Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
The naval battle of Guadalcanal was just about to begin when the enemy force, a group of two battleships, one cruiser and 14 destroyers appeared on the horizon. Laffey lashed out at the enemy with gunfire and torpedoes. At the height of the violent battle, an enemy battleship came slashing through the darkness and both ships headed at full speed for the same spot. The destroyer unleashed her torpedoes and using all her firepower, machine-gunned the battleship's bridge. With a battleship on her stern, a second on her port beam, and two destroyers on her port bow, Laffey fought the Japanese ships with the three remaining main battery guns in a no-quarter duel at point blank range. ... Suddenly, from the battleship whose bridge she had shot away, came a salvo of 14-inch guns, swamping the crippled destroyer. Then a torpedo in her fantail put Laffey out of action. As the order to abandon ship was passed, a violent explosion ripped the destroyer apart; and she sank immediately. But her gallant skipper and crew had made the enemy pay a fearful price of one battleship severely damaged, one cruiser and two destroyer sunk.
