The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, TheBattle of Friday the 13th, The Night of the Big Guns, or, in Japanese sources, the Third Battle of the Solomon Sea, took place from 12 to 15 November 1942 and was the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles between Allied and Imperial Japanese forces during the months-long Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands during World War II. The action consisted of combined air and sea engagements over four days, most near Guadalcanal and all related to a Japanese effort to reinforce land forces on the island. The only two U.S. Navy admirals to be killed in a surface engagement in the war were lost in this battle.
Gunichi Mikawa was a vice-admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Mikawa was the commander of a heavy cruiser force that defeated the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Navy at the Battle of Savo Island in Ironbottom Sound on the night of 8–9 August 1942.
This is the order of battle for the Battle of Midway, a major engagement of the Pacific Theatre of World War II, fought 4–7 June 1942 by naval and air forces of Imperial Japan and the United States in the waters around Midway Atoll in the far northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
The Battle of Cape Esperance, also known as the Second Battle of Savo Island and in Japanese sources as the Sea Battle of Savo Island (サボ島沖海戦), took place on 11–12 October 1942, in the Pacific campaign of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and United States Navy. The naval battle was the second of four major surface engagements during the Guadalcanal campaign and took place at the entrance to the strait between Savo Island and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Cape Esperance (9°15′S159°42′E) is the northernmost point on Guadalcanal, and the battle took its name from this point.
Amagiri was the 15th of 24 Fubuki-class destroyers, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. When introduced into service, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, and remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War. She is most famous for ramming the PT-109 commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, who would later become the 35th President of the United States.
Raizō Tanaka was a rear admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during most of World War II. A specialist in the heavy torpedoes that were carried by all the destroyers and cruisers of the IJN, Tanaka mainly commanded destroyer squadrons, with a cruiser or two attached, and he was the primary leader of the "Tokyo Express" reinforcement and resupply shipments during the long campaign for the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands of the South Pacific Ocean. From the Americans, Tanaka acquired the nickname of "Tenacious Tanaka" for his stalwart opposition.
Fubuki was the lead ship of twenty-four Fubuki-class destroyers, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. When introduced into service, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, and remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War. Fubuki was a veteran of many of the major battles of the first year of the war, and was sunk in Ironbottom Sound during the Battle of Cape Esperance in World War II.
Tenryū was the lead ship in the two-ship Tenryū class of light cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Tenryū was named after the Tenryū River in Nagano and Shizuoka prefectures.
Shikinami was the 12th of 24 Fubuki-class destroyers, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. When introduced into service, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, and remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War.
Ayanami was the eleventh of twenty-four Fubuki-class destroyers, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. When commissioned, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, and remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War.
Uranami was the tenth of twenty-four Fubuki-class destroyers, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. When introduced into service, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, and remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War.
Tameichi Hara was an Imperial Japanese naval commander during the Pacific War and the author of the IJN manual on torpedo attack techniques, notable for his skill in torpedo warfare and night fighting. Hara was the only IJN destroyer captain at the start of World War II to survive the entire war and his memoirs serve as an important source for historians.
Nagara (長良) was the lead ship of her class of light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after the Nagara River in the Chūbu region of Japan.
Inazuma was the twenty-fourth Fubuki-class destroyers, or the fourth of the Akatsuki class, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the inter-war period. When introduced into service, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War.
Akatsuki was the twenty-first Fubuki-class destroyer, or the lead ship of the Akatsuki class, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the inter-war period. When introduced into service, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War.
Kawakaze was the ninth of ten Shiratsuyu-class destroyers, and the third to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy under the Circle Two Program.
Shirayuki was the second of twenty-four Fubuki-class destroyers, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. When introduced into service, these ships were the most powerful destroyers in the world. They served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, and remained formidable weapons systems well into the Pacific War. Shirayuki was sunk in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea on 3 March 1943 while under attack by American and Australian aircraft.
Uzuki was one of twelve Mutsuki-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1920s. During the Pacific War, she participated in the Battle of Wake Island in December 1941 and the occupations of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in early 1942.
On 7 August 1942, US and Australian naval forces undertook the invasion of the Japanese-held islands of Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the lower Solomon Islands chain, the first Allied offensive in the Pacific Theatre. The landing of the US 1st Marine Division on the beaches of Savo Sound began the unexpectedly long and extremely arduous Guadalcanal Campaign, lasting officially until 9 February 1943.
