Bogies at Angels Twelve, May, 1986

An article on the battle for Guadalcanal. On August 7, 1942, warships and aircraft opened fire on Guadalcanal Island. The article says that the defenders were taken by surprise. The Japanese launched a retaliatory flight but the planes were spotted by an observer and the US forces received advanced warning of the impending attack.

The attack consisted of 17 Japanese fighters and 27 bombers. There's a long discussion of exactly what happened, the end result of which was no major damage to Allied ships.

Another attack consisted of ten Val-type bombers. Seven of the ten were shot down, and the other three were so badly damaged they didn't make it back to the base.

The next day, August 8, there was another air attack, this time with sort of a motley grouping of planes, some Bettys, nine Vals and a Zero fighter escort. 13 of the Vals and Bettys were shot down before they could launch their torpedoes. 18 of the 23 Bettys were shot down, and two Zeros were shot down, with no loss of US planes. A destroyer was hit by a torpedo but stayed afloat, and a transport was hit by a falling Japanese plane and ran aground.

On the surface it would seem a victory for the Allies, but the Allied ships were withdrawn, apparently for fear of further attacks, and that left the soldiers on Guadalcanal without an adequate line of support, so it that sense it was a victory for the Japanese.

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