Santa Cruz Islands order of battle
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US Pacific Fleet Commanders
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Isoroku_Yamamoto.jpg/140px-Isoroku_Yamamoto.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Adm_Chester_Nimitz-1942.jpg/140px-Adm_Chester_Nimitz-1942.jpg)
The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands was fought 25–27 October 1942 in the waters northwest of the Santa Cruz Islands by forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy's (IJN) Combined Fleet and the United States Navy's (USN) Pacific Fleet. The battle resulted from a major Japanese offensive with the goal to drive the US forces from Guadalcanal.
The battle can be viewed as a tactical Japanese victory as they sank the American aircraft carrier USS Hornet and badly damaged another, USS Enterprise, while suffering heavy damage in return to carriers Shōkaku and Zuihō. In strategic terms, however, it was ultimately a victory for the United States, as the Japanese failed in their objective to destroy American forces on and around Guadalcanal and suffered significant losses of experienced air crew.
Because the Japanese had the tactical initiative, their forces are listed first.
Forces deployed[]
- Combat ships: 3 fleet carriers, 1 light carriers, 4 fast battleships, 10 cruisers, 25 destroyers
- Aircraft: 199
American forces
- Combat ships: 2 fleet carriers, 1 fast battleship, 5 cruisers, 14 destroyers
- Aircraft: 136
Losses
- Ships: IJN – none, USN – 1 fleet carrier, 1 destroyer
- Aircraft: IJN – 99, USN – 81
Japanese order of battle[]
Advance force[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Vizeadmiral_Nobutake_Kondo.jpg/140px-Vizeadmiral_Nobutake_Kondo.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/Atago_trials_1939.jpg/180px-Atago_trials_1939.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Juny%C5%8D_anchored_at_Sasebo%2C_Japan%2C_on_26_September_1945_%28NNAM.1996.488.037.002%29.jpg/180px-Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Juny%C5%8D_anchored_at_Sasebo%2C_Japan%2C_on_26_September_1945_%28NNAM.1996.488.037.002%29.jpg)
Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo
- Main body (Vice Admiral Kondo in Atago)
- Carrier group (Rear Admiral Kakuji Kakuta in Jun'yō)
- Carrier Division 2
- 1 carrier: Jun'yō
- 20 Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" fighters (Lt. Yoshio Shiga)
- 17 Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers (Lt. Masao Yamaguchi†)
- 7 Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers (Lt. Yoshiaki Irikiin†)
- 1 carrier: Jun'yō
- Screen
- Carrier Division 2
- Support group (Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita in Kongo)
Carrier striking force[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Chuichi_Nagumo.jpg/140px-Chuichi_Nagumo.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_shokaku_1941.jpg/180px-Japanese_aircraft_carrier_shokaku_1941.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Yukikaze_2.jpg/180px-Yukikaze_2.jpg)
Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo
- Carrier group (Vice Admiral Nagumo)
- 2 fleet carriers
- Shōkaku
- 20 Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" fighters (Lt. Hideki Shingō)
- 21 Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers (Lt. Cmdr. Mamoru Seki†)
- 24 Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers (Lt. Cmdr. Shigeharu Murata†)
- Zuikaku
- 20 Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" fighters (Lt. Ayao Shirane)
- 23 Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers (Lt. Sadamu Takahashi)
- 20 Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers (Lt. Shigeichiro Imajuku†)
- Shōkaku
- 1 light carrier
- Zuihō
- 20 Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" fighters (Lt. Masao Satō)
- 6 Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers (Lt(jg). Ichiro Tanaka)
- Zuihō
- Screen
- 1 heavy cruiser: Kumano
- 8 destroyers: Hatsukaze, Yukikaze, Maikaze, Hamakaze, Amatsukaze, Tokitsukaze, Arashi, Teruzuki
- 2 fleet carriers
Vanguard group[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/HiroakiAbe.jpg/140px-HiroakiAbe.jpg)
(Rear Admiral Hiroaki Abe in Hiei)
- Battleship division
- Cruiser Division 7 (Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura)
- 1 heavy cruiser: Suzuya
- Cruiser Division 8 (Rear Admiral Chūichi Hara in Tone)
- Destroyer Squadron 10 (Rear Admiral Susumu Kimura)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/D3A1_Akagi.jpg/220px-D3A1_Akagi.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/B5N_Type_97_Carrier_Attack_Bomber_Kate_B5N-31.jpg/220px-B5N_Type_97_Carrier_Attack_Bomber_Kate_B5N-31.jpg)
American order of battle[]
Task Force 61[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Thomas_C._Kinkaid.jpg/170px-Thomas_C._Kinkaid.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/F4F-3_new_pitot_tube_of_later_model.jpg/200px-F4F-3_new_pitot_tube_of_later_model.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/SBD5_Yorktown.jpg/200px-SBD5_Yorktown.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Grumman_TBF-1_Avengers_in_flight%2C_circa_in_1942.jpg/200px-Grumman_TBF-1_Avengers_in_flight%2C_circa_in_1942.jpg)
Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid
Task Force 16[]
Rear Admiral Kinkaid in Enterprise
Carrier
- Enterprise (Capt. Osborne B. Hardison)
- Air Group (Cmdr. Richard K. Gaines)
- 34 F4F Wildcat fighters (VF-10 – Lt. Cmdr. James H. Flatley)
- 14 SBD Dauntless dive bombers (VB-10 – Lt. Cmdr. James A. Thomas)
- 20 SBD Dauntless scout bombers (VS-10 – Lt. Cmdr. James R. Lee)
- 9 TBF Avenger torpedo bombers (VT-10 – Lt. Cmdr. John A. Collett†)
- Air Group (Cmdr. Richard K. Gaines)
Screen
- Battleship
- Cruiser Division 4 (Rear Admiral Mahlon S. Tisdale)
- Destroyer Division 10 (Cmdr. Thomas M. Stokes)
Task Force 17[]
Rear Admiral George D. Murray in Hornet
Carrier
- Hornet (Capt. Charles P. Mason)
- Air Group (Cmdr. Walter F. Rodee)
- 38 F4F Wildcat fighters (VF-72 – Lt. Cmdr. Henry G. Sanchez)
- 15 SBD Dauntless dive bombers (VB-8 – Lt. James E. Vose)
- 16 SBD Dauntless scout bombers (VS-8 – Lt. Cmdr. William J. Widhelm)
- 15 TBF Avenger torpedo bombers (VT-6 – Lt. Edwin B. Parker, Jr.)
- Air Group (Cmdr. Walter F. Rodee)
Screen
- Cruiser Division 5 (Rear Admiral Howard H. Good)
- 2 heavy cruisers: Northampton (Good's flagship), Pensacola
- 2 light cruisers: San Diego, Juneau
References[]
- Notes
- References
- Frank, Richard B. (1990). Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 0-14-016561-4.
- Hammel, Eric (1999). Carrier Strike: The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, October 1942. Pacifica, California: Pacifica Press. ISBN 0-9355-5337-1.
- Lundstrom, John B. (2005). The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942 (New ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-472-8.
- Morison, Samuel Eliot (1948). The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943: Volume V of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 0-7858-1306-3.
- Conflicts in 1942
- Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II
- Naval aviation operations and battles
- Guadalcanal Campaign
- Naval battles of World War II involving Japan
- Naval battles of World War II involving the United States
- October 1942 events
- World War II orders of battle
- United States Navy in World War II