Battle of Savo Island

Overview

The Battle of Savo Island, also known as the First Battle of Savo Island and in Japanese sources as the First Battle of the Solomon Sea , and colloquially among Allied Guadalcanal veterans as the Battle of the Five Sitting Ducks, was a naval battle during the Solomon Islands campaign of the Pacific War of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval forces. The battle took place on 8–9 August 1942 and was the first major naval engagement of the Guadalcanal campaign, the first of several naval battles in the straits later named Ironbottom Sound, near the island of Guadalcanal.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Savo Island was the first major naval engagement of the Guadalcanal campaign and the opening contest in what would become a series of naval battles fought in the straits later named Ironbottom Sound. Fought between Imperial Japanese Navy forces under Gunichi Mikawa and Allied forces under Richmond Turner and Victor Crutchley, the engagement resulted in 1,077 U.S. casualties, establishing early in the Solomon Islands campaign that Allied naval control of the waters around Guadalcanal was far from assured. As the first of several clashes in those straits, the battle set a pattern of costly attrition that would define the wider Guadalcanal campaign and the broader competition for the Solomon Islands.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)