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March 30, 2009

By Dale Eisman
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 30, 2009

The Vella Gulf, a Norfolk-based ship that until recently led America's offensive on piracy off the Horn of Africa, traces its name to a World War II battle in which the Navy pursued tactics a pirate would admire.

Labeled "a little classic of naval warfare " by famed Adm. Chester Nimitz, the Battle of Vella Gulf was fought and won in about an hour on the night of Aug. 6-7, 1943. The engagement was a pivotal moment in the long and bloody campaign to dislodge the Japanese from the Solomons, a chain of islands northeast of Australia.

The fight's American heroes were six destroyers, divided into two attacking squadrons, that quietly navigated a narrow strait to enter Vella Gulf and surprise an advancing group of Japanese destroyers and cruisers, loaded with troops and equipment. The imperial troops were bound for a Japanese garrison in another part of the Solomons.

A history of the battle compiled by the Office of Naval Intelligence describes how one group of Americans began the attack by sneaking into position and launching torpedoes from about 4,000 yards off the port side of the Japanese. As explosions rocked the imperial vessels, the other squadron of U.S. ships crossed in front to unleash a second attack.

A blast aboard one of the Japanese cruisers "sent flames thousands of feet into the air, enabling me to take down notes as if under a 100 watt lamp," Associated Press correspondent Art Burgess wrote the next day. After more firing, the cruiser "went up into the air like a Texas bronco" and sank, he added.

The Japanese lost three ships in the battle, which shut down a key route on their "Tokyo Express" supply route through the Solomons. It was "a perfect American victory," Capt. Tameichi Hara, skipper of the only Japanese destroyer to escape, wrote later.

Today's Vella Gulf, a guided missile cruiser built for open-ocean warfare and long-range attacks on targets inland, is the second American ship named for the battle.

Patrolling off the coast of Somalia this year, it served until early March as flagship for an international fleet protecting commercial vessels from Somali pirates.

In February, the Vella Gulf and several sister ships used an array of helicopters and inflatable boats to round up 16 suspected pirates.

Before that, the ship stood an unusual watch on a pirated cargo ship, the Faina, which was loaded with tanks and other weapons, to ensure that none of its cargo went ashore. The Faina's owners paid $3.2 million to secure the ship's release.

The Vella Gulf returned home Friday.