It was October of 1942, and the Guadalcanal campaign in the Pacific Theater had devolved
into a brutal deadlock. Both the Japanese and the US forces could not push their adversaries
off the region, and each side kept pouring more men and equipment into the lethal stalemate.
After Japan took USS Enterprise out of action weeks prior,
the US lost naval superiority in the region. However,
the Americans still had air superiority thanks to the capture of Henderson Field.
Everything boiled down to that airbase; if the Japanese could recapture it,
they would be able to overwhelm the US forces by air as well as by sea.
As such, holding Henderson Field was the most crucial objective of the US Navy and the Marines.
Soon, Japan moved its superior fleets to the Santa Cruz Islands, hoping to lure the US warships
out once and for all. But despite being vastly outnumbered and having only two aircraft carriers,
the US fleet steamed ahead, knowing they had to protect the US airfield at any cost.
A massive clash ensued, one of the first and most violent carrier battles of the entire war…
Deadlock
By October of 1942, the campaign in Guadalcanal was in a stalemate.
Although the US had successfully invaded the region, captured the airfield at Lunga Point,
and renamed it Henderson Field, the Japanese naval and ground presence was alarmingly significant.
After rehabilitating the airfield, the Allies gained air supremacy over
the region despite having fewer aircraft carriers in the area compared to the enemy.
Still, the Imperial Japanese Navy could operate almost without restrictions when
US warplanes became ineffective for combat during the night.
This led to a gruesome war of attrition, with US forces being supplied by air during the day
and Japanese troops receiving resources by sea during the night in what would be known
as the Tokyo Express. Both factions could do very little to disrupt the others’ supplies.
The strategy for the Imperial Japanese Navy called to recapture Henderson Field,
but they attempted several assaults and were repelled each time.
However, when the Imperial forces severely damaged the USS Enterprise carrier and left
the US Navy with only one operational carrier in the region, they saw an opportunity.
From October 20 to 25, the Japanese launched a large-scale offensive to recapture the airfield,
with the Imperial Navy mistakenly assuming that the airbase had been captured and
swiftly moving into position to help the troops hold the prized location.
However, the attack was soon neutralized by the US Marines,
and when the Japanese realized the land troops had been defeated,
the Imperial fleets decided to stick around and try to lure the weakened US warships into battle;
destroying them would make the recapture of the Guadalcanal airfield much more manageable.
The Return of USS Enterprise
USS Enterprise had barely escaped total destruction during the Battle
of the Eastern Solomons, and it was evident that it would take
several months for the carrier to return to the South Pacific.
Still, US Navy authorities ordered an expedited repair process after realizing
she was desperately needed in the Guadalcanal campaign.
Repairs were finished in record time, approximately one month, and Enterprise was soon
sailing back with Air Group 10, the so-called “Grim Reapers” commanded by James H. Flatley.
Enterprise was instructed to rendezvous with USS Hornet, the other American carrier operating in
Guadalcanal. Once in position, the carriers assembled into two task forces making up a
total of two fleet carriers, one battleship, three heavy cruisers, three light cruisers,
12 destroyers, and 136 aircraft. The fleet then moved towards Santa Cruz
Islands on October 25 under the overall command of Rear Admiral Thomas Kinkaid.
Meanwhile, now knowing that Enterprise was back in action,
the Japanese were also ordered to approach the Santa Cruz Islands,
eager to lure the US warships and eliminate them before they could be reinforced.
The Japanese fleet was divided into three groups with a total of two fleet carriers,
two light carriers, four battleships, eight heavy cruisers, two light cruisers,
24 destroyers, and 199 aircraft.
After almost being destroyed once,
USS Enterprise was about to face her most challenging confrontation yet…
Seaborne Encounter
The Americans were the first to spot the opposing force when PBY Catalina located
the main Japanese force on October 25 at 11:00pm. Kinkaid knew they were outnumbered,
but he was confident they could take advantage of the element of surprise.
The US carriers immediately launched a strike force of 23 aircraft to deliver an initial attack.
However, the Japanese were cautious and knew they had been spotted,
but they had no idea where the US carriers were located. As such, they decided to move
north at top speed, keeping their ships away from the American carriers’ range.
Soon after, the 23 American warplanes returned to their carriers, having made no contact.
The opposing fleets finally located each other the following day.
The US forces spotted the enemy first, but a communication mishap
gave a 20-minute advantage to the Japanese strike force, which was launched quicker.
21 Aichi D3A2 dive bombers, 20 Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bombers, 21 A6M3 Zero fighters, and
two Nakajima B5N2 then rushed towards USS Hornet. Meanwhile, only two American SBD-3 Dauntless scout
aircraft had approached the enemy’s location. Still, they managed to engage the Zuihō carrier,
dropping 500-pound bombs and preventing the crew from using her flight deck.
By 8:00am, both sides were launching one strike group after another.
And 40 minutes later, the opposing aircraft formations passed within sight of each other.
Lieutenant Zuihō’s Zeros surprised and attacked the Grim Reapers as they climbed,
blinded by the sun. A series of dogfights then ensued, and four Zeros, three Wildcats, and two
US TBFs were destroyed, with another two TBFs and a Wildcat forced to withdraw with severe damage.
End of Hornet
As the battle continued and chaos reigned, one of the Japanese strike forces located
the USS Hornet Task Group. Three minutes later, the US ships detected the incoming
Japanese attackers and immediately deployed 37 Wildcats. However, a series of communication
errors and flawed control procedures led to an unsuccessful engagement.
The disastrous error resulted in 20 Japanese torpedo warplanes and 16 dive bombers approaching
Hornet unopposed. Moreover, at 9:12am, a dive bomber delivered its 250-kilogram
semi-armor-piercing bomb right into Hornet’s flight deck, taking the lives of 60 men.
Seconds later, a 242-kilogram high explosive “land” bomb struck the flight deck,
detonating and carving an 11-foot hole while taking another 30 sailors with it.
A third warhead then hit Hornet near where the first bomb hit,
piercing three decks before exploding and causing even further damage to the already ravaged ship.
As Hornet and her escorts unleashed all of their anti-aircraft fire on the attackers,
they were unable to prevent some of them from slipping in.
At 9:14am, a Japanese dive bomber was set on fire by Hornet’s anti-aircraft guns,
but the pilot decided to crash his plane into the carrier, causing severe damage.
A minute later, Japanese torpedo bombers pierced the perimeter and placed two torpedoes in Hornet’s
side, knocking out her engines. As the carrier stopped, another Japanese dive bomber crashed
his plane into Hornet and spread large amounts of aviation fuel, causing another massive fire.
In the end, 25 Japanese aircraft were destroyed during the attack,
and the surviving ones soon flew back to their carriers.
Meanwhile, significant firefighting efforts were put into action,
and the fires in the ship were under control by 10:00am. Still, the carrier was dead in the water.
The load of the entire battle now rested on the shoulders of USS Enterprise.
Enterprise vs. Japan
With no more friendly carriers nearby,
USS Enterprise now faced the might of the Imperial Japanese forces by herself.
She had many escorts by her side, but the help they could bring was limited.
The situation was critical; the carrier’s flight deck was packed, there were still
tens of American planes in the air, and another Japanese strike group was inbound.
Moreover, as they began to run out of fuel, the pilots started to ditch their warplanes
in the ocean, and the fleet’s escorts scrambled to pull them out from the sea.
At 10:10am, a Japanese strike group arrived on the scene. The crew aboard Enterprise quickly
unleashed more anti-aircraft fire, taking several Japanese warplanes out of the sky.
A few minutes later, another strike group descended from the clouds, this one led
by Lieutenant Keiichi Arima. Two 250-kilogram semi-armor-piercing bombs then found their target,
punching two holes in the carrier’s deck and severely damaging the forward elevator. Still,
the Japanese didn’t go out unscathed, losing 10 out of the 19 warplanes from the strike group.
Before the crew could catch its breath, 16 Zuikaku torpedo planes arrived and split up
to attack Enterprise. Several Zuikakus were taken out of the sky by anti-aircraft fire,
but the ones that survived assaulted Enterprise, South Dakota, and the cruiser Portland.
The US ships continually executed aggressive evasive maneuvers, masterfully dodging the
incoming torpedoes. Enterprise stood out among them, as she used sharp turns to
avoid nine torpedoes while the crew stared in disbelief at the torpedo wakes passing them by.
Nine out of the 16 torpedo planes were destroyed.
End Game
The situation grew more dire as more US planes made their way back to the fleet with no place
to land. Enterprise then reopened her flight deck to start landing aircraft,
but another Japanese strike group soon appeared on the horizon.
At 11:21am, the Jun’yō carrier aircraft dove for an attack on
the already damaged Enterprise, but the enemy didn’t land any direct hits.
Still, an immediate impact caused additional damage to the carrier’s systems.
After the last attack, with Hornet out of action, Enterprise heavily damaged, and
the Japanese presumed to have one or two unharmed carriers in the area, Kinkaid decided to withdraw.
As Enterprise managed to recover 57 of the 73 US aircraft still in the sky,
Hornet was partially repaired on the spot.
The light cruiser USS Northampton helped tow her away from the battle, but a sudden
Japanese attack landed one more torpedo on the doomed carrier, undoing all the repairs.
The crew was soon ordered to abandon the ship, and Japanese strike groups continued to drop
bombs on top of her. As reports of Japanese ships drawing close to the disabled carrier
arrived, the USS Mustin and Anderson destroyers were ordered to scuttle her.
However, the Japanese destroyers Makigumo and
Akigumo torpedoed Hornet until she finally dropped.
Aftermath
It all seemed to point towards an overwhelming Japanese victory, but as Japanese officers
awaited the return of their pilots, the cost of their attacks began to dawn on them.
Lieutenant Commander Masatake Okumiya, Jun’yō’s air staff officer, later talked about the moment
they realized the losses they had endured: (QUOTE) “We searched the sky with apprehension. There were
only a few planes in the air in comparison with the numbers launched several hours before...
The planes lurched and staggered onto the deck, every single fighter and bomber bullet
holed ... As the pilots climbed wearily from their cramped cockpits, they told
of unbelievable opposition, of skies choked with anti-aircraft shell bursts and tracers.”
Tactically, the battle had been a victory for Japan, with their forces destroying one of the
only two US carriers in the region and damaging the other. Nevertheless, the event was a strategic
defeat for the Japanese forces, losing half of their seaborne aircraft and 148 pilots.
Some of them were among the most skilled airmen in Japanese military service.
Meanwhile, the US, having lost only 26 pilots,
was now in a much better position to claim air supremacy over Guadalcanal.
In addition, the US did not sink any Japanese carriers but managed to damage two of them.
Enterprise was hastily patched up and returned to service as the damaged ship was now the only
thing that stood between the Jun’yō and Zuikaku carriers and their fleets. The scene was soon
depicted by a sign on the Enterprise’s deck that read: “Enterprise vs Japan.”
Japan soon recalled Zuikaku, leaving the Guadalcanal campaign in a stalemate again…
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