Callaghan, Daniel Judson (1890-1942)

National Archives #SC 114847

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"Fighting Dan" Callaghan was born in San Francisco and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1911 (ranking 39th in a class of 193.) He served on battleship California and participated in the Nicaragua intervention of 1912. He served in convoy escorts in the First World War.

In 1938 Callaghan became naval aide to President Roosevelt, who took a personal interest in the careers of promising naval officers. He was the captain of the San Francisco at the time of the attack at Pearl Harbor. San Francisco was part of the fire support group for the initial Guadalcanal landings, and shortly thereafter Callaghan became chief of staff to Ghormley, the South Pacific theater commander.

Promoted to rear admiral, Callaghan was placed in command of the American force at the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (November 12-13, 1942) where he was killed by shellfire on the bridge of his flagship. The battle was a bloody, confused affair with high casualties on both sides, but it was a strategic American victory, since, in the process of getting itself shot to pieces, the American squadron inflicted sufficient damage on the Japanese squadron to prevent the Japanese from shelling Henderson Field.

“Uncle Dan” was relatively inexperienced in combat operations, and failed to make the best use of his radar advantage. It has been suggested that if the other admiral present, Norman Scott, had been placed in tactical command, the outcome would have been better, since Scott had recently bested the Japanese at the battle of Cape Esperance. However, Scott was a few weeks junior, and rigid navy regulations meant Callaghan was automatically in command. In any case, the ship dispositions chosen by Callaghan strongly resembled those used by Scott at Cape Esperance.

We want the big ones. Get the big ones first!

—Callaghan's last signal

Callaghan was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. He was the second highest ranking American naval officer killed in action in the Pacific War. (The highest ranking was Rear Admiral Isaac Kidd, killed on the bridge of the Arizona in the Pearl Harbor raid.) Morison described him as "austere, modest, deeply religious; a hard-working and conscientious officer who possessed the high personal regard of his fellows and the love of his men... There was something a little detached about his man, since his thoughts were often not of this world..."

Service record

References

Boatner (1996)

Coombe (1991)

DANFS

Dupuy et.al. (1992)

Morison (1949)

Prados (1995)

The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia (c) 2007-2008 by Kent G. Budge. Index

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