It's a tense October afternoon in the waters north of Guadalcanal. Admiral Chuichi Nagumo peers through the smoky haze from the bridge of the Shokaku, his eyes sharp with concern. His carriers, Shokaku and Zuikaku, have lingered for weeks as Henderson Field remains under American control. Fuel supplies are dwindling. As Nagumo waits for orders, a series of worrying signals pierce the quiet.
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On August 8, 1942, Allied forces, mainly American, landed on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and the Florida Islands to prevent the Japanese from using them as bases threatening supply routes between the US and Australia. This marked the beginning of the six-month Guadalcanal campaign. With the US and Japanese fleets supporting their ground forces, several naval battles followed each other up relatively fast.
At the night battle of Savo Island, the US suffered a devastating loss of multiple cruisers. Following the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, three U.S. carrier task forces, WASP, Saratoga, and Hornet, remained in the South Pacific, tasked with protecting communication lines, supporting ground forces, and engaging Japanese warships. Saratoga was torpedoed and impaired on August 31st, and Wasp was sunk on September 15th, leaving only Hornet operational. No matter their dwindling strength, the Allies maintained air superiority from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal during the day, but Japanese ships operated freely at night, leading to a stalemate. Efforts to break the deadlock included the expedited return of the carrier enterprise and replacing the pessimistic Vice Admiral Gormley with Vice Admiral Halsey.
Halsey's arrival as commander dramatically boosted morale among American troops. Known for his aggressive, risk-taking approach, Halsey's leadership inspired confidence and hope, especially among those fighting in Guadalcanal. Halsey learned of the impending Japanese naval naval offensive through a combination of communications intelligence and reconnaissance reports.
Although the intelligence was not perfect, it indicated that the Japanese fleet was assembling a large force, including several aircraft carriers and battleships, to support their operations around Guadalcanal. Despite being outnumbered, Halsey chose to engage the Japanese fleet head on, seeking to strike the enemy before they could threaten the island. Halsey organized his forces into three groups. Task Force 16 with the Carrier Enterprise commanded by Rear Admiral Thomas Kincaid, Task Force 17 with the Carrier Hornet commanded by Rear Admiral George Murray, and Task Force 64 with battleships and cruisers.
Halsey planned to sweep north of the Santa Cruz Islands to intercept the approaching Japanese forces. The Japanese, under Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, stationed at Truk Lagoon, also aimed to draw allied forces into battle, amassing a powerful fleet to support their planned ground offensive. They learned of an impending American offensive through a broadcast that mentioned a major battle near the Solomons. Anticipating that Admiral Halsey would commit all forces to defending Guadalcanal, the Japanese prepared for a large-scale offensive to capture Henderson Field and destroy the American fleet.
Their fleet, the largest since Midway, totaled 61 ships, including four carriers and four battleships, divided into several groups. Part of the fleet now departed to link up with Yamamoto's vanguard. This vanguard group, which included the carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku, commanded by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, remained waiting in the waters north of Guadalcanal for further orders.
Nagumo feared that if Henderson Airfield was not captured soon, his ships would have to withdraw due to fuel shortages. The Japanese ground assault on Guadalcanal was delayed and when it finally began, it faltered against well-fortified marines. Miscommunication led the Japanese to believe Henderson Field had been captured, with an advance force moving ahead.
Led by Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo, this force was intended to draw the initial American airstrikes. The advance force, including two battleships, five cruisers, ten destroyers and a light carrier, was intercepted by American aircraft. After a heavy bombardment, the advance force was heavily damaged.
with the light cruiser Eura sinking. No matter their loss, the Japanese main fleet continued to seek out US naval forces. On October 25th, Japanese and US naval forces had closed to within 350 nautical miles of each other, too far away for an immediate strike. But Admiral Kincaid decided to launch a strike with 29 aircraft for reconnaissance, without much success. Upon their return, The Wildcats searched for the Enterprise for 80 miles in fading daylight.
After a gruelling three-and-a-half-hour flight at 17,000 feet, with depleted fuel and oxygen, they descended through clouds. An oil slick guided them to the carrier, but eight planes crashed or were ditched in darkness. The first reconnaissance flight was a failure.
As a full moon rose, illuminating the sea enough for nighttime searches, PBYs continued their patrols. At 3.10am, one spotted the darkened flight deck of the Zuikaku, but with no further confirmation of the enemy's exact position. Kincaid chose to delay the strike until dawn. The Americans were now fully aware of a Japanese force outnumbering them close by. At first light, the two fleets were about 200 miles apart.
The weather was relatively clear, with a 2,000-foot layer of scattered clouds above a smooth sea and a gentle northwest breeze. As rain squalls past, visibility remained adequate. At 6.50am, two dauntless dive bombers located the Japanese carriers Zuho, Shokaku and Zuikaku. Relaying the message, other SBD pilots adjusted their course.
40 minutes later, with limited fuel, two planes targeted Zuho, dropping bombs that created a 50-foot crater on its flight deck, disabling the carrier. The pilots returned to Enterprise with barely enough fuel to land, having successfully knocked Zuiho out of the battle. But it was a bit too early to celebrate. During their attack on the Zuiho, the pilots noticed that its flight deck had been empty, indicating that the carrier had already launched its air group. Indeed, Japanese search planes had located the Hornet and its accompanying ships.
In response, the Japanese carriers dispatched a 99-plane strike force. The American carriers Enterprise and Hornet launched their first strike 20 minutes after the Japanese carriers, sending a combined force of 73 aircraft. The majority of these planes came from the Hornet, while Enterprise contributed nine Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, three SBD Dauntless dive bombers armed with 1,000-pound bombs and an escort of eight Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters. As the main American strike group advanced toward their target, they encountered the advancing Japanese wave at 8.40am. The American planes were spread out and still gaining altitude.
They were caught off guard by nine Japanese Zero fighters from the Zuho. The Zeros, diving out of the sun, attacked the scattered American planes, focusing on the Avengers from Enterprise. They quickly shot down two Avengers and damaged two others, forcing them to turn back. The Zeros then downed two Wildcats and damaged another. Despite this, the The TBF gunners shot down three Zeros, with other Wildcats downing three more.
The surviving Zeros withdrew, leaving Nagumo's strike force with only 12 escorts. The US strike group continued, albeit flustered. At approximately 9.15am, the 1st Strike Group of 15 SBDs and 4 Wildcats, commanded by William Gus Vidhelm, spotted the Japanese carriers.
They were promptly intercepted by 14 Zeros from the combat... Air Patrol, which engaged in a dogfight with the escort Wildcats. The remaining SBDs pushed past the Zeros and reached Chukok, the nearest carrier.
From an altitude of 12,000 feet, could observe smoke billowing from the damaged flight deck of the nearby carrier Zuho. Eleven dive bombers then dove steeply and released their 1,000-pound bombs above Shokaku. Widhelm reported six bomb hits on the carrier, while other pilots reported four. Japanese accounts vary, estimating between three and six hits.
The damage left Shokaku's flight deck heavily damaged with smoking craters. The hangar deck below lay in ruins and all anti-aircraft batteries on the aft flight deck were rendered inoperative. Damage control teams sprang into action, deploying about a dozen fire hoses to combat the flames, which helped minimize further damage. Although Shokaku could not land her remaining aircraft, the carrier managed to maintain some speed despite suffering from near-misses that opened seams and caused flooding. Confused by misleading radio chatter, some of the surviving Enterprise Avengers, having lost altitude in their fight with the Zeros, reached the Chikuma instead of any of the carriers.
They attacked the heavy cruiser, inflicting serious damage, but failing to sink her. With smoke billowing from her deck, Chikuma was forced to retreat back to safety for extensive repairs. The strike was over, and although it wasn't a good start, the pilots felt they had given up.
given the Japanese a run for their money. By late morning, the Americans had neutralized two Japanese carriers, a significant achievement, though neither was destroyed outright. Unfortunately for them, these carriers had already dispatched over a hundred Japanese aircraft. which were closing in on the Hornet and Enterprise. Radar aboard the Enterprise detected the incoming strike at 9.05am, prompting the task force to increase speed for evasive manoeuvres.
The enemy planes were first spotted by the Combat Air Patrol at 9.59am, at an altitude of 17,000 feet and about 40 miles away. The Enterprise managed to evade the initial attack by taking cover in a rain squall, but the Hornet wasn't as lucky. Each task group commander had meticulously arranged his fleet to protect the valuable flight decks at the core, encircling them with battleships and cruisers, armed with anti-aircraft guns. These defensive ships were further shielded by a combat air... patrol of circling fighters ready to engage any enemy aircraft that managed to penetrate the dense anti-aircraft fire.
Hornet's Fighter Director attempted to position the 37 Wildcats of the air patrol to intercept the incoming strike, but they were at a disadvantage. Positioned too close to the task group, at an altitude of 22,000 feet and only 10 miles out, the fighters were out of place and unmanageable. unable to effectively shield Hornet from the impending attack. In a desperate bid to evade the incoming assault, Captain Charles P. Mason of the Hornet ordered a change of course and pushed the carrier's speed to 31 knots. The cruisers Pensacola and Northampton led the formation, with the light cruisers San Juan and Juno trailing on the carrier's flanks.
Six escorting destroyers scrambled to cover as much of the carrier's perimeter as possible. The Hornet's loudspeakers announced the imminent dive-bombing attack as a wave of Aichi Val dive-bombers descended. The anti-aircraft guns aboard Hornet and her escorts unleashed a ferocious barrage, filling the sky above the carrier with black clouds of smoke from exploding shells.
The first two Vals released their bombs from a relatively low altitude but both missed, their bombs detonating harmlessly off the starboard side near the carrier's island. The dive bombers that had released the bombs were swiftly brought down by the intense anti-aircraft fire, crashing into the sea. Hornet endured a devastating hit when a 550-pound bomb struck the middle of the flight deck. The bomb penetrated through the hangar deck and detonated in the space below.
Moments later, two additional bombs fell between the aft elevator and amid ships. One exploded on the third deck, while the other blasted a major hole in the flight deck, causing casualties among the crews of nearby anti-aircraft batteries. Shortly after, after, a Japanese squadron commander, piloting a crippled Val, deliberately crashed into Hornet's island.
This impact spread burning gasoline across the signal bridge. The attack lasted not even five minutes, but Hornet was ablaze with wounded and dying sailors everywhere. After the bombing raid, low-flying Nakajima torpedo planes approached from both sides.
Anti-aircraft fire from the South Dakota destroyed one of them. Two torpedoes struck the carrier's starboard side, lifting and shaking the vessel. The first tore into the engine room, creating a four-foot hole below the waterline, while the second detonated against the starboard quarter.
Thanks to the watertight compartments, this explosion caused less significant damage. The destroyer USS Smith was also heavily damaged by a crashing torpedo bomber. During the latter part of the assault, Hornet faced a second suicide attack.
attack. A Nikijima approached from the rear, crashing just below the forward port gun gallery and coming to rest at the base of the forward elevator pit. The explosion incapacitated Hornet's forward elevator. Within 10 minutes, the assault had ended. The sudden silence that followed the relentless barrage felt surreal to the crew after the continuous noise and chaos.
Hornet, now severely damaged, was left on fire and dead in the water, listing 8 degrees to starboard. Power failure rendered the fire pumps inoperative, leaving the crew with hand pumps and fire extinguishers to combat the spreading flames. The fierce aerial combat resulted in losses on both sides, with 25 Japanese and 6 American aircraft destroyed.
Under Commander Edward P. Crean, damage control teams worked diligently to stabilize the ship and control the fires. After the first wave of attacks on the the Hornet, the Enterprise managed to stand in and land damaged aircraft. But then, as the attack had been ongoing for 30 minutes, Enterprise's radar detected a second wave of enemy dive bombers.
With Hornet dead in the water, the Japanese redirected their attacks towards the Enterprise. Its crew put up a strong defensive line. yet the Aichis hit the carrier with three bombs, causing severe damage and impacting the ship's operational capacity.
The Japanese air group suffered significant losses from both anti-aircraft fire and fighter resistance. distance, with 38 of the 53 attacking aircraft being destroyed. This included 16 out of 20 Nakajimas, 17 of 21 Vals and 5 of 12 Zeros.
Some of the American screening aircraft, unable to land on the burning deck, had to be ditched in the ocean. One such aircraft, a damaged TBF Avenger from the Enterprise, crashed near the destroyer porter. While the porter was rescuing the TBF's crew, the destroyer was struck by a torpedo.
Possibly from a Japanese submarine or the ditched aircraft itself. The impact caused heavy damage and killed 15 crew members. Unable to save the ship, the task force commander ordered the porter to be scuttled, and the crew was rescued by the destroyer Shaw, which then sank the porter with gunfire. The Enterprise continued to operate amid heavy damage. managing to recover returning planes, even while executing sharp maneuvers.
A second explosion jammed her forward elevator, reducing plane handling capability by 50%. Damage control teams can contained fires and patched breaches. But the hangar was heavily damaged, filled with debris and wreckage.
After over two and a half hours of attack, 15 Japanese Kate torpedo planes launched an anvil attack on the Enterprise. The ship's anti-aircraft guns shot down one formation as the captain skillfully evaded torpedoes from the remaining planes. The Japanese continued their assault, hitting the battleship South Dakota, and the light cruiser San Juan.
At 12.20pm, the Enterprise sought cover in a rain squall. With the Enterprise and the crippled Hornet in critical condition, Admiral Kincaid ordered a retreat, leaving only the Hornet and some escorts behind. The Hornet, heavily damaged and listing, was towed by the cruiser Northampton. After another torpedo hit at 6.15pm, causing a fuel oil geyser and severe listing.
The ship was abandoned. Most crew members escaped via knotted lines or by swimming from the hangar deck. The destroyers Mustin and Anderson were tasked with scuttling the ship.
Sinking an aircraft carrier proved challenging, even one as heavily damaged as the Hornet. The destroyers launched at least 16 torpedoes, nine of which detonated. and followed up with hundreds of rounds of 5-inch ammunition and anti-aircraft fire.
Although these efforts set the ship ablaze, they also caused the port side to flood, allowing the Hornet to return to an even keel, though still lower in the air. the water. With the destroyers called away to avoid a morning air attack, Japanese destroyers Makigumo and Akigumo delivered the final blow.
At 1.25am on October 27th, they fired four torpedoes into the stricken carrier, sending her beneath the waves and concluding her tragic journey into the abyss. The US forces, retreating under the threat of further Japanese attacks, suffered several air attacks during their withdrawal. In total, The United States lost 266 sailors with the Hornet and Porter sunk and the Enterprise, the battleship South Dakota, the light cruiser San Juan and two destroyers damaged. Additionally, 81 aircraft were destroyed and 26 pilots and aircrew members were killed.
The Japanese endured heavy casualties with 400 to 500 sailors killed and losing 148 experienced pilots and aircrew members. Especially these pilot losses would have to do with the loss of a few of the They hamper their strategy in the Pacific for the remainder of the war. They lost 99 aircraft and saw one fleet carrier, Shokaku, and one light carrier, Zuho, heavily damaged along with a heavy cruiser and a destroyer sustaining damage.
The Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, the fourth major carrier battle of the war, was a tactical victory for Japan, but it came at a high strategic cost. The Japanese claimed to have sunk three American carriers and other ships, but in reality they sank the Hornet and the destroyer Porter. The Enterprise was damaged but remained operational. The battle significantly weakened the Japanese Navy, particularly in terms of experienced aircrew. The loss of skilled aviators and damaged carriers left Japan with only one active carrier, Junyo, to challenge Allied forces in the Pacific.
The US, despite losing Hornet, retained the Enterprise and Saratoga, which continued to play crucial roles in the Pacific theatre. The battle ended with both sides retreating. The heavily damaged Enterprise was repaired and returned to action quickly, while Japanese carriers Shokaku and Junyo required extensive repairs.
Over four carrier battles, Japan had lost over 400 carrier airmen, severely depleting their strength. But the Guadalcanal campaign was far from over. Thank you very much for watching this video. Please leave a like, it really helps out the channel. If there is a topic, battle, or person you would like to know more about, let me know your thoughts in a comment.
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