After a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean Sea and participation in war exercises, "North Carolina" transited the Panama Canal "en route" to the Pacific War. Joining Task Force (TF) 16, the battleship escorted the aircraft carrier during the invasions of Guadalcanal and Tulagi on 7 August 1942, and continued to accompany the carrier when it moved to be southeast of the Solomons. The Battle of the Eastern Solomons began when Japanese carriers were spotted on 24 August; although American planes were able to strike first by sinking the light carrier , a strike group from a different force, formed around the fleet carriers and , attacked TF 16. In an intense eight-minute battle, "North Carolina" shot down 7–14 aircraft and was relatively undamaged, though there were seven near-misses and one crewman was killed by strafing. "Enterprise" took three bomb hits.