_Native guides lead 2d Raider Battalion Marines on a
combat/reconnaissance patrol behind Japanese lines. The patrol lasted
for less than a month, during which the Marines covered 150 miles and
fought more than a dozen actions._]
On 12 November, a multifaceted Japanese naval force converged on
Guadalcanal to cover the landing of the main body of the _38th
Division_. Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan’s cruisers and destroyers,
the close-in protection for the 182d’s transports, moved to stop
the enemy. Coastwatcher and scout plane sightings and radio traffic
intercepts had identified two battleships, two carriers, four cruisers,
and a host of destroyers all headed toward Guadalcanal. A bombardment
group led by the battleships _Hiei_ and _Kirishima_, with the light
cruiser _Nagura_, and 15 destroyers spearheaded the attack. Shortly
after midnight, near Savo Island, Callaghan’s cruisers picked up the
Japanese on radar and continued to close. The battle was joined at
such short range that each side fired at times on their own ships.
Callaghan’s flagship, the _San Francisco_, was hit 15 times, Callaghan
was killed, and the ship had to limp away. The cruiser _Atlanta_ (CL
104) was also hit and set afire. Rear Admiral Norman Scott, who was
on board, was killed. Despite the hammering by Japanese fire, the
Americans held and continued fighting. The battleship _Hiei_, hit
by more than 80 shells, retired and with it went the rest of the
bombardment force. Three destroyers were sunk and four others damaged.
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