{"id":483,"date":"2015-03-24T01:46:54","date_gmt":"2015-03-23T14:46:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monolith.com.au\/blog\/?p=483"},"modified":"2020-04-25T13:41:13","modified_gmt":"2020-04-25T03:41:13","slug":"lifting-the-shame-of-savo-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monolith.com.au\/blog\/lifting-the-shame-of-savo-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Lifting the Shame of Savo Island"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Heroes of the Solomons: Captain Frank Getting RAN<\/em><\/p>\n<p><script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\ngoogle_ad_client = \"pub-5161388013621688\"; google_alternate_ad_url = \"https:\/\/travography.com\/showsell.html\"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; google_ad_format = \"468x60_as\"; google_ad_type = \"text_image\"; \/\/2007-02-08: Traveloscopy Story Banner 468 google_ad_channel = \"8406711044\"; google_color_border = \"FFFFFF\"; google_color_bg = \"FFFFFF\"; google_color_link = \"063E3F\"; google_color_text = \"6F6F6F\"; google_color_url = \"78B749\";\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><br \/>\n<script src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>One of Australia\u2019s most experienced and capable naval commanders was struck down in his prime during one of the most ferocious naval engagements of WWII. Was he later a cruel victim of a historical cover-up? Roderick Eime investigates.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The US involvement in the many battles of the Solomon Islands campaign are well documented through movies, documentaries and books. Yet, the substantial participation of Australian naval forces in that campaign is far less acknowledged.<\/p>\n<p>When the Allied Forces began their landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi on 7 August 1942, they were supported by a massive combined naval force which included the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) warships Canberra, Hobart and Australia.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7632\/16718698520_1b0404bdf3_c.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"394\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">HMAS Canberra proudly in Sydney Harbour pre-war<\/p><\/div>\n<p>HMAS Canberra was a British-built County class heavy cruiser of the Kent sub-class commissioned in 1928. At 10,000 tons and 180m in length, she was slightly larger than the more famous HMAS Sydney which had already been lost during her mutually destructive engagement with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran on 19 November 1941. Sydney\u2019s sister ship, the light cruiser, HMAS Perth was lost in the Battle of Sunda Strait in March 1942.<!--more--><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8712\/16698793637_06a86dab91_q.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Capt Frank Getting<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In command of HMAS Canberra was Captain Frank Edmond Getting. Born in Sydney in 1899, he was among the first cadets of the newly-established Royal Australian Naval College at Osborne House in Geelong. He graduated in 1917 with fellow officers Waller, Collins and others who would later rise to the highest ranks of the newly formed RAN.<\/p>\n<p>Getting received his first commission on submarines in 1928 when he was the first Australian to pass the Royal Navy\u2019s submarine commander\u2019s course. With Australia\u2019s submarines \u2018gifted\u2019 back to the RN at the outbreak of WWII, Getting was given command of the armed merchant cruiser HMAS Kanimbla. In 1940 he was appointed Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, a post he held until 1942, when he was given command of HMAS Canberra.<\/p>\n<p>Clearly Getting, at 43, was a commander of considerable ability and promise and held one of the most prestigious posts in the relatively small RAN.<\/p>\n<p>In a report dated March 1940, RN Admiral Percy Noble, wrote:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough this officer has only served with me for a short time, he has so favourably impressed me with his ability, keenness and power of command \u2026 He has a fine physique and a good manner and appearance. His whole heart seems to be in the Service and I am sure he will do very well.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7623\/16719962439_68bc69c278_b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Battle of Savo Island (HBO)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Anyone who saw the seminal HBO television mini-series, Pacific, will remember the initial landings by US Marines were only lightly opposed but the Japanese, once aware of the US forces, made numerous concerted efforts to reclaim the airfield they had begun building near Lunga Point (later Henderson Field) after landing there and on Tulagi in May 1942.<\/p>\n<p>One of those dramatic and courageous attacks was by a naval force on the night of August 8\/9th that would become known as The Battle of Savo Island. While supporting the landing operations, the Allied naval ships were positioned in Savo Island Strait, the body of water directly offshore from Honiara, between Guadalcanal and Florida Island. The force had been divided into three sections to guard all possible entry points from the anticipated Japanese counterattack. The three RAN ships were divided between each group, with HMAS Canberra in the southern group, close to Savo Island itself.<\/p>\n<p>The Allied crews on the 23 warships were fatigued from several days of \u2018action stations\u2019 and, by all accounts, were in a state of semi-preparedness with many of the sailors probably dozing or asleep when the Japanese force of seven cruisers and one destroyer came charging at full speed into their midst.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3883\/15133334409_c01c1285b5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"255\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa - couldn't believe his luck - and took full advantage of the element of surprise.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Led by Vice-Admiral Mikawa, a veteran Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) commander highly skilled in night tactics, his force left Rabaul the afternoon of the Allied landings and skillfully (and luckily) avoided detection while approaching Savo Island from the west. This was despite the fact a US submarine and two RAAF Hudsons medium bombers flying reconnaissance from Milne Bay had both spotted and reported the approaching task force. In shades of Pearl Harbour, this failure of communication is the first part of the US cover-up that sought to conceal the catastrophe that was about to unfold.<\/p>\n<p>Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison was a Pulitzer Prize-winning naval historian who wrote lengthy and authoritative accounts of the glorious US Navy and its war-winning exploits.<\/p>\n<p>Of the failure of communication, he wrote \u201cfirst Hudson crew made no attempt to radio their sighting report, routinely and leisurely completed their patrol and then \u2018had tea\u2019 before submitting their report at Milne Bay.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 209px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.history.navy.mil\/content\/dam\/nhhc\/research\/histories\/bios\/morison_seport.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"247\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison, whose US naval histories have been found to be biased and inaccurate.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As a result, Morison claims, the Japanese strike force were able to take the Allied fleet completely by surprise, which they did with disastrous results. HMAS Canberra was one of the first victims of the rampaging IJN vessels. And again, the historical accounts are murky.<\/p>\n<p>While the Australian crew were at actions stations very promptly with turrets manned, the guns were not loaded and the couple of minutes it took to locate a target and get ready to fire proved crucial.<\/p>\n<p>Some criticism, mostly from amateur historians, had been levelled at Canberra's crew for not having main guns ready and laoded beforehand, but this is contrary to naval practice.<\/p>\n<p>According to Frank Allica, a former Commander RAN PWO (G) and Gunnery Officer, \u201cGuns are not kept loaded - even in wartime. Ammunition is kept available in the hoists and ready use stowages, gunbays, ready to load at a moments notice. They can be available in a matter of seconds. To leave guns loaded invites an accidental discharge and possible friendly fire damage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe dominant issue is locating the enemy, tracking them with the visual sights and weapon control director. Canberra had no radar at that time so finding a target and getting a fire control solution is the difficult part - not loading the gun. This would have certainly been the case with Canberra that chaotic night. As a last solution the Captain of the Turret can fire the gun in local but it is a point blank solution and is not accurate - not with the main armament.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lieutenant Commander Mackenzie J Gregory RAN (ret) was on the bridge that fateful night as a junior officer:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI called the Navigating Officer and the Gunnery Officer; the P.C.O. sighted 3 ships on our starboard bow and gave the alarm and the order to load the 8\" turrets. The Captain quickly arrived to be first to reach the bridge. I sighted torpedo tracks approaching down the starboard side - the Captain ordered full ahead and starboard 35 to quickly swing the ship to starboard.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Muirhead-Gould.jpg#\/media\/File:Muirhead-Gould.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/3\/3c\/Muirhead-Gould.jpg\" alt=\"Muirhead-Gould.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"272\"><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rear Admiral Gerard Charles Muirhead-Gould said the crew of HMAS Canberra should be ashamed<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Canberra managed to avoid the incoming \u2018long lance\u2019 torpedoes, but immediately started taking shell hits. In fact, Canberra, illuminated by star flares dropped from aircraft, would suffer a hail of some 24 direct hits at point blank range in the course of a few minutes. One struck the bridge where Gregory was stationed and killed or wounded everyone except himself, including Captain Getting.<\/p>\n<p>Getting, despite being seriously injured, could not be persuaded to leave his station by the ship\u2019s surgeon, insisting the doctor treat the other wounded first. Instead he continued to give orders and direct the battle, which from Canberra\u2019s point-of-view was short and brutal. The ship, which was about to become the third major loss for the tiny RAN in the opening stages of the war, possibly managed just a few hurried rounds before being totally disabled by torpedo hits.<\/p>\n<p>Some sources are critical of Canberra\u2019s lack of readiness as contributing to the defeat of Savo Island, particularly <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gerard_Muirhead-Gould\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rear Admiral Gerard Charles Muirhead-Gould<\/a>, the pompous, English-born commander of Sydney\u2019s defences and a pet of Churchill's. He told the crew they should feel ashamed that their ship had been sunk by gunfire without firing a shot in return.<\/p>\n<p>The subsequent RAN Board of Inquiry made no mention of torpedoes at all and much fuss was instead made of the prowess of our brave American \u2018chums\u2019 in rescuing survivors.<\/p>\n<p>Such unjustified criticism naturally falls on Captain Getting himself who, supported by eyewitness accounts was quickly to the bridge as soon as the action began.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 262px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7287\/16904882282_fbf7945af7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"252\" height=\"189\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Burning and battered, Canberra's survivors are evacuated<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Listing, battered and burning, Canberra was abandoned the next morning because she did not have propulsion to join the ships that were leaving the scene en masse and abandoning the partially supplied Marines ashore, an act that would later draw much criticism. Ever defiant, numerous shells and finally a torpedo from a US destroyer were required to scuttle her in the deep waters of what would soon be known as \u201cIron Bottom Sound\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The final shame of this chapter was that not only did Australia lose a valuable warship with almost 200 casualties from an excellent crew of more than 800, the critical torpedo blow that sealed her fate may well have been a stray or misfire from the destroyer USS Bagley that struck just as Canberra was preparing to engage the enemy with her 8\u201d main guns.<\/p>\n<p>As more documents are declassified and more thorough research is done, many of these slurs against Australian servicemen are finally being corrected.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LVivSO7KW8E?rel=0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Bruce Loxton, who was on the bridge with Gregory and Getting and seriously wounded himself, fought for years to clear the names of his fellow officers and men, ultimately publishing a meticulously researched book, \u201cThe Shame of Savo: Anatomy of a Naval Disaster\u201d, where he asserts the Canberra was crippled by at least one torpedo from the Bagley.<\/p>\n<p>Then, just last year, an apology was finally issued to the last surviving aircrew from the RAAF Hudsons, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/7.30\/content\/2013\/s3670986.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eric Geddes<\/a>, who had tried in vain to alert his naval comrades of the impending Japanese attack.<\/p>\n<p>Greg Martin, the assistant director of the US Naval History and Heritage Command, in Washington wrote:<br \/>\n\"A new generation of naval historians is questioning previous works, such as that of Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison, often written too close to the end of a recently completed campaign ... RADM Morison's criticism, in particular, was unwarranted.\"<\/p>\n<p>The apology is too late for the more than 1000 sailors who died that night. Captain Frank Getting, at his own insistence, was among the last eventually evacuated from the smouldering Canberra the following morning but succumbed to his wounds en route to Noumea and was buried at sea.<\/p>\n<p>An HMAS Canberra memorial was dedicated at Kings Park, Lake Burley Griffin in 1981.<\/p>\n<p>LEST WE FORGET<\/p>\n<p>Pull Quote:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact must be faced that we had an adequate force placed with the very purpose of repelling surface attack and when that surface attack was made, it destroyed our force.\u201d \u2013 RADM R. A. Crutchley, RN, VC.<\/p>\n<p>Further reading:<\/p>\n<p>Loxton, Bruce; Chris Coulthard-Clark (1997). The Shame of Savo: Anatomy of a Naval Disaster. Australia: Allen &amp; Unwin Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-86448-286-9.<\/p>\n<div id=\"disqus_thread\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><br \/>\n    \/* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES * * *\/<br \/>\n    var disqus_shortname = 'traveloscopy';<\/p>\n<p>    \/* * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * *\/<br \/>\n    (function() {<br \/>\n        var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text\/javascript'; dsq.async = true;<br \/>\n        dsq.src = '\/\/' + disqus_shortname + '.disqus.com\/embed.js';<br \/>\n        (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq);<br \/>\n    })();<br \/>\n<\/script><br \/>\n<noscript>Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href=\"https:\/\/disqus.com\/?ref_noscript\" rel=\"nofollow\">comments powered by Disqus.<\/a><\/noscript><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heroes of the Solomons: Captain Frank Getting RAN One of Australia\u2019s most experienced and capable naval commanders was struck down in his prime during one of the most ferocious naval engagements of WWII. Was he later a cruel victim of a historical cover-up? Roderick Eime investigates. The US involvement in the many battles of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-world","tag-wwii-in-the-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monolith.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monolith.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monolith.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monolith.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monolith.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/monolith.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":762,"href":"https:\/\/monolith.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions\/762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monolith.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monolith.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monolith.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}