Wichita's post-Torch transfer placed her with Task Force 18 near Guadalcanal, alongside heavy cruisers, light cruisers, escort carriers, and destroyers. Rear Admiral Giffin arranged the cruisers in two columns with a destroyer screen ahead because he expected submarine danger. Japanese torpedo bombers instead attacked from the air, fatally damaging Chicago and striking Wichita with a torpedo that failed to explode. The mismatch between the formation and the actual attack shows the danger of optimizing a force for one threat. Submarines, aircraft, and surface raiders together made convoy and troop-movement protection much harder.
Notable Point · 41:01-43:32
Rennell Island and the danger of one-threat planning
Wichita's move to the Pacific leads into Rennell Island, where an anti-submarine formation was caught by Japanese torpedo bombers.