Free The Commodore by P. T. Deutermann Page B

know what was going on and that you had no specific orders. Three of the van destroyers were subsequently blown to pieces. You managed to avoid getting sunk. Tell me some more about that.”
    Sluff told him that they were indeed make-learns out here in the South Pacific, as everyone seemed happy to remind him. So he and his officers had studied the reports of previous battles, talked about what they would do, given certain tactical situations, and then trained to do that. “We were blasting away against that eastern column,” he said. “Guns under radar control, shells landing where they were supposed to. Then the Japs opened up and we got a taste. One shell exploded overhead and took down all our radio aerials. But it was nothing compared to what the battleships were doing. Every time they fired a salvo we were all blinded. Everybody except our radars, of course.” He paused to take a breath. “It was my exec who warned me about what the Japs might be doing.”
    â€œTurning to launch torpedoes.”
    â€œYes, sir,” Sluff said. “Their five-inch guns—our five-inch guns—they can raise some hell. But nothing like what one of those Long Lance torpedoes can do. Walke was right behind us and, by the light of the battleship guns, I saw her get blown in half, both ends jumping into the air and then disappearing in a cloud of fire and steam. Then the other two, Calhoun and Morgan, blew up. I’m ashamed to say that I was glad—for just an instant—that I’d ordered King to turn away, but those three ships never had a chance.”
    â€œWhat happened then?”
    â€œIt looked like South Dakota stopped shooting just as she was illuminated by star shells and a ship’s searchlight from the west side of Savo. We’d been shooting at the first Japs to show up, but I think the main group was coming down on the west side of Savo, using the island to mask them. She started catching hell. The Japs concentrated on her and she was obviously taking hits. But Washington kept going and kept shooting, so I drove down her unengaged side to stay out of her way. Our radar showed a big one in the general direction of Washington ’s fire, and she was shooting back. She was the only one we could see firing, so she may have been a battleship, too.”
    â€œShe was,” Halsey said. “IJN Kirishima . Sank later that night.”
    Sluff grinned. Some good news, for a change. “Anyway, Washington finally broke it off and headed southwest. South Dakota had already turned south, so suddenly we were alone out there, behind the big guys now, and there were several Jap ships still coming, although they’d slowed down a lot. I turned around and headed back towards where the other three destroyers had gone down.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you stay with the battleships?” Halsey asked.
    â€œWe couldn’t contribute anything to their withdrawal,” Sluff said. “We had no comms with anybody, and there was the matter of three destroyers’ worth of survivors in the water. I decided to go back for them.”
    Halsey looked at him for a long moment and then nodded. “How many did you get?”
    â€œBetween four and five hundred,” Sluff said. “Some of them went to Guadalcanal, others to Tulagi, the rest we brought here.”
    Halsey whistled softly. “That’s a job well done, Captain,” he said. “ Very well done. And you couldn’t tell Ching Lee what you were doing because you’d lost your long-haul antennas.”
    â€œYes, sir,” Sluff said. “We rigged a temporary antenna at first light, but our first priority was getting people out of the water. It was bad out there, Admiral. There was so much fuel oil, the guys in the water couldn’t see us from fifty feet away. Even the sharks wouldn’t come in. We had to use our topside speakers to call them in toward the ship. The Marines finally sent