How SF’s namesake ship survived a World War II ‘suicide’ mission

In November 1942, the heavy cruiser San Francisco, flagship of an outgunned and outnumbered American task force, was ordered to stop a much stronger Japanese armada that was steaming toward the U.S.-held island of Guadalcanal. The Japanese planned to pulverize an all-important airstrip, Henderson Field, land thousands of troops and destroy any U.S. ships that opposed them.