It was October of 1942, and the Guadalcanal campaign in the Pacific Theater had devolved into a brutal deadlock. Both the Japanese and the US forces could not push their adversaries off the region, and each side kept pouring more men and equipment into the lethal stalemate.
After Japan took USS Enterprise out of action weeks prior, the US lost naval superiority in the region. However, the Americans still had air superiority thanks to the capture of Henderson Field.
Everything boiled down to that airbase; if the Japanese could recapture it, they would be able to overwhelm the US forces by air as well as by sea. As such, holding Henderson Field was the most crucial objective of the US Navy and the Marines.
Soon, Japan moved its superior fleets to the Santa Cruz Islands, hoping to lure the US warships out once and for all. But despite being vastly outnumbered and having only two aircraft carriers, the US fleet steamed ahead, knowing they had to protect the US airfield at any cost.
A massive clash ensued, one of the first and most violent carrier battles of the entire war…
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This was around the time that the USN had requested the Royal Navy ((RN) for a loan of one or two Aircraft Carriers! Churchill arranged it with Roosevelt, so that the RN’s carrier HMS Victorious would be transferred totally into USN Service for almost up to one year until the US carriers that had been damaged were fully repaired & upgraded & the first batch of the Essex-class carriers became ready for war service in the Pacific.
In the event, at the time there was only one US carrier left in operational condition, the USS Hornet from late 1942 till Autumn/Fall of 1943, which the HMS Victorious WAS RENAMED THE USS Robin for the duration of its USN service then, despite being fully manned by a British crew with US liaison officers included in its total complement!!
These are great videos. Thank you for your wonderful work.
Dad served on the Langley,43-45.
The backing track is bf1942 isn't it?
What made this interesting is the fact that the Japanese still held the initiative inspite of the defeat at midway and the USN was still in the midst of a rebuilding process so it mattered that loses be kept at the minimum,at the same time the war continued to be waged at a feverish pace with each side desperately trying to gain advantage…..the USN remarkable (and in some instances suicidal)stand bought time for a future full scale counteroffensive that didn’t stop until the Japanese surrender in Tokyo bay…..
Guadalcanal was the actuale turning point not Midway. After Guadalcanal the Japanese were always on the defensive. Agreed Enterprise (CV-6) should have been preserved.
Classic two sides not able to work together. For Japan, they couldn't figure it out.
My great uncle (whom I was named after) was on Enterprise during Santa Cruz with Bombing 10. I always wondered whether he was in the air or on board during this battle. He was shot down and lost June 12, 1944 after bombing an airstrip on Saipan a few weeks before the end of his second tour. Enterprise had some good fortune to be under a squall when Hornet was struck in the first wave. The torpedo avoidance, effective AA and great damage control wasn't luck though. And I believe the ship set an air operations record that day by recovering all those planes from Hornet.
Played P.T.O. a good bit years ago. Wonder if US had never developed the nuclear bomb at the time yet, and if better, jets, radar, air craft carriers might have won the war themselves? Thoughts? (Pacific Theater of Operations, pto, WW II Japan vs US)
My Grandfather was a tailgunner In a SBD on Enterprise from 43-45.
The U.S. Navy Will Always a Ship Named "Enterprise"
And in the future the new Enterprise, NCC-1701, plays a similar role against the galactic spiritual successor to the Japanese Empire, the Klingon Empire😏
Seriously though, even as a kid I always thought WW2 Pacific battles directly inspired many aspects and events in the Star Trek series as there are so many parallels.
USS Enterprise, CV-6, most battle decorated warship in USN history for a reason.
I wish whomever it is responsible for putting these together, would be a little more diligent and not just cram archived footage together willy-nilly. The footage used to represent Henderson Field, was actually from Tarawa Atoll, and the PBY that spotted the Japanese fleet, had British markings. I don't recall there being any British squadrons in the South Pacific, and it sure didn't fly all the way from India
Enter the Black Sheep Squadron. The late 70's and 80's program "based" on the Guadalcanal campaign.
Does anybody actually proofread these scripts? Because your oh so skilled mouthpiece is confusing the Japanese Carrier names with Officers Names and Plane models.
May I suggest a change in the language you use to describe battles like this? It was not "Enterprise" that fought Japan but the many American sailors and airmen-brave American MEN-who did what had to be done, often at the cost of their lives, who, in the Pacific theatre, fought the Japanese toe to toe. The honor is their's along with the Marines whose blood turned the beaches and waters of obscure Pacific islands red. We owe it to them to never forget. Please consider this change in your narrations. Anchors away and Semper fi.
Guadal canal, or gwadar cnaaarrrr! Duuurrrrhhh! As muricans say it
Love the channels, keep up the good work my man respect…
The Enterprise …….
the greatest american ship that was never saved. fkn bean-counters.
Battle 360
Let history never forget ENTERPRISE…..
Dark -good videos. Bravo!
The uss hornet was a mighty ship and wouldn't go out without a fight
Someone may have already noted this, but Portland was a heavy cruiser.