Battle of Santa Cruz The Battle of Santa Cruz was the fourth naval battle between U . S . forces and Japan for control of the Pacific Ocean and can be considered one of the battles in late 1942 and early 1943 led to control of the strategic island of Guadalcanal , which for the Japanese marked the turning point of war in the Pacific Ocean . The battle occurs in the wake of yet another Japanese attempt to expel the American forces had landed on the island of Guadalcanal on August 7 and took defensive positions around the airfield of Henderson Field . History . Disposition of the Forces . In 20 October , Had a great start ground offensive by the Japanese against the positions controlled by U . S . forces on the island of Guadalcanal . The Japanese decided that the ground attack would be coordinated with the positioning of its fleet , which had the intention to prevent any resupply to U . S . forces on the island . With that goal in mind , the Japanese sent a fleet of four aircraft carriers , two battleships , 10 cruisers and 22 destroyers . The Japanese force was divided into three main groups as follows : Force 1 - An advanced force ( Vice - Alm . Kondo ) to be a fast power prospecting and reconnaissance . The force should use the cannons of his two fast battleships to directly engage any enemy ships using the port planes ' Junyo ' to support the larger ships if necessary . Force 2 - Main Force ( alm . Nagumo ) to support the force in January , consisted of three aircraft carriers , the Shokaku , Zhuikaku Zhui and , escorted by a cruiser and eight destroyers . These vessels should stay away from any direct combat and would only launch their planes into enemy ships . Force 3 - Force vanguard ( Contra - Alm . Abe ) Comprising two battleships fast , Hiei and Kirishima . In total the Japanese aircraft carriers with 212 planes counted , The main function of the force will be to prevent the resupply of Americans on Guadalcanal , attacking the American fleet . The U . S . forces under the command of Admiral Halsey ( placed in charge there were only a few days ) and designated TF - 61 ( Task Force 61 ) were divided into two groups ( also known as Task Forces ) , each with an aircraft carrier as the main vessel : The TF - 16 , or group of ' Enterprise ' , Consisting of the aircraft carrier Enterprise , the new battleship South Dakota ( 9 405mm guns ) , the cruisers Portland and San Juan and an escort of eight destroyers . The TF - 17 group or ' Hornet ' , Consisting of the aircraft carrier Hornet , and the cruisers Pensacola , Northampton , San Diego and Juneau , and seven destroyers . In total the two aircraft carrier TF - 61 had 169 planes . The Battle . Halsey , accurately predicted the Japanese action , even more U . S . forces on the ground continued to be attacked . When on 25 , shortly after midday a PBY Catalina aircraft detected the presence of a Japanese force , the TF - 61 receive orders to intercept the Japanese . The Americans launch their planes against the Japanese at 15 : 30 , but realizing that they had been found to reverse course and head north , not having even been seen by American aircraft . However night fell , and lost the position of the Japanese force . But just 11 minutes after midnight on the 26th already , another Catalina detects again the Japanese fleet to 500 km away from aircraft carriers in North America . At 3 : 15 AM , Catalina aircraft are the aircraft carrier Zhuikaku and report its position . A few hours after the U . S . commander ( Admiral Halsey ) gives orders to the planes of the TF - 61 , and Entrerprise Hornet attack the Japanese . At 06 : 05 the first 16 dive bombers ' Dauntless ' off from the aircraft carrier Enterprise . Shortly after they took off , American planes show the presence of Japanese battleships only 140 km away from the aircraft carrier ( it was the strength of Admiral Abe 3 ) , but the purpose of the American planes are the Japanese aircraft carrier . Less than half an hour later , around 6 : 45 are detected aircraft carriers and Shokaku Zhuikaku main Japanese force . The third aircraft carrier force that is not immediately discovered . The Japanese had not been inactive , and its planes patrol the American force had identified the 06 : 58 am . The Japanese were already on the lookout for it when the Dauntless from the Enterprise approach . Most American bombers have to go into combat with Japanese fighters , but two of them are able to attack the aircraft carrier Zhui with two bombs targeted enforcement of 235 kg which puts the ship out of action for 08 : 30 am . But before this operation , around 08 : 18 Japanese aircraft carriers had launched its first wave of attacks against American ships , consisting of 65 aircraft . Once the Hornet , which went further back is within reach , launches its first wave of 29 aircraft at 08 : 40 . At 09 : 00 the Enterprise launches 20 aircraft and more than fifteen minutes later the Hornet is more than 25 aircraft launched against the Japanese Having released all its aircraft to the American force just waiting for the attack of Japanese planes , which intersect in the air but with American planes . Many dogfights occur between the Japanese fighters and American fighters . Fog decide the fate of American ships . However , it moved ahead Enterprise entered a zone of fog hid the vessel and her escort , while the Hornet was still further behind in an area with no clouds . Not detecting another aircraft carrier , the Japanese concentrated their attack on the Hornet . Although the ship awaits the attack and the entire convoy was willing to answer , the first squadron of bombers ' Val ' approached at about 8 : 50 and the first bomb fell at 09 : 11 . The attack was very violent and even the commander of the squadron of Japanese attack , and his plane hit , he throws himself against the bridge of the Hornet . From there the ship is ungovernable . Exactly the same time , things were not going too well for the Japanese , because almost 200 km away , the planes that had launched the Hornet , were heavily attacked the cruiser Chikuma , and the heavy cruisers Tone and Nachi . At 09 : 30 the aircraft launched by the Enterprise hit with two 450 kg bombs the Kongo Battleship , at the same time that another group of American bombers reached the aircraft carrier Shokaku with four 450 kg bombs that damage the ship but not the sink ( be recovered and will be operational 10 months later ) . Amid the melee , the aircraft carrier Enterprise , which will be known as the luckiest U . S . aircraft carrier arrives at 10 : 15 to be reached , but its superior anti - air battery with a 40mm cannon to help defeat the Japanese attacks . The Americans were still trying to tow the Hornet , but the fire on board is intense and a huge column of smoke is visible from great distances . The Japanese aircraft were still operating from Zhuikaku and Junyo , throw up again against the American ships . Enterprise again unhurt , but the cruiser Northampton who was towing the Hornet is forced to separate themselves to avoid the bombs . The Hornets stood and began to bend sharply . Faced with this situation is given the order to abandon ship at 16 : 00 . U . S . destroyers later try to sink it without success , and Japanese ships will eventually puts him to sink the next day with torpedoes Aftermath . The Japanese action was combined with the action on the ground and it became necessary to take Henderson Field . How to take the runway was not confirmed during the 26 days , the Japanese still consider the possibility of pursuing the Americans , but the possibility of being attacked by aircraft based on land and the fact that they have lost too many pilots take to give the command to order withdraw . The battle was inconclusive , but although he left the American fleet in the Pacific in a critical situation , reduced to only one aircraft carrier ( Enterprise ) , served to put out of service three Japanese aircraft carriers that would take many months to return to service . This time proved to be vital , because it was time for the United States to put new media at the service in the Pacific . In addition , the Enterprise , the only American aircraft carrier in the Pacific in late 1942 , returned to service shortly November 11 , fully operational with its full complement of fighters , bombers and torpedo planes . That day , there were only two small Japanese aircraft carriers in the area , which also had not even planes or pilots . But for the Japanese moral battle was especially important because in the days following the Radio Tokyo said that Japan had a major victory with the sinking of three aircraft carriers , one battleship , two cruisers and a destroyer Americans .