Battle of the Eastern Solomons

Battle context

The Battle of the Eastern Solomons was the third carrier battle of the Pacific campaign and the second major naval engagement of the Guadalcanal campaign. Like the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway before it, the opposing surface forces never came within sight of one another; the entire engagement was conducted through carrier-based and land-based aircraft. This pattern confirmed that carrier aviation had displaced the gun-armed surface fleet as the decisive instrument of Pacific naval warfare. Within the Guadalcanal campaign specifically, the battle was part of the sustained contest between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy to control the waters around the island and determine which side could reinforce and supply its ground forces. Japanese casualties reached 290, reflecting the cost of projecting naval air power in that contested theater.