World Battlefronts: More Came On (Cont’d)

The battle of Aug. 9 in the Solomon Islands had long been veiled in mystery. This much had been known: the Australian cruiser Canberra and four transports had been sunk. This week the Navy let some more news trickle and the trickle turned out to be a torrent. Three heavy U.S. cruisers were sunk: the Quincy, Vincennes and Astoria. The Jap, surprised at the Marines’ landing Aug. 7, had turned around less than 48 hours later and pulled his own surprise. Casualties were “many,” but “a majority” were saved. The Navy has not yet claimed sinking any Jap ships in that engagement.

But last week the Navy and Marines were too busy fighting for their lives on Guadalcanal Island to brood over two-month-old losses. During the week they sank a Jap destroyer, damaged two cruisers and four other ships, shot down seven more planes. Totals since Aug. 7:38 ships damaged or sunk,* 245 planes shot down.

That Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift and his Marines had been able to hold on to their islands after such a bad start was a tribute to their tenacity and fighting skill. Whether they could continue to hold on depended on: 1) the amount of U.S. reinforcements that could be brought up; 2) the price the Jap was willing to pay. Three times within ten days, the Navy admitted, the Jap had been able to land reinforcements on his side of bloody Guadalcanal, in spite of heavy losses. An all-out battle for the Solomons looked closer & closer.