overlooking the anchorage where the sun was headed for the far, blue horizon. There was a set of wooden batwing doors that led into the inner sanctum, the admiralâs office. Three oversized ceiling fans sluggishly stirred the air but did little to cool the room, and the shipâs own vents simply irritated the hot, humid air. There was a single chair in front of the desk. Captain Browning indicated with his chin that Sluff was to sit there. Sluff thought it felt a little staged, like a Naval Academy come-around. Sluff decided to be as hard-nosed as this guy seemed to be.
âCommander Wolf,â Browning began, âquestions have been raised about the performance of J. B. King during the engagement off Savo two nights ago. Do you have some answers to that?â
âProbably, sir,â Sluff said. âWhat are the questions?â
Browning frowned. Apparently that wasnât the answer heâd expected. He leafed through some messages on his desk, picked one up, scanned it quickly, and then looked up at Sluff. âSays here you left the battleship formation when the shooting started and then went radio silent. Explain yourself, if you can.â
âIf I can? â Sluff replied. âIs this some kind of court, Captain?â
Browningâs face reddened. âWatch yourself, mister,â he growled. âI ask the questions, you answer. Why did you leave the formation against orders?â
âThere were no orders, for starters,â Sluff said. âWe received two tactical signals that night. The first was to anticipate night action. The second was to start shooting when the heavies did.â
âBullshit,â Browning snapped.
âNo, not bullshit, Captain,â Sluff said, trying to control his temper. âThose were the only two tactical signals we received before the fight began. We had been assigned a station in the van upon join-up, but other than that, there was no op order, no standard operating procedures, no communications plan or other instruction as to what Admiral Lee wanted us to do.â
âHe wanted you to screen the heavies, for Chrissakes,â Browning said. âThatâs your job. Thatâs what destroyers do.â
âWell, yes,â Sluff said. âWe assumed that. But he put four tin cans ahead of the battleships and then said nothing further. Once the Japs showed up on radar, all he told us was to start shooting when the big guys did. And thatâs what we did.â
âThen what the hell is this âdeparted the formationâ business?â
âWe tracked the approaching column of Jap ships on our radar. There was one group coming down the east side of Savo. There were more Japs on the other side of Savo, but at that time, we couldnât see them. When the battlewagons opened fire, so did we. All of us, all four destroyers. The range was extreme but the Japs got a pasting, mainly from the two battleships, with us small boys getting our licks in, too. On our radar, it looked like their formation fell apart, but then they regrouped, headed east for about a minute and a half, and then turned north. South Dakota quit shooting, but Washington never stopped.â
âOkay, so: Then?â
âThat turn to the east got my attention,â Sluff said. âIf they were just running, theyâd have come about a hundred and eighty degrees and bent on the turns. But they didnâtâthey got broadside to us for ninety seconds, and then they turned north. As far as I was concerned, that meant torpedoes were coming. Long Lance torpedoes.â
âYou saw torpedoes on your radar did you?â Browning scoffed.
Sluff stared at him, knowing he was being baited. âNo, Captain, â he said softly. âWe didnât see torpedoes on the radar. You canât see torpedoes on a radar but you can read operational reports. You can study previous engagements. You can learn from those. The Japs arenât