USS Northampton (CA-26)

USS Northampton (CA-26): Lost Off Guadalcanal

Commissioned on 17 May 1930 at the Boston Navy Yard, USS Northampton was the lead ship of the Northampton class of heavy cruisers, six ships built under the tonnage constraints of the Washington Naval Treaty. She was a significant improvement over the Pensacola class, with better protection and a more conventional gun arrangement: three triple 8-inch turrets. She was fast, capable, and one of the Navy's most modern cruisers when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Northampton went straight into the Pacific fight. She participated in early carrier raids against Japanese-held islands in early 1942 and was part of the task force covering the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April. She screened USS Hornet as Jimmy Doolittle's B-25s roared off the deck 650 miles from Japan, one of the war's most audacious operations. At Midway in June 1942, she was part of the force that engaged the Japanese fleet as American dive bombers shattered four enemy carriers in a single morning.

Through the brutal Guadalcanal campaign of mid-to-late 1942, Northampton was in the thick of every major naval engagement. She fought at the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands in October, helping screen the carrier force as Japanese aircraft pressed home devastating attacks against Hornet and Enterprise. She was present for the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November, two nights of close-quarters fighting that cost both sides dearly.

The end came on the night of 30 November – 1 December 1942 at the Battle of Tassafaronga. An American cruiser force intercepted Japanese destroyers running supplies down "The Slot" to Guadalcanal. What should have been a decisive American victory became a disaster. Japanese Long Lance torpedoes, longer-ranged and more powerful than anything the U.S. Navy fielded, ripped through the American formation. Minneapolis and New Orleans had their bows blown off. Pensacola was set ablaze. And Northampton, circling to avoid collision with her damaged consorts, was struck by two torpedoes.

The damage was catastrophic. Both torpedoes hit within seconds, flooding her engineering spaces and starting uncontrollable fires. Her crew fought to save her for nearly three hours, but she was listing badly and taking on water faster than they could control it. At 0304 on 1 December 1942, USS Northampton rolled over and sank in 2,400 fathoms of water. Fifty of her crew went down with her.

She earned six battle stars for her service, compressed into a short but intense combat career that saw her at nearly every major Pacific engagement before Guadalcanal. The men of Northampton fought hard and professionally until the sea took her. They deserved better luck at Tassafaronga. Their ship is gone but their service lives on.

Tactically Acquired's USS Northampton (CA-26) collection honors a fighting ship and the men who gave everything aboard her. Wear it for those who didn't make it home from Iron Bottom Sound.