My uncle was there on the USS Juneau.

@@damkayaker I hope he recovered, both physically and mentally, even though the memories never went away. My father was wounded aboard the Big E at Santa Cruz, and his war didn't end until the day he died.

I’ve read of the Friday the 13 Surface Action as “A Barroom Brawl,” “A Gutter Fight to the Death,” “A Knife-Fight with Guns.”

@@petesheppard1709 - He didn't come home ... I'm glad your dad made it ... otherwise you probably wouldn't be here.

It's very possible that sailing stright into the heart of the Japanese formation was intentional. At point-blank range the cruisers' 8" guns could penetrate the lightly armored Komgos' armor. And with their 5"/38 guns' 15-20 rounds per minute rate of fire, the destroyers could (and did) make Hiei's and Kirishima's superstructures distinctly unpleasant places to be. I doubt many US ships expected to survive the engagement, but their mission was protecting Henderson Field, and they accomplished it.

One of the few times early in the war that US torpedoes work and it has to be against one of our own ships?!

@@Thermopylae1159 It also happened at Savo. Another DD very likely put the torp into Canberra that night. The ship should have survived

I have read that article and it is well researched, but Mr. Lundgren definitely states several times that it is his speculation and gut feeling that Fletcher hit Portland around 2:22-2:23. The evidence suggests otherwise. Nowhere in her after action report is there any mention of a torpedo strike (or any hits at all) at that time and it is well established that she was already steaming in circles by then. I have also reviewed several crew members descriptions of Portland's action that night, including the executive officer and the turret 3 gun captain, and they all mention the torpedo strike at 1:58 as being catastrophic, with the feeling that her aft end rose out of the water somewhat...all consistent with a 1,000 lb. long lance strike. None of them made any mention of 2nd torpedo strike. The XO wrote a fairly long, concise description of that night and I feel like if she had been hit again he would have mentioned it. Then you have to think about US torpedoes at the time and specifically the fact that they had like a 20% success rate, if even that high. The chance that 2 torpedoes out of a spread of 5 would hit and actually detonate at that time seems very unlikely given the known problems with the Mk 14 torpedo. I'm not saying that Fletcher didn't misidentify Portland and fire on her, just that evidence suggests she missed because I don't know how a ship could be hit by 2 torpedoes and no one aboard seems to have witnesses or reported it, or even mentioned it.

@@TheValorVault He had to check his work many times to fully understand this discrepancy. Portland makes several turns and speed changes After 1:58 which is only possible if she was not hit until later. In the later stages of the fight when the Americans are shooting at each other does the Fletcher shoot at Portland where they log seeing 2 or 3 hits on what they realized was an "Augusta Type" cruiser. There is strong belief that a cover up took place for several justified reasons and he even was able to determine that many ships were using the wrong times from one another. He also uses the wreck of the Hiei to prove that USN torps did work better than often claimed. 6 USN torps hit and explode, some at least partially, against her hull at different moments. Can you show me where you found the crew logs about this battle? Also the not about the 3 dud torps at Santa Cruz has been very suspicious because there is no record of IJN sub at the battle.

@@TheValorVault No matter what, thank you for looking into and covering this incredible warship. She has always been my most favorite cruiser.