The Most Perfect Naval Maneuver… Was a Mistake?
On board USS Helena, American radar operators exchange worried glances. Contacts at 27,700 yards.
Could it be the Japanese fleet bearing down on Guadalcanal?
20,000 yards. 15,000.
Helena warns her flagship, USS San Francisco. But San Francisco’s radar shows nothing amiss.
10,000 yards. Well within torpedo range.
5,000 yards. Close enough to see their hulls through the darkness. Yet still no permission to engage.
Wondering just how close Admiral Scott is going to let the enemy vessels get, Helena’s radar officer asks incredulously: [QUOTE] “What are we going to do, board them?”
Little did anyone know that Scott was about to accidentally pull off one of the most perfect and deadliest maneuvers in naval strategy… but with a shocking outcome that is still debated today…