Battle Of Guadalcanal

History -- Military history -- List of battles -- World War II

The invasion of Guadalcanal, Operation Watchtower, by sixteen thousand United States troops began on 7 August, 1942 and was the first American offensive of the war. Additional amphibious attacks simultaneously assaulted the islands of Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu and Tanambogo.

Initially, only unarmed Japanese construction and support personnel occupied Guadalcanal itself, allowing the Americans to come ashore almost unhindered. But Japanese reinforcements arrived on the island from Rabaul to destroy the Americans (Operation Ka-Go).

These convoys and the land battle on Guadalcanal became magnets for naval activity on both sides. This resulted in seven naval battles:

Savo Island on 9 August
Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August
Battle of Cape Esperance on 11 & 12 October
Battle of Santa Cruz Island on 26 & 27 October
First Battle of Guadalcanal on 11 & 12 November
Second Battle of Guadalcanal on 14 November & 15 November; and finally:
Battle of Tassafaronga on 30 November).

These naval battles did not produce a victor, but the Japanese were unable to replace their losses.

The land battle hinged around the airfield which the Americans named Henderson Field, a muddy airstrip hanging onto the edge of the island, and considered "an unsinkable aircraft carrier". The Japanese suffered 24,000 casualties, the Americans 6,000.

Extreme desperation characterized the ground fighting; only three of the defenders surrendered. American authorities declared Guadalcanal secure on 9 February, 1943, after more than six months of combat.

See Operation Ke, and Operation Shoestring.

Historical Significance

Strategic Appraisal

Aftermath

Commercial Usage: Battle Of Guadalcanal

Photo Album: Battle Of Guadalcanal

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Is presented with the Navy Cross by Admiral William F. Halsey, during ceremonies on board a U.S. Navy warship in the South Pacific, circa January 1943. RAdm. Lee received the decoration in recognition of his achievements during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 14-15 November 1942. Credit: NAVY.		Captain Lyman K. Swenson (left), ship's Commanding Officer, receives the congratulations of Rear Admiral Adolphus Andrews, Commander, Third Naval District, at Juneau's commissioning ceremonies. Photographed at the New York Navy Yard, 14 February 1942. Captain Swenson was lost with his ship following the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942. Credit: NAVY.
	USS South Dakota (BB-57) and two destroyers alongside USS Prometheus (AR-3) for repairs, probably at Noumea, New Caledonia, in November 1942. The inboard destroyer, with the distorted bow, is probably USS Mahan (DD-364), which was damaged in a collision with South Dakota at the close of the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 27 October 1942. South Dakota received damage in both that battle and in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 15 November 1942. The other destroyer may be USS Lamson (DD-367). Credit: NAVY.		Poster featuring Mess Attendant Harmon and USS Harmon (DE-678), which was named in his honor. He was killed in action on board USS San Francisco (CA-38) during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942. For his heroism in that action, Mess Attendant Harmon was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. The poster also features the text of his award citation and a representation of the Navy Cross medal. Credit: NAVY.
	In the Cockatoo Drydock, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, circa late 1942, while under repair for torpedo damage received in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942. Note the arrangement of gun directors on her forward superstructure: main battery director atop the foremast, with FC fire control radar; and a secondary battery director, with FD fire control radar, on each bridge wing. Also note this ship's external degaussing cables, mounted on her hull sides. Credit: NAVY.		At Pearl Harbor, with her crew manning the rails in "Whites", 4 December 1942. She was en route to the west coast for repair of damage received during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, on 12-13 November 1942. Credit: NAVY.
	At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, for battle damage repairs, 14 December 1942. Circles mark the location of some of the shell hits she received on 13 November 1942, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Credit: NAVY.		Oil on canvas, 28" x 26", by McClelland Barclay, USNR (1891-1943). Painting signed and dated by the artist, 1942. It includes a depiction of the Medal of Honor, which was posthumously awarded to Rear Admiral Scott for "extraordinary heroism and conspicuous intrepidity" during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942. Credit: NAVY.
	Halftone reproduction of a 1942 photograph, published in "Medal of Honor, 1861-1945, The Navy", page 257. Rear Admiral Scott was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for "extraordinary heroism and conspicuous intrepidity" during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942. Credit: NAVY.		On board USS Juneau (CL-52) at the time of her commissioning ceremonies at the New York Navy Yard, 14 February 1942. All were lost with the ship following the 13 November 1942 Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The brothers are (from left to right): Joseph, Francis, Albert, Madison and George Sullivan. Credit: NAVY.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Battle Of Guadalcanal

Alternative Orthography: Battle Of Guadalcanal

Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

42 61 74 74 6C 65 4F 66 47 75 61 64 61 6C 63 61 6E 61 6C

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01000010 01100001 01110100 01110100 01101100 01100101 00100000 01001111 01100110 00100000 01000111 01110101 01100001 01100100 01100001 01101100 01100011 01100001 01101110 01100001 01101100

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#66 &#97 &#116 &#116 &#108 &#101 &#32 &#79 &#102 &#32 &#71 &#117 &#97 &#100 &#97 &#108 &#99 &#97 &#110 &#97 &#108

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0042 0061 0074 0074 006C 0065 004F 0066 0047 0075 0061 0064 0061 006C 0063 0061 006E 0061 006C

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

Domain	Title
Books	Challenge for the Pacific: The Bloody Six-Month Battle of Guadalcanal (reference) Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Nov. 13-15, 1942 (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Expression	Frequency per Day
battle of guadalcanal	31
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Battle Of Guadalcanal

Definition: Battle Of Guadalcanal