44,800-Ton USS Washington Fired 75 Sixteen-Inch Shells at Another Battleship From Under 5 Miles. Not 1 Japanese Shell Hit Her Hull

44,800-Ton USS Washington Fired 75 Sixteen-Inch Shells at Another Battleship From Under 5 Miles. Not 1 Japanese Shell Hit Her Hull

Summary and Key Points: On the night of November 14-15, 1942, the US Navy battleship USS Washington closed to 8,400 yards off Guadalcanal and opened on the Japanese battleship Kirishima with radar-directed 16-inch guns. Seventy-five main-battery rounds later, Kirishima lost steering and sank; Washington took no enemy hits. The 728-foot North Carolina-class ship earned 13 battle stars, collided with USS Indiana in 1944, and, unlike the four Iowas…