Battle of Empress Augusta Bay
Late on 1 November, TF 39 sighted an enemy surface force, but was unable to engage it until early the next morning when it sallied forth to harass the landing area at Empress Augusta Bay. Radar contact was made at 02:30 on 2 November; and "Stanly", along with the other three destroyers in the van, opened the battle with a torpedo attack. Though the cruisers of Rear Admiral Aaron S. Merrill's TF 39 were the star of the ensuing battle, Capt. Arleigh Burke's "Little Beavers", "Stanly" included, contributed by finishing off the destroyer "Hatsukaze" and by showering a hail of 5 inch shells on the enemy. The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay claimed one enemy cruiser, "Sendai", and the destroyer already mentioned, but, more importantly. Admiral Sentaro Omori retired northward without accomplishing his mission, the landing of reinforcements at Cape Torokina. As dawn broke, the American warships steamed off toward a rendezvous with some transports. On the way, TF 39 beat off a 100-plane raid from Rabaul and, by the next day, was in port in Tulagi.