Savo Island

Eighty years ago tonight, over a thousand US Navy and Australian Sailors in four Heavy Cruisers will sail to the bottom of Iron Bottom Sound.

It is the first of six months of sea, land and air battles that will come to define the savagery of the Pacific War.

Eighty years ago tonight.

Salute the crews of HMAS Canberra, USS Vincennes, USS Astoria and USS Quincy, as well as the men of USS Chicago. This is the night of baptism by fire. It will be a tragic defeat, but it is also not the last battle of the campaign…