Ironbottom Sound

"Ironbottom Sound" (alternatively Iron Bottom Sound or Ironbottomed Sound or Iron Bottom Bay) is the name given by Allied sailors to the stretch of water at the southern end of The Slot between Guadalcanal, Savo Island, and Florida Island of the Solomon Islands, because of the dozens of ships and planes that sank there during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942–43. Before the war, it was called Savo Sound. Every year on the battle's anniversary, a U.S. ship cruises into the waters and drops a wreath to commemorate the men who lost their lives. For many Navy sailors, and those who served in the area during that time, the waters in this area are considered sacred, and strict silence is observed as ships cruise through.

Ironbottom Sound photographed on 7 August 1942 the day Allied forces landed on Guadalcanal and Tulagi. In the center is Savo Island with Guadalcanal at far left.
Map of the location of shipwrecks in the Ironbottom Sound
Wreath laying ceremony at Guadalcanal in 2015

See also

Battles

Japanese

Cape Esperance 11–12 October 1942

First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 13 November 1942

Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 15 November 1942

Tassafaronga 30 November 1942

Other Surface Battles and Aerial Actions 1942-43

  • Kikuzuki (Japanese Mutsuki-class destroyer) (lost to USN air attack 4 May 1942)
  • Tama Maru (Japanese minesweeper) (lost to USN aerial torpedo attack 4 May 1942)
  • Azumasan Maru (Japanese military transport) (ran aground and lost to air attack 15 Oct 1942)
  • Hirokawa Maru (Japanese military transport) (grounded and lost to air attack 15 Nov 1942)
Kinugawa Maru
  • Kinugawa Maru (Japanese military transport) (grounded and lost to air attack 15 Nov 1942)
  • I-3 (Japanese Type J1 submarine) (torpedoed by USN PT Boat 9 Dec 1942)
  • Teruzuki (Japanese Akizuki-class destroyer) (torpedoed by USN PT Boat 12 Dec 1942)
  • I-1 (Japanese Type J1 submarine) (rammed by RNZN ASW Corvettes, ran aground 29 January 1943)
  • Makigumo (Japanese Yūgumo-class destroyer) (hit Mine while under attack by PT Boat 1 February 1943)

Allied

Savo Island 9 August 1942

Cape Esperance 12 October 1942

  • Duncan (US Gleaves-class destroyer)

First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 13 November 1942

Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 15 November 1942

Tassafaronga 30 November 1942

Operation I-Go [Air Raid on Tulagi] 7 April 1943

Other surface battles and aerial actions 1942–1945

  • George F. Elliott (US Heywood-class attack transport) (lost to air attack 8 August 1942)
  • Jarvis (US Bagley-class destroyer) (sunk in aerial torpedo attack 9 August 1942)^
  • Blue (US Bagley-class destroyer) (torpedoed by IJN destroyer 22 August 1942)
  • Colhoun (US Wickes-class destroyer) (sunk in dive-bombing attack 30 August 1942)
  • Gregory (US Wickes-class destroyer) (lost with Little in surface combat vs. IJN destroyers 5 Sept 1942)
  • Little (US Wickes-class destroyer) (lost with Gregory in unnamed action vs. IJN destroyers 5 Sept 1942)
  • Seminole (US Navajo-class oceangoing tug) (lost with YP-284 to gunfire of IJN destroyers 25 Oct 1942)
  • YP-284 (US Yard Patrol craft) (lost with Seminole to gunfire of IJN destroyers 25 Oct 1942)
  • Juneau (US Atlanta-class light cruiser) (torpedoed by IJN submarine 13 Nov 1942)^^
  • PT-44 (US PT boat) (lost in unnamed surface action vs. IJN destroyers 12 Dec 1942)
  • PT-112 (US PT boat) (lost in surface combat vs. IJN destroyers 11 January 1943)
  • De Haven (US Fletcher-class destroyer) (lost to dive-bombing attack 1 February 1943)
  • PT-37 (US PT boat) (sunk with PT-111 by IJN destroyer 1 February 1943)
  • PT-111 (US PT boat) (sunk with PT-37 by IJN destroyer 1 February 1943)
  • PT-123 (US PT boat) (lost to air attack 1 February 1943)
  • John Penn (US attack transport) (torpedoed in air attack 13 August 1943)
  • Serpens (United States Coast Guard-manned Liberty ship) (exploded while loading depth charges 29 January 1945)

^Jarvis was briefly involved in the Battle of Savo Island, but did not actually sink in the Sound; she was lost in a separate bomber attack later that day retreating from Guadalcanal. ^^Juneau is usually described as being sunk in the aftermath of the [First] Naval Battle of Guadalcanal; her loss took place away from the Sound in the Solomon Sea to the southeast.

Media

The location of the Ironbottom Sound is used in the 2016 animated film KanColle: The Movie.

See also
  • List of shipwrecks

References
  • The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal, Robert D. Ballard, ISBN 0-446-51636-8

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