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Battle of Cape Esperance
The Battle of Cape Esperance, also known as the Second Battle of Savo Island and, in Japanese sources, as the Sea Battle of Savo Island, took place on 11th and 12th of October 1942 in the Pacific campaign of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and United States Navy. The naval battle was the second of four major surface engagements during the Guadalcanal campaign and took place at the entrance to the strait between Savo Island and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Cape Esperance is the northernmost point on Guadalcanal, and the battle took its name from this point.
12th Oct 1942 In Action
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Those known to have fought in Battle of Cape Esperance during the Second World War 1939-1945. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
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Want to know more about Battle of Cape Esperance? There are:1 items tagged Battle of Cape Esperance available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Aaron A "Buster" Blackwelder USS Boise CL-47     My grandfather was Buster Blackwelder and along with two of his brothers, Brent and Otto, served on the USS Boise from mid-1941 before the war through 1942 when the Boise returned to Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs after the Battle of Cape Esperance. "Buster" was my grandfather's nickname, but when he enlisted that was the name he gave. Years later when he joined the Reserves he updated his records to show his "real" name which is Aaron A. Blackwelder. The Boise took my grandfather all over the world before and during the war with stops in many exotic locales. He had a large world coin collection that he put together that eventually made its way into my hands. Many countries from his travels are represented in these coins!
During the war the men were not supposed to keep diaries in the event that
Japanese got their hands on them and learned something from the information. Somehow my grandfather found a way to keep a journal which is now in my possession. His first entry was a few weeks before the war, dated 18 November 1941, and he wrote that the Boise was escorting merchant ships to Manila in the Philippines. This was almost 3 weeks before the Japanese attack on Pearl. It appears that he wasn't keeping the diary every day and probably went back to add or edit information days after it really happened because some of the dates and events don't line up exactly with the official records of the Boise. Regardless, his short entries, when he decided to note something, are to me an interesting view of how a typical seaman saw world changing events happening around him. He notes things like spotting Japanese subs at night, meeting up with other ships to
patrol, spotting and chasing enemy ships, Christmas dinner while stuck aboard ship and docked at Surabaya, and the fall of Corregidor, Many other entries repeated several times the boredom of waiting to leave port or simply steaming to another assignment. Most entries are a terse 2 or 3 lines in length. The importance of the Battle of Cape Esperance in comparison to all other events prior to October 1942 are revealed in the page and a half he gives the afternoon of Oct. 10 leading up to the battle and the battle itself which happened just after midnight on Oct. 11.
For days after the battle he wrote that they kept finding and removing bodies and parts of bodies from the turrets that had been blown up in the battle. My grandfather loved talking about the Navy (he stayed in the Reserves until 1979), but I don't recall him ever talking about that experience although my grandmother told me once that he had told her of the overpowering smell of those bodies as they slowly rotted in the tropical heat before they could be removed from the damaged areas. He lost his best friend in one of those turrets so I can't imagine that made the labor of repair and body retrieval any easier. The last entry of my grandfather's journal was the day the Boise finally arrived in Philadelphia --19 Nov 1942-- which was a year and a day after he started his diary. While his brothers Brent and Otto stayed aboard the Boise for the duration of the war my grandfather was transferred to another ship. His future wife, my grandmother, traveled to Philadelphia and they spent some time
sightseeing there and in Boston before my grandfather was eventually transferred to his new ship that patrolled the North Atlantic based out of Canada. Later, he would be transferred to another ship before the war ended. It wasn't until after his death in 1989 that I even knew my grandfather had served on a ship other than the Boise because the Boise was all he ever talked about. He loved that ship and attended a number of reunions (if not all of them) before his death in 1989 in Rock Hill, SC.
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GM2. Minor Butler Poole NC. USS Boise (d.11th-12th Oct 1942) My uncle, Minor Butler Poole, served on the USS Boise and was one of the 107 men killed in the Battle of Cape Esperance on 11-12th of October 1942. He was in charge of the forward magazine flooding control station. He received the Navy Cross, and had the USS Poole (DE-151, sponsored by my grandmother), named for him.
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B'swain C. C. McAmis USS Boise My father was stationed on the USS Boise from 1940 until after the Battle of Cape Esperance. He was a talker in the No 5 powder magazine during the battle. As a boatswain he helped remove and wrap the bodies of the men killed in the forward part of the ship after the battle.
He almost ended up being stuck in the Phillipines at the outbreak of the war because he and a buddy jumped ship on 7th December 1941. He had two fake liberty cards. The next morning when they got to the dock the ship was getting under way. They were able to talk one of the men manning the liberty boats to run them out to the ship. They got there and jumped on the gangway as it was being pulled up and the ship was leaving the harbour.
The war was on. He said that the feeling on board was that they would sink the Jap "rowboat" navy in two weeks. As he said later, it took a little longer than we thought.
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B/Mate 1st Cl. Kenneth P. Howell USS Boise My dad, Kenneth P Howell Jr, served on the USS Boise from 1941 to 1946. He was a Bosun's Mate 1st Class. He died on 6th March 2004. We grew up hearing stories of the Battle of Cape Esperance in which the Boise fought.
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Brunner Renner USS Boise (d.12th Oct 1942) My great uncle was Brunner Renner. He served on the USS Boise in 1942.
I dont know much about what happened to him. But this is what I know.
He died in Oct.1942 in the Battle of Cape Esperance. From what I
have already found out. Someone told my aunt that he saved 71 crew members
the day he died. By yelling out "Torpedoes on starboard."
I would really like to find out more about him. If anyone has any info.
Please contact me. Thank you all and May God Bless all the people who
served and their families.
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Lloyd P. Dillon USS Boise My father, Lloyd P. Dillon served aboard
the USS Boise, CL-47. I believe he was transferred while she was being
repaired in late 1942 or early 1943. I know that he saw action in the
Pacific and that he lost friends and
shipmates in October 1942. He never talked that much about what had happened
aboard the Boise, but I knew that he was proud to have served.
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Sea. Johnnie B. Adams USS Boise (d.12th Oct 1942) Johnnie B. Adams, Jr.
Seaman Second Class, was a crew member on the USS Boise who was killed in one of the turrets during the battle of Cape Esperance on 21th of October 1942 (per a letter to his family from the Secretary of the Navy). Johnnie was eighteen years of age and was from Houston, Texas.
If anyone has any information on Johnnie we would love to hear from you.
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Robert Mcmahon USS Boise My uncle Robert Mcmahon was stationed aboard the USS Boise, and was onboard during the Battle of Esperance, I remember him telling me about the battle when I was a small boy. He was very proud of serving aboard the Cruiser. He was a gunners mate in the turret behind the one hit in the battle. He said it was terrible to see all the wounded and killed. My uncle made a career out of the Navy, and then when he retired, he continued to work for the Navy at the Naval Air Station at Almeda Califonia. He worked as civil service on ejection seats. He was my primary influence that made me want to join the Navy. I joined in July of 1962 and served until July 1967. I also am proud to have served the the USN. He passed away in 1972 I have a picture of the USS Boise and the Memorial folder that was awarded to the men of the Boise, comemortting the battle of Esperance. The memorial sheet as a list of the officers and men aboard at that time, and a memorial stating that all the members are to be considered honary citizens of Boise Idahoe
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Kenneth Preston Howell USS Boise My Dad Kenneth Preston Howell Jr. served on the USS Bosie 1941-46. I grew us listening to him tell stories of the war and especially the Battle of Cape Esperence. My Dad just passed away in March 2004 and we spent time going through all his memorabilia from the war and the Bosie. Including shrapnel from the Battle of Cape Esperence. I am so proud of my Dad and what he did for our country by serving on the Bosie. I hope that I can keep these memories alive in my children now that Dad is gone. He was a Boatsan Mate 1st class and my son loves blowing on his boatsan pipe or whistle. Dad would always take it out and play the tune for us and tell about when General Macarther was on the ship for his tour. He loved attending the Bosie reunions and was sad when as the years went by and more shipmates passed on. Now I know he is having a great reunion with them in heaven!! His love for the sea and his country were memories my Dad gave us by sharing with us stories of those war time years. Not all of his memories were great for he often got quiet and sad when he talked in reverence about sewing up the bags of the sailors that were killed in preparing them for burial at sea. I will miss Dad and his stories of the sea and the Bosie... but hopefully we can keep these memories alive so people won't forget what America's "Greatest Generation" did for all of us. God Bless America!!
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