Collapsed bow on USS Honolulu after she was torpedoed during the Battle of Kolombangara in July 1943

The Battle of Kolombangara was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of July 12th-13th 1943, off the northeastern coast of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands. The battle took place during the early stages of the New Georgia campaign when an Imperial Japanese Navy force, carrying reinforcements south to Vila, Solomon Islands, was intercepted by a task force of U.S. and New Zealand light cruisers and destroyers. In the ensuing action, the Japanese sank one Allied destroyer and damaged three cruisers. They were also able to successfully land 1,200 ground troops on the western coast of Kolombangara but lost one light cruiser sunk with all hands in the process.

USS Honolulu (CL-48) and USS St. Louis (CL-49) were two Brooklyn-class light cruisers present during this engagement. The Japanese force commanded by Rear Admiral Shunji Isaki, which was composed of the light cruiser Jintsu and five destroyers, escorting a group of four destroyer-transports, spotted the Allied ships first, but the leading American destroyers launched their torpedoes first.

In the ensuing battle, Jintsu and the destroyers launched a spread of torpedoes at the Allied squadron before the cruisers closed to within 9 km, where their gunnery control and search radars could effectively direct their shooting. All three cruisers concentrated their fire on Jintsu, she being the largest radar contact; after a few minutes of rapid fire, the ship exploded and, after being hit by a torpedo from one of the destroyers, quickly sank. The initial salvo of torpedoes missed, but the Japanese destroyers briefly retreated into a rain squall to reload their torpedo tubes before reemerging to launch another salvo.

Leander was hit and fell out of the formation while St. Louis and Honolulu pursued the retreating Japanese destroyers. They opened fire, engaging the destroyer Mikazuki and what was probably the still-burning wreck of Jintsu. The Americans thereafter lost contact with the Japanese ships.

At around 0156, Honolulu picked up a group of unidentified ships some 24 km away. Unsure of the identity of the vessels, which might have been his destroyers, Ainsworth held his cruisers' fire. At 0203, he ordered star shells to illuminate the ships, which were immediately revealed to be the fleeing Japanese destroyers, having just launched another salvo of torpedoes and turned away. St. Louis was hit by one of them in her bow at 0208, before she could open fire, and shortly thereafter at 0211, a torpedo struck the starboard side of Honolulu, blowing off her bow. The destroyer USS Gwin was hit amidships and quickly sank. Casualties aboard St. Louis were light.

Despite the fact that they had sunk Jintsu and drove off the destroyers, the task force had failed to prevent the destroyer-transports from reaching Kolombangara and landing 1,200 soldiers. They then retired to Tulagi for temporary repairs, and then departed for the large naval base at Pearl Harbor.

0:00 USS Honolulu en route to Tulagi with her collapsed bow
0:14 Hole caused by a torpedo that failed to explode plugged with mattresses
0:18 USS Honolulu's damaged bow at Tulagi
1:22 Dud torpedo hole
1:37 USS St. Louis underway with temporary repairs to her bow

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