1176 sats \ 1 reply \ @ek 4 Jan \ on: Throwback Thursday - Share an Interesting Historical Event history
This scene from The Pacific:
Marines on the shore thought the US navy is winning against the Japanese and cheered on the battle. They didn't realize the US navy is "getting their ass handed to them" until the morning:
Rear Admiral Samuel J. Cox, director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, considers this battle and the Battle of Tassafaronga to be two of the worst defeats in U.S. naval history, with only the attack on Pearl Harbor being worse.
-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Savo_Island
According to my research, this scene is depicting the Battle of Savo Island which took place on 8-9 August 1942. The ship that exploded in this scene was the HMAS Canberra from Australia.
-- HMAS Canberra (center left) protects three Allied transport ships, source
In the darkness of the early hours of the morning of 9 August 1942 the RAN heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra was severely damaged off Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands) in a surprise attack by a powerful Japanese naval force in an action that became known as the Battle of Savo Island. Canberra was hit 24 times in less than two minutes and 84 of her crew were killed including Captain Frank Getting. Following an order to abandon ship the Canberra was sunk the next day by a torpedo from a US destroyer.
-- https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/ww2_navy/savo
write
preview
this territory is moderated
63 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek 4 Jan
Btw, getting hit 24 times in less than two minutes means that on average, they got hit every 5 second.
reply