November 12, 1942 - The Start of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

The Guadalcanal Campaign began on August 7, 1942, when Americans landed on the Guadalcanal

Above is the Guadalcanal Island layout. As you can
see, Iron Bottom Sound is to the right of
Henderson Field.

with the objective of denying the Japanese use of the island for their bases to threaten supple routes between the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand (1). Four months later the first Battle of Guadalcanal started on November 12th. During that day the Japanese had came to realize that: “one, that the Americans had far more troops on Guadalcanal than earlier estimates had indicated, and two, Henderson Field had to be neutralized in order for the Japanese to control the seas around the island” (2). Henderson Field is an air landing strip that the Japanese built in order to demolish the Marine’s radio station, food stock and construction equipment. The night of November 12, fights broke out

Above is Kinugawa, a Japanese cargo ship,
beached and sunk on the shores of Guadalcanal.
The Japanese were unable to receive supplies.

between the Japanese and Americans, sinking six Japanese ships and ten American ships (3). At about 1:00 AM on the 13th, a bombardment force entered Iron Bottom Sound, the body of water located at the Southern end of the slot between Guadalcanal, Savo Island, and Florida Island (4). Waiting for them was an American force of cruisers and destroyers (5). The two main Japanese ships, Hiei and Kirishima, whose job was to bombard Henderson Field into impotence, were sunk (6).

Guadalcanal’s importance meant that fighting continued because, “neither side was willing to give up the struggle to maintain control over the Sound, and thereby denying supply to the other side's land forces” (7). The stage was set, yet again, for another brutal battle two nights later, which began the second naval battle of Guadalcanal. Americans lost three destroyers and a battle ship that evening. The Japanese had lost one additional destroyer that played an important part in taking over Henderson Field. Because of this they have finally given up the war effect to take over Henderson Field. The Campaign of Guadalcanal finally ended on February 9, 1943; the Japanese had lost 31,400 troops, whereas the U.S. had only lost 2,000 soldiers when about 60,000 were deployed (8), both sides lost a lot of ships. But by far the most significant loss for the Japanese was the decimation of their elite group of naval aviators (9). Japan, after Guadalcanal, no longer had a realistic hope of beating the all-powerful United States (10).

-Jenna S. & Jack R.



(1) "Guadalcanal Campaign," Princeton University, Accessed November 7, 2013, http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Guadalcanal_Campaign.htm.
(2) Nihon Kaigun, "Guadalcanal Campaign - Nihon Kaigun," Accessed November 7, 2013, http://www.combinedfleet.com/battles/Guadalcanal_Campaign#First_Guadalcanal.
(3) “Guadalcanal Campaign – Nihon Kaigun”
(4) “Guadalcanal Campaign – Nihon Kaigun”
(5) “Guadalcanal Campaign – Nihon Kaigun”
(6) “Guadalcanal Campaign – Nihon Kaigun”
(7) “Guadalcanal Campaign – Nihon Kaigun”
(8) "Battle of Guadalcanal,” — History.com, Accessed November 7, 2013, http://www.history.com/topics/battle-of-guadalcanal.
(9) “Battle of Guadalcanal”
(10) “Battle of Guadalcanal”
(11) Naval History and Heritage Command, "Guadalcanal Campaign,” Accessed November 7, 2013. http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/guadlcnl/guadlcnl.htm.