Navy Department Communique No. 149

OCTOBER 13, 1942

South Pacific (all dates below are east longitude).

1. On various occasions during recent weeks the Japanese were successful in increasing the number of their troops on Guadalcanal Island by night landings from cruisers, destroyers, and small transports. Navy and Marine Corps aircraft from Guadalcanal persistently attacked these landing parties but air attack alone did not stop the landings. For this reason a task group of United States cruisers and destroyers was ordered to intercept enemy ships attempting further landings.
2. At about midnight on the night of October 11-12, this task group engaged a force of enemy cruisers, destroyers and transports to the westward of Savo Island. After a 30-minute battle fought with guns and torpedoes, the enemy was forced to abandon his landing attempt and withdraw. Several of our ships received minor to moderate damage, and one U. S. destroyer was sunk. During the engagement our forces sank one heavy cruiser (Nati or Atago class), four destroyers and an enemy transport of about 5,000 tons.
3. During the morning of October 12th, Navy and Marine Corps torpedo planes and dive bombers left Guadalcanal to locate and attack the retreating enemy ships. At about 10 o’clock, two enemy cruisers were overtaken south of New Georgia Island. A torpedo hit was obtained on one cruiser, and several bombs exploded nearby. The cruiser was left dead in the water and burning.
4. During the afternoon of October 12th, an air group from Guadalcanal attacked an enemy cruiser and a destroyer, also in the area south of New Georgia Island. A direct bomb hit severely damaged and stopped the cruiser. When last seen her crew were abandoning ship. It is believed that this cruiser had been damaged during the previous engagements. A direct hit and several near misses set fire to the destroyer accompanying the cruiser, and she was left in a sinking condition.
5. Reports received to date indicate that as a result of the night action of October 11th-12th and the air attacks on October 12th, the enemy suffered the following minimum of damage:
   • (a) One heavy cruiser sunk.
   • (b) One cruiser badly damaged and out of action.
   • (c) Four destroyers sunk.
   • (d) One medium-sized transport sunk.
   • (e) One destroyer probably sunk.
6. The destroyer mentioned in paragraph 2 was the only U. S. ship lost in these actions.