The Battle of the Komandorski Islands was a naval battle between American and Imperial Japanese forces which took place on 27 March 1943 in the North Pacific, south of the Soviet Komandorski Islands. The Japanese were escorting a three ship convoy, while the Americans were patrolling waters west of the Aleutian Islands. The battle was a daylight surface engagement in which air support played no role and in which the outnumbered American force escaped greater damage after the Japanese chose to withdraw.
In June 1942, Japanese forces landed in the western Aleutian Islands of Kiska and Attu, as a northern pincer of the main attack on Midway Island. After the stunning Japanese defeat at Midway, the Japanese held the islands as a defensive shield against any American attempt against the Kuriles. As the U.S. was preparing its assault on the Japanese strongholds, Japanese shipping between Japan and the islands was harassed by submarines and aircraft. The Japanese Imperial Navy countered this threat by sailing at night or taking advantage of stormy weather. Aware of Japanese tactics, Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid deployed a surface force around Attu. On the night of 19/20 February 1943, the patrol force, consisting of the heavy cruiser and the destroyers and , shelled and sank the Japanese transport ship Akagane Maru (3100 GRT) west of Attu.
In a bid to defy the American blockade, Vice-Admiral Boshirà  Hosogaya, in charge of the 5th Fleet and the northern theatre of operations, assembled a high-speed convoy with two fast merchant ships Asaka Maru (7399 GRT) and Sakito Maru (7158 GRT) and a slower transport, the Sanko Maru (5491 GRT). The latter and her escort, the destroyer , were to make a rendezvous with the main force south of the Komandorski Islands. The ships carried materiel essential to complete the building of an all-weather airstrip at Attu.
When Admiral Kinkaid became aware of Japanese plans to send a supply convoy to their forces on the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, U.S. Navy ships commanded by Rear Admiral Charles McMorris were sent to prevent this. The fleet consisted of the heavy cruiser , the light cruiser and the destroyers , , and .
American intelligence estimated that the Japanese escort consisted of one heavy cruiser, one light cruiser, and four destroyers. However, the Japanese 5th Fleet had been reinforced by two more cruisers, so that the Japanese escort force actually consisted of the heavy cruisers and , the light cruisers and , and the destroyers , , , and . Vice Admiral Boshirà  Hosogaya hoisted his flag on Nachi. Rear-Admiral McMorris didn't learn that he was facing a superior force until one hour after the first radar contact.
On the early morning of 27 March 1943, the Japanese convoy was intercepted by the American picket line some 100 nautical miles south of the Komandorski islands and 180 nautical miles west of Attu, just to the west of the International Date Line. Despite lacking radar, the Japanese cruiser squadron spotted the American force half an hour earlier than their enemies, in part because the southern horizon was lightening earlier than the northern, as well as the strict selection of lookouts of exceptional visual acuity by the Japanese navy. Because of the remote location of the battle and its being a chance encounter on the open ocean, neither fleet had air or submarine assistance, making this one of the few engagements exclusively between surface ships in the Pacific Theater and one of the last pure gunnery duels between fleets of major surface combatants in naval history. At one point, McMorris made a request for air support to the USAAF air base at Adak. However, the B-24 squadron sent to attack the Japanese force became lost in the fog and had to return home. A spotter aircraft from Nachi directed fire on the American force for the whole battle. While the Japanese side criticized the observers' inability to deal with smoke screens, the US reports say that the accurate way in which the enemy gunners shifted their fire led the Americans to believe that one of the Japanese cruisers had fire control radar.
Although the Japanese cruisers heavily outgunned the American force and inflicted more damage, the engagement was tactically inconclusive. The U.S. Navy warships escaped destruction after a Japanese misjudgment, when, with the Japanese fleet on the edge of victory, Admiral Hosogaya â not realizing the heavy damage his ships had inflicted and fearing American war planes would appear â chose to retreat, conceding a strategic victory to the US Navy. Indeed, the battle ended Japanese attempts to resupply the Aleutian garrisons by surface ship, leaving only submarines to conduct supply runs. The airstrip at Attu was never finished. Hosogaya was accordingly retired from active service after the battle and assigned to govern a group of South Pacific islands.
This is a timeline of the action, based upon authors O'Hara and Millsap.
As the range closed, Bailey opened fire on Nachi at a range of and then switched to a light cruiser. Coghlan opened fire on Nachi at a range of .
Salt Lake City fired 806 armor-piercing projectiles and then 26 high-capacity (explosive) shells after the supply of armor-piercing ammunition was exhausted. Powder and shells were manhandled aft from the forward magazines to keep the after guns firing. Salt Lake Cityâ²s rudder stops were carried away, limiting her to 10ð course changes.
Task Group 16.6 - RADM Charles McMorris, Commander, Task Group 16.6 (a subordinate Task Group of Task Force 16)
Destroyer Squadron 14 - CAPT Ralph Riggs
Northern Force - VADM Boshirà  Hosogaya, Commander, Fifth Fleet (Northern Force) Cruiser Division One:
Destroyer Division 21: - CAPT Amano Shigetaka
D Convoy - RADM Tomoichi Mori, Commander, Destroyer Squadron One
Destroyer Division Six: - CAPT Takahashi Kameshiro
2nd Escort Force