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miles distant. Like most naval officers, he had never even heard the name Guadalcanal until last August, when news of the invasion had spread through the American fleet. There was an entire Marine division there now, clinging to one Japanese-built dirt airfield while the Japanese Imperial Army fought to take it back.
    Fifteen minutes later, after the column was steady on the new course and speed, the red light on the bitch-box lit up.
    â€œBridge, Sigs, signal in the air from CTF Sixty-Four. Take station in the van.”
    â€œThat’s it?” Sluff asked.
    â€œYes, sir.”
    â€œOkay, Sigs, roger for it. Officer of the deck, haul out to starboard at thirty knots and take station one thousand yards ahead of Walke .”
    The OOD gave the necessary orders and J. B. King lunged ahead as she turned out of the Washington ’s wake and started up the line, passing Washington, then South Dakota, and then overhauling the three destroyers in the lead of the formation. The Combat Information Center made course and speed recommendations to land the ship three thousand yards ahead of South Dakota, taking over the lead position in the formation.
    â€œGod, I wish I knew what the hell was going on,” Sluff said to the exec, who’d come out to the bridge wing with him. The glistening hulls of the huge battlewagons were barely visible now that the sun had gone down. None of the ships were showing navigation lights, so from here on out Sluff knew it was going to be a radar game. The two battleships looked like castles of steel as they plowed through the darkening waters of Ironbottom Sound.
    â€œYou better get below,” Sluff said. “Make sure everyone’s had chow and then we’ll have to set GQ pretty soon. I don’t think there is a plan, other than going up around the top of Savo Island and seeing who shows up.”
    â€œThe Japs show up, they’re gonna get the surprise of their lives,” Bob said.
    Sluff looked over at his exec in the gloom. “So far, it’s been the Japs who’ve done all the surprising. They’re pretty damned good at this night stuff. Most of the iron on the bottom of Ironbottom Sound is ours.”
    â€œIt’s their torpedoes,” Bob said. “We see a Jap destroyer or cruiser, we have to assume their torpedoes are already on their way.”
    â€œDamned right, so once we determine that they’ve seen us, we maneuver. Change course. Change speed. Do something— anything —to disrupt their torpedo firing solution.”
    â€œBut we’re in formation,” Bob protested. “We can’t maneuver out of the line without orders.”
    Sluff shook his head. “They haven’t even had the courtesy to tell us what they think is going to happen tonight,” he said. “We get into it, XO, I’m going to do what it takes to keep us alive and then to go after the bastards. You can bet your ass the battleship guys are not going to be thinking about their destroyers once the shit starts.”
    â€œYes, sir,” Bob said, his voice neutral.
    â€œYou disagree?”
    â€œNo, sir. I like the hell out of that ‘keeping us alive’ plan.”
    Sluff laughed as the exec left the bridge and headed for the CIC. The OOD reported that the ship was on station at the head of the line plowing through the black waters of Ironbottom Sound. His exec was absolutely correct, though. A warship in formation was supposed to stay in formation until ordered otherwise. In Sluff’s opinion, however, that’s why there were so many American ships lying beneath them in Ironbottom Sound. This rigid adherence to formation doctrine gave the enemy an immense advantage: Once they could see an American formation, they knew that their fire-control solution wasn’t going to change much, which was perfect for a torpedo attack.
    Four destroyers, two battleships, looking for trouble. He stared into the blackness ahead. The