(Photo Credit: 72) The Walke was one of three destroyers sacrificed in the cause of Willis Lee's victory.

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(Photo Credit: 73) The Barton, shown on her commissioning day at Boston Harbor, May 29, 1942.

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(Photo Credit: 74) South Dakota sailors bow their heads in memory of sailors lost in the Battleship Night Action, November 1415, 1942.

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(Photo Credit: 75) Halsey said it was Scott's and Callaghan's bravery that got him his fourth star. He takes the oath from his chief of staff, Captain Miles Browning.

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(Photo Credit: 76) The j.a.panese transport Kinugawa Maru, beached on Guadalca.n.a.l after attack by Cactus Air Force fliers on November 15.

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(Photo Credit: 77) Nearly sunk in the Battle of Cape Esperance and with her bow bearing a large patch, the Boise returns to Philadelphia for repairs, November 20, 1942.

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(Photo Credit: 78) Captain Edward J. "Mike" Moran (right) hosts Admiral King aboard the Boise.

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(Photo Credit: 79) A Boise sailor inspects heavy splinter damage to a bulkhead.

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(Photo Credit: 80) Her proud crew claimed six enemy ships.

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(Photo Credit: 81) Captain Moran stands in front of the Boise's battle-worn gun barrels.

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(Photo Credit: 82) Battle damage to the San Francisco's hangar area, looking slightly aft from port to starboard.

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(Photo Credit: 83) The battered San Francisco enters San Francisco Harbor, December 11, 1942.

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(Photo Credit: 84) Closeup with sailors (Fox Movietone News, University of South Carolina)

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(Photo Credit: 85) Glimpsed through a sh.e.l.l hole in a gun shield, Admiral Nimitz comes aboard the San Francisco.

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(Photo Credit: 86) Nimitz inspects the damaged bridge with Lieutenant Commander Herbert E. Schonland.

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(Photo Credit: 87) Lieutenant Commander Bruce McCandless received the Medal of Honor for conning the San Francisco after her senior officers were killed.

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(Photo Credit: 88) McCandless comforts the father and aunt of Admiral Callaghan.

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(Photo Credit: 89) The heavy cruiser New Orleans, her entire bow shorn away by a Long Lance torpedo, undergoes temporary repairs at Tulagi after the November 30 Battle of Ta.s.safaronga.

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(Photo Credit: 90) Exuberant San Francisco sailors meet the press.

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(Photo Credit: 91) The PT-109 heads for sh.o.r.e with 94 survivors of the Northampton. In the background, the New Orleans, with the Maury standing by, fights for her life. John F. Kennedy would take command of the PT boat in April 1943.

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(Photo Credit: 92) Admiral Arthur J. Hepburn conducted the official inquest into the causes of the defeat at Savo Island. Scapegoats were duly found.

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(Photo Credit: 93) Eugene Tarrant, photographed March 5, 2007 in San Francisco, served as captain's cook in the San Francisco.

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(Photo Credit: 94) The New Orleans returns to Pearl Harbor with a false bow and her forward eight-inch guns removed.

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(Photo Credit: 95) What victory looks like: Guadalca.n.a.l boasts a new wharf and several cranes to a.s.sist in unloading supplies.

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(Photo Credit: 96) Ghormley with Eleanor Roosevelt at Pearl Harbor, 1943. Ghormley's relief was wrongly thought the consequence of the defeat at Savo Island. Nimitz believed he was having a nervous breakdown.

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(Photo Credit: 97) The sailors of the PT boat fleet fought gallantly in the Solomons, but the press still felt the need to sensationalize their capabilities.

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(Photo Credit: 98) After a taste of victory, the Navy learned how to play the PR game. Captain Gatch of the South Dakota confers with journalist Sidney Shallet in July 1943.

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(Photo Credit: 99) Lieutenant Hugh M. Robinson (left) and Lieutenant John M. Searles (right) display the scorecard for Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3: thirteen hits on j.a.panese ships in four months of work.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

In three years of research and two of writing, I've acc.u.mulated several file cabinets full of debts to acknowledge. It's always a pleasure to do so.

I am again indebted to Tracy Devine, senior editor at Bantam Books, for a thousand small things and maybe two dozen larger ones toward the rehabilitation of my first and second drafts into prime form. Richard B. Frank, the author of the Guadalca.n.a.l campaign's definitive history, reviewed a draft of this ma.n.u.script, generously applying his vast expertise to save me from a number of embarra.s.sments. Any remaining errors are mine to own.

My sincerest thanks to Edward August and Channing Zucker of the U.S. Cruiser Sailors a.s.sociation; Aileen Boyle; David J. Brouchoud; Evelyn Cherpak and Teresa Clements at the Naval War College; Robert J. Cressman; Jonathan Dembo, Martha Elmore, and Dale Sauter in the Special Collections Department at East Carolina University's Joyner Library; Rebecca Doolin of the Owen County (Kentucky) Public Library; Robert L. Ghormley, Jr.; Eric Hammel; Carl T. Hartzell; Shawn Hennessy; Richard "Chief Johnny" Johnson; Brent Jones; Janis Jorgensen of the U.S. Naval Inst.i.tute; Don Kehn; Aileen Kern; Gene Kirkland; Cathy Lloyd, Edward Marolda, Timothy Pett.i.t, and Paul Tobin of the Naval Historical Center; Kelly Sullivan Loughren; John B. Lundstrom; Gregory Mackenzie; Bruce McCandless II; Dave McComb; Helen McDonald and Floyd c.o.x of the National Museum of the Pacific War; Mike Matheson; Jerry Miller at the National a.s.sociation of Destroyer Veterans; Vincent O'Hara; Attilio Serafini; Sam Sorenson; Clifford C. Spencer; Paul Stillwell; Paul Terrill; Barrett Tillman; Anthony Tully; Jack Wallace; Frank Weimann; Greg Wilsbacher of the University of South Carolina Newsfilm Library; Steve Wiper; Hank Wristen; and John Wukovits.

Special thanks to my longtime champion at Bantam Books, Nita Taublib, and to Angela Polidoro, a.s.sistant editor; Virginia Norey, designer; Shona McCarthy, production editor; Maggie Hart, production manager; and to the entire publishing team at Random House.

This book is dedicated to Rear Admiral Charles D. Grojean. Anyone who knew the late, great submariner and executive director of the Admiral Nimitz Foundation in Fredericksburg, Texas, or who has visited the National Museum of the Pacific War there or attended one of the annual Nimitz Symposia, or ever had the chance to speak to this warm and inspiring man about almost any subject under the sun, will understand why.

Without the love and understanding of my family, and its commodore, fleet master chief and first lieutenant, Sharon, nothing would really be possible.

SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT TYPES OF.

THE GUADALCa.n.a.l CAMPAIGN.

Combat Aircraft U.S.

Bell P-39/P-400 Airacobra Fighter Fighter Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Heavy bomber Heavy bomber Consolidated B-24 Liberator Heavy bomber Heavy bomber Consolidated PBY Catalina Flying boat Flying boat Douglas SBD Dauntless Dive-bomber Dive-bomber Grumman F4F Wildcat Fighter Fighter Grumman TBF Avenger Torpedo bomber Torpedo bomber

j.a.pan Betty (Mitsubishi G4M Type 1) Medium bomber Medium bomber Kate (Nakajima B5N Type 97) Torpedo bomber Torpedo bomber Mavis (Kawanishi H6K Type 97) Flying boat Flying boat Val (Aichi D3A Type 99) Dive-bomber Dive-bomber Zeke (Mitsubishi A6M Type 0) Fighter Fighter Rufe (Nakajima A6M2-N) Zeke floatplane variant Zeke floatplane variant