Chapter 2 - The Great Carrier War

(Part 7)

Guadalcanal

On August 7, 1942, the United States began a major offensive by sending an 80-ship invasion force to Guadalcanal. Aircraft from the USS Enterprise, USS Saratoga, and USS Wasp provided air cover for the 16,000 Marines. The beachhead was quickly secured with light opposition. However, in the following six months, the Japanese mounted fierce counter-attacks in an attempt to repel the Marines from Guadalcanal. During this period, the American carriers set up station near the island, and this led to a series of naval engagements which lasted until January 1943.

On August 8, the ships of the Allied invasion force were attacked by a Japanese task force which unexpectedly sailed down on them in the early morning hours through Savo Sound. The cruisers USS Quincy, USS Vincennes, USS Astoria, and HMAS Canberra were all sunk, and the USS Chicago was badly damaged. The cruisers had been without air cover, because the American carriers had been withdrawn during the night. By the next day, the remaining invasion force was also withdrawn, leaving the Marines on Guadalcanal without naval support.

The Marines had to contend with almost daily aerial attacks from nearby Japanese bases, and on August 20, 1942, the USS Long Island (the first American escort carrier) delivered two squadrons of Wildcat fighters and Dauntless dive bombers to Henderson Field, a Marine airstrip on the northern side of Guadalcanal.

The Battle of the East Solomons began on August 23, when a Japanese task force of destroyers, fast transports, two battleships, and the carriers Shokaku, Zuikaku, and Ryujo approached Guadalcanal. The carriers USS Enterprise, USS Saratoga, and USS Wasp and the battleship USS North Carolina sailed to intercept the Japanese. The next day, the Japanese began attacks on Henderson Field with aircraft from the Ryujo and a base at Rabaul. The American carriers counter-attacked and sank the Ryujo with at least ten bombs and one torpedo. The remaining Japanese carriers launched strikes against the American carriers. The USS Enterprise was hit by three bombs, but the fires were extinguished and she resumed flight operations within an hour. Planes from the USS Saratoga heavily damaged the Japanese seaplane carrier Chitose. In the end, the attempted Japanese invasion of Guadalcanal was repulsed.

On August 30, 1942, the USS Saratoga was torpedoed in the eastern approaches to the Coral Sea and had to be withdrawn to Pearl Harbor for repairs. Two weeks later, the USS Wasp was hit by three torpedoes and had to be abandoned.

In October 1942, the Japanese launched another major offensive in an attempt to land more troops on Guadalcanal. The carriers Shokaku, Zuikaku, Zuiho, and Junyo sailed to the island of Santa Cruz, where they were attacked on October 26 by dive bombers from the USS Enterprise and USS Hornet. The Zuiho was heavily damaged. Meanwhile, 73 American and 135 Japanese aircraft passed each other on their way to attack each other's carriers. The Japanese planes hit the USS Hornet repeatedly, and she eventually had to be abandoned. Although the USS Enterprise was also hit, she did not receive major damage. The American planes, primarily from the USS Hornet, attacked the Shokaku and put her out of action for nine months of repairs. The Battle of Santa Cruz was a tacitical victory for the Japanese, but the American carriers and their aircraft had again turned back an attempted Japanese invasion of Guadalcanal.

The Japanese tried again on November 13, 1942, when they sent 11 transports with the battleships Hiei and Kirishima to attempt an invasion at Henderson Field. American cruisers and destroyers heavily damaged the Hiei off Savo Island, and she was finished off by dive bombers and torpedo bombers from the USS Enterprise and from Henderson Field. The Japanese pushed forward with the attempted invasion, but land and carrier- based aircraft sank seven of the 11 Japanese transports. On the night of November 14th, the battleship Kirishima was battered by the American battleships USS Washington and USS South Dakota, and was scuttled.

Early in 1943, the Japanese began to evacuate the 11,000 troops, of the original 30,000, still remaining on Guadalcanal. By February 9, 1943, Guadalcanal was held solely by the United States Marines.

The USS Wasp CV-7 and . . .

. . . the Yorktown-class USS Hornet CV-8 were both lost defending Guadalcanal from recapture by the Japanese

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Last Updated: March 29, 2003