 In 1942, the survivors of the Battle of Savo Island were removed from public circulation to prevent news from leaking, and the August 9th disaster did not reach the newspapers until mid-October.Limiting the distribution of bad news caused difficulty with gasoline rationing, as Americans were kept unaware of numerous tanker sinkings.Earlier, people complained that the government was covering up the extent of the damage at Pearl Harbor, although this was partly to keep it from the Japanese.