NAVAL BATTLE of GUADALCANAL Nov. 12-15 1942

NAVAL BATTLE of GUADALCANAL
( Nov. 12-15 1942 )

American Units and Participants

COMSOPAC: Noumea, New Caledonia, Adm. William Halsey, Commander in Chief

TASK FORCE 67 RAdm Richmond Kelly Turner



Task Group 67.1
    Transport Division 67.1  (Capt. Ingolf N. Kiland)
        AP-10    McCAWLEY
        AP-40    CRESCENT CITY
        AP-38    PRESIDENT ADAMS
        AP-37    PRESIDENT JACKSON
Task Group 67.4  (Radm Daniel J. Callaghan)
        CA-38    SAN FRANCISCO  
    Cruiser Division 4
        CA-24    PENSACOLA*     
        CA-33    PORTLAND
        CL-50    HELENA
        CL-52    JUNEAU
        DD-599   BARTON  
        DD-436   MONSSEN  
    Destroyer Division 10  (Cdr Thomas M. Stokes)
        DD-376   CUSHING  Added 06/08/2020
        DD-459   LAFFEY 
        DD-407   STERETT
        DD-450   O'BANNON
        DD-373   SHAW  
        DD-433   GWIN*     
        DD-379   PRESTON*  Added 06/08/2020
        DD-484   BUCHANAN  
                
            *Detached November 12 to join Task Force 16


Task Group 62.4  (Radm Norman Scott)
        CL-51    ATLANTA  Added 06/05/2020
    Destroyer Division 12
        DD-483   AARON WARD
        DD-445   FLETCHER
        DD-487   LARDNER
        DD-488   McCALLA    
    Attack Cargo Ships
        AKA-53   LIBRA
        AKA-28   BETELGEUSE
        AP-9     ZEILIN

TASK FORCE 16 RAdm Thomas C. Kinkaid



        CV-6      ENTERPRISE     
           Air Group 10
              VF-10
              VB-10
              VS-10
              VT-10

    Cruiser Division 5  (Radm Howard H. Good)
        CA-26    NORTHAMPTON  Added 06/07/2020
        CL-53    SAN DIEGO
    Destroyer Squadron 2  (Capt. Harold R. Holcomb)
        DD-361  CLARK
        DD-411  ANDERSON
        DD-410  HUGHES
    Destroyer Division 4  (Cdr Arnold E. True)
        DD-417  MORRIS
        DD-413  MUSTIN
        DD-414  RUSSELL  Added 07/06/2020

TASK FORCE 64 RAdm Willis A. Lee


    Battleship Division 6
        BB-56   WASHINGTON
        BB-57   SOUTH DAKOTA
    Destroyer Screen
        DD-416  WALKE  Added 08/08/2020
        DD-397  BENHAM  Added 06/08/2020

TASK FORCE 63 RAdm Aubery W. Fitch



    Cactus Air Force  (Bgen Louis E. Woods)
        VT-8
        67th Pursuit Squadron
        339th Fighter Squadron
        11th Heavy Bomb Group
    Marine Air Group 14  (LtCol Albert D. Cooley)
        VMF-112
        VMF-121
        VMF-122
        VMSB-131
        VMSB-132
        VMSB-141
        VMSB-142
        VMF-212
        VMO-251
    Marine Air Group 25  (LtCol Pelly K. Smith)
        VMJ-152
        VMJ-253

Japanese Units and Participants

Combined fleet Adm Isoroku Yamamoto (at Turk)

Advance Force (VAdm Nobutake Kondo in Atago)



Raiding Group  (VAdm Hiroaki Abe)
    Battleship Division 11
        (BB)  HIEI
        (BB)  KIRISHIMA
    Destroyer Squadron 10  (RAdm Susumu Kimura)
        (CL)  NAGARA
        (DD)  AKATSUKI
        (DD)  AMATSUKAZE
        (DD)  IKAZUCHI
        (DD)  INAZUMA
        (DD)  TERUZUKI
        (DD)  YUKIKAZE
Sweeping Unit  (RAdm Tamotsu Takama)
    Destroyer Squadron 4
        (DD)  ASAGUMO
        (DD)  HARUSAME
        (DD)  MURASAME
        (DD)  SAMIDARE
        (DD)  YUDACHI
Patrol Unit  (Capt Yasuhide Setoyama)
    Destroyer Division 27
        (DD)  SHIGURE
        (DD)  SHIRATSUYU

Main Body (VAdm Nobutake Kondo)



Bombardment Unit
        (CA)  ATAGO
        (CA)  TAKAO
Sweeping Unit  (RAdm Shintaro Hashimoto)
    Destroyer Squadron 3
        (CL)  SENDAI
        (DD)  AYANAMI
        (DD)  SHIKINAMI
        (DD)  URANAMI

Carrier Support Group (VAdm Takeo Kurita)



Supporting Unit
    Battleship Division 6
        (BB)  KONGO
        (BB)  HARUNA
        (CA)  TONE
Air Striking Unit  (RAdm Kakuji Kakuta)
    Carrier Division 2
        (CV)  JUNYO
        (CVL)  HIYO
Screening Unit
        4-8 destroyers

Outer Seas Forces (VAdm Gunichi Mikawa CinC 8th Fleet)


Support Group  (VAdm Gunichi Mikawa)

Main Unit
        (CA)  CHOKAI
        (CA)  KINUGASA
        (CL)  ISUZU
        (DD)  ARASHIO
        (DD)  ASASHIO
Bombardment Unit  (RAdm Shoji Nishimura)
        (CA)  SUZUYA
        (CA)  MAYA
        (CL)  TENRYU
        (DD)  KAZAGUMO
        (DD)  MAKIGUMO
        (DD)  MICHISHIO
        (DD)  YUGUMO

Reinforcement Group (RAdm Raizo Tanaka)


Escort Unit
    Destroyer Squadron 2
        (DD)  HAYASHIO
        (DD)  AMAGIRI
        (DD)  KAGERO
        (DD)  KAWAKAZE
        (DD)  MAKINAMI
        (DD)  MOCHIZUKI
        (DD)  NAGANAMI
        (DD)  OYASHIO
        (DD)  SUZUKAZE
        (DD)  TAKANAMI
        (DD)  UMIKAZE
Transport Unit
        ARIZONA MARU
        BRISBANE MARU
        CANBERRA MARU
        HIROKAWA MARU
        KINUGAWA MARU
        KUMAGAWA MARU
        NAKO MARU
        NIAGARA MARU
        SADO MARU
        SHINANOGAWA MARU
        YAMAURA MARU
        YAMATSUKI MARU

Land-Based Aircraft (VAdm Jinichi Kusaka)


    11th Air Fleet (at Rabaul)
        25th Air Flotilla
        26th Air Flotilla

Advance Expeditionary Force (VAdm Teruhisa Komatsu) (CinC 6th Fleet, at Turk)


Patrol Group
        I-15
        I-16
        I-17
        I-20
        I-24
        I-26
        I-122
        I-172
        I-175
        RO-34
Scouting Group
        I-7  (off Santa Cruz)
        I-9  (off San Cristobal)
        I-21  (off Noumea)
        I-31  (off Suva)

"I mourn the many sacrifices;
Beneath the moon
Stretches a sea at whose bottom
Lie many ships"
Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto

United States Naval Vessels (The official United States Navy Reference Manual)
Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II
National Archives and Record Administration
Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. 1869 - 1945
are the source of information for the above pages

Special Thanks to
Patrick R. Osborn
Gibson B. Smith
at the
National Archives and Record Administration
Modern Military Records (NWCTM)
Textual Archives Services Division
for their assistance in locating the action report and war diaries.

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