Santa Cruz Islands order of battle

IJ Combined Fleet and
US Pacific Fleet Commanders

Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto (HQ at Tokyo)

Adm. Chester W. Nimitz (HQ at Pearl Harbor)

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

Japanese forces

Combat ships: 2 fleet carriers, 2 light carriers, 4 old 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

Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo

Main body (Vice Admiral Kondo in Atago)

Cruiser Division 4

2 heavy cruisers: Atago, Takao

Cruiser Division 5 (Rear Admiral Sentaro Omori in Myoko)

2 heavy cruisers: Myoko, Maya

Destroyer Squadron 2 (Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka in Isuzu)

1 light cruiser: Isuzu

6 destroyers: Makinami, Kawakaze, Suzukaze, Naganami, Takanami

Carrier group (Rear Admiral Kakuji Kakuta in Jun'yō)

Carrier Division 2

1 light carrier: Jun'yō

20 Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" fighters (Lt. Yoshio Shiga)

18 Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers (Lt. Masao Yamaguchi†)

7 Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers (Lt. Yoshiaki Irikiin†)

Screen

2 destroyers: Kuroshio, Hayashio

Support group (Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita in Kongo)

Battleship Division 3

2 old battleships: Kongo, Haruna

Screen

2 destroyers: Oyashio, Kagerō

Carrier striking force

Fleet carrier Zuikaku

Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo

Carrier group (Vice Admiral Nagumo)

2 fleet carriers

Shōkaku

22 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

21 Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" fighters (Lt. Ayao Shirane)

24 Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers (Lt. Sadamu Takahashi)

20 Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers (Lt. Shigeichiro Imajuku†)

1 light carrier

Zuihō

19 Mitsubishi A6M "Zeke" fighters (Lt. Masao Satō)

6 Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers (Lt(jg). Ichiro Tanaka)

Screen

1 heavy cruiser: Kumano

8 destroyers: Hatsukaze, Yukikaze, Maikaze, Hamakaze, Amatsukaze, Tokitsukaze, Arashi, Teruzuki

Vanguard group

(Rear Admiral Hiroaki Abe in Hiei)

Battleship division

2 old battleships: Hiei, Kirishima

Cruiser Division 7 (Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura)

1 heavy cruiser: Suzuya

Cruiser Division 8 (Rear Admiral Chūichi Hara in Tone)

2 heavy cruisers: Tone, Chikuma

Destroyer Squadron 10 (Rear Admiral Susumu Kimura)

1 light cruiser: Nagara

7 destroyers: Makigumo, Akigumo, Urakaze, Kazagumo, Yūgumo, Tanikaze, Isokaze

American order of battle

Task Force 61

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†)

Screen

Battleship
- South Dakota

Cruiser Division 4 (Rear Admiral Mahlon S. Tisdale)
- 1 heavy cruiser: Portland (Tisdale's flagship)
- 1 light cruiser: San Juan

Destroyer Squadron 5 (Capt. Charles L. Cecil)
- 2 destroyers: Porter, Mahan

Destroyer Division 10 (Cmdr. Thomas M. Stokes)
- 6 destroyers: Cushing, Preston, Smith, Maury, Conyngham, Shaw

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.)

Screen

Cruiser Division 5 (Rear Admiral Howard H. Good)
- 2 heavy cruisers: Northampton (Good's flagship), Pensacola
- 2 light cruisers: San Diego, Juneau

Destroyer Squadron 2 (Cmdr. Arnold E. True)
- 4 destroyers: Morris, Anderson, Hughes, Mustin

References

Notes

References

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.