Battle 360: Vicious Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands (S1, E4) | Full Episode | History

uss enterprise was savaged by terrible bomb  hits in the battle of the eastern solomons   her worst battle damage yet now it's a race to  get her repaired and back to sea the japanese   would love to get another shot at sinking the  big e 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 uss enterprise bloody santa cruz october 26 1942 months after a severe baptism of  fire near guadalcanal uss enterprise is once again   at sea heading for a showdown with the japanese  fleet 8 30 a.m enterprise dive bomber pilots   charles irvine and stockton strong are on the hunt  for the japanese fleet their mission find an enemy   carrier force in the waters off the santa cruz  islands and report its location back to enterprise   it's the same strategy still being  used by today's carrier fleets   the f-14s we would send out on long radials  away from the carrier looking for targets and   if you hit something with your radar you would  just relay that information back to the ship   because you were just a solo guy out there  you weren't going to be able to do any kind of   you know prosecution you were just out there  really for detection more than anything   but these bomber pilots have something else  in mind thirteen thousand feet below the giant   flight decks of four japanese flat tops appear  out of the morning haze they are shikaku zuikaku   juno and zuiho they're literally within striking  distance of the big e enterprise is outnumbered the pilots are right over the zuiho  an ideal spot to hit her with 500   pound bombs a perfect target of opportunity  and there isn't a single enemy zero in sight   if the lone airman can hit her badly enough it  could help even the odds it's a risky move for   only two warplanes even without air cover the  zuiho is a well-armed enemy it wouldn't take   much to knock strong and irvine out of the sky but  their commander has told them attack repeat attack   the gutsy pilots brave a sky torn with  flack and pounce on the carrier so we hope at 1500 feet they let loose  with their 500 pound explosives the bombs nailed the weho's flight deck each of  them planted a 500 pounder right smack on top   of that sucker and set him on fire now with two  holes in her deck the enemy carrier will be unable   to land or launch any of her aircraft she's been  put out of business on their own strong and irvine   has struck the first knockout punch in the battle  of the santa cruz islands carrier zuiho is out of   the fight but it's the japanese that strike the  next blow before enterprise pilots could discover   the japanese carriers the enemy has already  launched bombers and torpedo planes now a massive   airstrike storms towards the american task force  enterprise will soon be in the fight of her life flashback almost two months earlier september 1942  enterprise rests in the repair dry docks at pearl   harbor she's been crippled by three direct hits  in the salomons that have torn her flight deck   and destroyed a battery of five-inch guns   now repair crews swarm over her working  night and day to get the blistered ship   back into fighting condition the hanger  deck was all ripped up back in the steering   and a big steel two and a half inches thick just  all folded back like a piece of paper right now   the u.s can't afford to lose a single carrier  not even for a few weeks damaged enterprise   and sister uss hornet are now the only battle  ready carriers that the pacific fleet has left   two u.s carriers against seven japanese flat  tops in the months after pearl harbor america   is still struggling in the wake of the great  depression there simply aren't enough guns   enough ships or enough airplanes if you  look at the american material situation   in the depths of the guadalcanal campaign we were  really scraping the bottom of the barrel we were   fighting these battles without any of the material  superiority that we would enjoy in 1944 1945   while enterprise undergoes repairs the  long campaign for guadalcanal continues   marines have struggled for weeks to hold on to  guadalcanal's henderson field the most valuable   airstrip in the south pacific it can provide a  vital air base for whichever force controls it the   marines seized it six weeks ago and the japanese  want it back japan's target henderson field   objective annihilate the us forces that hold  guadalcanal strategy storm the island with ground   troops while sending the imperial navy to santa  cruz to destroy uss enterprise and uss hornet   the japanese know that the waters off the  santa cruz islands lie in the direct path   of any u.s fleet bound for guadalcanal  they plan to cut them off at the pass   back at pearl the fight to get  enterprise up and running continues during her hasty refit enterprise receives an  important modification new guns she is stripped of   all but one of her outdated quad 1.1 anti-aircraft  mounts sailors jokingly call these weapons chicago   pianos a nickname typically used for the tommy  gun that ruled the streets of chicago in the 1920s   only one set of the slow firing cannons  will remain on the front of the ship   but the exposed position is right out in the  open a dangerous death trap for its gunners   unlike the battleships there are no turret  shields to protect enterprise's gun crews   as 1.1s are pulled from the ship  enterprise gets a brand new set of   the latest anti-aircraft weapon in the  arsenal the 40 millimeter bofors with a   rate of fire of 160 rounds per minute versus  150 for the chicago piano the 40 millimeter   projectile is more than double the weight of  the 1.1 and has nearly twice the maximum range   the 40-millimeter bofors weapon is by far  the most effective anti-aircraft weapon   introduced on u.s navy aircraft carriers to that  date it's a weapon that could accelerate those   projectiles up to about 2 800 feet per second  they had about a four and a half mile range   unlike 1942 today's modern carriers rely on  a complex system of radar-guided air defense   that ensure accurate fire and a definite kill  back then without a real guidance system we   just tried to put as much junk up in the air  as possible and hope that we'd hit something   armed with four of the new quad mount  40 millimeter cannons enterprise will   have a better chance of pounding an enemy  bomber before it delivers a hellish payload while enterprise prepares for  the journey back to guadalcanal   she takes on a batch of pilots  fresh from flight school texan bruce mcgraw has just completed his training  enterprise is his first carrier assignment my   mother had wanted me to be a doctor and my dad  wanted to be a minister and i didn't want to be   either one so here i am a dive bomber pilot on the  enterprise i felt like i was as safe as you were   going to be they were capable they were fighters  they were warriors they were experienced they were   good people and it was a real brotherhood and you  became part of it and you were glad to be there   another pilot is donald gordon a fighting squadron  10. in little more than two years he's gone   from a farm in kansas to the flight deck on uss  enterprise when i got to fighting 10 the skipper   says what's your nickname i said curly i did have  curly dark hair at that time and he said that   won't sound very good on the over the radio how  about flash and i've been flash gordon ever since october 15 1942 finally repaired and rearmed  enterprise stands out of pearl harbor she bristles   from stem to stern with anti-aircraft guns and  carries her patched holes like battle scars   it's miraculous to consider the extensive bomb  damage from the three hits and the near miss at   eastern solomon's that with about a month's work  she was reintroduced to the battle and comes back   actually stronger than ever enterprise is back in  the fight ready to wreak vengeance on the enemy but she's not alone as always cv6 will be joined  by a fleet of escorts battleships cruisers and   destroyers joining the fight alongside enterprise  for the first time is norm vincent of gardner   massachusetts aboard uss smith i had just turned  18 when we engaged in the battle of santa cruz i   was about 50 56 days into my 18th year i felt  that we couldn't get to the west coast fast   enough the war would be over but it was a little  different story unlike the eager recruits veterans   on the battlewise enterprise already know what to  expect after the horrors of the eastern solomons   for men that have had to bury the mangled  bodies of friends and shipmates the haunting   images of battle are hard to forget for the  marines and sailors aboard the uss enterprise   if they get hit they wanted to be quick because  they do not want to lay their in agony and pain everybody was scared and it's not a very  pleasant thing to having bombs dropped on you and   of course i'm sure the  japanese didn't like it either   everyone knows a battle is just beyond the  horizon but each man is ready to face whatever   the japanese could throw at them i thought this  get him a schedule with there was no fear about it   if we're going to be fighting  jeff a good jab is a dead jab   3 300 miles from pearl harbor enterprise  rendezvous with sister carrier uss hornet the   mighty carriers form one massive new task force  tf 61 under the command of admiral thomas kincaid   kincaid is a hard fighting new england native  veteran of world war one and an expert in gunnery   he's the perfect choice to lead  enterprises task force into battle together the two ships have seen a lot  of action they're about to see a lot more   the combined force of the two carriers 136  aircraft a battleship six cruisers and 14   destroyers rallies in preparation for the coming  battle target the santa cruz islands objective   keep henderson field on guadalcanal in american  hands strategy lure the japanese fleet away from   guadalcanal and destroy them but enterprise  and hornet are outnumbered and outgunned   the japanese bring four aircraft carriers into the  battle two battleships and then all these all the   supporting ships and so in yet another naval  battle american forces are at the disadvantage   in terms of numerical superiority the japanese  have it and we don't the japanese flat tops can   deliver the punch of more than 150 warplanes with  the backup firepower of nearly 40 surface vessels but if the marines are going to hold guadalcanal  they'll need naval support need uss enterprise the fate of the campaign now rests on enterprise  and an outnumbered american task force   we don't pick our battles based on odds sometimes  the battles pick you we certainly don't run   from a battle based on being outnumbered you  adapt your tactics to the scenarios at hand   but we don't run from a fight and we didn't then  as hornet and enterprise steam for santa cruz   enemy forces attacked us  positions around henderson field   however the army was not able to deliver  the goods against the marines they were not   able to correct the defensive perimeter and  actually put that airfield out of business   but because of bad communication the commanders  of the imperial fleet incorrectly believe that   their army has taken henderson so they head  south to meet the americans at santa cruz october 26 1942 5 50 a.m enterprise goes to  general quarters she launches 16 dauntless sbds   to patrol the sea and seek out the enemy each  plane carries a 500 pound bomb under her belly objective find the japanese  before they find enterprise   strategy the bombers will search a  200-mile vector for the enemy warships 85 miles from enterprise bruce mcgraw and warren  welch of bombing 10 are the first enterprise   flyers to meet the japanese they discover  a menacing formation of enemy surface ships   and they're headed right for the american carriers   it's the vanguard force the first line of imperial  battleships cruisers and destroyers suddenly the   enemy gunners opened fire the area was full of  puffy black little clouds and they were exploding   shells from long-range anti-aircraft shows  and i was kind of in the middle of a patch up welch and mcgraw pull out of a storm of flack  and head back for enterprise but other big e   airmen continue the hunt for the japanese  carriers 100 miles away is the carrier zuiho this is the moment where enterprise pilot stockton  strong and charles irvine deliver their brutal   punch to the enemy flat top now enterprise and  hornet are only up against three enemy carriers   but the japanese carriers have  already launched a major airstrike   back at task force 61 radar operators report a  massive japanese air group headed right for them   the carriers steam in two tight circles 10  miles apart they're battleships cruisers and   destroyers close by just as the japanese  air attack closes in on task force 61   enterprise enters the cover of a rain  squall the concealment of the low clouds   will keep the japanese from finding  the big e for the moment she's safe hornet is not so lucky twenty thousand feet above the american ships  the enemy strike closes in on carrier hornet the pilots that attack hornet at santa cruz  are among the finest in the imperial navy   veterans of pearl harbor and midway these japanese  airmen are literally the last of their kind   the air attack that's delivered against hornet is   one of the finer examples of a combined  air attack in fact it would be the last of   the sort of prototypical combined attacks that  the japanese were able to do during the entire war   the skies above uss hornet are clouded with  a storm of japanese aircraft from his battle   station on the starboard five-inch battery earl  miller has a front row seat to the enemy assault   i saw some silver aircraft going over  and ours weren't silver for glued all the ships in the group all opened fire  things really happened from that moment on   21 val dive bombers and 27 kate torpedo planes  plummet out of the skies and pour down on hornet american ships open up on the armada japanese  aircraft and blanket the sky with bursts of 5 and   1.1 inch shells 3000 yards behind hornet cruiser  northampton and her crew of tested veterans plow   through the wake directly behind the carrier we  could see the dive bombers coming in probably   15 20 000 feet and as you could start  picking them out because when they got down   to around 15 000 feet they were within  range of the 5-inch 38 batteries as the battle rages all around northampton  waits to open fire her short-range 5-inch   25-caliber anti-aircraft guns just don't  have the reach to hammer the enemy planes   tense moments pass as our gunners await their  orders there's this agonizing wait it's like   don't shoot till you see the whites of their eyes  finally the enemy planes drop down within range   northampton opens up with everything she's got   so we started firing as soon as they got in range  and then you can see shell bursts actually begin   to take effect and occasionally you'll see a  plane get hit and come down in a streak of fire five thousand feet above hornet  the vows begin their deadly assault   i looked straight up and i saw there  was a dive farmer coming straight down   and as i watched him i saw the bomb detach from  the bottom of the plane i said oh i hope this   one's not for us at the last possible second  it misses the ship and explodes in the water but not all of the japanese valves have  such bad aim the next pilot is dead on a bomb nails hornet's flight deck  and scatters shrapnel across the ship   enterprise's sister shakes from stem to  stern 60 men below decks perish within   an instant of the savage explosion the  lucky ones never know what hits them   now torpedo pilots attack hornet from  the rear drawing them into a gauntlet   of fire but it doesn't stop them they're  hell bent on hitting the racing carrier at that same moment another dive  bomber lines up for an attack   as it closes in on hornet it's met with a  ferocious volley of fire but it keeps on coming the bomber pushes into a nosedive seconds later  it smashes right into the stack of uss hornets the plane bounces off the ship's island and  crashes into the flight deck in a ball of mangled   twisted steel seven men aboard hornet  are killed instantly the suicide plane   has scorched the tripod signal mast and has  left the wing jammed in the smoke funnel   aviation fuel burns through the flight  deck and the nightmare is only beginning   two torpedo planes survive the rapid fire  of the task force guns they come in from   the southeast release their torpedoes and  blow 15-foot holes in the hornet's hull hornet loses all power and comes to a halt she's  a sitting duck the perfect target for the next   japanese torpedo or dive bomber she doesn't  have to wait long for the next brutal blow another burning vow closes in on the  listing carrier her crew watches as   the smoking bomber passes eerily around the  bow and comes screaming in from the port side for the second time this day hornet  is the victim of a suicide attacker 10 miles away uss enterprise emerges from   the cover of the rain squall  she entered 20 minutes before every man topside can see the smoke rising from  hornet and instantly the crew of enterprise   knows what this means the big e in our escorts  might be all that's left to defend guadalcanal   and with every other u.s carrier dead or damaged  enterprise may become the only battle-ready   carrier left in the pacific now hornet's  pilots have no choice but to land on enterprise   by 10 30 am her flight deck is jammed with  aircraft from both ships it was about 150   airplanes involved there counting the ones that  we lost we still couldn't take them all aboard   so we filled up pretty quick and then anything  that was really damaged went over the side   that was a lot if admiral kincaid is going to  continue the fight against the japanese fleet   the plane's landing aboard enterprise will have  to get rearmed and refueled and with a deck loaded   with aviation fuel and bombs enterprise is now  an explosive target she'll have to launch the air   groups fast or risk getting blown to pieces but in  a few minutes an overcrowded flight deck will be   the last of the crew's concerns another japanese  air assault is on its way imperial warplanes have   managed to knock out one american carrier now  it's time to unleash hell upon the enterprise eighteen thousand feet below radar operators  on enterprise report a flight of incoming   japanese dive bombers her captain  directs the ship into a left turn   an erratic course to deflect the enemy planes   for many of the big east pilots it's too late  to launch they're trapped aboard the enterprise anti-aircraft batteries open fire as  25 dive bombers plunge out of the sky   and head right for uss enterprise the  anti-aircraft guns of the fleet just   laid a terrific barrage of any aircraft  fire up and knocked so many of them down bruce mcgraw and the men below decks can  judge the distance of the incoming attacks   by the changing sounds of enterprise's guns as the  japanese get closer a different weapon opens fire   when our five inch anti-aircraft guns went  off which is the big boom well we knew they   were they were in range of the long-range guns  then when the 40 millimeters started going up   then we knew the job planes were getting closer to  us and then when a 20 millimeter started going off   we knew we were pretty close  to where we could get hit as the planes come in closer the new 40  millimeter buffers are about to be put to the test   and open up with venomous accuracy enemy bombers are ripped apart as they fly  straight into the face of a solid steel   nightmare one smoking bowed dive  bomber bears down on the big e's deck   at the last moment enterprise heals over into  a sharp left turn the plane hits the water its   bomb explodes in a shower and deadly debris  more planes vector in from twelve thousand   feet but gunners on enterprises batteries fire  away for all their worth destroying five enemy   dive bombers with punishing fire sheets  of lead fill the air but it's not enough our little fighters and our anti-aircraft guns  from our ship and all the protection ships just   couldn't get them all as enterprise turns she  opens herself up to another dive bomber before   the gunners can react it's too late the plane  releases a 550 pound bomb right over enterprise   the bomb penetrates through the flight deck and  out the port side bow a dawnless park when the   flight deck is blown off the ship and into the  sea shrapnel hits the hull like a shotgun blast   2500 feet above another valve dive bomber closes  in and draws a bead on the big e the valve faces a   firestorm of american flack and drops its payload  the direct hit penetrates the flight deck just   behind the forward elevator and splits in two  half of the bomb explodes in the hangar deck   destroying anything in its path the second  half hammers through to the third deck and kills 34 men in the very heart of the ship  seconds later a near miss tears a 50-foot scar   in enterprises hull below the water line and  opens her starboard fuel tanks to the sea   the big e now streams a blood trail of oil in  her wake that the japanese are sure to follow the entire enemy attack on  enterprise has taken only minutes   surviving bombers pull out of the deadly airspace  their ranks decimated by american firepower 15 000 feet above several enemy aircraft run right into wildcat  pilots from fighting squadron 10 of enterprise   one of these enterprise pilots is the veteran  sharpshooting ace from montana swede vedasa he's determined to avenge the attack on enterprise  protect his ship and kill the enemy pilots   swede will try to move in behind  and below the enemy flyers   aim for the fuel tanks and  knock them down one by one i went down and there were four planes three  in formation and a fourth one just to the left swede gets below the first dive bomber and  opens fire with four of his 50 caliber guns   immediate fire guy peeled off blows i moved up under the other three  same thing i'm underneath them   one by one swede destroys the four enemy  dive bombers for their attack on his ship   we tend to put aggressive guys in cockpits and i  don't want to say that we think we're invincible   but to say that our chest sticks out  pretty far i think would be accurate back on enterprise pilot bruce mcgraw makes  his way to a first aid station and volunteers   to help the wounded i went in and immediately  went to one of the doctors that i knew i said   there's anything i can do to help he said  well go sit by that sailor right there   and uh talk to him and ask him if  there's anything you could do for him   the man was a bad burn victim i could tell  that and and he kept asking for morphine   and so i got up went over and told the doctor  i said he wants morphine and he says well   he's had all that we can give him but  he has less than 10 minutes to live so   just to do what you can so i went back and he  gradually leaned over against me and he was gone while the big ease wounded fight to survive the  savage air and sea battle rages on all sides   now that the dive bombers have  had their shot at enterprise   it's time for the dreaded torpedo planes 16  kate torpedo planes head right for enterprise   within minutes they will have  the big e dead in their sights and whichever way we turn they were  going to get us so they thought it's a classic hammer and anvil assault   eight kates will attack from starboard  while eight more come around the port side if everything goes to plan enterprise will  have nowhere to run but any japanese air group   making an assault on an american carrier can  expect a squadron of determined fighter planes   one thing the enemy torpedo pilots attacking  the big e don't expect is lieutenant stanley   swede vadesa of fighting squadron 10. here  come a torpedo plane and right in front of me   swede moves underneath the first  kate torpedo plane and opens fire the enemy plane is hit with hot  lead and burns but keeps on going   swede has precious few bursts of 50 caliber  ammo left as he chases the kate right into   the flak of enterprise at any moment he could  be blasted out of the sky by his own comrades   i thought if he if he goes any further i'll  have to give give him my last burst of that ammo   well he got down right over the water he dug in  a wing and cartwheeled now that the enemy plane   is down swede must climb out fast or risk the  friendly fire from the carrier he's trying to save   as swede climbs above the deadly flak  bursts he spots yet another torpedo plane   and it's headed right for uss enterprise   i knew i had a few rounds left and i did and  i fired those last few rounds and immediately   he caught on fire but he kept going and he kept  going peppered by swede's 50 caliber rounds   the cage shows no signs of giving up but i'm right  behind him this is the time i seriously considered   cutting his tail off of my prom and i thought  i don't know if this is a good idea or not   suddenly the torpedo plane does  something that nobody can predict   it makes a nosedive right in front of swede  it's headed right for the american ships directly below the firefight in the skies is  destroyer escort uss smith uss smith has been   on station all morning screening enterprise its  mission protect the massive carrier at all costs   commissioned in 1936 uss smith is a mahan  class destroyer her overall length 341 feet   top speed 37 knots she has a crew of  about 158 officers and men she's armed   with a battery of five 5-inch guns 50 caliber  machine guns torpedo tubes and depth charges like most of the older destroyers in the  fleet smith is affectionately called a tin   can but now the japanese suicide plane has the  tin can destroyer locked dead in its sights   and i watched it i pulled off the  right and i watched him and he went   into a vertical dive and he hit  that destroyer which was the smell   when the plane hit the front of our destroyer and  the destroyer dipped like it would hit a big wave then all of a sudden the  whole front end was ablaze   in an instant the entire forward five-inch battery  on uss smith is blown apart killing every gunner she loses control and turns hard to starboard  enterprise is forced to heal from her zigzag   course to keep from slamming into her what  the crew of uss smith doesn't know is that   the japanese planes torpedoes somehow survived the  crash and it's still armed and ready to detonate   400 yards from uss smith the battle  weary crew of enterprise faces the   remains of a fierce hammer and anvil  assault by the japanese torpedo planes   one by one they come in low and release their  warheads three torpedoes splash into the water   ahead of enterprise anxiously nearly every man  watching waits for the collision of the warheads   and the captain did some pretty depth maneuvering  those three torpedoes slid to the stern of   the ship on our porch side so close that you  couldn't look over the side and hardly see them 800 yards ahead another torpedo  splashes as a cape drops its payload   the captain orders a full right rudder as the  torpedo closes in on the carrier as the guilty   plane pulls out of its release all that stands  in the way of escape is the old chicago piano the   last of the antiquated 1.1 inch guns on enterprise  will it have the firepower to get the job done the 1.1 roars into action it's in a  perfect spot to protect enterprise   one last time it savages the enemy  plane with a lethal dose of lead   for these sons of the empire the blazing  chicago piano is the last sight they'll ever see the captain watches as the  torpedo swims right past a ship   barely 100 feet away it's another close call we  invaded them all that ship of ours could turn   sharply she'd lean way over boy you thought  it was going over but she could obey in all enterprise dodges nine torpedoes  in this single day of fighting   back on uss smith the tin can  sailors are in the midst of chaos   they have no idea that the blaze on the ship's  bow is about to ignite a japanese torpedo october 26 1942 uss enterprise and her  task force are in the fight of their   lives near the santa cruz islands just off the  enterprise's port side destroyer escort uss   smith has just been hit by an enemy suicide plane   and is engulfed by fire but her sailors have no  idea that a live torpedo is about to detonate flames and smoke engulf the bow and  bridge as shrapnel flies across her decks   smith is an inferno her bridge is evacuated as the  damage control party struggles to battle the blaze   if the fire reaches the ready ammo supply  dozens more sailors might be killed by the   explosion of hot ordnance her captain must act  fast if he's going to save his battered ship   the inflamed destroyer is out of control ready to  be picked off by the next enemy plane or submarine   the captain of the smith directs the ship right  into the massive wake of battleship south dakota the spray that the giant ship sends up showers  over the flames through smoke fire and a sea   of shot and shell the crew of uss smith  reclaimed their ship and rejoined the fight well it's actually pretty remarkable through all  that confusion and the fire and the firefighting   you know and just the human death toll it itself  they had to put all that behind them and focus   on what they really needed to do which first of  all they had to save the ship before they could   save themselves despite the loss of nearly 60 men  the uss smith continues to defend the enterprise   for the ship and the crew should uh focus on  what was at hand and then just go right back   to fighting tells a lot about about their training  their discipline and their overall american spirit   the surviving gunners of uss smith blast  the hell out of the retreating airplanes   the kate torpedo planes failed to get a solid  hit on enterprise the surviving pilots pull out   of the maelstrom of flack and make their  escape they should have come 25 minutes   earlier and coordinated their attack with the  dive bombers but you know the lucky little e   if things turn out all right for us but the  kates have one final obstacle swede vader side   flash gordon and the wildcats  of fighting squadron 10. the plane that sweden flash used to defend  enterprise is the f4f wildcat a single engine   fighter it's armed with as many as six 50 caliber  machine guns capable of firing 1400 rounds of ammo   and has a top speed of 320 miles per hour from the  cockpit of his wildcat flash gordon has witnessed   the horrific attacks on hornet and enterprise  now it's payback time gordon sees a torpedo   plane coming back from enterprise but he's out of  ammo his only choice is to charge the enemy plane   head on it's a dangerous game of chicken and  it's the japanese pilot that blinks first   gordon drives the japanese flyer right into  the water so i claimed him without any ammo   someone said were you ever scared i didn't know i  was just mad since the suicide attack on uss smith   swede vedasa has flown outside  the umbrella of american flack   with only a few bursts left in the belts of his  machine guns he carefully picks his next target   swede selects a torpedo plane flying low to the  water and fires the very last of his ammunition   it's his seventh and final kill  of the day his 12th in the war in six months of carrier air combat in the pacific  he's already a double ace five is an ace he's   tough enough to get one so for pilot to go out and  nab seven it sounds like he's in the groove there in one hour of combat the steady nerves of the  men of enterprise have been put to the test   though battered and bleeding  the big e is still afloat   it's a strange reality of war but on a ship this  large fierce combat can be raging on deck while   for men like radar technician roy blood assigned  to stations deep within the ship it's just the   boredom of waiting during a lull in battle  blood offers his comrades an unusual treat   and we're all lying on our bellies in the shop  in various places under workbenches and whatever   for protection and i can remember saying anybody  care for a black olive and there was no response   so i repeated it i got a can of black olives  anybody wants something speak up this worn off   so officer stewart who was more or less in charge  of our group he said roy he said that some of the   damnedest thing to say after a battle who could  think of black olives at the time like that 10 miles away the painful ordeal aboard uss  hornet continues she's already been savaged   by direct hits with 550 pound bombs and  two torpedoes and she's dead in the water   i couldn't count the number of bomb hits and  torpedo hits she took but she took a terrible   beating she was already listening very much to  starboard so that's when our skipper decided that   he would go and help hornet northampton has fought  beside hornet all morning now her role is one of   rescue they dropped a towing wire to us it's  about a two and a half inch steel towing wire   the after gun mount on northampton  becomes a giant ball hitch   amazingly she begins to tow the massive carrier  at an impressive five knots captain mason is now   certain that his ship can be saved all he needs  is time but on enterprise admiral kincaid wrestles   with what to do next if the japanese hit the big  e again she may not make it and the u.s will have   no more battle-ready carriers to take her place  in the pacific admiral kincaid has two options   he can stay and continue the battle risking  enterprise and the lives of everyone aboard   or he can abandon hornet and head  south to save his battered task force   kinkade makes the painful decision to withdraw  now the big e must leave her sister hornet to   an uncertain fate rather than continuing to  leave the enterprise south dakota and all   the other ships in the battle area continuing  to make them vulnerable to enemy air attack   the decision was made to withdraw them enterprise  is already hit enterprise is damaged enterprise   is bleeding it's time to get out before the  costs elevate too high it's time to break   contact with the enemy and pull away enterprise  heads for the american base in new caledonia   leaving her bloodied sister hornet on her own 4pm  the crew of uss hornet have managed to get the   fires on their ship under control and have even  got steam pressure in three of her boilers and   with a little help from uss northampton it looks  like hornet might be saved after all but what the   men of hornet do not know is that a final japanese  attack has been launched to finish them off six thousand feet above seven kate torpedo  planes fly in and prepare for their attack   cruiser northampton must break off  her tow line and fend for herself   a cate scores a direct hit on  hornet that detonates amid ships this is the fatal blow for uss hornet the  situation is hopeless with his ship taking on   water and fires breaking out captain mason orders  the crew to abandon ship now his men must face the   shark infested waters and try to make it aboard  another ship i swam out for a ways and then i saw   a group of others on a life raft so i swam toward  that and then a destroyer came along and picked us   up out of these life raft and i was about probably  the last one to get out of the life raft as   soon as i got up on that uh net climbing up the  side there the captain ordered full speed ahead   and that destroyer started to get out of there  as captain mason slips over the side of his ship   he leaves behind the bodies of more  than 100 officers sailors and marines many of the wounded survivors make it aboard one  of the destroyer escorts or cruiser northampton   these guys were covered with fuel oil a lot of  them and we didn't have very much left in the   way of small stores or clothing to issue to them  so northampton crewmen opened their lockers and   we gave these guys clean skivvies and socks and  dungarees and shoes and cigarettes and whatever   they needed radioing from his headquarters in  numea admiral bull halsey orders the hornets sunk   but not even three torpedoes and nearly  400 shells are enough to kill her   hornet simply refuses to die later that  evening japanese ships discovered the hornet   the very same ship that launched the doolittle  raid on their homeland six months before finally after a salvo of japanese torpedoes  the big e's sister slips beneath the waves   losing her is a very serious blow we're now  down to one operational aircraft carrier in   the salomons and describing the enterprise as  operational is really stretching it at this point as night falls pilots like flash gordon and  swede vedasan finally make it aboard enterprise   they encounter scenes of death and destruction  aboard the aircraft carrier that none of them are   prepared for the ship is torn by shrapnel  her decks are awash in blood and debris   the air is filled with the smells of salt  water cordite and human flesh the bodies of   nearly 44 men have been quickly stowed  away to make room for the repair crews i can remember tears coming down my  cheeks i was crying and my resolve was   that this is too terrible a thing to have  go on any longer than necessary and the   quickest way to get it over would be to kill as  many japanese people as i possibly could in my   role as a dive bomber pilot kill as many japanese  as i could as soon as i could in total more than   400 american officers sailors pilots and marines  perish in the battle of santa cruz islands the   day afterward there were i think it was six hornet  sailors had died of their wounds in our sick bay and we buried them at sea and that was i guess uh probably the toughest uh   you know and you ask how how we felt about  it well i think that brought it home to us throughout the morning of october 27 1942   enterprise and nearly every  ship under concave's command   must perform a very solemn duty and it will  mark one of the darkest days of the entire war just just remembering it i can't get over it we all got on the fan tail and someone said  a few prayers and they let the bodies go that's all i can say process of  burial at sea is an old navy tradition   an amazing and tremendous symbolic importance  to those in the sea services because in the sea   services you're devoted to the ocean you go to  sea you are a seaman that's what you do and to   return to it after your death as is an extreme  symbol of your commitment to the sea services enterprise is now the last of her kind the only  surviving ship of her class and the only carrier   left in the pacific the entire naval campaign now  rests on her shoulders and the crew that mans her   so what did that do that left the enterprise then  there was one enterprise versus japan think about   it that's pretty weighty i think from a morale  perspective alone that was very very significant   we're the last ones and we're the only good  target for the japs who's going to get it next though the loss of hornet and so  many u.s sailors is a staggering blow   the japanese can't claim victory the cream of  their aviation wing more than 130 veteran airmen   have fallen to the guns of uss  enterprise and task force 61. these are losses that japan  will never be able to recover once again enterprise has somehow  survived yet another violent encounter   with the japanese navy despite  being outgunned and outnumbered   she and her crew have lived to fight another  day i think it's amazing to to sense that   the uss enterprise survived all those battles  but then again it just goes to show you about   the discipline and the overall spirit of that  crew it had everything to do with the spirit   of those fighting men that were actually on that  ship the japanese attempt to reclaim guadalcanal   is a disaster but in a matter of days they will  return guadalcanal is too great a prize to give up you

Channel: HISTORY

Views: 570,379

Rating: 4.8524437 out of 5

Keywords: History, History made everyday, Battle 360, Bloody Santa Cruz, history channel, 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 4, Battle 360 s01 e4, Battle 360 s1 e4, Battle 360 se1 e4, watch Battle 360 full episodes, Battle 360 se01 e4, watch Battle 360 season 1, icious Battle, Santa Cruz Islands, Battle 360 history, battle 360 shows

Id: bzjktnHod58

Length: 53min 48sec (3228 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 04 2021