USS Ralph Talbot (DD-390) - The Battle of Savo Island

The Battle of Savo Island

Assigned to Task Group 62.6 (TG 62.6), she screened the transport group to Guadalcanal, arriving on the morning of 7 August, then patrolled off the transport area through the landings. On the 8th she took up patrol station north of Savo Island and at 0145 on the 9th received word of three enemy ships inside Savo Island. Soon afterward heavy gunfire was seen to the southeast, the first Battle of Savo Island had begun and Ironbottom Sound was on its way to being named.

Half an hour later Ralph Talbot was shelled by a friendly destroyer, the error was quickly rectified, but within minutes an enemy cruiser appeared off her port quarter. Both ships opened fire and searchlight switches were flicked on. Ralph Talbot's searchlight cables had been severed in the earlier shelling, but the enemy's worked. The spotlighted DD 390 took a hit in the chart house which destroyed radar equipment, cut fire control circuits, and ignited fires. Three more shells came in close succession, hitting the wardroom, the starboard quarter, and the underside of gun Number 4. Among the twelve dead were the Doctor and the Chief Pharmacist's Mate.

At 0221 Ralph Talbot ceased firing. The enemy had disappeared, but the damage she had caused required a new fight. Fire enveloped the bridge and the ship listed heavily to starboard. Slowing to one-third speed, she turned toward Savo. At 0230 all radio communication to and from the vessel ceased, but twenty minutes later she stood in close to the shore where the crew continued the battle to save her. By 0330 fires and flooding were under control and repair work was begun. Soon after 0700 communications were reestablished and by 1210 repairs, including mattress patches on the hull, were sufficient to begin the journey back to the United States for repairs.