and  torpedoes she made a last stand and died hard   now uss enterprise becomes the only battle  ready carrier left in the pacific fleet uss enterprise a fighting city of steel she is the most revered and  decorated ship of world war ii on this 360 degree battlefield where threats loom  on the seas in the skies and in the ocean depths   the enterprise's enemies could be anywhere and everywhere there's nowhere to run when the battles  all around you battle 360. versus japan friday november 13 1942 1 48  a.m anti-aircraft cruiser uss   atlanta patrols the dark waters off  guadalcanal island in the south pacific uss enterprise has been out of action for  two weeks with all the other carriers in   the pacific down for the count these  smaller ships must face the enemy alone atlanta has sent her share of japanese  planes to the hunting grounds of hell   but tonight she's stalking  imperial warships one of 13   american vessels on the prowl for an enemy  force of destroyers battleships and cruisers two massive naval groups are about to collide  in a terrific clash of steel but what the   crew of atlanta doesn't know is that they're  already locked in the crosshairs of the enemy three thousand yards away japanese battleship  hie and destroyer akatsuki close in for an ambush   at point blank range they flood atlanta  with massive searchlights and open fire   atlanta and the american ships immediately  open up with every gun they have   the battle is on practically before they knew  it their formation is pointed directly at the   japanese and suddenly the forces are  intermingled and firing at each other   muzzle to muzzle these 20th century  ships battle like 18th century pirates   but modern cannons are far more deadly  shells streak across the water the air   is filled with explosions the shattering sounds  of slamming steel in the cries of the wounded cruiser atlanta gives her  all in the violent firefight   launched in 1941 atlanta is 541 feet of killing  power she bristles with 16 5-inch rifles   four quad-mount 1.1 automatics and eight 21-inch  torpedo tubes right now atlanta has no shortage   of enemy targets her forward fives blow shells at  two enemy destroyers while her after battery aims   for the searchlights on akuzuki and cuts loose  but atlanta is getting it back from all sides to the left she's hit by a storm of japanese  torpedoes that annihilate her forward engine room   and on the right in the confusion of  darkness one of her own cruisers lobs   19 8-inch projectiles towards her deck  dozens of sailors are killed in the salvo   atlanta cannot escape the hellstorm as the  sun rises over the blood-stained waters   things look bad for the american fleet friday  the 13th could be santa cruz all over again flashback two and a half weeks october  26 1942 uss enterprise takes a pounding   in the battle of santa cruz a 500-pound bomb  penetrates her flight deck and cracks her hole   oozing oil and the blood of her womb  it's a miracle that she's still afloat   four days later she arrives at the american  base at numea new caledonia for repairs   crews are working day and night to  patch up enterprise's battle wounds   this isn't just any ship it's the only  american carrier left in the pacific   the key to beating back the imperial menace  and it must be returned quickly to the fight   they knew that the navy needed her and that their  country needed her that was the only carrier left   at that time they had to get it back out to sea so  they could continue on the fight beat the japanese it was after we had lost the hornet at  santa cruz we were the only carrier left   and remember sailors holding those signs up  on the flight deck enterprise versus japan   but right now enterprise is in no shape  for fighting and japan is eager to strike   the epicenter of their hostilities is  guadalcanal in the south pacific solomon islands   japanese and american ground troops are waging  a war of attrition here each trying to bleed the   other to death american marines control  the coveted airstrip at henderson field   which they seized from the enemy three months  ago but they're hanging on by their fingernails   the initiative really lies with the japanese  though at this point they have sunk the hornet   they have badly damaged the enterprise and  yet they still have the heavy surface forces   necessary to bring the fight to guadalcanal  we've got to get more troops and more supplies   in there as quickly as possible as enterprise  undergoes repairs japanese admiral yamamoto   mastermind of pearl harbor has hatched a plan to  knock the marines off guadalcanal once and for all   eleven transport ships will make their way down  the channel between the solomon islands known as   the slot they will deliver nearly 13  000 japanese soldiers to guadalcanal   covering them will be five battleships 10  cruisers and 11 destroyer escorts the ships are   armed with anti-personnel fragmentation shells  designed to do maximum damage to human flesh   in addition to attacking the  american fleet these ships   will bombard the airfield and other  american positions on guadalcanal the japanese had decided that they  were going to make one big push to   push our first marine divisions annihilate them  destroy them push them off the canal and retake   water canal the stakes are very high at this  point this is the culmination of the battle   as an enemy fleet prepares to hit guadalcanal  the climax of three months of brutal fighting   is about to be reached but enterprise is sitting  on the sidelines her men working round the clock   to get her back into the fight flash forward five  days later friday the 13th the japanese force has   reached guadalcanal and cruiser atlanta  is about to be in the battle of her life the first of the enemy gunships move into  position to bombard henderson field from   guadalcanal sea lark channel but these  bloody waters will soon go by another name   iron bottom sound the final grave for  dozens of warships and thousands of men   in the pre-dawn darkness the enemy ships  run right into the guns of uss atlanta   and the american surface fleet patrolling the  waters off guadalcanal like battling pirate ships   the two sides pound each other from close range  and the cruiser atlanta is caught in the firestorm steel lightning explodes as shells and  giant orange tracers fire into the night japanese and american gunships crucify  each other with savage volleys of shot   shell and guadalcanal's iron bottom sound hit by  the direct fire from more than six american ships   the destroyer akatsuki blows up destroyer  uss laffy closes in alongside battleship pa   and rakes her decks with rapid-fire  five-inch shells and machine guns from the island u.s marines  watch the epic battle unfold   it goes on for hours one of the surviving  american naval officers describe this particular   action as a bar room brawl after the lights have  been shot out and that's exactly what it was don reveals the scene of an apocalypse   the waters off guadalcanal are coated  in oil debris and human remains hundreds of sailors including two american  admirals have been slaughtered in one of the   greatest naval gun battles of the war throughout  the morning a sea tug navigates the bloody waters   rescuing american sailors most  japanese survivors are killed among the casualties of november 13th is  cruiser uss juno lost when the ship sunk are all   five sullivan brothers of waterloo iowa as  a result of the loss of the five sullivan   brothers on the uss juno the navy implemented  a sole survivor policy meaning that the sole   surviving son of a family would be reassigned to  non-hazardous duty the thought being that if he   continued to serve in hazardous duty they didn't  want a family that lost all of its sons in combat   so the result was soul survivors would be  reassigned and would not be in harm's way the long morning of november 13th is one of the  darkest periods in the history of the u.s navy   the grim tally cruisers atlanta and juno are  gone uss laffy and four destroyers are wiped out   four additional allied ships are damaged  and more than 1400 americans have perished   once again the u.s navy has had to pay a terrible  price to hold guadalcanal for another day but hope is just over the horizon november 13th 7 a.m   after only two weeks uss enterprise is out of  the repair docks and steaming into the fight the japanese are stunned by the  sudden appearance of the grey ghost   they thought they'd sent the enterprise and  they're haunted they know they got to haunt it   they thought the enterprise  would be out of commission   but this is a fight that the men of the big e  wouldn't dare miss come hell or high water or both the uss enterprise ship's crew  said no this ain't gonna happen   we're gonna fight you to our last man you  know whenever you lose friends buddies   and in war it's gonna happen but no matter how  hard you try it still becomes very personal target japanese warships and  troop transports objective   prevent japan from delivering reinforcements  to guadalcanal strategy attack attack attack   for the americans all that stands between  the empire and the almighty is enterprise   the remains of our task force and a motley  collection of battleships cruisers and destroyers steaming alongside enterprise are the fast  battleships washington and south dakota   with destroyers in a semi-circle straight ahead  admiral halsey's plan is to position the big e   more than 200 miles southwest of guadalcanal while bull halsey runs the overall campaign from  numea admiral thomas kincade is placed in command   of enterprises task force admiral kincaid does not  want to risk losing enterprise if he can possibly   help it he has maneuvered enterprise into a  position about 200 miles south southwest of   guadalcanal in a position where his aircraft can  interdict shipping that's coming down the slot   and also can move those aircraft if need be  to henderson field and that's exactly what he   would do there's just one problem the big ease  forward elevator was knocked out of commission   at santa cruz and couldn't be repaired with the  limited facilities available at new caledonia and the forward elevator is key to the system  of launching and landing planes during a battle   enterprise has three of these hydraulic elevators  forward midships and aft each elevator is 48 feet   by 44 feet and capable of lifting 17 000 pounds  planes are first brought up from the hangar using   the rear elevators then they take off on their  missions when they return they land over the   rear of the carrier and are rolled forward the  forward elevator brings them below decks to be   prepared for their next mission with the forward  elevator knocked out of action the whole system   falls apart bottom line planes can take off  from enterprise but there's no coming back   so halsey's plan is to send some of enterprises  squadrons to land at henderson field which they   will use as a temporary base during the battle the  handful of enterprise planes will have to launch   from her decks bomb the enemy targets then land on  guadalcanal to be serviced by marine ground crews november 13 1942 day one in the naval battle  of guadalcanal 8 22 a.m the first planes head   out on this risky mission nine avengers and six  wildcats make ready to launch they will head for   henderson field and take out any japanese  ships or planes they encounter in route it's a dangerous mission with  the enemy in full attack mode   there's no guarantee that henderson field  will be in u.s hands when the planes arrive a little after 11 am enterprises  torpedo planes strike pay dirt they are led by a lieutenant suitably  grim named al khan the avengers are on   route for guadalcanal's airstrip suddenly japanese  battleship ea comes into view despite being mauled   by destroyer laffy the night before she's headed  right for henderson field with her 14-inch guns   pa is a congo class battleship and displaces  more than 36 000 tons with a crew of 1300 men   in addition to her main battery of eight 14 inch  guns she's armed with 16 six-inch black guns eight   five-inch rifles and as many as 118 machine  guns pae is a menacing site on any battlefield coffins torpedo planes immediately climb 4 500  feet higher into the clouds and out of sight their objective split into two groups and maneuver  into striking position to bury the imperial battle   wagon both groups will meet the warship head on  one from the port bow the other from starboard   will have nowhere to go any way she turns  she'll get a salvo of enterprises torpedoes the crew of the japanese battleship has no idea  they're in the sights of coffin's torpedoes   two miles ahead coffin's avengers  burst out of the clouds in two groups   headed right for the bow of the massive vessel at long range ea unleashes flak guns but her fire   is divided between the two  groups of american planes half a mile away the big e's flyers are only   150 feet off the water when  they release their warheads coffin is in the lead of the four  planes attacking the port bow   just as ea cuts loose with an angry  broadside from her 14-inch rifles the avengers pull up and run  like hell for henderson field   seconds later ea is nailed by three torpedoes she slows to a crawl and turns hard to  starboard her rudder destroyed she's helpless amazingly three out of the eight american  torpedoes have actually done their job   and that was quite a feat at that time  because our torpedo planes were so slow your warfighter capability is a  combination of both technology   and in this case for flying your pilot skill  well back then the technology wasn't all that   good the capabilities of the pilots would have  to play a much larger role than they do today two hours after the initial attack he is finished  off by another round of enterprise torpedo   planes in his scuttle for the first time in world  war ii the big e has just claimed a japanese battleship i think they were credited  with sinking the first battleship   it's one of their newest ones and i believe  that was the first battleship that we had sunk   you felt victory every time you you sunk one  of their ships they knocked their planes down   you felt up there naval battles have been raging  for hundreds of years you know back to old wooden   hulled ships when a ship goes down it means it  can't fight anymore it's one thing to take out   a body but if you take out the vessel carrying  a hundred or a thousand or five thousand bodies   you've really forced multiplied the  damage that you've inflicted on your   enemy and on their ability to prosecute  you know friendly targets on your side   and more than that it's i went mono  amano and i walked away and he didn't by the end of the day all 15  enterprise torpedo and fighter   planes survive their encounter with the  enemy and land safely at henderson field but the naval battle for  guadalcanal is far from over   the enemy transport ships and their  destroyer escorts are still out there november 14 1942 day two in the naval battle  of guadalcanal 2 2pm below the flight deck   plane handlers and technicians prepare  for another launch against the enemy   the hangar deck is one of the most vital parts  of the ship here the big e's parked warplanes   are prepared for battle hundreds of sailors man  repair stations welding shops and storage rooms   the hangar is storage for an arsenal  of machine guns bombs torpedoes   and ammunition and on this day there's not  a moment to lose enterprises dauntless dive   bombers have been called in to destroy the  enemy transports and the imperial soldiers   they carry like all enemy convoys sent down the  slot this force is known as the tokyo express   and right now the greatest threat to guadalcanal's  marines are these enemy reinforcements earlier that afternoon another enterprise  strike force discovered and badly damaged   several of the troop ships but there are seven  of them out there steadily headed for guadalcanal   by nightfall the marines could have another 8  000 enemy troops breathing down their necks they   were trying to land troops and supplies  on off destroyers and other small ships   and we were trying to harass them and keep  them from doing that recently promoted from   the flight deck radio man gunner jack  glass has survived the deadly battles of   the eastern solomons and santa cruz but this  will be his first combat mission in the air i didn't want to be on that flight deck anymore  it just seemed like lion was the best way to be another santa cruz survivor  is pilot bruce mcgraw of texas   commander crumlin came to the ready room and he  says now you get those transports if the japanese   land those 11 ships there's no way that we can  hold what little ground we have around henderson   field and it will be the worst massacre in history  of the united states it was the old routine of   going out and trying to find them and then if  we found them we'd go out and try to sink them the enterprise airstrike is a mixed bag of eight  sbds from her scouting and bombing squadrons   escorted by the wildcats of fighting  squadron 10 led by jimmy flatley   of course we all operated together as if it was  one unit one squadron we had the very good luck   to have jamie flatley who was commanding officer  the fighting 10 and he had 12 f4f wildcats and   most all of them had been in combat flatly is already a legend in naval  aviation and a hero aboard the big e   a master tactician and fighting ace he's nicknamed  the wildcat pilots of enterprise the grim reapers 200 miles away the japanese troop transports and  their destroyer escorts close in on guadalcanal   one combined air assault by enterprise pilots  has already wreaked havoc on these same   ships now it's time for jimmy flatley  and his reapers to strike the next blow   smoke already billows from bomb damage marking the  enemy ships as a drop zone for flatley's air group   three miles above the sea the bomber  planes and flatley's fighters head   for the last known position of the transports we had our guns armed shores all everything had  been checked out we were carrying thousand pound   bombs and uh went directly to the transports  4 15 pm jimmy flatley and the fighters and   bombers of enterprise arrive over the enemy  fleet from eighteen thousand feet flatly can   clearly see seven wounded transports trailing  smoke he's got them exactly where he wants them immediately cool-headed flatly forms a battle  plan one by one he directs each bomber pilot   towards a different enemy transport every plane  will have one chance to drop a lethal love letter   from the big e or risk getting blown out of the  sky by a destroyer it's got to time out perfectly 18 000 feet below the sbds the seven transports are spread  out side by side in two lines the troop ships are no match for american air  power they're lightly armed and slow to maneuver   for the japanese soldiers aboard  them there's nowhere to run   suddenly all eyes look to the sky as the  enterprise warplanes charge in from the clouds 18 000 feet above pilot bruce mcgraw and five comrades circle  toward the right formation of transports while the other three sbds take the left radio man jack glass is the  rear seat gunner in one of them   he always tried to make you dive so you could pull  out stern to bow without a stirring the long way   that way you had a better chance of getting  a hit of course they were not staying in one   place at the time when you get into your dive  they would maneuver around but the transports   were slow and they were easy to hit comparatively  speaking easy to hit if you aren't under attack   suddenly five enemy zeros streak in past the  approaching dive bombers blazing hot lead   instantly rear seat gunners and the sbds burn  three of the enemy fighters with their rapid   fire twin 30s now the enterprise bombers begin  their vertical dives on the enemy transports   that aircraft fire wasn't very effective because  they didn't have much on those transports   if we could get by without making a  drop on a combat ship the rest was easy   it was usually one to two bombs would think one  of those transports the light flack guns on the   transports and anti-aircraft shells from destroyer  escorts aren't enough to stop the men of the big e 16 000 feet above   the sbds greet the angry japanese fire but keep on  coming thank goodness was enough of us scattered   around that it wasn't all concentrated on  one guy they were shooting at all of us i realized immediately when i started to  roll over and go down that i had a problem   as mcgraw charges a transport on the right  flank he realizes that something isn't right i had no dive breaks for a dive bomber losing your  dive breaks also known as dive flaps is a critical   situation you're supposed to be diving in that uh  dive angle at about 250 knots with your die flaps   out now you take dye flaps out of the equation  means you're going to be significantly at a higher   air speed on your diving run and that's going to  translate to either you have to pickle earlier   so you can still bottom out at your safe pull  out altitude or if you want to ensure a kill   it means you're going to be a lot faster at  the bottom of that dive than you wanted to be   and that's going to translate to  being a lot closer to the ground   and or pulling a lot more  g's to not impact the ground   right now as his plane plummets toward the sea  faster than a fireball mcgraw is experiencing   negative genes at any moment the blood supply to  his head could swell causing blightness coming   down at a 70 degree angle at high speed also means  the mcgraw's bomb could nail his own propellers   that'd be the end of your flight mcgraw has only  seconds to decide whether to continue his dive   or pull out fifteen thousand feet above the  ocean on a vertical dive is no time to hesitate   the texan decides to keep going  and take the enemy's ship head-on   and i thought well i'm going to find out how  tough this airplane is so with a crippled   airplane no dive breaks my nose are straight down  i dove close to three miles almost straight down   at terminal velocity i'd never flown an  airplane this fast before the sound of the wind   going across the canopy that airplane was such a  roar of streets that i'd never heard that before   even if he makes his bomb drop he might not be  able to level out and escape sudden impact with   the ocean below mcgraw closes on his target at  240 knots in seconds he'll have one clear shot   you've done it so many times it's  like throwing a baseball you learn   it by nature there was dead  on and i released my bomb at 3 500 feet mcgraw delivers 1 000 pounds of  enterprise ordinance on the deck of the transport   instantly he pulls up as hard as he can to  level out before crashing into his target in the last possible moment he  clears the air over the transport   just as the bomb drives into the enemy ship  and detonates in a massive tearing explosion amazingly it's a direct hit amid ships  it blows the side out of her hull   and kills any japanese soldiers and  sailors caught in the blast radius   the transport comes to a sudden halt  and begins to list dead in the water mcgraw manages to level out of his dive and make  his escape when you're working with less than a   fully functional combat system it makes you just  a little bit more attuned to what you do have   he pushed it a little closer than he would  have to try to compensate for that deficiency   it's significant that you can  overcome a thing like no die flaps and mcgraw is not finished as he passes an enemy  destroyer at low level his gunner unleashes a   burst of 30 caliber lead his mission accomplished  mcgraw heads for guadalcanal's henderson field a mile to the north flatly's fighters ripped the enemy troop  ships with their big 50s at 300 miles an   hour the grim reapers punish the decks of  the transports with unstoppable firepower finally flatley and the rest of his  air group make way for guadalcanal   two transports are terminated but somehow  five of the stubborn ships keep going a half hour later a second flight of  enterprise bombers from henderson field   make a run on the transport force it's a bloodbath dive bombers managed to disable  several transports but at a heavy cost   flack from the japanese destroyers 7.7 millimeter  bullets from enemy zeros take their toll   commanding officer took one group in there and  they didn't have any fighter protection and   the fresh water in the sea rose came  in and hit them when they got there among the enterprise flyers lost in the terrible  skies over the transport force is mcgraw's friend   and santa cruz wingman warren welch together the  two airmen discovered the first of the enemy ships   at santa cruz in october now welch is the victim  of enemy fire in the fight against the transports   my good buddy warren welsh after he had  dropped his bum and got her transport   the jab shot him down killed him there and that  was three weeks after our first battle together   in all seven american pilots in the big e are  killed in the desperate attacks of november 14th   but the enterprise pilots have succeeded in  slowing down the enemy ships and destroying   hundreds of imperial troops convoy itself by  the end of that afternoon of the original 11   transports only four of them are operable one has  retreated to shortland with a number of survivors   the other five have either been sunk  or abandoned and will shortly sink as the second day of killing ends enterprise  bomber torpedo and fighter pilots land on   henderson field it's still in american  hands but under heavy enemy bombardment arrival at henderson field is almost  as deadly as fighting in the skies   just about time we jump down on the  ground another shell comes overhead   you don't have to be told what it  is you hear it you know what it is   we both hit the deck well i'm sure for them  it gave them a whole new outlook on the war   because it looks a lot different from the sky  than it does once you put your foot on the deck   it's a totally different world even worse than the  dangers of incoming fire mcgraw must suffer the   jeers of the marines who laugh at any navy pilot  ducking for cover for most of them this is just   another day on the canal after dodging a number of  shells that slam into the dirt around him mcgraw   has a chance run in with the man in charge marine  general alexander vandegrift cool under fire   the legendary leatherneck watches the  bombardment from an observation post   i walked over and i said general may i join you  and he says be my guest so i went up the ladder   but this time i figured i'm not going to let  any damn marine laugh at me ever again about   dodging from michelle together mcgraw  and the renowned marine commander watch   as enemy artillery and mortar shells  lob onto the airfield from the jungle   says i am down to 50 they've got so many  men out with the problem with the mosquitoes   and other illnesses so many of them that are shot  up hurt in the hospital they're not able to fight   and we're hanging by our tooth and toenail and  we can barely hold on against what's out there   made me feel better because i had hit my transport  dead center and i knew they weren't coming ashore   but the grim satisfaction  of battle doesn't last long   soon mcgraw and the other enterprise pilots  will get a little taste of night on guadalcanal time came when it getting too dark one  the marine took me in tow and he says   i'll show you where you're going to  live and there were tents staggered   along each side of this path down into the  jungle we walked past the first tent and   went to the second one which was on  the right he says this is your tent mcgraw is briefed on the grim realities of ground  warfare he's warned not to turn on his flashlight   or strike a match any light might bring a barrage  of enemy mortar fire all he has for protection is   a knife in his 45 pistol he said if anybody comes  into your tent kill him and then we'll work it   out tomorrow for mcgraw and his fellow airmen  there will be very little sleep on guadalcanal only miles away the remains of the japanese gunships  maneuver into position their mission   blast the hell out of henderson field and  cover the arrival of the surviving transports   in command of the enemy force is vice admiral  novotake kondo born in osaka japan in 1886. he's   a longtime naval warrior and veteran tactician he  personally leads his forces into iron bottom sound   but what the japanese don't know is that admiral  bull halsey has just sent in enterprise battle   wagon escorts south dakota and washington to  destroy any and all enemy warships that threaten   henderson field commanding the battleship division  is rear admiral willis a lee the kentucky native   is an olympic marksman and a no-nonsense naval  veteran with 38 years of service under his belt   with uss washington as his flagship he sets off  from enterprise and heads for iron bottom sound   on the hunt for the imperial fleet november 14 1942 for two days uss  enterprise and the us fleet have   been fighting the battle of their  lives in the waters off guadalcanal now in the darkness of night an enemy  gunship force led by battle wagon kiroshima   is about to pound the u.s forces on  the island with a massive barrage but what the japanese don't know is that  enterprise battleships south dakota and uss   washington have just been sent to stop them dead  in the water from the bridge of the washington   admiral lee sends a fighting message to the rest  of the fleet stand aside i am coming through uss washington is a north carolina class  battleship right out of the philadelphia navy yard   overall length 729 feet displacement 35 000 tons  her weaponry is nine 16-inch guns 20 5-inch rifles   and more than a dozen automatic anti-aircraft guns 12 15 a.m radar on battleship washington   picks up the location of enemy warships east  of the volcanic peak known as savo island 10 miles away battleship kiroshima and an enemy  fleet head right for guadalcanal on their mission   to hit the marines but the uss washington  has the imperial battle wagons dead in sight washington's big 16-ish rifles open fire  before the japanese know what's hitting them   her first victim takes a load of  american lead as washington roars   out a storm of heavy fire that  devastates the imperial warship in another clash of iron imperial  and american vessels square off   in a gruesome display of firepower in less than three minutes uss washington hammers  out an amazing 42 rounds from her main battery now she squares off with battleship hiroshima the thunder of 14-inch and 16-inch  rifles and cannons echoes across the sea   as washington mauls the battleship  hiroshima with her broadsides during that battle it's interesting that you  have a preponderance on each side of their   preferred weapon of choice the americans  bring much heavier gun power to the fight   the japanese for their part bring much  heavier torpedo firepower and yet in this   particular fight the japanese are not able  to make that advantage in torpedoes tell   from the coconut line banks of guadalcanal  enterprise pilots and marines can clearly   see the blaze of the nighttime slaughter it was  20 miles away but it sounded like out just next   door to your tent these battleships having  at each other from where we were we could   see the flash of the big battleship candidates  the cruiser cannons and the lesser ones down   to five inch going off and the japs were shooting  at us it was a horrendous horrendous battle battleship hiroshima is finished her hull and  superstructure are torn by the american shells   with fires raging over her decks the  enemy crew is forced to abandon ship uss washington is the only  american battleship to actually   sink an enemy battleship in the second world war now she and south dakota lay into  japanese cruisers and destroyers   firing rapid broadsides  from 16-inch and 5-inch guns 242 americans and 249 japanese are killed and the following day  battleship kiroshima is scuttled   she joins her sister hie in a watery  grave in the depths of iron bottom sound the americans have stopped the enemy gunships cold   the surviving japanese cruisers and  destroyers beat a hasty retreat north admiral willis a lee pulls out of iron bottom  sound with a victory and will later receive   the navy cross though south dakota has been badly  damaged uss washington is unhurt the enterprise's   battle wagon has survived her first brush  with the enemy fleet without a single fatality   but in the dim light of early morning four  of the japanese transports have survived   they make landfall on guadalcanal  with their payloads of imperial troops   using the cover of night they attempt to  camouflage themselves along the shores   of guadalcanal hoping to offload  their cargos without being spotted these enemy ships are going to want to try  and disguise themselves in any way they can   nighttime is a good cover because you can't pick  up a wake in darkness and when you're visually   acquiring the enemy targets you can pick up the  way miles away from where the actual ship is cloud cover and rain squalls might  also help conceal the enemy warships   making them almost impossible to locate   the skippers are taking every precaution but  no amount of cloud cover or camouflage is going   to save these imperial ships sunrise over the  solomons will only bring the red harvest of battle daybreak november 15th 1942. day  three in the naval battle for guadalcanal from the war-ravaged airstrip at henderson  field bruce mcgraw and his comrades from uss   enterprise head off in search of  four surviving enemy transports   one by one the bomber pilots take off on the hunt whatever happens in the next few hours  might decide the fate of a guadalcanal   just as soon as we got your gear up you  could see over the trees you could see the   transports over there they were right there one mile away the four japanese transports are busy  unloading supplies and reinforcements   but if the imperial soldiers and sailors  think they're finally in the clear   they're dead wrong suddenly the rising sun over  guadalcanal was clouded by a storm of dive bombers   wildcat fighters and avenger torpedo planes  there's nowhere to hide the wildcats strafe   the transports and beaches with heavy 50 caliber  machine guns literally ripping the enemy apart   i know that there was a lot of japanese  that jumped off those ships with all their   gear on and drowned right there because the  water was deeper than they thought it'd be   when they jumped off so the water was full of dead  jumps by the time we got there 7 500 feet above bruce mcgraw and the bombers  of enterprise roll over into   70 degree dives and drive 1 000  pound bombs into the enemy ships one by one the four transports and  their cargos of troops and supplies   are sent up in flames and torn by machine gun fire above the transports al coffee who led the attack on battleship pa  releases a 500-pound bomb directly over his target   it's a direct hit another transport eviscerated imperial soldiers and sailors  are helpless to stop the carnage it's simply slaughter in a few short hours all  four of the transport vessels are destroyed   along with hundreds of japanese  soldiers and all the supplies of war the fires on the transports will burn  for more than 16 hours and the bodies   of hundreds of japanese warriors lie  dead in the waters surrounding the ships but the bloodbath has prevented the  annihilation of the marines at guadalcanal the last attempt that japanese made to take  guadalcanal we were there and we located the   10 or 12 japanese transports and we got all of  those with the troops aboard we sunk so many of   their transports and damaged so many of their  ships we put the fear of god in on that time after more than three months of horrific combat in  the jungles in the air and on the scene u.s forces   have finally tipped the scales at guadalcanal  henderson field belongs to the marines for good with the cruel battles of the eastern  solomons and santa cruz still in the   hearts and minds of her crew enterprise has  reaped victory and has settled the score   when the passer word that we had secured water  canal we all were very happy very very happy   it was a long long battle we lost quite a  few men a lot of my friends there got hurt back on guadalcanal bruce mcgraw and  the dive bomber pilots from enterprise   get a special thanks from the battle weary  grunts they've literally saved from annihilation   they started giving us souvenirs and one of them  gave me a flag but this big square had symbol   [ __ ] cymbals all the way around it this was  an individual flag it belonged to an individual   and they say that when these when these japs were  issued those flags that their friends would write   notes of goodbye and good luck i don't  know where i ever got such a welcome   and says an expression of appreciation as i got  from those marines down there on that front line for the first time in the pacific  war the big east pilots have gotten   a close-up look at the horrors of ground  warfare that they will not soon forget   the camaraderie and thanks as a testament  to the common bond among fighting men   and a special partnership between the crew  of enterprise and the rifleman in the jungle   when rains come in and they're lying there in  the mud holding that line i have informed several   people don't say anything not in good taste about  a united states marine or you might find me right   in the middle of it because i've got tremendous  respect for the united states marine corps   all they stand for just you can't  help it after a tour on water canal when rounds are flying there's no such  thing as well he's in the navy or he's   in the marine corps or he's in the army or he's  this or he's that or she's this or she's that   doesn't matter rounds are flying one thing matters  is that we're americans that's the end of that for the japanese defeat in the november  clash at iron bottom sound destroys any   hope for victory at guadalcanal they will simply  have to let the americans keep henderson field   we were beginning to get the  upper hand and pretty soon   the japanese got tired of losing all those  men and they they give it up throughout   the winter american forces will continue to  eliminate the last of the enemy troops still   dug in on the island i think that that really  starts to plant the seeds within the japanese   navy that they're going to have to re-examine this  situation and we may have to start considering the   the unconsiderable which is that we may have to  get out of guadalcanal we may have to evacuate it the naval edge that they possessed prior to  the naval battle of guadalcanal they lost it   effectively and so that in the aftermath  of the naval battle guadalcanal   the tokyo express which had nightly  operated to and from guadalcanal   it was for the most part interrupted and no longer  capable of offering any significant resupply or   replenishment of forces on the island and that  american forces were increasingly able to control   japanese naval activities in the waters around  guadalcanal at night for the imperial japanese   navy the battle for guadalcanal is over they  will have to make a stand somewhere else at the close of the year 1942 the aircraft carrier  uss enterprise or air group or shipboard crew   have been through almost all that  combat against japan could offer   they've stood the test of combat well  thought well they've already made a   remarkable name for the ship and it's not  even 1943 yet and the best is yet to come in the islands of the central pacific  japanese army and naval forces will   prepare for a coming battle unlike anything  they've ever seen and carrier enterprise   her pilots and crew will  be there ready and waiting with victory at guadalcanal secured enterprise  will undergo major modifications in the shipyards   of bremerton washington and within a few short  months she will come back stronger than ever   before new planes new guns a tougher ship  the big e will be joined by a massive fleet   of brand new carriers and she will head out  on one of the largest naval campaigns in   history enterprise the grey ghost will once  again hit the enemy hard in the gilbert islands her first stop on the hard road to tokyo the  heavily fortified enemy base at macon atoll where   in a matter of days her air groups will reign  tear from the skies over the japanese outpost and in the darkness of night  enterprise will make naval history you

Channel: HISTORY

Views: 548,424

Rating: 4.8573923 out of 5

Keywords: History, History made everyday, Battle 360, history shows, history channel shows, history battle 360, battle 360 show, battle 360 full episodes, battle 360 clips, full episodes, battles, war, season 1, Battle 360 season 1 episode 5, Battle 360 s01 e5, Battle 360 s1 e5, Battle 360 se1 e5, watch Battle 360 full episodes, Battle 360 se01 e5, watch Battle 360 season 1, Battle 360 history, battle 360 shows, Episode 5, USS Enterprise, American carrier, Pacific, Japanese Fleet

Id: 8WYVioeDoh0

Length: 54min 36sec (3276 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 11 2021