Shame of Savo, The - Anatomy of a Naval Disaster

For more than half a century, an air of innuendo, accusation and mystery has surrounded the Battle of Savo Island, fought off the southern Solomon Islands during the early morning hours of 9 August 1942. How was it that a powerful group of Allied cruisers had been surprised and almost annihilated by a Japanese striking force obliged to travel hundreds of miles through waters patrolled by Allied reconnaissance aircraft? And why - given the overwhelming air strength available to the Allies due to the presence of their aircraft carriers - were the Japanese able to escape afterwards practically unscathed, leaving more than a thousand Allied seamen dead in their wake? Who was to blame - if anyone was to blame - for such a monumental disaster? In this brilliant study, written by a retired senior Australian naval officer, many of the myths and misunderstandings concerning this important naval action have been exposed and corrected. Bruce Loxton, then a midshipman, was seriously wounded on the bridge of HMAS Canberra when that heavy cruiser was disabled during the opening stages of the battle.