USN Destroyer vs IJN Destroyer: The Pacific 1943

By Mark Stille

This book will cover the fierce night naval battles fought after Guadalcanal between the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy during late 1943 as the Allies advanced slowly up the Solomons Islands toward the major Japanese naval base at Rabaul. During this period, several vicious actions were fought around the American beachheads on the islands of New Georgia, Kolombangara and Vella Lavella in the central Solomons. These battles featured the most modern destroyers of both navies. Throughout most of 1942, the Imperial Navy had held a marked edge in night-fighting during the six-month long struggle for Guadalcanal. A key ingredient of these Japanese successes was their destroyer force which combined superior training and tactics with the most capable torpedo in the world, known to the Allies as the "Long Lance". Even into 1943, at the battles of Kula Gulf and Kolombangara, mixed Allied light cruiser/destroyer forces were roughly handled by Japanese destroyers. After these battles, the Americans decided to stop chasing Japanese destroyers with cruisers so the remainder of the battles in 1943 (with one exception) were classic destroyer duels. The Americans still enjoyed the technical edge provided to them by radar, and now added new, more aggressive tactics. After four more destroyer duels during the second half of 1943, the final result was the defeat of the Imperial Navy's finely trained destroyer force and the demonstration that the Japanese were unable to stop the Allies' advance.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781780961194

Mark Stille

Mark Stille is the author of numerous Osprey titles focusing on naval history in the Pacific. He recently concluded a nearly 40-year career in the intelligence community, including tours on the faculty of the Naval War College, on the Joint Staff and on US Navy ships. He received his BA in History from the University of Maryland and also holds an MA from the Naval War College.

Reviews for USN Destroyer vs IJN Destroyer

[cataloger623 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book explains why we won the naval war in the the Pacific. The Japnese have superior night fighting skills but a smaller overall force. The American navy had more ships and lost many of the initial battles. The tide changed as navy captains began to trust the radar their ships were equiped with.

The book is understandable. It does not use the jargon of the of the armed forces. There are clear diagrams of all the battles. Differences in the combatants apporach to weapons tactics and overall goals are clearly explained.