Santa Cruz 1942: Carrier duel in the South Pacific

160 Pages·2012·12.67 MB·English

by  Mark Stille

CAMPAIGN • 247
SANTA CRUZ 1942
Carrier duel in the South Pacific
MARK STILLE ILLUSTRATED BY HOWARD GERRARD
Series editor Marcus Cowper
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHRONOLOGY
OPPOSING COMMANDERS
The United States Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy
OPPOSING FLEETS
The United States Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy • Orders of battle
OPPOSING PLANS
The US plan The Japanese plan
THE CAMPAIGN
The battle of the Eastern Solomons The battle of Santa Cruz The carriers clash
The Japanese respond The Americans attack The Japanese attack Analysis of the battle
AFTERMATH
BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION
The United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) fought five carrier
battles during the course of the Pacific War. Three of these are well known – the
first clash ever between carriers in the Coral Sea in May 1942, the dramatic and
supposedly decisive battle of Midway in the following month, and the largest
ever carrier battle between a total of 24 carriers fought in June 1944 in the
Philippine Sea. The two other carrier battles are not as well known since they
were part of the larger Guadalcanal campaign and were not as dramatic or
decisive. This was certainly the case for the battle of the Eastern Solomons in
which five carriers (three Japanese and two American) fought to a draw in
August 1942. However, two months later, in one of the most important battles of
the Guadalcanal campaign, two American carriers took on four Japanese carriers
in a battle to decide command of the seas around Guadalcanal. This was the
battle of Santa Cruz, the third-largest carrier battle of the war. It was also a
Japanese victory, but a victory gained at great cost and one that the Japanese
were unable to follow up. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that, four months after
Midway when the Japanese carrier force was supposedly smashed, it was able to
defeat its American adversary.