There is such a well-known historical concept as "Pyrrhic victory". This is, if in Russian, then "the game is not worth the candle", that is, the costs and losses incurred do not pay off the advantages obtained with such a victory, and a victory in a battle can lead to a defeat in the campaign.
Which, in fact, happened shortly after the Battle of Midway. The Battle of Midway Atoll is usually seen as a turning point in the war in the Pacific during World War II, but in fact, one battle, even such as, for example, the Battle of Stalingrad, is not able to finally and irrevocably change the course of the war as a whole. This requires a chain of battles, during which the enemy is damaged and the initiative is intercepted.
Such a battle was the battle of the island of Santa Cruz. It seems to be a really small battle, during which it is absolutely impossible to say that the Americans won, but …
But let's start in order. Because the battle of October 26, 1942 was preceded by both Midway and a series of less significant events, the result of which was simply amazing.
After the victory of the American fleet at Midway, the strategic initiative seems to have passed to the United States. "It seems to be" - because the Japanese Imperial Navy, although it received a fair slap in the face, but remained absolutely combat-ready.
The Solomon Islands became a new arena of confrontation, which became the zone of interests of both fleets, plus the Australian fleet, next to the shores of which this disgrace took place.
The Japanese were really interested in the possibility of an invasion of Australia, the Australians, respectively, were not happy with such a prospect. Considering that Papua New Guinea had already become an arena of battles by that time, the Australians had something to strain.
On August 7, 1942, an American landing party landed on the island of Guadalcanal.
The Japanese missed the landing and could not neutralize it. This marked the beginning of a long campaign, the results of which were very, very mixed.
Despite the defeat at Midway, the Japanese fleet was very strong in the area. The Japanese operated six aircraft carriers in the region. The Americans had only three, and even then, events did not develop in the best way for the US Navy.
In general, this area has received the nickname "torpedo intersection". It was very difficult to get through the Solomon Islands and not run into a torpedo, the area was literally swarming with submarines from all participating states. Japanese, American, British, New Zealand, Australian. The last two countries were few, but they also took part in the common carnival. Torpedoes came from everywhere.
On August 31, 1942, Saratoga deprived the I-26 of its combat capability for three months after being hit by two torpedoes.
On September 14 of the same year "Wasp" received three torpedoes from submarine I-19.
The Japanese hit exceptionally well (damaging the battleship with one salvo and sinking the destroyer and aircraft carrier), the crew could not cope with the damage and the Wasp was sunk.
Of the aircraft carriers in the US Navy, only the Hornet remained in service. But the advantage in the air so far remained with the Americans thanks to the hastily created Cactus aviation fist on Guadalcanal at Henderson Field.
The work of land aircraft against the ships of the Tokyo Express (supply convoys for the Japanese island garrisons) was so efficient that the Japanese preferred to operate at night.
True, at night the battlecruisers Haruna and Congo approached Guadalcanal and thoroughly plowed the Henderson Field airfield with their 356-mm guns and disabled the airfield and many aircraft.
Something had to be done urgently, and the cleverest Admiral Chester Nimitz appointed Admiral William "Buffalo" Helsey, a professional and well-deserved man, as commander of the southern front.
And Helsey began to turn the tide, despite the fact that the Japanese had an advantage in both ships and aircraft in the area. On October 16, the Enterprise arrived from repairs, which also received new types of aircraft, and the Japanese departed for repairs, battered in battles, Hiyo. Yes, the first of the six Japanese aircraft carriers, Ryujo, sank aircraft from the American aircraft carrier Saratoga on August 24, 1942.
But there remained "Shokaku", "Zuikaku", "Zuikho" and "Zunyo", which constituted a very decent strike group.
The air really smelled like a big battle. Both sides were actively conducting aerial reconnaissance, collecting information about each other.
By the beginning of the battle, the Imperial Japanese Navy had 43 ships: 4 aircraft carriers with 203 aircraft, 4 battleships, 8 heavy, 2 light cruisers and 25 destroyers. General command was carried out by Admiral Kondo.
On the American side, there were 23 ships: 2 aircraft carriers, 1 battleship, 3 heavy, 3 light cruisers and 14 destroyers. Plus 177 aircraft on aircraft carriers and the Guadalcanal coastal airfield. Rear Admiral Kinkade was in command of the fleet.
In the period from 20 to 25 October, the Japanese tried to take Guadalcanal with a swoop. It didn't work out. Japanese intelligence underestimated the strength of the Americans by about half. The outcome of the offensive was predictable, plus the overall unsatisfactory organization and leadership of the units, which did not receive orders on time, played a role.
The fleet, by the way, did not receive any information about the failure of the army either. This is not surprising, because the "confrontation" between the army and the navy in Japan is a stupid and well-known thing at the same time. On October 25, the Japanese light cruiser Yura and the destroyer Akizuki fell victim to an air raid from the same Henderson Field airfield, which the Japanese army began to storm on October 20.
An unpleasant surprise, especially considering that the cruiser sank and the destroyer barely reached the base after being damaged by American aircraft.
But this did not have a big impact on the general alignment, the advantage of the Japanese in ships was great.
And the two fleets eventually went towards each other.
On October 26, 1942, the squadrons were at a distance of 370 km from each other. It turned out like this: patrol Catalins with radars were the first to spot the Japanese fleet, but while the headquarters of the American squadron were waking up and deciding what to do with the information, to wake Kincaid or not, Japanese intelligence officers found the Americans.
On Japanese aircraft carriers, they played a combat alert and began to raise aircraft into the air. And by 7 o'clock the Japanese had more than 60 aircraft in the air. And by nine in the morning, 110 aircraft were going to the enemy from four Japanese aircraft carriers.
At the time of 7.40 in the morning, the Americans were all sad. Only two SBD-3 Dontless patrolmen found the Zuiho and successfully hit it with 500-pound bombs, destroying the aerofinish cable system. Zuiho could lift planes. But he could not accept.
The Americans began to lift everything they could into the air. The planes were organized in small groups and flew in the direction of the enemy. The first wave of 15 bombers, six torpedo bombers and eight fighters took off at 08:00 am. The second - three dive bombers, seven torpedo bombers and eight fighters - took off by 08:10. The third, about the same size, ten minutes later.
The start was unambiguously in favor of the Japanese. At about 8.40 am, the planes reached the enemy ships. Both Japanese and American. And it began …
Nine Japanese fighters attacked the approaching American planes from the direction of the sun and shot down three fighters and two torpedo bombers. Two more torpedo bombers and one fighter were heavily damaged and went on a return course. This attack cost the Japanese four shot down fighters. The Americans have already learned how to pick the keys to Zero.
After 10 minutes, at about 8:50 am, the Americans flew to the Japanese squadron. Japanese fighters tied up the American cover in battle, and the bulk of the Zero attacked the American bombers and shot down 4 planes on the move.
However, part of the dive bombers broke through to the Shokaku and dropped bombs on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier, incapacitating it. The destroyer "Teruzuki", covering the "Shokaku", fell under the bomb distribution.
And the American torpedo bombers of the first group generally managed to get lost and did not find the enemy. Turning around, they went back, and on the way they came across the heavy cruiser "Tone", which skillfully dodged all attacks from torpedo bombers.
The next wave of American aircraft also failed to find a target and, to no avail, attacked the Suzuya heavy cruiser, which evaded American attacks. The third group was still able to inflict bomb damage on the heavy cruiser "Tikuma", which dropped out of the battle and went to the base, accompanied by two destroyers.
In general, American attack aircraft, despite the guidance, did not act in the best way.
Things were not much better for the Americans and over their squadron. The patrols managed to miss the approaching Japanese attack aircraft and 20 torpedo bombers and 12 bombers calmly launched an attack on the aircraft carrier Hornet.
More than 60 air defense barrels of the aircraft carrier made a living hell in the sky above the ship, but three Japanese D3A bombs fell on the deck of the American ship. And then a Japanese bomber shot down by anti-aircraft gunners was added there.
In the combat madhouse reigning aboard the Hornet, the signalmen in the smoke did not see the torpedoes that were going to the ship. Two torpedoes, and then a knocked-out torpedo bomber, hit the Hornet's side. The torpedo bomber hit the side in the area of the fuel tanks and caused a fire.
The losses of the Japanese were great. Fighters and anti-aircraft gunners shot down 25 Japanese aircraft, losing only 4 of their own.
The Hornet lost speed and began to roll. His planes began to receive "Enterprise", the deck of which was soon simply filled up with planes. The American pilots from the Hornet, who did not have time to land, were ordered to land on the water. The task of selecting crews was carried out by the destroyers.
One of the torpedo bombers splashed down extremely unsuccessfully next to the US destroyer Porter. This was the plane of the second group, which did not find the enemy. From hitting the water, the torpedo self-dumped and hit the destroyer. 15 people died immediately, and then the destroyer itself, whose crew had to be rescued.
By ten o'clock the second wave of Japanese aircraft approached and set to work on the Enterprise. The Japanese lost 12 aircraft out of 20, but two 250-kg bombs hit the aircraft carrier, killing 44 and injuring 75 people, plus jammed the starboard lift.
Then the torpedo bombers approached. Cover fighters "Wildcat" shot down 4 out of 16. One of the downed torpedo bombers crashed into the side of the destroyer "Smith", where a terrible fire began. Then a Japanese torpedo detonated. As a result, 57 people died on the destroyer and the ship was badly damaged.
At 11:21 am, another strike group from Zunyo achieved another bomb hit on the Enterprise, battleship South Dakota and light cruiser San Juan. In the attack, 11 out of 17 Japanese aircraft were killed. The Enterprise eventually began to withdraw from the battle.
And the Japanese continued to prepare the planes for departure. The losses in two waves were enormous, but by 15 o'clock all combat-ready aircraft had already approached the American squadron, having the order to finish off the Hornet.
The aircraft carrier was in tow, or rather, dragged at a speed of only 5 knots.
It was very easy to hit it, but the tired Japanese pilots were hit with only one torpedo. But it was enough for her. It turned out that the engine compartment was flooded, the aircraft carrier completely lost its speed, lost its power supply and received a roll of 14 degrees. The crew left the ship. Further, the approaching Japanese destroyers finished off the wreck on the night of October 27.
The night really spread the squadrons apart, the Americans did not want to continue, the Japanese would not mind, but the fuel supply did not allow them to chase the Americans at night. As a result, Admiral Yamamoto gave the order to withdraw, and the battle at Santa Cruz Island ended there.
Now it's worth talking about the results, since they will be very peculiar.
It seems that the Japanese won. The US Navy lost 1 aircraft carrier and 1 destroyer. 1 aircraft carrier, 1 battleship, 1 light cruiser and 2 destroyers were damaged. Aviation losses amounted to 81 aircraft.
Kincaid's compound was badly battered. The loss of the Hornet was especially difficult. Although the damage to the "Eneterprise" that just came from repairs, which, moreover, remained the only aircraft carriers in the region, is also very, very significant.
The Japanese got off with damage to two aircraft carriers and one heavy cruiser. They also had no aircraft carriers in the area, because the Shokaku and Zuiho went to be repaired, and the Zuikaku and Zuiho left for the planes.
Aviation losses amounted to 99 aircraft (out of 203).
But the most tangible loss was the death of 148 Japanese pilots. The Americans killed only 26 pilots. Even at the Battle of Midway, the Japanese lost fewer pilots.
Admiral Nagumo, having studied the results of the battle, said: "It was a tactical victory, but a strategic defeat for Japan."
This is a strange conclusion, because if you look at the numbers, the Japanese not only won, they also greatly impeded the actions of the American naval aviation in the Solomon Islands area …
But numbers are not at war. More precisely, the numbers may not always show the real state of affairs.
The most important result: the Japanese were unable to take Guadalcanal and eliminate the American outpost in the area.
The American fleet suffered losses, but the losses were not significant enough to neutralize the actions of the fleet in the region.
The losses of the Japanese fleet were great, especially in terms of naval aviation. Beginning in 1943, the Japanese naval aviation, having lost the best crews, began to give way to the American one.
Only the complete defeat of the Americans in every combat encounter could break the combat superiority of the US Navy, and even more preferably with "little blood." Santa Cruz has shown that it should not be counted on.
In general, by the beginning of 1943, it became completely clear that a protracted war of attrition was ideal for the United States. The country is able to compensate for any losses in ships and manpower, which was completely inaccessible to Japan.
Any lost large ship of the Japanese navy had absolutely nothing to replace. Japan did not have time, or rather, could not build ships to replace the lost ones, the maximum for which the country's resources were enough was to eliminate damage received in battles.
And with each year of the war, Japan was less and less able to compensate for losses on all fronts, it became more difficult to fight, and the enemy, on the contrary, more and more calmly turned his economic advantage into a combat one. For every ship sunk, the United States responded with two, and for every downed plane with six.
And by 1944, in fact, the Japanese naval aviation ceased to exist. And, if the planes could still be built, then there was no one to replace the knocked-out experienced pilots.
It so happened that in the battles of 1942 and partially in 1943, the United States won the air of the Pacific Ocean. After that, the defeat of the Japanese fleet turned out to be a matter of exclusively time.
This is how the victory seems to have turned into an absolute defeat.
