Few of the great, bloody campaigns in the Pacific War’s long, bloody history were as momentous—and as expensive—as Guadalcanal. This distant island was the site of a six-month battle in which control of the sea lanes, the skies, and the future balance of power in the Pacific were in jeopardy.
Its seas, however, were quickly nicknamed Iron Bottom Sound and would take down over a hundred ships and thousands of planes, their hulls and remains quietly on the bottom as woeful testimonies to what had transpired here. Guadalcanal was significant because of where it sat—about 1,000 kilometers northeast of Australia, on the lifeline between the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
Mid-1942 saw the Japanese advance and start building an airfield. If they occupied it, they could control the skies along a vital shipping lane. If the Allies captured it, they could defend their supply lines and put Japan on the defensive. It was a prize to which both sides were determined to fight tooth and nail. The move was made in August 1942. U.S.
Marines launched aggressively on Guadalcanal beach and the island of Tulagi nearby, surprising Japanese defenders and Hotel it in an unfinished state—soon to be known as Henderson Field. But to defend it would be a very another story. The Imperial Japanese Navy, renowned for night fighting and carrying deadly Type 93 “Long Lance” torpedoes, retaliated in a hurry. Their attack and sinking of four Allied cruisers at the Battle of Savo Island in a half-hour was bad news for the U.S. Navy.
It goaded the Americans into improvising. Radar, while new to naval warfare, was brought into fleet operations quickly, allowing the U.S. forces to locate enemy vessels hours before they were seen visually. That modification was well worthwhile in October during the Battle of Cape Esperance, when fire directed by radar intercepted Japanese ships attacking under the cover of night, initiating a significant technology advantage for the Allies.
November also saw the campaign’s bloodiest battles: the First and Second Naval Battles of Guadalcanal. They were foul, close-range fistfights that were engaged in darkness, and with guns blazing at such close range that fires burning surrounding ships would often illuminate their guns. The Americans had lost some ships and two admirals in the first battle, but Henderson Field was still American.
The following night, the battleship USS Washington, which had been followed by radar, and fired 16-inch guns, put Japanese battleship Kirishima out of commission and to the bottom—a conclusive demonstration that radar was transforming naval warfare. Nevertheless, the slaughter went on. Later in November, at Tassafaronga, a small Japanese destroyer squadron lashed back savagely, sinking the cruiser USS Northampton and leaving several others crippled by a trim torpedo attack.
But these successes were not able to alter the larger scene: Japan was no longer able to resupply its Guadalcanal troops. Starving, isolated from supply, demoralized by sickness, and pounded by relentless assault, Japanese troops were slowly drained.
Japan had withdrawn by February 1943. Guadalcanal was secure—the Allies’ first major strategic win in the Pacific. It had come at a terrible cost: tens of thousands dead, over 20,000 in the sea battles themselves. Iron Bottom Sound became a huge war cemetery littered with wrecks of Japanese and American ships.
Years afterward, divers returned to those battlefields. Employing remotely operated and unmanned submersibles, they found and mapped many of the wrecks—the USS New Orleans, the Japanese destroyer Teruzuki, and so on—shedding new light on the battles and keeping their memory current.
These wrecks are not rusting hulks. They are reminders of determination, courage, and sacrifice. In black waters, the Marines and sailors learned hard lessons about modern naval warfare—lessons in radar, night combat, and the lethal interplay of air and sea power. Guadalcanal altered the course of the war, and the sound of its battles continues to influence naval strategy today.