SENKAN!

0040: The rain squall finally ends. Abe orders his force to again reverse course and proceed towards Savo Island, Guadalcanal.

0110: Abe orders BatDiv 11 to make their 14-inch main batteries ready to fire HE Type 3 shells.

0124: Captain Gilbert C. Hoover's USS HELENA's (CL-50) SG radar picks up a return at 28,000 yards, probably light cruiser NAGARA.

0125: Lookouts aboard HIEI sight Cape Esperance. Admiral Abe orders that preparations begin for the shelling of Henderson Field. Unknown to Abe, HELENA's radar picks up HIEI and battleship KIRISHIMA at 32,000 yards.

HELENA alerts Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan's (a former naval aide to President Roosevelt), Task Group 67.4 consisting of cruisers USS SAN FRANCISCO (CA-38)(F), PORTLAND (CA-33), ATLANTA (CL-51), JUNEAU (CL-52) and destroyers CUSHING (DD-376), LAFFEY (DD-459), STERETT (DD-407), MONSSEN (DD-436), FLETCHER (DD-445), O'BANNON (DD-450), AARON WARD (DD-483) and BARTON (DD-599).

0131: HELENA's radar picks up smaller returns, most probably Abe's destroyers.

Admiral Callaghan orders a northward turn in an attempt to cross the Japanese formation's "T", but the maneuver is executed too late.

0142: Cdr Kikkawa Kiyoshi's lead destroyer YUDACHI and HIEI's lookouts report sighting enemy warships only 9,000 meters away. Abe quickly orders BatDiv 11's gunnery officers to replace the Type 3 incendiary shells with Type 1 armor piercing shells.

YUDACHI almost collides with LtCdr Edward N. Parker's destroyer CUSHING (DD-376), in the van of the American force, but not equipped with radar. YUDACHI goes full left rudder and veers off to port.

0150: HIEI and Cdr Takasuka Osamu's destroyer AKATSUKI switch on their searchlights and illuminate Captain Samuel P. Jenkins' ATLANTA. Abe's force commences a night gun battle with American cruisers and destroyers. ATLANTA and Captain Gilbert C. Hoover's HELENA quickly shoot out AKATSUKI’s probing searchlight. AKATSUKI is also hit by gunfire from Captain Cassin Young's (MOH at Pearl Harbor) SAN FRANCISCO and sinks with heavy loss of life. [3]

0151: Captain (later Admiral) Laurance T. DuBose's PORTLAND is hit by a 14-inch HE shell in the starboard aircraft hangar. PORTLAND scores a hit on a battleship, probably HIEI.

Return fire from HIEI and other Japanese warships rains down on ATLANTA. In the confusion of the battle, SAN FRANCISCO mistakenly also fires on ATLANTA and hits her with about nineteen 8-inch shells. Rear Admiral Norman Scott, most of his staff, and many other crewmen are KIA. ATLANTA is then hit port side in the forward engine room by a torpedo, probably fired by destroyer INAZUMA. She loses all but auxiliary diesel power. Without primary power, ATLANTA loses her ability to train and fire her guns and drifts out of control. She is forced to shift steering control to her steering engine room aft. [4]

Almost immediately after the action starts, Cdr Nakamura Noboru’s [52] destroyer SAMIDARE and destroyer MURASAME get separated from the rest of Abe's force. After YUDACHI reports a successful attack, they try to rejoin the formation. SAMIDARE’s lookouts report an enemy vessel dead ahead and her 25 mm AA battery officer orders his gunners to target it. Cdr Nakamura already at SAMIDARE’s main battery director identifies it as HIEI and orders cease fire. In the heat of the battle his order is not heard and the 25 mm guns score several hits on the battleship's mainmast (or after command station). HIEI then fires what seems to be a tracer shell that passes overhead.

Cdr Nakamura of SAMIDARE orders the recognition signal flashed, which that night was one red light on the mainmast. No return fire is observed from HIEI and the 25 mm finally ceases firing. Immediately thereafter SAMIDARE’s lookouts report an enemy destroyer attacking HIEI. [5]

LtCdr Orville F. Gregor's destroyer AARON WARD opens fire on HIEI. In the next four minutes her four radar-directed 5-inch guns get off ten salvos.

0153: Destroyer CUSHING launches six torpedoes. LtCdr William E. Hank's LAFFEY, 500 yards behind CUSHING, launches six torpedoes. One of the 11 torpedoes hits HIEI, but fails to explode. The others either miss or are too close to arm and fail to explode. Captain Tawara Yoshioki's light cruiser NAGARA then fires salvo after salvo into CUSHING knocking out her guns, power and steering.

LAFFEY opens fire on HIEI's bridge with 5-inch and machine-guns. Vice Admiral Abe and skipper Captain Nishida are wounded and Chief of Staff Captain Suzuki Masakane is killed.

Destroyers ASAGUMO, MURASAME and SAMIDARE engage LAFFEY and score numerous hits. Then the American destroyer takes a torpedo up her fantail, probably from ASAGUMO that blows off both propellers and part of her rudder. Finally, LAFFEY is hit by a 14-inch shell, perhaps from KIRISHIMA. Unnavigable, without steering and without power, LAFFEY sinks. LtCdr Hank and most of LAFFEY's crew are KIA. Hank is awarded the Navy Cross (First Gold Star), posthumously.

0154: HIEI, passing SAN FRANCISCO on an opposite course, opens fire at about 2,500 yards. Her main and secondary armament shatter SAN FRANCISCO’s superstructure. Rear Admiral Callaghan, three of his staff officers and skipper Captain Young are among those killed.

HIEI is only able to get off two salvos before she is hit by two 8-inch shells, most probably from SAN FRANCISCO. One shell is a dud, but the other penetrates HIEI’s hull on the starboard quarter and the resultant flooding disables HIEI’s steering gear. Vice Admiral Abe orders KIRISHIMA to detach from HIEI and head northward.

0156: HIEI's superstructure is engulfed in flames.

0157: Cdr Hara Tameichi's destroyer AMATSUKAZE launches eight torpedoes at LtCdr Douglas H. Fox's BARTON (DD-599). In turn, BARTON launches four port torpedoes at an unknown fast moving target.

0158: Cdr Kikkawa's destroyer YUDACHI launches torpedoes at an American cruiser. One hits PORTLAND on the starboard quarter and blows off both inboard propellers, jams the rudder five degrees right, and jams No. 3 turret in train and elevation. The cruiser's steering cannot be corrected and Captain DuBose is forced to steam in circles to starboard. At the end of the first circle, PORTLAND's forward turrets take HIEI, illuminated by burning ships and flares, under fire at 4,000 yards. HIEI returns fire, but her salvos pass over PORTLAND. DuBose's gunners get off four six-gun salvos that start fires on HIEI.

0159: Cdr Hara's destroyer AMATSUKAZE launches four torpedoes at Captain Lyman K. Swenson's JUNEAU (CLAA-52) steaming on a parallel course. The two warships trade 5-inch shells each scoring hits on the other. JUNEAU is hit low portside below her armor belt by a torpedo, loses speed and steering.

CUSHING is hit about seven times by destroyers ASAGUMO and MURASAME as they pass by to starboard. LtCdr Parker orders Abandon Ship.

During the battle, HIEI suffers thirty 8-inch shell hits from SAN FRANCISCO and PORTLAND. HIEI is also hit by many 5-inch shells from Cdr (later Captain) Jesse G. Coward's STERETT that launches four more torpedoes at HIEI. Coward claims two hits. HIEI's fire control systems for her main and secondary batteries are knocked out and her superstructure set afire.

0200: Abe abandons his bombardment mission and withdraws from battle.

Destroyer BARTON's propellers bring her to a halt to avoid a collision. Two of AMATSUKAZE's eight torpedoes narrowly miss LtCdr Charles E. McCombs' MONSSEN, but hit the stopped BARTON in the forward fire room and forward engine room. BARTON breaks in two and quickly sinks. The few survivors, almost all from topside positions aft, struggle in the water.

0202: Lookouts aboard LtCdr Edward N. Wilkinson's O'BANNON report BARTON's bow sticking up dead ahead, just as other lookouts spot two torpedoes heading straight for O'BANNON. Wilkinson takes evasive action, but in doing so O'BANNON runs over BARTON's survivors in the water. As she sinks, BARTON's depth charges detonate under the few survivors left. LtCdr Fox is awarded the Navy Cross (First Gold Star), posthumously.

0204: Cdr Suenaga Naoji’s destroyer MURASAME launches seven torpedoes at an American cruiser.

Destroyer MONSSEN launches five torpedoes at a Japanese destroyer, probably either IKAZUCHI or INAZUMA. MONSSEN then opens fire on the target with her 5-inch guns. Starshells burst over MONSSEN. LtCdr McCombs, thinking they are from a friendly ship, flashes MONSSEN's recognition lights - and promptly takes a hit that destroys his forward 5-inch mount. Another shell renders MONSSEN powerless. She then takes numerous hits from different directions by at least three attackers. LtCdr McCombs, his ship dead in the water and reduced to scrap, orders Abandon Ship.

0220: Destroyer STERETT opens fire on YUDACHI at only 1,000 yards and launches two torpedoes at the Japanese destroyer.

0226: At least one torpedo hits and disables YUDACHI.

During the battle, Cdr Hara’s destroyer AMATSUKAZE is damaged by gunfire from light cruiser HELENA that knocks out AMATSUKAZE’s guns, main director and jams her rudder. Destroyer IKAZUCHI's No. 1 mount is knocked out by gunfire and destroyer MURASAME is hit in the forward boiler room. On the American side, cruiser HELENA is damaged.

0430: At daybreak, cruiser PORTLAND, still steaming in circles, opens fire on a distant Japanese destroyer. On the sixth salvo, YUDACHI explodes, rolls over and sinks within five minutes. Cdr Nakamura Noboru’s destroyer SAMIDARE rescues 207 survivors from YUDACHI including Cdr Kikkawa.

1101: Cdr Yokota Minoru’s submarine I-26 fires three torpedoes at retiring SAN FRANCISCO. They miss, but one continues on and narrowly misses HELENA. Another continues on and hits JUNEAU port side amidships near where she was hit the previous night. A minute later, a magazine explosion blows JUNEAU in half. She sinks in about 20 seconds.

Task Group 67.4 does not stop to search for survivors because of the suddenness of JUNEAU's sinking and the risk of another submarine attack. About 115 of JUNEAU's crew of 600 survive the explosion, but clumsy rescue efforts do not begin for several days (an act repeated two years later after the sinking of cruiser INDIANAPOLIS). Eight days later, only 10 men are rescued, not including all five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa assigned to JUNEAU. Captain Swenson is awarded the Navy Cross, posthumously.

Rear Admirals Callaghan and Scott are awarded Medals of Honor (MOH) posthumously. LtCdr (later Rear Admiral-Ret) Bruce McCandless, who assumes command of SAN FRANCISCO and Cdr (later Rear Admiral-Ret) Herbert E. Schonland, SAN FRANCISCO's damage control officer, are also both awarded Medals of Honor.

During the night, KIRISHIMA takes HIEI in tow and retires westward around Savo Island with NAGARA and DesRon 10's destroyers. HIEI's aft steering compartment floods and her port rudder jams in the "full starboard" position.

0610: HIEI's spotters sight damaged destroyer AARON WARD 14 miles away under tow by tug BOBOLINK. HIEI fires several 14-inch salvoes from after turrets, straddling WARD repeatedly, but does not hit her.

0615: HIEI, unsteerable and circling at five knots, is attacked by six Marine Douglas SBD-3 "Dauntless" dive-bombers from Henderson Field. The battleship fires back from her AA guns, claiming one of its attackers. A near miss demolishes a launch, but no direct hits are scored.

0715: HIEI is attacked by four Grumman TBF-1 "Avenger" torpedo bombers from Henderson Field. Three A6M "Zeros" from JUNYO attempt to intercept the attackers, damaging one heavily.

After 0800, destroyers SHIGURE, SHIRATSUYU, YUGURE and TERUZUKI join HIEI to provide AA cover. Six "Zeros" from carrier JUNYO patrol in the area until 0915.

0815: Vice Admiral Abe signals KIRISHIMA to tow HIEI to Shortland that night and orders the rest of the Attack Force to retire. Then he transfers his flag to destroyer YUKIKAZE.

0915: HIEI is attacked by a combined strike of nine "Dauntlesses" and three "Avengers" from Henderson Field. Seven Grumman F4F-4 "Wildcats" provide escort and suppress the flak.

0930: Tug USS BOBOLINK (AT-131) arrives and takes ATLANTA under tow.

1020: HIEI is attacked by nine "Avengers" from USS ENTERPRISE. Abe abandons his towing plan and contacts Combined Fleet HQ, suggesting that HIEI be beached at Kamimbo, Guadalcanal.

1100: HIEI is attacked by three "Avengers" from Henderson Field.

1110: HIEI is hit by one of fifty-six 500-lb bombs dropped by 14 USAAF B-17 bombers of the 11th Heavy Bombardment Group from Espirtu Santo.

1120: HIEI is attacked by six Marine SBD dive-bombers from VMSB-132 at Henderson Field.

1130: HIEI is attacked by four TBF torpedo planes from SARATOGA's (CV-3) Torpedo Squadron 8 and two Marine TBFs from VMSB-131 at Henderson Field. Two torpedoes hit HIEI - one amidships and one on the port bow.

1230: Six "Zeros" from Rabaul-based 252nd NAG arrive and patrol over the ships until 1400. During that time the construction of an emergency rudder is completed and its launch started.

1235: Captain Nishida, rather than following Abe's beaching order, tries to save HIEI. Later, Abe cancels the order, but orders Nishida to send HIEI's crew off.

1400: HIEI is attacked by eight "Dauntlesses" and six "Avengers" from Henderson Field, escorted by fourteen "Wildcats". She receives one torpedo hit to starboard aft and another to starboard amidships. Two torpedoes are seen to strike the port side of the battleship and sink. During a violent evasive maneuver HIEI loses her emergency rudder. She takes on a list to starboard and goes down at the stern.

Flooding from the torpedo hit makes it clear that ATLANTA cannot be saved. Captain Jenkins orders her surviving crewmen taken off by Higgins boats sent from Guadalcanal. Jenkins and a demolition party remain until the scuttling charges explode, then leave the ship.

1435: HIEI is attacked by four TBFs from ENTERPRISE. One torpedo hits HIEI amidships on the starboard side. Another hits her stern and floods her steering gear.

1530: During the day, HIEI suffers 70 American sorties. Vice Admiral Abe orders Captain Nishida to Abandon Ship.

1745: HIEI is attacked by six "Dauntlesses" from Henderson Field, after some of her sailors were transferred. YUKIKAZE (identified as a light cruiser) receives a near miss.

Captain Nishida reluctantly orders HIEI scuttled. The Emperor's portrait is removed. Nishida and other survivors are rescued by DesDiv 27's SHIGURE, SHIRATSUYU, YUGURE and DesDiv 61's TERUZUKI. 188 crewmen are lost and 151 wounded.

1838: Admiral Yamamoto orders Abe not to scuttle HIEI, but the message is received too late.

1900-0100: HIEI sinks by the stern some 4.5 miles from Savo Island at about 09-04S, 159-45E. 188 crewmen are lost.

2015: ATLANTA sinks three miles west of Lunga Point in 180 feet of water.

14 November 1942:
Vice Admiral Abe is relieved of command. On their return to Japan, both he and Captain Nishida face a Board of Inquiry into the loss of HIEI.

20 December 1942:
Abe is reassigned to the Naval General Staff. Nishida is placed on the Reserve List. BatDiv 11 is deactivated and HIEI is removed from the Navy List.[6]