USN Destroyer vs IJN Destroyer: The Pacific 1943

Osprey Duel #48

by Mark E. Stille

This book covers the fierce night naval battles fought between the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy during late 1943 as the Allies advanced slowly up the Solomons Islands toward the major Japanese naval base at Rabaul. During this period, several vicious actions were fought featuring the most modern destroyers of both navies. Throughout most of 1942, the Imperial Navy had held a marked edge and a key ingredient of these successes was their destroyer force, which combined superior training and tactics with the most capable torpedo in the world. Even into 1943 mixed Allied light cruiser/destroyer forces were roughly handled by Japanese destroyers. After these battles, the Americans decided to stop chasing Japanese destroyers with cruisers so the remainder of the battles in 1943 (with one exception) were classic destroyer duels. The Americans still enjoyed the technical edge provided to them by radar, and now added new, more aggressive tactics. The final result was the defeat of the Imperial Navy's finely trained destroyer force and the demonstration that the Japanese were unable to stop the Allies' advance.

Genres: History, Military History, World War II

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent coverage of the post-Guadalcanal destroyer actions. Very good overview of the US and IJN destroyer types and development as well as the weapons and tactics employed--especially key elements like radar, Japanese optics, and the Type 93 torpedo. The US use of 'flashless powder' is mentioned twice in passing but never discussed in technology sections. The actions depicted are rather small scale and relatively insignificant in the overall picture, but illustrate the learning process the USN went through in overcoming early Japanese successes.

[John (JP) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains why we won the naval war in the the Pacific. The Japnese have superior night fighting skills but a smaller overall force. The American navy had more ships and lost many of the initial battles. The tide changed as navy captains began to trust the radar their ships were equiped with.

The book is understandable. It does not use the jargon of the of the armed forces. There are clear diagrams of all the battles. Differences in the combatants apporach to weapons tactics and overall goals are clearly explained.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good entry in the Osprey Duel series. This book focuses on destroyer actions in 1943, during the later Solomons campaign, after the USN had worked out its torpedo problems and better destroyer tactics, making both sides more equal.

[Sean Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, first rate analysis and prose from Stille make this a top-shelf Osprey title.