The opposite of Deterrence

Iran releases new photos of U.S. sailors crying

On 13 November 1942, the Laffey was placed in the van of a column of eight destroyers and five cruisers under Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan. 

Early in the mid-watch, the radar operator reported contact with the enemy. The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal was just about to begin when the Japanese force, a group of two battleships, one light cruiser and 14 destroyers, under Vice Admiral Hiroaki Abe, appeared on the horizon. Laffey lashed out at the enemy with gunfire and torpedoes. At the height of the violent battle, the battleship Hiei came through the darkness and both ships headed at full speed for the same spot. They missed colliding by 20 feet (10 m). Laffey unleashed her torpedoes and, using all her firepower, raked the battleship’s bridge, wounding Admiral Abe, and killing his chief of staff. At this point the Laffey was so close to the Japanese battleship they could not depress their guns low enough to get a clean shot at the target which was 1/20th their tonnage. Admiral Abe was thereafter limited in his ability to direct his ships for the rest of the battle. With a battleship on her stern, a second on her port beam, and two destroyers on her port bow, Laffey fought the Japanese ships with the three remaining main battery guns in a no-quarter duel at point-blank range. She was hit by a 14-inch shell from Hiei. Then a torpedo in her fantail put Laffey out of action. As the order to abandon ship was passed, a violent explosion ripped the destroyer apart and she sank immediately with heavy loss of life.