On August 7, 1942, U.S. Marines landed on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Gavutu in the southern Solomon Islands, beginning the first major Allied offensive of the Pacific War. The Japanese responded immediately, and the struggle for Guadalcanal became a six-month campaign of attrition fought simultaneously on land, at sea, and in the air. A series of savage night surface engagements — Savo Island, Cape Esperance, the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal — cost both sides heavily and demonstrated the Japanese navy's superiority in night torpedo tactics. Japanese destroyers ran men and supplies down the "Slot" through New Georgia Sound in nightly runs American sailors called the Tokyo Express. The September 1942 Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin published ten pages on the opening phase of the campaign, from the initial landings through the carrier and surface battles that followed.
Click to enlarge
