iral Goto was mortally wounded in the opening moments. Seeing the Aoba in distress, the captain of Furutaka swerved to interpose his vessel between the American force and the flagship. Dor Brown 14It was to prove her undoing, as she was buried in an avalanche of 6" fire. Destroyer Fubuki, sailing in the van, was also quickly gunned into submission. The Japanese fled as best they could back up The Slot, with the Americans breaking off the pursuit at 0245.The Americans had not come away unscathed. Destroyer Duncan, finding herself between the two main forces, had closed the Japanese and attempted to attack with torpedoes. She was heavily hit in the process, by both Japanese and American shells, and would eventually sink. More important, Boise sustained a pair of 8" hits which detonated her forward 6" ready ammunition, killing practically everyone in turrets #1 and #2. Fortunately, her magazine crews had scrupulously kept a minimum of ammunition and powder exposed, meaning that while they paid with their lives, the lives of their shipmates were spared from a more catastrophic explosion.The net result was another flawed victory, this time for the Americans. Given their numerical advantage, the element of surprise, and their superior tactical position, they ought to have inflicted heavier casualties on the Japanese. Instead, they had sunk a cruiser and a destroyer, at the cost of a destroyer sunk and a very valuable light cruiser badly damaged. More important, this half victory did nothing to dissuade the Americans from their linear, line-ahead tactics, which would have importance in later fights. Superior gunfire had won the day here, but the Japanese torpedo was the mightier nighttime weapon still, and linear gun-line tactics invited disaster from torpedo-armed craft.By early November, nearly 3000 Army troops as well as 200 Marine air wing personnel had arrived at Guadalcanal. Although described by the phrase, “weakness in Dor Brown...
